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Know_files/FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS.pdf - D Ank Unlimited

Know_files/FINGERPRINTS OF THE GODS.pdf - D Ank Unlimited

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Graham Hancock – <strong>FINGERPRINTS</strong> <strong>OF</strong> <strong>THE</strong> <strong>GODS</strong><br />

Gods, Demigods and Spirits of the Dead<br />

If we are to allow Manetho to speak for himself, we have no choice but to<br />

turn to the texts in which the fragments of his work are preserved. One of<br />

the most important of these is the Armenian version of the Chronica of<br />

Eusebius. It begins by informing us that it is extracted ‘from the Egyptian<br />

History of Manetho, who composed his account in three books. These<br />

deal with the Gods, the Demigods, the Spirits of the Dead and the mortal<br />

kings who ruled Egypt ...’ 13 Citing Manetho directly, Eusebius begins by<br />

reeling off a list of the gods which consists, essentially, of the familiar<br />

Ennead of Heliopolis—Ra, Osiris, Isis, Horus, Set, and so on: 14<br />

These were the first to hold sway in Egypt. Thereafter, the kingship passed from<br />

one to another in unbroken succession ... through 13,900 years— ... After the<br />

Gods, Demigods reigned for 1255 years; and again another line of kings held sway<br />

for 1817 years; then came thirty more kings, reigning for 1790 years; and then<br />

again ten kings ruling for 350 years. There followed the rule of the Spirits of the<br />

Dead ... for 5813 years ...’ 15<br />

The total of all these periods adds up to 24,925 years and takes us far<br />

beyond the biblical date for the creation of the world (some time in the<br />

fifth millennium BC 16 ). Because it suggested that biblical chronology was<br />

wrong, this created difficulties for Eusebius, a staunchly Christian<br />

commentator. But, after a moment’s thought, he overcame the problem<br />

in an inspired way: ‘The year I take to be a lunar one, consisting, that is,<br />

of 30 days: what we now call a month the Egyptians used formerly to<br />

style a year ...’ 17<br />

Of course they did no such thing. 18 By means of this sleight of hand,<br />

however, Eusebius and others succeeded in boiling down Manetho’s<br />

grand pre-dynastic span of almost 25,000 years into a sanitized dollop a<br />

bit over 2000 years which fits comfortably into the 2242 years orthodox<br />

biblical chronology allows between Adam and the Flood. 19<br />

A different technique for downplaying the disturbing chronological<br />

implications of Manetho’s evidence is employed by the monk George<br />

Syncellus (c. AD 800). This commentator, who relies entirely on invective,<br />

writes, ‘Manetho, chief priest of the accursed temples of Egypt [tells us]<br />

of gods who never existed. These, he says, reigned for 11,895 years ...’ 20<br />

Several other curious and contradictory numbers crop up in the<br />

fragments. In particular, Manetho is repeatedly said to have given the<br />

13<br />

Manetho, p. 3.<br />

14<br />

Ibid., pp. 3-5.<br />

15<br />

Ibid., p. 5.<br />

16<br />

Encyclopaedia Britannica, 1991, 12:214-15.<br />

17<br />

Manetho, p. 5.<br />

18<br />

There is absolutely no evidence that the Ancient Egyptians ever confused years and<br />

months, or styled one as the other; ibid, p. 4, note 2.<br />

19<br />

Ibid., p. 7.<br />

20<br />

Ibid., p. 15.<br />

369

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