Egyptian annals, the first knowledge of which was communicated to the Greeks by Manetho. The younger deities are the Heroes of Manetho's fabulous empire. In a subsequent passage in the second section of his first book (i. 44.)--the Gods and Heroes are stated to have reigned something less than 18,000 years. Obviously Egyptian tradition again, but according to a different version. There can have been no great discrepancy between this number and that of Manetho, for the latter gives 13,900 years for the rule of the Gods, 1255 for the Heroes (making together 15,155), and then 5813 for Heroes and Manes. The oldest mortal Kings he describes (i. 43.) as elective, and honoured by the people as the benefactors of the human race. II. THE CHRONOLOGY OF DIODORUS, FROM MENES TO ALEXANDER. SOMEWHAT more value attaches to the chronological data of Diodorus relative to the historical Kings of Egypt. Up to the epoch of his visit, that country, he tells us (i. 44.), had been governed by human Kings during nearly 5,000 years. Of these 475 were indigenous. The foreign rulers he computes in the following manner: 4 Ethiopians-not however all in The Persians, including the time of the revolts The Macedonians 36 years. - 135 - 276 447 The statement as to the four Ethiopians finds its explanation in the 24th Dynasty. Deducting the above sum, there remain about 4,450 years, for the native rulers of the historic period. Diodorus himself states in another passage (1. 69.), that the whole duration of the monarchy exceeded 4,700 years, and that the greater number of sovereigns were native Egyptians. The two statements are clearly intended to be the same, but the latter is the more accurate. Subtracting here, as above, the period of foreign rule, according to the previous estimate, we have a surplus of nearly 43 centuries for that of the native monarchs. The computation of his "nearly 5,000" years begins with "Moris," or "Myris," which amounts to the same thing. 12 In a more accurate' writer than Diodorus we might get over this name, by substituting that of Menes, with whom, as being the first mortal King, he, as well as Herodotus, begins, in the immediate sequel, the reigns of the Pharaohs. But in the case of a work so carelessly botched together as this history, any such desperate expedient were as little to the purpose, as an attempt critically to illustrate a palpable interpolation. The name may either be that of the real Moris, who is afterwards introduced as one of the successors of Menes --or may represent a prince of the provincial race prior to Menes, of whom, however, we hear nothing in any other quarter. Five of those 475 native rulers were females. This also is borrowed, not from Herodotus, but from Egyptian sources. From them and from the monuments at least three are known to us in the New, besides Nitocris in the Old Empire. "All these," says Diodorus, "are registered in the Annals of the Priests, with the particulars of their stature and personal appearance -their mental qualities, exploits, and works." This passage already referred to in a former section is confirmed, as we there remarked, by the primeval Royal Papyrus, and other records. 129 One MS. indeed has the former reading; the other mode of spelling it occurs also in Strabo and Herodotus in some MSS. III. SYNOPSIS OF THE LISTS OF DIODORUS. We subjoin the entire series of Kings in Diodorus under such sections or epochs as his arrangement appears to suggest. I. Menes, the first King (i. e. of all Egypt), the founder of their civilisation (c. 45.). 52 Successors of Menes during upwards of 1040 years. Here also there is genuine but perverted tradition. For the 52 successors of Menes are clearly the Kings of the Old Empire in the Memphito-Theban Dynasties. That empire lasted, according to Eratosthenes, 1076 years, of which 62 fall to Menes, and consequently 1014 to his successors. Manetho, as we have seen, assigns about 50 Kings to those Dynasties, instead of the 88 of the Alexandrian critic, with a few centuries more. Here, therefore, we have plain vestiges of Alexandrian criticism. II. Busiris and his Dynasty-9 Kings (c. 46-49). 1. Busiris I., the Tyrant, and slayer of strangers. 2-8. His successors. 9. Busiris II. who built Thebes. [Diodorus here subjoins a description of the city, comprising that of the tomb of a King Osymandyas after the younger Hecatæus.] The tradition embodied in this section is derived from the age prior to Menes-probably from Upper Egypt; the only historical fact mentioned being the building of Thebes. This work some authorities, referred to by Diodorus, ascribe to Isis; others, if we may trust Synesius, make the city still more ancient than that goddess. 1 130 Diod i. 15. Wesseling quotes upon this passage Stephanus on Atóσrotic, and Schol. Il. a. 383. Synesius, i. Provid. p. 94. B., and ii. p. 117. C. III. 1. Uchoreus (c. 50): " eighth successor of this King" (of Osymandyas or Busiris the Second?). Built Memphis, and dug the lake as a protection to it. He also erected a royal residence, which however was not equal in splendour to the previous works. The God Nilus, as a bull, is said to have procreated from the daughter of this King 2. Ægyptus: an upright and humane sovereign. The foundation of Memphis, according to Manetho, belongs to the 1st Dynasty. But mention is here made of the building of a royal palace, which fell short of the earlier buildings. This warrants the assumption, that we have here a confused tradition concerning the first Memphite Dynasty, the third of Manetho, which began with the sixth King of Eratosthenes, and comprised nine rulers. IV. Maris (c. 52): 12 generations later. His works according to Herodotus. The historical Maris, therefore, if we may trust the above notice, lived 12 generations after Ægyptus, the 2nd King of the 3rd Dynasty=7th of Eratosthenes. An interval of 12 generations would bring us to Apappus, 20th in the List of Eratosthenes, and chief of the sixth Manethonian Dynasty, V. 1. Sesoōsis (c. 53-58.): 7 generations later: a King celebrated in song, and whose history is variously related. His expeditions, in part according to Herodotus: returned at the end of nine years, and employed his captives in building a temple to the principal deity of that city-protected the Delta by a wall 1500 stadia (1864 miles) long, extending from Pelusium to Heliopolis, consequently to the north-east-reigned 33 (others say 30) years: was deprived of his eyesight and committed suicide. Two obelisks, each 120 cubits high (180 Egyptian feet), record his exploits. 2. Sesoōsis II. Son and successor. The story of his being struck blind and being cured, is word for word the same as that of Pheron in Herodotus (c. 59). The above section is a medley-combining the narrative of Herodotus (a part of which, as we have seen, belongs to the Old Empire)--concerning the Ramesside Sesoōsis (Sesothis)-with another tradition proper to the Old Empire: viz. the Sesostris-tradition. Sesostris belongs to the 12th Dynasty of Manetho, and corresponds with the 33rd or 34th King of Eratosthenes, consequently with the 13th or 14th subsequent to the Moris of Diodorus. VI. 1. Amasis—according to a reading discovered by Stephanus, Ammōsis 131-was abandoned by his whole people on account of his tyranny, and lost his kingdom (c. 60.), to 2. Actisanes, the Ethiopian (c. 61.)—a humane ruler, who commuted the sentence of criminals capitally condemned, to amputation of their noses, and assigned them as a place of refuge the desert sea-coast, east of Pelusium (hence called Rhinocolura) (the land of mutilated noses). He was succeeded (and could therefore have formed no Dynasty) by a native King. : 3. Mendes called by others Marros: no way distinguished as a warrior, but celebrated for the Labyrinth which he built, as his own burial-place. To clear up the confusion in this succession would require a more detailed analysis than for the present we are able to devote to it. The building of the Labyrinth however brings us down to the end of the 12th Dynasty, and the 35th King of Eratosthenes. It may be remarked that, according to Diodorus, only three reigns 131 Steph. p. 41. comp. c. 60. |