ỉnbw-hḏ

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ỉnbw-hḏ (Inebu-Hedju)

ỉnbw-hḏ (Inebu-Hedju¹, formerly Mimpi², Μέμφις (Mémphis) and Memphis was the capital of Km.t (now Miṣr or Egypt) starting from the Third Dynasty,³ and remained a substantial city even when its political status was secondary. It is located on the left bank of the an-Nil (Nile) in what is today the al-Jizāh nome of مصر (Miṣr or Egypt), although there was an extension to the east bank. The name means White Walls. Other names were Mennefer, Ḥwt-kʒ-ptḥ (Hut-ka-Ptah or Enclosure of the Soul of Ptah) and ŉḫ-tʒwy (Ankh-Tawy or Life of the Two Lands). The ruins of the city and the nearby funerary area of Saqqara constitute part of a World Heritage Site. The city's most notable ruin is the Temple of Ptah (New Kingdom). The necropolis includes a Pyramid to Djoser.⁴ The settlement was occupied up until the seventh century CE.

Year	Population	Political entity
3000 BCE⁵	30,000⁵	Km.t (Kemet or Egypt)
2250 BCE⁶	⁷	Km.t (Kemet or Egypt)
2000 BCE⁶	60,000	Km.t (Kemet or Egypt)
1800 BCE⁶	⁸	Km.t (Kemet or Egypt)
1600 BCE⁹	¹⁰	ḥʒḳw-ḫḳswt (Hyksos state or land of the Foreigners)
1360 BCE	32,000¹¹	Km.t (Kemet or Egypt)
1200 BCE	50,000¹¹	Km.t (Kemet or Egypt)
1000 BCE	¹²	Km.t (Kemet or Egypt)
800 BCE	¹³	Km.t (Kemet or Egypt)
650 BCE	¹⁴	Km.t (Kemet or Egypt)
430 BCE	100,000¹¹	Persian Malkate (Persian Empire)
200 BCE	¹⁵	Ptolemaïkè Basileía (Ptolemaic Egypt)
100 CE	¹⁶	Senatvs Popvlvsqve Romanvs (the Roman Empire)

step pyramid in mid-ground, sky with fluffy clouds behind, flat desert in foreground
Step Pyramid at Saqqara

Historical maps

map showing part of Km.t (Kemet or Egypt) 3000 BCE

map showing part of Km.t (Kemet or Egypt) 2250 to 1800 BCE

map showing part of ḥʒḳw-ḫḳswt (Hyksos state) 1600 BCE

map showing part of Km.t (Kemet or Egypt) 1360 BCE

map showing part of Km.t (Kemet or Egypt) 1200 BCE

map showing part of Km.t (Kemet or Egypt) 1000 BCE

map showing part of Km.t (Kemet or Egypt) 800 BCE

map showing part of Km.t (Kemet or Egypt) 650 BCE

map showing part of the Persian Malkate (Persian Empire) 430 BCE

map showing part of the part of the Ptolemaïkè Basileía (Ptolemaic Egypt) 200 BCE

map showing part of the part of Senatvs Popvlvsqve Romanvs (the Roman Empire) 100 CE

map showing part of the part of Rhomania (Romania or the Byzantine Empire) 361 to 500 CE

map showing part of the part of Ĕrānshahr (Sassianian Empire) 622 CE

Footnotes

1. The vowels are conventional among Egyptologists but are not intended to represent the vowel sounds of the times.
2. Spelling taken from Georges Roux, Ancient Iraq (3rd ed., Penguin Books, 1992). I interpreted this to be Aramaic Mem-Mem-Pe for purposes of the glyph on the map.
3. Some but not most sources, have it the capital from the First Dynasty.
4. Djoser was also called Horus Ketjerikhet, Nebu, Netjerikhet Nebti according to Jochem Kahl, "Third Dynasty" in the essay set "Old Kingdom" in Donald B. Redford, ed., The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, Vol. I (Oxford Unversity Press, 2001).
5. "The Title of Largest City, 3100 B.C.-Now" in Tertius Chandler, Four Thousand Years of Urban Growth, 2nd ed. (The Edwin Mellen Press, 1987). Chandler has the city as founded as 3100 BCE though this is earlier than most datings for the beginning of the Third Dynasty. His positions on this city and on Abdju (Abydos) are not easily reconciled to each other and to dates given by other sources. Dating for most Egyptian dynasties is controversial. Dates for the start of the Third Dynasty range from 3000 BCE (Bernal) to 2635 BCE (Helck)--see table Chronological Chart I in Martin Bernal, Black Athena, Volume II (Rutgers University Press, 1991). According to Chandler, Inebug-Hedju was the largest city in the world in 3000, 2250 and 1200 BCE, the second largest in 2000 BCE, the fourth largest in 1800 and 650 BCE, the fifth largest in 1360 BCE, the sixth largest in 1000, 800 and 430 BCE and the ninth largest in 1600 BCE.
6. I'm guessing that Chandler is using the Cambridge Ancient History's dating, in which case 2250 falls within the Sixth Dynasty (2345 to 2181 BCE). Others date that dynasty's start from 2630 BCE (Bernal) to 2290 BCE (Helck). See Chronological Chart I in Martin Bernal, Black Athena, Volume II (Rutgers University Press, 1991). Similarly, 2000 BCE falls within the 11th Dynasty (2133 to 1981 BCE), whose start others date from 2287 (Mellaart) to 2134 (Helck). By this reckoning 2000 BCE falls well after the defeat of the 10th Dynasty by the 11th. And 1800 BCE falls within the 12th Dynasty (1991 to 1786 BCE). Others date that dynasty's start from 2155 (Mellaar) to 1979 BCE (Bernal).
7. According to Chandler, ibid., Tables of World's Largest Cities: 2250 B.C.", the second and third largest cities were Akkad and Ebla, and Ebla had an estimated population of 30,000.
8. According to Chandler, ibid., Tables of World's Largest Cities: 1800 B.C.", ỉnbw-hḏ was smaller than Mari, which was smaller than Isin, which was smaller than Wɜ.st (Thebes), all of which did not have estimated populations. it was larger than ỉwnw (Heliopolis), which was larger than Susa, which had an estimated population of 25,000.
9. Since Chandler's list for 1600 BCE (Chandler, ibid., Tables of World's Largest Cities: 1600 B.C.") put Avaris at the top, I concluded that he dated 1600 BCE as within the Second Intermediate Period.
10. According to Chandler, op. cit., ỉnbw-hḏ was smaller than Knossos, which was smaller than Ninua (Nineveh), which was smaller than Hazor, which had an estimated population of 24,000. Inebu-Hedju was larger than Kerma, which was larger than what Chandler called Cordova (Tartessos?), which was larger than Gortyn, which was larger than Nekhen, all of which had no estimated populations in his table.
11. Chandler, ibid., "Tables of World's Largest Cities"
12. Chandler, ibid., said that in 1000 BCE ỉnbw-hḏ was smaller than Jerusalem, which was smaller than Babilu (Babylon), which was smaller than Loyang, which had an estimated population of 50,000. It was larger than Hastinapura, which was larger than Pyongyang, which had an estimated population of 25,000.
13. Chandler, ibid, said in 800 BCE ỉnbw-hḏ was smaller than Babilu (Babylon), which was smaller than Kalhu (Calah), which had an estimated population of 50,000. ỉnbw-hḏ was larger than Hastinapura, which was larger than Ninua (Nineveh), which was larger than Jerusalem, which had an estimated population of 36,000.
14. Chandler, ibid., said in 650 BCE ỉnbw-hḏ was smaller than Loyang, which had an estimated population of 70,000, and ỉnbw-hḏ was larger than Babilu (Babyon), which had an estimated population of 60,000.
15. Chandler, ibid., said that in 200 BCE Μέμφις was smaller than Corinth, which was smaller than Anuradhupura, which was smaller than Soochow; and Μέμφις was larger than Bαβυλόν (Babylon), which was larger than Paithan, which had an estimated population of 60,000.
16. Chandler, ibid., said that in 100 CE Memphis was smaller than Leptis, which was smaller than Madurai, which had an estimated population of 50,000; Memphis was larger than Benares, which was larger than Kolhapur, which was smaller Balkh, which was larger than Kanchow, which was larger than Chekiang, which was larger than Aror, which was larger than Srinagar, which was larger than Teotichuacán, which had an estimated population 45,000.