Pet saying abused the population at Memphis? (9)
I believe the answer is:
egyptians
'population at memphis?' is the definition.
(Memphis was an ancient Egyptian city)
'pet saying abused' is the wordplay.
'abused' indicates an anagram.
'pet'+'saying'='petsaying'
'petsaying' is an anagram of 'EGYPTIANS'.
'the' acts as a link.
(Other definitions for egyptians that I've seen before include "I spy agent among these nationals" , "Natives of Cairo, say" , "race" , "locals in Memphis?" , "people" .)