City of the Sun
City of the Sun is an ancient city mentioned in the Old Testament, located in the region of Egypt in modern-day Egypt. Known today as Ain Shams. It appears across 1 verse in Scripture.
Biblical History
The City of the Sun is a name appearing in Isaiah 19:18, within a remarkable prophetic oracle concerning Egypt. Isaiah declares that five cities in Egypt will speak the language of Canaan and swear allegiance to the LORD of Hosts, with one being called the City of Destruction in some manuscripts and the City of the Sun in others, a textual variant that has generated considerable scholarly discussion. The Hebrew term ir ha-heres (City of the Sun) likely refers to Heliopolis, the great center of Egyptian solar worship known to the Hebrews as On (Genesis 41:45, 50). The prophet envisions a remarkable eschatological transformation: Egypt itself would one day worship Israel's God. This city, so long associated with the worship of Ra, the sun deity, would be consecrated to the LORD. The oracle in Isaiah 19 is among the most universalistic passages in the prophetic literature, envisioning a day when Egypt, Assyria, and Israel would stand together as a blessing in the midst of the earth (Isaiah 19:24).
Archaeological & Historical Notes
The City of the Sun corresponds to Heliopolis, the ancient Egyptian religious capital known as Iunu, located in the northeastern area of modern Cairo near Ain Shams. Once home to the great Temple of Ra-Atum and the famous obelisks of Senusret I and Thutmose III, Heliopolis was a center of intellectual and religious life for millennia. Today the site is largely submerged beneath Cairo's urban sprawl, with only the Obelisk of Senusret I remaining in situ. Scattered excavations have yielded significant finds including temple foundations and inscribed materials confirming the city's importance as Egypt's preeminent solar cult center.
Verse Appearances (1)
Isa
References
- Orr, J. (ed.) (1915) The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia. Chicago: Howard-Severance Company. [Public Domain]
- OpenBible.info (n.d.) Bible Geocoding. Available at: https://www.openbible.info/geo/. [CC BY 4.0]
- Bagnall, R. et al. (eds.) (n.d.) Pleiades: A Gazetteer of Past Places. Available at: https://pleiades.stoa.org. [CC BY 3.0]
- Wikidata contributors (n.d.) Wikidata. Available at: https://www.wikidata.org. [CC0]
- Lawrence, D. et al. (2025) Villages to Empires: a settlement dataset for the Southern Levant. doi:10.5281/zenodo.15111732. [CC BY 4.0]
- Church of England (1769) The Holy Bible, Authorized (King James) Version. [Public Domain]