(from Syncellus)

It remains now to make brief extracts concerning the dynasties of Egypt from the works of Manetho Sebennytus. In the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus he was styled high-priest of the pagan temples of Egypt, and wrote from inscriptions in the Sêriadic land,1 traced, he says, in sacred language and holy characters by Thôth,2 the first Hermês, and translated after the Flood . . . in hieroglyphic characters. When the work had been arranged in books by Agathodaemôn, son of the second Hermês3 and father of Tat, in the temple-shrines of Egypt, Manetho dedicated it to the above King Ptolemy II Philadelphus in his Book of Sôthis, using the following words: p211 Letter of Manetho of Sebennytus to Ptolemy Philadelphus.

“To the great King Ptolemy Philadelphus Augustus.4 Greeting to my lord Ptolemy from Manetho, high-priest and scribe of the sacred shrines of Egypt, born at Sebennytus and dwelling at Hêliopolis. It is my duty, almighty king, to reflect upon all such matters as you may desire me to investigate. So, as you are making researches concerning the future of the universe, in obedience to your command I shall place before you the Sacred Books which I have studied, written you your forefather, Hermês Trismegistus.5 Farewell, I pray, my lord King.”

Such is his account of the translation of the books written by the second Hermês. Thereafter Manetho tells also of five Egyptian tribes which formed thirty dynasties . . .

(Fr. 2, p11, follows directly after this.)

The Editor's Notes:

1 Sêriadic land, i.e. Egypt, cf. Josephus, Ant. I.71. In an inscription the home of Isis is Σειριὰς γῆ, and Isis herself is Νειλῶτις or Σειριάς, the Nile is Σείριος: see Reitzenstein, Poimandres, p183.

2 For the god Thôth inscribing records, see p. xiv n. 1.

3 The second Hermês is Hermês Trismegistus, the teacher.

For a discussion of the whole passage, see W. Scott, Hermetica, III pp492 ff. He pointed out manifest breaches of continuity after χρηματίσας (end of l. 4) and after Αἰγύπτου (end of l. 12). If the intervening 8 lines are cut out (ἐκ τῶν . . . Αἰγύπτου), the sentence runs smoothly; and Scott suggested that these 8 lines originally stood in Manetho's letter after ἃ ἔμαθον. Even with this insertion there still remains a gap before ἱερὰ βιβλία, but apart from that lacuna, the whole becomes intelligible.

4 Augustus, a title of the Roman emperor, was not used in Ptolemaic times.

5 For a curious juxtaposition of Manetho and Hermês Trismegistus, see Wellmann in Hermes, XXXV p367. A MS. of Celsus gives a list of medical writers, Egyptian or Greek and Latin: they include (col. 1, ll. 9‑13) Hermês Trismegistus, Manetho (MS. emmanetos), Nechepsô, Cleopatra regina. Here Manetho is followed by Nechepsô, to whom, along with Petosiris (perhaps another name of Nechepsô), works on astrology were attributed in the Second Century B.C.: see W. Kroll and M. Pieper in R.‑E. XVI.2 (1935), s.v. Nechepsô.

---

Fr. 7 (a)

Kings of Thebes.1

Apollodorus, the chronographer, recorded another dynasty of Egyptian kings, — the Thebans, as they are called, — thirty-eight kings ruling for 1076 years. This dynasty began in Anno Mundi 2900, and came to an end in Anno Mundi 3045 [3976]. The knowledge of these kings, he says, Eratosthenes took from Egyptian records and lists, and at the king's command he translated them into the Greek language, as follows:

Of the Theban kings in thirty-eight dynasties ruling 1124 years after the Dispersion,

p215 1. The first was Mênês of Thebes, whose name, being interpreted, means “everlasting”.2 He reigned for 62 years. Anno mundi 2900.

2. The second king of Thebes was Athôthês, son of Mênês, for 59 years. His name, being interpreted, means “Born of Hermês”.3 Anno mundi 2962.

3. The third king of Thebes in Egypt was Athôthês II, for 32 years. Anno mundi 3021.

4. The fourth king of Thebes was Miabaês, son of Athôthis, for 19 years. His name, being interpreted, means “Bull-lover”.4 Anno mundi 3053.

5. The fifth king of Thebes was Pemphôs (? Sempsôs, Semempsês), son of Athôthis. His name is “descendant of Hêraclês,” and he reigned for 18 years. Anno mundi 3072. Fr. 13

6. The sixth king of Thebes in Egypt was Momcheiri of Memphis, reigning for 79 years. His name, being interpreted, means p217“leader of men”. He had exceeding large limbs (and was therefore irresistible). Anno mundi 3090.

7. The seventh king of Thebes in Egypt was his son, Stoichos. The name means “unfeeling Arês”. He reigned for 6 years. Anno mundi 3169.

8. The eighth king of Thebes in Egypt was Gosormiês, whose name means “all‑demanding”. He reigned for 30 years. Anno mundi 3175.

9. The ninth king of Thebes in Egypt was his son, Marês, whose name means “gift of the Sun”.5 He reigned for 26 years. Anno mundi 3205.

10. The tenth king of Thebes in Egypt was Anôÿphis, whose name means “revelling”.6 He reigned for 20 years. Anno mundi 3231.

11. The eleventh king of Thebes in Egypt was Sirius, whose name means “son of the iris of the eye,”7 or, as others say, “unharmed by the evil eye”. He reigned for 18 years. Anno mundi 3251.

12. The twelfth king of Thebes in Egypt was Chnubos or Gneuros, which means “gold”8 p219or “golden son” (or his son). He reigned for 22 years. Anno mundi 3269.

13. The thirteenth king of Thebes in Egypt was Raÿôsis, which means “the arch-masterful”.9 He reigned for 13 years. Anno mundi 3291.

14. The fourteenth king of Thebes in Egypt was Biÿrês, who reigned for 10 years. Anno mundi 3304.

Fr. 17

15. The fifteenth king of Thebes in Egypt was Saôphis, “reveller,” or, according to some, “money-getter, trafficker”. He reigned for 29 years. Anno mundi 3314.

16. The sixteen king of Thebes was Saôphis II, who reigned for 27 years. Anno mundi 3343.

17. The seventeenth king of Thebes was Moscherês (? Mencherês), “gift of the Sun,” who reigned for 31 years. Anno mundi 3370.

18. The eighteenth king of Thebes was Mosthês (? Mencherês II), who reigned for 33 years. Anno mundi 3401.

19. The nineteenth king of Thebes was Pammês, “leader-like,” who reigned for 35 years. Anno mundi 3434. p221 Fr. 22

20. The twentieth king of Thebes was Apappûs (Pepi),10 “the very great”. He, they say, ruled for 100 years all but one hour. Anno mundi 3469.

21. The twenty-first king of Thebes was Echeskosokaras, for 1 year. Anno mundi 3569.

22. The twenty-second ruler of Thebes was Nitôcris,11 a queen, not a king. Her name means “Athêna the victorious,” and she reigned for 6 years. Anno mundi 3570. Fr. 33

23. The twenty-third king of Thebes was Myrtaeus (Amyrtaeus), “gift of Ammôn,”12 for 22 years. Anno mundi 3576.

24. The twenty-fourth king of Thebes was Uôsimarês, “Mighty is the Sun,”13 for 12 years. Anno mundi 3598.

25. The twenty-fifth king of Thebes was Sethinilus (Thirillus), which means “having increased his ancestral power,” for 8 years. Anno mundi 3610.

p223 26. The twenty-sixth king of Thebes was Semphrucratês, which means “Heraclês Harpocratês,” for 18 years. Anno mundi 3618.

27. The twenty-seventh king of Thebes was Chuthêr, “bull-lord,”14 for 7 years. Anno mundi 3636.

28. The twenty-eighth king of Thebes was Meurês (Mieirês), “loving the iris of the eye,”15 for 12 years. Anno mundi 3643.

29. The twenty-ninth king of Thebes was Chômaephtha (Tômaephtha), “world, loving Hêphaestus,”16 for 11 years. Anno mundi 3655.

30. The thirtieth king of Thebes was Soicunius (or Soicunis), † hochotyrannos, †17 (or Soicuniosochus the lord), for 60 years. Anno mundi 3666.

31. The thirty-first king of Thebes was Peteathyrês,18 for 16 years. Anno mundi 3726. Fr. 37

32. The thirty-second king of Thebes was <Stammenemês I (Ammenemês I), for 26 years. Anno mundi 3742.

p225 33. The thirty-third king of Thebes was> Stammenemês II (Ammenemês II), for 23 years. Anno mundi 3768.

34. The thirty-fourth king of Thebes was Sistosichermês, “valiant Hêraclês” (Sistosis or Sesortôsis, “valiant Hermês or Hêraclês”), for 55 years. Anno mundi 3791.

35. The thirty-fifth king of Thebes was Marês,19 for 43 years. Anno mundi 3846. Fr. 40

36. The thirty-sixth king of Thebes was Siphthas,20 also called Hermês, “son of Hêphaestus,” for 5 years. Anno mundi 3889.

37. The thirty-seventh king of Thebes was Phruorô21 (Phuorô) or “the Nile,” for 5 (? 19) years. Anno mundi 3894.

38. The thirty-eighth king of Thebes was Amuthartaeus, for 63 years. Anno mundi 3913.

[Syncellus then adds (p279) in much the same phrase as that quoted at the beginning of Appendix II: “These names Eratosthenes took from the sacred scribes at Diospolis and translated from Egyptian into the Greek language.”] The Editor's Notes:

1 This list of kings was said to have been taken by Apollodorus (2c B.C.) from Eratosthenes of Cyrene (3c B.C.) whom Apollodorus often followed as an authority; but according to Jacoby (Apollodors Chronik, pp399 ff., Fr. 117 — Pseudo-Apollodorus) the list of “Theban” kings owes nothing to either Apollodorus or to Eratosthenes, but is the work of one who sought to recommend his compilation under two distinguished names. The list, containing thirty-eight kings, who ruled for 1076 years, is of Theban origin, derived from a Royal List such as that of Karnak: the explanations of the names are interesting, and the variations in Nos. 11 and 15 may be due to the priests themselves. Historically the list is of no great worth: several of the names are not proper names, but Throne-names, such as are found in the royal Lists and the Turin Prophecy (Meyer, Aeg. Chron. pp99 ff.).

Kings 1‑5 correspond to Dynasty I, 13‑17 to Dynasty IV, 18‑22 to Dynasty VI.

2 The Egyptian form of the name Mênês may quite well be interpreted as “the abiding one,” from mn, “to endure”.

3 This etymology obviously assumes the presence of the divine name Thôth in the name Athôthês.

4 The first element of the name Miabaês is clearly some form of the verb mr, “to love”.

5 With this interpretation of the name Marês (which may correctly explain the second element as Rê, “the Sun”), cf. ἥλιος εὐφεγγής, “a brilliant Sun,” in Hymn IV line 32, A. Vogliano, Madinet Madi, Primo Rapporto (1936); see note on No. 35 infra, p224.

6 Possibly this explanation is based upon the Egyptian word unóf, “to rejoice” (B. G.).

7 In Egyptian si‑iri means “son of the eye”.

8 Nûb is Egyptian for “gold”.

9 Possibly, according to this explanation, Ra- (or Rha-) is the Egyptian ḥry, “master,” and the rest of the name *wôse®, “powerful” (B. G.).

10 Apappûs is the Phiôps of Fr. 20.4, with a curious misunderstanding of his reign of 94 years.

11 See p54 n. 2, and Wainwright, Sky-Religion, pp41, 45.

12 This interpretation is based upon the common Egyptian name Amenerdais, “Amûn has given him”.

13 The Egyptian Wôse-mi‑Rê means “Mighty like the Sun”: Uôsimarês may however be intended for the first half of the praenomen of Ramessês II, Wesê-me‑Rê, but this means “Rê is mighty in justice”.

14 The first syllable of the name Chuthêr may represent the Egyptian kŏ, “bull”.

15 In Egyptian, “loving the eye” is mai-îri.

16 As to the latter part of the name, “loving Hêphaestus” is in Egyptian mai‑Ptah: the emended Tô- represents the Egyptian tŏ, “world” (B. G.).

17 Bunsen employs this vox nihili to mean “a tyrant like Ôchus”: Gutschmid, to mean “Suchus the lord”. The latter description may refer to one of the Sebekḥotpes.

18 Peteathryês, a well-formed name Pede-Hathor, which does not occur as a king's name.

19 Besides Marês and derived forms (Marrês, Aelian, De Nat. Anim. VI.7; Marros and Mendês, Diod. Sic. I.61.1; Imandês, Strabo 17.1.37, 42), there are two types of variants on the name of Amenemhêt III — (1) Lamarês (Fr. 34), Lamaris (Fr. 35), Labarês, Labaris; and (2) Pramarrês, Premanrês (Pr- = Pharaoh): cf. Poremanrês, P. Mich. Zen. 84, lines 18, 21, Porramanrês in A. Vogliano, Madinet Madi, Primo Rapporto (1936), Hymn IV, line 34, where the first two syllables must be eliminated if the pentameter is to scan. [See note on p50. The temple at the vestibule of which the Hymn was inscribed is dated 95 B.C.]

20 Siphthas is King Siptah (“son of Ptah”), probably Thuôris (Thuôsris), of Dynasty XIX.

21 The Egyptian name for the River Nile is p‑yeor‑o. For comparisons of the King of Egypt with the River Nile, see Grapow, Die Bildlichen Ausdrücken des Aegyptischen, p62.

---

(from Syncellus)

Now, among the Egyptians there is current an old chronography,1 by which indeed, I believe, Manetho2 has been led into error.

In 30 dynasties with 113 generations, it comprises an immense period of time [not the same as Manetho gives] in 36,525 years,3 dealing first with the Aeritae,4 next with the Mestraei, and thirdly with the Egyptians. Its contents are somewhat as follows: — Dynasties of the Gods according to the Old Chronicle

Hêphaestus has no period assigned, because he shines night and day. Hêlios [the Sun], son of p229Hêphaestus, ruled for 30,000 years. Then Cronos (it says) and the remaining gods, 12 in number, reigned altogether for 3984 years. Next, the eight demi-gods were kings for 217 years; and after them 15 generations of the Sôthic Cycle are recorded with 443 years.5

Then follow:

The Sixteenth Dynasty of King of Tanis, in 8 generations, for 190 years.

The Seventeenth Dynasty of Kings of Memphis, in 4 generations, for 103 years.

The Eighteenth Dynasty of Kings of Memphis, in 14 generations, for 348 years.

The Nineteenth Dynasty of Kings of Diospolis, in 5 generations, for 194 years.

The Twentieth Dynasty of Kings of Diospolis, in 8 generations, for 228 years.

The Twenty-first Dynasty of Kings of Tanis, in 6 generations, for 121 years.

The Twenty-second Dynasty of Kings of Tanis, in 3 generations, for 48 years.

The Twenty-third Dynasty of Kings of Diospolis, in 2 generations, for 19 years.

The Twenty-fourth Dynasty of Kings of Saïs, in 3 generations, for 44 years.

The Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Ethiopian Kings, in 3 generations, for 44 years.

The Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Kings of Memphis, in 7 generations, for 177 years.

p231 The Twenty-seventh Dynasty of Persian Kings, in 5 generations, for 124 years.

[The Twenty-eighth Dynasty is here omitted — one king of Saïs reigning for 6 years.]

Then comes the Twenty-ninth Dynasty of Kings of Tanis in <7> generations for 39 years; and finally the Thirtieth Dynasty consists of one King of Tanis for 18 years. The sum total of all the 30 Dynasties comprises 36,525 years.

If this total is broken up, or divided, 25 times into periods of 1461 years, it reveals the periodic return of the Zodiac which is commonly referred to in Egyptian and Greek books, that is, its revolution from one point back to that same point again, namely, the first minute of the first degree of the equinoctial sign of the Zodiac, the Ram as it is called by them, according to the account given in The General Discourses of Hermês and in the Cyranides.

Hence it was, I suppose, that Claudius Ptolemaeus6 announced that the ready astronomical tables should be calculated in periods of 25 years . . .

Hence, too, the lack of harmony between such systems and our Holy Scriptures, as well as between one system and another, may be explained by the fact that this Egyptian record, which is held to be of great antiquity, assigns an immense period to Hêphaestus, and to the remaining 297 Dynasties 36,525 years, although Hêphaestus ruled over Egypt p233many years after the Flood and the Building of the Tower, as will be shown in the appropriate place.

The illustrious Egyptian Manetho, writing of these same 30 Dynasties, and obviously taking this as his starting-point, is widely divergent thereafter in the dates he gives, as one may learn both from what I have already said above, and from the remarks that will follow immediately. For in his three books, 113 generations are recorded in 30 Dynasties, and the time which he assigns amounts in all to 3555 years, beginning with Anno mundi 1586 and ending with 5147 [5141], or some 15 years before the conquest of the world by Alexander of Macedon.

If therefore one subtracts from this total the 656 years before the Flood in order to make up [with 1586] the 2242 years from Adam to the Flood, — these 656 years being regarded as falsely assigned or non‑existent, — and the 534 years from the Flood to the Building of the Tower, the Confusion of Tongues, and the Dispersion of the Peoples, one will clearly find the rise of the kingdom of Egypt under the first Egyptian king, Mestraïm, who is by Manetho called Mênês, which began in the year 2776, the year of Adam, and continued down to Nectanebô, the last king of Egypt. Thus the sum total from Mestraïm down to this Nectanebô is 2365 years, which takes us, as has already been stated, to Anno mundi 5147 [5141] approximately 15 years before the rule of Alexander the Founder.

The Editor's Notes:

1 The Old Chronicle is dated by Gutschmid to the end of the second century after Christ. Gelzer would refer its statements to another source than Manetho, perhaps Ptolemy of Mendês; while Meyer regards it as the work of Panôdorus, c. A.D. 400 (cf. Fr. 2).

2 By the name Manetho Syncellus refers, as always, to the Book of Sôthis (App. IV).

3 The actual total of years from the items given, if 6 years be assigned to Dynasty XXVIII, is 36,347, i.e. 178 years less than the total given in the text. The number of generations, 113, is obtained by counting 1 for Dynasty XXVIII and 7 for XXIX. This vast world-period of 36,525 years is 25 times the Sôthic period of 1461 calendar years (or 1460 Sôthic years): see infra, and for the Sôthic period, Intro. pp. xxvii f.º

4 Aeritae and Mestraei are really the same as the third race, et Egyptians, the three names apparently referring to Egypt at three different dates. Aeria is an old name of Egypt (Euseb., Chron. in Syncellus, p293, Armenian Version (Schöne, p30), Aegyptus quae prius Aeria dicebatur . . .). Mestraei (Josephus, Antiq. 1.6.2) — from Mestraïm (p7 n 2).

5 This total comes, not from the Book of Sôthis which gives 395 for the first 15, but from Eratosthenes (App. II). A smaller total than Manetho's 3357 years was desired in order to shorten the duration of the historical age of Egypt.

6 Claudius Ptolemaeus, the famous mathematician, astronomer, and geographer, c. A.D. 100‑178: for his Ready Tables see p5 in the other section of this volume.

Thayer's Note: The reference is a mystery.

The “other section of this volume” refers to the translation of Ptolemy's Tetrabiblos which, in this printing (1964) is bound together with Manetho in the same volume. Now as it happens, the Tetrabiblos is also onsite here, complete, transcribed from a 1980 printing of the same Loeb edition, by which time the work was bound by itself: but I've compared the contents and pagination of this page of Ptolemy in both printings — and they are the same, with p5 (q.v.) not relevant. In this same edition of the Tetrabiblos, the Ready Tables are only mentioned once, in passing (Introduction, p. x), in an enumeration of Ptolemy's works.

7 An obviously incorrect summary of the enumeration of Dynasties given above.

---

(from Syncellus)

The years of the kings of Egypt, called Mestraea of old.

1. Mestraïm, also called Mênês, 35 years.

2. Kourôdês, 63 years.

3. Aristarchus, 34 years.

4. Spanius, 36 years.

5 and 6. Two kings, unrecorded, 72 years.

7. Ôsiropis, 23 years.

8. Sesonchôsis, 49 years.

9. Amenemês, 29 years.

10. Amasis, 2 years.

11. Acesephthrês, 13 years.

12. Anchoreus, 9 years.

13. Armiÿses, 4 years.

14. Chamoïs,2 12 years.

15. Miamûs, 14 years.

16. Amesêsis, 65 years.

17. Usês, 50 years.

18. Ramesês, 29 years.

19. Rames(s)omenês, 15 years.

20. Usimarê(s),3 31 years.

21. Ramessêseôs,4 23 years.

22. Ramessamenô, 19 years.

He is the first Pharaoh mentioned in the Holy Scriptures. In his reign the patriarch Abraham went down into Egypt.5

23. Ramessê Iubassê, 39 years.

24. Ramessê, son of Uaphrês,6 29 years.

25. Concharis, 5 years.

In this 5th year of Concharis, the 25th king of Egypt, during the Sixteenth p239Dynasty of the Sôthic Cycle as it is called in Manetho, the total of years from the first king and founder of Egypt, Mestraïm, is 700 belonging to 25 kings, i.e. from the general cosmic year 2776, in which the Dispersion took place in the 34th year of the rule of Arphaxad7 and the 5th year of Phalec.8 Next in the succession were 4 kings of Tanis, who ruled Egypt in the Seventeenth Dynasty for 254 [259] years, according to the following computation.

26. Silitês (the first of the 6 kings of the Seventeenth Dynasty in Manetho), 19 years.

27. Baiôn, 44 years.

28. Apachnas, 36 years.

29. Aphôphis, 61 years.

Some say that this king was at first called Pharaoh, and that in the 4th year of his kingship Joseph came as a slave into Egypt.9 He appointed Joseph lord of Egypt and all his kingdom in the 17th year of his rule, having learned from him the interpretation of the dreams and having thus proved his divine wisdom. p241The Holy Scriptures, however, give the name of Pharaoh also to the king of Egypt in the time of Abraham.

30. Sethôs, 50 years.

31. Cêrtôs, according to Josephus, 29 years; according to Manetho, 44 years.

32. Asêth, 20 years.

This king added the 5 intercalary days to the year:10 in his reign, they say, the Egyptian year became a year of 365 days, being previously reckoned as 360 days only. In his time the bull-calf was deified and called Apis.

33. Amôsis, also called Tethmôsis, 26 years.

34. Chebrôn, 13 years.

35. Amemphis, 15 years.

36. Amensês, 11 years.

37. Misphragmuthôsis, 16 years.

38. Misphrês, 23 years.

39. Tuthmôsis, 39 years.

40. Amenôphthis, 34 years.

This is the king who was reputed to be Memnôn and a speaking statue. Many p243years later Cambysês, the Persian king, cut this statue in two, deeming that there was sorcery in it, as Polyaenus of Athens11 relates.

The Ethiopians, removing from the River Indus, settled near Egypt.

41. Ôrus, 48 years.

42. Achencherês, 25 years.

43. Athôris, 29 years.

44. Chencherês, 26 years.

45. Achêrrês, 8 or 30 years.

46. Armaeus, also called Danaus, 9 years.

This king, fleeing from his brother Ramessês, also called Aegyptus, was driven from his kingdom of Egypt and came to Greece. Ramessês, his brother, whose other name was Aegyptus, ruled Egypt for 68 years, changing the name of his country to Egypt after his own name. Its previous name was Mestraea, and among the Greeks Aeria. Now Danaus or Armaeus took possession of Argos and, driving out Sthenelus the son of Crotôpus, ruled over the Argives. His descendants thereafter were called Danaïdae down to Eurystheus son of Sthenelus, the son of Perseus. Next to these, after Pelops the Pelopidae succeeded to the kingdom: the first of these was Atreus.

47. Ramessês, also called Aegyptus, 68 years.

48. Amenôphis, 8 years.

49. Thuôris, 17 years.

50. Nechepsôs,12 19 years.

51. Psammuthis, 13 years.

52. [image ALT: an underscored blank], 4 years.

53. Cêrtôs,13 20 years.

54. Rampsis, 45 years.

55. Amensês, also called Ammenemês, 26 years.

56. Ochyras, 14 years.

57. Amendês, 27 years.

58. Thuôris, 50 years.

This is the Polybus of Homer, who appears in the Odyssey as husband of Alcandra: the poet tells how Menelaus and Helen dwelt with him in their wanderings after the capture of Troy.

59. Athôthis, also called Phusanus,14 28 years.

In his reign earthquakes occurred in Egypt, although previously unknown there.

60. Cencenês, 39 years.

61. Uennephis, 42 years.

62. Susakeim,15 34 years.

This king brought up Libyans, Ethiopians, and Trôglodytes16 before Jerusalem.

63. Psuenus, 25 years.

64. Ammenôphis, 9 years.

65. Nephecherês, 6 years.

66. Saïtês, 15 years.

67. Psinachês, 9 years.

68. Petubastês, 44 years.

69. Osôrthôn, 9 years.

70. Psammus, 10 years.

71. Concharis, 21 years.

72. Osŏrthôn, 15 years.

73. Tacalôphis, 13 years.

74. Bocchôris, 44 years.

This king made laws for the Egyptians: in his time report has it that a lamb spoke.17

75. Sabacôn, an Ethiopian, 12 years.

This king, taking Bocchôris captive, burned him alive.18

76. Sebêchôn, 12 years.

77. Taracês, 20 years.

78. Amaês,19 38 years.

79. Stephinathês, 27 years.

80. Nechepsus, 13 years.

81. Nechaô, 8 years.

82. Psammêtichus, 14 years.

83. Nechaô II (Pharaoh), 9 years.

84. Psamuthês the Second, also called Psammêtichus, 17 years.

85. Uaphris, 34 years.

86. Amôsis, 50 years. The Editor's Notes:

1 The Book of Sôthis which Syncellus believed to be the genuine Manetho, but which in its original form was based upon Eusebius and Josephus, is dated by Gutschmid to the third century after Christ. It is not possible to divide the kings of this “Cycle” into dynasties, for their sequence is unchronological: e.g. 18‑24 belong to Dynasties XIX and XX, 26‑29, 32 to the Hyksôs period, 33‑48 to Dynasty XVIII, 49, 58 to Dynasty XIX, 50, 51 to Dynasty XXVI, 59‑61 to Dynasty I, 63‑67 to Dynasty XXI, 68‑70 to Dynasty XXIII, 74 to Dynasty XXIV, 75‑77 to Dynasty XXV, and 79‑86 to Dynasty XXVI.

The Book of Sôthis includes names taken from another source than Manetho.

2 The name Chamoïs is probably the Greek form of the name Khamuas: for Khamuas, the principal son of Ramessês II, see Griffith, Stories of the High Priests, p2 n 2.

3 The name Usimarê(s) is the first part of the praenomen of Ramessês II: see p221 n. 4.

4 It is tempting to see in this name the Egyptian Ramesese‑o, “Ramessês the Great,” although this term, so commonly used in modern times, is not found in Egyptian records (B. G.).

5 On Abraham's descent into Egypt, see Peet, Egypt and the Old Testament, 1922, pp47 ff. (Abraham went down into Egypt in the First Intermediate Period, during Dynasties VII‑X, and left Egypt before 2081 B.C.) Sir L. Woolley, on the other hand, is satisfied with the traditional date of the birth of Abraham at Ur, c. 2000 B.C.; but he believes that the patriarch was not a single man, but a composite character (Abram, Abraham) — see Abraham: Recent Discoveries and Hebrew Origins, 1936.

6 This description “son of Uaphrês” is a remarkable anachronism: a king of Dynasty XIX or XX is said to be the son of a king of Dynasty XXVI.

7 Arphaxad, son of Shem: O. T. Genesis x.22. See p26 n. 1.

8 Phalec or Peleg (= division): “for in his days was the earth divided” (Genesis x.25). Cf. the name of the town Phaliga on the Euphrates, — not that the patriarch Peleg is to be connected directly with this town (W. F. Albright, The Archaeology of Palestine and the Bible2, 1932‑3, p210).

9 For the Sojourn in Egypt during the Hyksôs period, see Peet, Egypt and the Old Testament, pp73 ff.; Albright, The Archaeology of Palestine and the Bible2, pp143 f.; Garstang, The Heritage of Solomon, 1934, p147.

10 See p99 n. 3.

11 Polyaenus of Athens (? of Sardis or of Macedonia), a writer of history, lived in the time of Gaius (Caligula).

12 See p211 n. 2. Nechepsôs appears again as Nechepsus, No. 80.

13 53‑58 may be the 6 kings of Dynasty XIX, some of them repeated. 53 Cêrtôs may be Sethôs: 54 Rampsis = 47 Ramessês: 55 Amensês = Amenmesês: while Thuôris appears as 58 and 49.

14 With Phusanus cf. Psusennês of Dynasty XXI.

15 Susakeim, apparently, is Shoshenḳ, or Sesonehôsis, the first king of Dynasty XXII (Fr. 60, 1): Josephus, Antiq., VIII § 210, has Susakos.

16 In O. T. 2 Chron. xii.3 it is said that Shishak brought up, along with the Ethiopians, the Lubims (Libyans) and the Sukkiims: in the LXX the last are the Trôglodytes, i.e. the “Cave-dwellers” along the west shore of the Red Sea (see Strabo, XVI.4.17). G. W. Murray, Sons of Ishmael, 1935, p18, suspects that the Ethiopians were negro troops of perhaps Beja nomads (i.e. Bedouin). “At any rate Shishak, like the great Mohammed Ali after him, realized the importance of Bedouin auxiliaries on a desert campaign.”

17 See p164 n. 2.

18 See p166 n. 2.

19 Amaês corresponds to Ammeris or Ameres the Ethiopian, Fr. 69, 1, i.e. Tanutamûn, Dynasty XXVI.