The Holy Family crossed the Nile River from Maadi, towards the city of Memphis, which is currently known as Mit Rahina area in Giza Governorate, located on the west bank of the Nile, about 20 km south of Cairo.
The city of Memphis was built by King Mina, uniting the two countries, and it remained the capital of Egypt for a long time, until it was destroyed due to the Assyrian invasions, and was completely abandoned in the Roman era, but what is left of the remains are now in the Mit Rahina Museum. This museum contains a huge statue of Ramses II, who is one of the greatest kings of the pharaohs, and the length of the statue is 14 meters and weighs 80-100 tons.
In the year 450 BC. The historian Herodotus described the city of Memphis with its huge statues, and the palaces in which they are located.
In the twelfth century AD, the Arab traveler Abd al-Latif al-Baghdadi mentioned that he had not seen in all his travels ruins as large as the city of Memphis.
Memphis was the seat of an episcopal seat and had a monastery called the Monastery of Anba Jeremiah in Saqqara. Some of its traces are in the Coptic Museum dating back to the sixth century AD.
It is a noble chair with stairs made of limestone, and it is one of the oldest pulpits in Egypt. It has circles at the top of the wall in the form of a shell with a cross in the middle the cross is surrounded by inscriptions of Coptic letters translated “In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit.”.. There are also wall niches depicting images of Jesus, Virgin Mary and Saints, and they are all considered models for the accuracy of Coptic art in the first centuries. There are also some stone columns and lists with Coptic inscriptions and beautiful ornaments.
Among the writings of Yaqut al-Hamawi (d. 1228 AD) and al-Qazwini (1208-1283 AD) we can see that the city of Memphis flourished in the Christian era and that there were at least two churches in it, the first was called the Church of Memphis and the second was called the Church of the Bishop (The Episcopal House).
There are currently no memorial places in Memphis for the residence of the Holy Family, and it is reported that the Holy Family moved from Memphis on its way to Upper Egypt.
