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l8 36. We can now review the various stages of the two Semitic conquests of Egypt, and compare the length of their periods ; the first conquest is stated as recorded by Manctho, the second conquest being since his time cannot therefore have had any possible influence on his record. We see below how closely parallel the history of B.C. 3293 xiii dynasty^ 2640 xiv „ J Decay during . !540 2256 1738 THE LENGTH OF EGYPTIAN HISTORY Egypt has been under the two great Semitic invasions. There has never been a difference in the main events of more than a generation along the two scales. And as the later Semitic conquest is unquestionable in its historic outlines, so the earlier conquest is by this comparison rendered historically probable in its general features. xvii dynasty, Berber conquest until Turkish conquest until C •j A.D. B.C. Interval. 30 3263 I 640 3280 750 3290 I02I 3277 1517 3255 1530 Conquest of Syria by Tahutmes I. 208 254 Conquest of Syria by Aly Bey 1771 3301 I48c^ Main conquest hutmes III of . Syria . by . Ta- . c 50 \to 71 6o| to 68/ Main conquest ^ by Ibrahim '^^' .( U1839 ^^^ 3300 146 1 100 years confusion XV dynasty great kings xvi dynasty lesser kings T/ie Value of Manetho. Years. Years. 37. When we possess a history of a highly civilised country, which maintained a continuous chronology, and this record was drawn up by a native who was a skilled writer, and who was likely to know of all available sources of information, we need very strong evidence to warrant us in setting it aside. It cannot be treated as if it had no weight, and as if we might reject any part of it on vague suppositions. Some stronger and more decisive evidence is needed, before we can venture to adopt a different view to that of the general belief of the native scholars during long ages. Unfortunately the history of Manetho, written early in the Ptolemaic period, has perished in its original form, and we only possess brief lists of kings extracted by later writers. The best of these is Julius Africanus, 221 A.D., and inferior is Eusebius, 326 A.D., known in Greek and in an Armenian version. The material is therefore only secondhand ; and the continual discrepancies between the extracts, and between the items and totals in each author, shew how much the text has suffered in its details. What should be the appreciation of a work which has been thus injured ? Errors of miscopying of 637 670 Decay under Roman rule 100 no Omayj'ad rulers. 284 271 Great khalifahs. 518 497 Lesser rulers. Average interval 3285 years will affect an item or a total, but will not change both ; and happily there has not been an editor who has tried to reconcile the items and totals. Then it is obvious that no very large addition could be made to a reign, or it would be abnormal. Thus, although many casual errors might be made, they would probably tend to balance each other, and not being of very large amounts the total would probably remain much the same. No corruption that is not made for a pur- pose will alter the scale of a history to any great extent. We should expect to find then that, though every single item might be proved to have suffered some corruption, yet the totals would not be very far from the truth. 38. We will now see how far the general periods of Manetho are in agreement with other information that we have, starting from the latest period as being the best known. From Alexander's conquest of Egypt back to that of Cambyses, the interval is given by Manetho as xxxi dynasty 9 years XXX 38 xxix 20 xxviii 6 xxvii 121 194 years
The last item is slightly corrected by taking Eusebius' version of 3 years for Cambyses in Egypt, in place of 6 years of Africanus, which is an evident error, as the whole reign of Cambyses is given as 5 years. Now this total is checked by the dates exter- nally known, 332 B.C. for Alexander, 525 B.C. for Cambyses, making 193 years interval. The ne.xt period is from the Persian conquest back to the beginning of Psamtek I. This duration of the xxvith dynasty is in Manetho 54 + 6 + 6 + 19 + 44 + I = 129I years. The earlier point is fixed by Assyrian history, the reign of Tanutamen lasting three years after the death of Taharqa in 667, thus giving 664 B.C. for Psamtek. And 525 B.C. of Cambyses' conquest, from 664, leaves 139 years for the interval. The error of 10 years in Manetho is by 10 years having dropped off the 6 years attributed to Necho, which should be 16 years. The other reigns are quite correct in detail. There has been great confusion in the xxiind dynasty and other parts ; but, bad as the corruption has been, it very nearly balances on the whole. The totals in Manetho are xxv dynasty xxiv xxiii xxii xxi XX xix xviii 40 6 44 120 130 135 209 263 THE VALUE OF MANETHO 19 947 years The beginning of the xviiith dynasty is fixed by the rising of Sothis to 1587 B.C., as is generally agreed. Now 1587 — 664 leaves 923 years for this interval. For stepping back to the xiith dynasty across the Hyksos times the statements of Manetho are xvii dynasty
Page 1 and 2: NYU IFA LIBRARY 3 1162 04538697 7 ^
Page 5 and 6: BRITISH SCHOOL OF ARCHAEOLOGY I N E
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Page 10 and 11: VI SECT. 48. Roman divisions . 49.
Page 13 and 14: HISTORICAL STUDIES EGYPTIAN FESTIVA
Page 15 and 16: ackground. 4 screens of flowers, 10
Page 17 and 18: 14 measures of dried dates, berries
Page 19 and 20: The following formula was employed
Page 21 and 22: proper motion of Sirius, or its gra
Page 23 and 24: quarry marks upon them. These quarr
Page 25 and 26: We saw above that the monumental fr
Page 27 and 28: THE CONTRAST OF THE XHTH AND XVHITH
Page 29: has the loose joints of its contemp
Page 33 and 34: In the xiiith dynasty alone we can
Page 35 and 36: double use of names for contiguous
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Page 39 and 40: appear as a nome in Roman times. Ph
Page 41 and 42: Map iii may have been the state at
Page 43 and 44: deterioration in fineness, which pr
Page 45 and 46: to have been almost incredibly larg
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Page 49 and 50: necks, and 226-229 handles. All the
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Page 57 and 58: D xi. Mace, El Am. pi. l i, 2, 4, p
Page 59 and 60: Abib month, 22 Alabaster figures, 5
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STUD. II HOARDS OF THE ROMAN COINAG
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7:8 STUD. MEMPHIS. GLAZED POTTERY.
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WORKS BY W, M, FLINDERS PETRIE THE
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