The city of Memphis, located on the Nile near the modern city of Cairo, was founded around 3100 B.C., as the first capital of a recently united Egypt. The choice of Memphis by Egypt’s first kinds reflects the site’s strategic importance. First, and most obvious, the apex of the Nile River delta was a politically opportune location for the state’s administrative center, standing between the united lands of Upper and Lower Egypt and offering ready access to both parts of the country. The older predynastic (pre- 3100 B.C.) centers of power, This and Hierakonpolis, were too remote from the vast expanse of the delta, which had been incorporated into the unified state. Only a city within easy reach of both the Nile valley to the south and the more spread out, difficult terrain to the north could provide the necessary political control that the rulers of early dynastic Egypt (roughly 3000-2600 B.C.) required.

The region of Memphis must have also served as an important node for transport and communications, even before the unification of Egypt. The region probably acted as a conduit for much, if not all, of the river-based trade between northern and southern Egypt. Moreover, commodities (such as wine, precious oils, and metals) imported from the Near East by the royal courts of predynastic Upper Egypt would have been channeled through the Memphis region on their way south. In short, therefore, the site Memphis offered the rulers of the Early Dynastic Period an ideal location for controlling internal trade within their realm, an essential requirement for a state-directed economy that depended on the movement of goods.

Equally important for the national administration was the ability to control communications within Egypt. The Nile provided the easiest and quickest artery of communication, and the national capital was, again, ideally located in this respect. Recent geological surveys of the Memphis region have revealed much about its topography in ancient times. It appears that the location of Memphis may have been even more advantageous for controlling trade, transport, and communications than was previously appreciated. Surveys and drill cores have shown that the level of the Nile floodplain has steadily risen over the last five millenniums. When the floodplain was much lower, as it would have been in predynastic and early dynastic ties, the outwash fans (fan-shaped deposits of sediments) of various wadis (stream-beds or channels) that carry water only during rainy periods) would have been much more prominent features on the east bank. The fan associated with the Wadi Hof extended a significant way into the Nile floodplain, forming a constriction in the vicinity of Memphis. The valley may has narrowed at this point to a mere three kilometers, making it the ideal place for controlling river traffic.

Furthermore, the Memphis region seems to have been favorably located for the control not only of river-based trade but also of desert trade routes. The two outwash fans in the area gave access to the extensive wadi systems of the eastern desert. In predynastic times, the Wadi Digla may have served as a trade route between the Memphis region and the Near East, to judge from the unusual concentration of foreign artifacts found in the predynastic settlement of Maadi. Access to, and control of , trade routes between Egypt and the Near East seems to have been a preoccupation of Egypt’s rulers during the period of state formation. The desire to monopolize foreign trade may have been one of the primary factors behind the political unification of Egypt. The foundation of the national capital at the junction of an important trade route with the Nile valley is not likely to have been accidental. Moreover, the Wadis Hof and Digla provided the Memphis region with accessible desert pasturage. As was the case with the cities of Hierakonpolis and Elkab, the combination within the same area of both desert pasturage and alluvial arable land (land suitable for growing crops) was a particularly attractive one for early settlement, this combination no doubt contributed to the prosperity of the Memphis region from early predynastic times.

孟菲斯市位于现代城市开罗附近的尼罗河上，在公元前3100年左右成立，是近期统一埃及的首都。埃及将孟菲斯选为首都，这反映了该位置在战略上的重要性。首先，也是最明显的一点，尼罗河三角洲的顶端是位于上埃及地区和下埃及地区统一的领土之间，从政治角度而言，这是最适宜设立为该国行政中心的地方，并且可以方便人们往返于该国的这两个地区。前王朝前期（公元前3100年）的权力中心以及希拉孔波利斯，都距离广阔三角洲地带太远，这个三角洲已经被并入统一的埃及。只有可以轻松抵达的尼罗河河谷以南地区，及其延伸地区，以及北部的复杂地形的城市，才能受到埃及早王朝时期的统治者（约公元前3000-2600年）的政治控制。 即使在埃及统一之前，孟菲斯地区也必须承担起运输和通信的重要节点的作用。该地区可能充当了埃及北部和南部之间河流贸易的大部分（如果不是全部的话）的渠道。此外，由上埃及前王朝时期的王室向近东进口的商品（如葡萄酒，珍贵的原油和金属）将通过孟菲斯地区，然后向南运输。因此，总的来说，孟菲斯遗址成为早王朝时期的统治者控制国内贸易的一个理想地点，它满足了依赖于商品流动的国家导向型经济的基本要求。 对国家行政机构来说，同样重要的是具有控制埃及境内通信的能力。尼罗河提供了最简单，也是最快捷的交流渠道，同样的也是建立国家首都的理想之地。最近对孟菲斯地区进行的一项地质调查，揭示了其古代的地形。看起来，孟菲斯的地理位置可能比人们先前预想的更具优势，利于控制贸易，运输和通信。调查和岩心表明，在过去五千年中，尼罗河泛滥平原的水平高度稳步上升。当泛滥平原非常低的时候，就像在早王朝时期和王朝时期的关系那样，各类干河床（只有在雨季期间才携带水的河床或河道）的冰川沉积扇（扇形沉积物）将在东岸上具有更为显著的特征。与Hof干河床相关的沉积扇扩展到了尼罗河泛滥平原时，在孟菲斯附近形成了一个收缩区。这个谷地可能已经缩小到只有三公里，使这里成为控制内河运输的理想场所。 此外，孟菲斯地区似乎不仅有利于控制河流贸易，而且有利于控制沙漠贸易路线。该地区的两个冰川沉积扇进入到了东部沙漠广泛的干河床系统。在早王朝时期， Digla干河床可能是孟菲斯地区和近东地区之间的贸易路线，这可以从迈哈迪的前王朝定居点中发现外国史前古器物中得出。在国家形成时期，进入和控制埃及和近东之间的贸易路线似乎一直是埃及统治者所需要关注的事情。渴望垄断外贸可能是埃及政治统一背后的主要因素之一。在一条重要贸易路线与尼罗河谷交界处建立国家首都，不可能出自一个偶然的原因。此外， Hof和Digla干河床为孟菲斯地区提供了可进入的沙漠牧场。与赫列拉孔波利斯和埃尔卡布的城市所存在的情况一样，一个同时存在沙漠牧场和冲积耕地（适合种植作物的土地）的地区对于早期定居来说，是非常具有吸引力的。毫无疑问，这种组合有助于孟菲斯地区在前王朝时期保持繁荣。