A Manual of Ancient History Part 8

He was followed by three Followed by fifty-two successors, hundred and thirty kings ranging over a period of more belonging to the previous than 1400 years.

period, concerning which our information is very incomplete: _Busiris I._ and eight successors; among those sovereigns were the last of whom was eighteen Ethiopians, and one queen named Nitocris. _Busiris II._ the founder of Thebes.

_Osymandyas_ and eight successors; the last of whom was

_Uch.o.r.eus_, founder of Memphis.

_aegyptus_, grandson of the foregoing. After the lapse of twelve generations,

_Moeris._ _Moeris._

Seven generations.

_Sesostris._ _Sesostris_ or _Sesoosis_.

_Pheron_, son of Sesostris. _Sesostris II._ son of the foregoing: he a.s.sumed his father's name.

Interval comprising several generations.

_Amasis_, and the Ethiopian,

_Actisa.n.u.s._

_Mendes_ or _Manes_, builder of the labyrinth.

Anarchy which lasted five generations.

_Proteus_, in the time of the _Proteus_ or _Cetes_, in the time Trojan war. of the Trojan war.

_Rhampsinitus._ _Remphis_, son of the foregoing.

Seven generations, in the course of which flourished _Nileus_, from whom the Nile derives its name.

_Cheops_, builder of the great _Chemmis_ or _Chembes_, from pyramid. Memphis, builder of the great pyramid.

_Chephres_, brother to the _Cephren_, brother to the foregoing, builder of a pyramid. foregoing, builder of a pyramid.

_Mycerinus_, son of Cheops, _Mycerinus_, son of Chemmis, builder of a pyramid. builder of a pyramid.

_Asychis_ the legislator. _Bochoris_ the legislator.

_Anysis_, who was blind. Interval of several generations.

_Sabaco_, the Ethiopian. _Sabaco_, the Ethiopian

_Anysis_, king for the second time.

_Sethos_, a priest of Vulcan.

Dodecarchy. Dodecarchy.

_Psammetichus_ of Sais, sole _Psammetichus_ of Sais, sole ruler. ruler.

This comparative table demonstrates evidently, not only that Herodotus's line is often interrupted, but likewise that it is impossible to establish any continuous chronology, since Diodorus, more than once leaves the number of generations undetermined. Great importance, nevertheless, attaches to the date fixed by Herodotus, ii, 13, where he declares that king Moeris flourished 900 years before his own visit to Egypt: consequently between B.C. 1500 and 1450. And if, as seems highly probable, the age of Sesostris was the 15th century B.C. (see ZOEGA, _de Obeliscis_), it cannot be denied but that we have some general epochs; and with these we must remain content until more satisfactory information can be discovered on the monuments. It should likewise be observed, that the discrepancy between the names of the kings mentioned by Herodotus and Diodorus, and those furnished by Manetho, may be accounted for by the fact, that the sovereigns were distinguished by different names on the monuments and in common life.

Of the dynasties of Manetho, the 18th, 19th, 20th, and 22nd, belong to this period; more especially the two first, which contain the most important of the Pharaohs.

1. The following period, nearly to its termination, was the brilliant age of Egypt, during which it formed but one empire; the kings being represented as sovereign lords of the whole country. And, indeed, it was natural that the expulsion of the invaders should be followed by a period in which the military force and ardour of the nation would be developed, and directed to external conquest. The capital of the empire was, no doubt, Thebes, the great monuments of which were erected in this period; that honour, however, seems to have alternately belonged to Memphis, Herodotus's line of kings being deduced from the monuments of that city, and more especially from the temple of Phtha.

The more powerful of the Pharaohs of this period, and the founders of the most important monuments of Upper Egypt, on which their names are found, are the following: belonging to the 18th dynasty, somewhere about 1600-1500.

_Amenophis I._ His name is likewise found beyond Egypt on the temple of Amada, in Nubia.

_Thutmosis I._ Commencement of the expulsion of the Hyksos.

_Amenophis II._ The Memnon of the Greeks. Complete expulsion of the Hyksos, and commencement of several of the great edifices. His name is also found on the monuments of Thebes, Elephantine, and even in Nubia, on the distant temple of Soleb. Builder of the palace of Luxor.

_Thutmosis II._ His name found in Carnac, and on the obelisk at the Lateran.

_Ramesses I._ Supposed to be the Danaus of the Greeks. Expelled by his brother:

_Ramesses II._ Miamun. Builder of the palace of Medinet-Abu in Thebes. One of the royal graves that have been opened belongs to this king.

_Amenophis III._ Renewed invasion of the Hyksos; he flees before them into Ethiopia; but returns victorious with his son Ramesses.

Belonging to the 19th dynasty, between 1500 and 1400.

_Ramesses III._, called the Great, and sometimes _Sesostris_; founder of the dynasty, liberator of Egypt, and a great conqueror.

His name and t.i.tles, his wars and triumphs, are found on the temples and palaces of Luxor and Carnac, in Thebes and Nubia. His son and follower:

_Ramesses IV._ Pheron, rules long in peace. His name is found in the great pillared hall of the palace of Carnac, and on many other buildings.

Among his successors but few names have been preserved until we come to Scheschonk or Sisac, of the 22nd dynasty, between 970 and 950; he took Jerusalem under the reign of Rehoboam, and therefore furnishes a fixed date.

# R. V. L. (RUEHLE VON LILIENSTERN), _Graphic Ill.u.s.trations of the most ancient History and Geography of Egypt and Ethiopia, with an atlas, 1827_. A work containing every thing necessary for understanding the discoveries. .h.i.therto made in this department of history.

2. For this splendour, the empire was princ.i.p.ally indebted to Sesostris, son of Amenophis. This prince is justly ent.i.tled to the surname of Great, which was given him by the Egyptians. No one will, to the letter, credit the narrative of his deeds, exaggerated as they were by the traditions of the priests, or represented, as they still appear, on the buildings of Thebes; but who can doubt the existence of a monarch of whom so many and such various monuments within and without Egypt bear witness?

Critical examination of the accounts of the nine years' campaign, and conquests of Sesostris. His arms were princ.i.p.ally directed against wealthy commercial countries; probably by land against Ethiopia, Asia Minor, and part of Thrace; by sea against Arabia Felix, perhaps even the Indian peninsula. Can the performance of these exploits be deemed improbable, in an age when western Asia did not contain a single great empire? The vast undertakings attributed to Sesostris in the interior of his dominions; extensive buildings, ca.n.a.ls, division of the land, and imposition of taxes, according to a regular survey, prove that he must have been the sovereign of all Egypt.

3. Notwithstanding the great changes that were made, the const.i.tution still bore the same general character, that of a sacerdotal aristocracy combined with a monarchy. Although the Egyptian kings, like the Indian princes, were distinct from the priests, yet their power was limited in various ways by that caste. The high priest shared the royal authority; the king was shackled by religious ceremonies, both in public and private life; he was obliged to evince his veneration for the established wors.h.i.+p by the erection of public monuments; and all the high offices of state were in the hands of the priests. It cannot be denied that on the personal character of the king depended much of his power; but how strong must have been this aristocracy, when even successful conquerors were obliged to conciliate its approbation!

4. It was probably about this time that the domestic relations of the people, the division into castes, was completed. The sacerdotal caste being in exclusive possession of all scientific knowledge, remained for that reason in possession of the offices of state. The caste of warriors could hardly have a.s.sumed its complete form before the country was united into one empire: in like manner that of the navigators could not have been completely established before the ca.n.a.ls were excavated; although the origin of all may have been of a much earlier date.

Comparison of the accounts given by Herodotus and Diodorus of the division into castes. Not only precedence in time, but likewise the discrepancies between the two, declare in favour of Herodotus.

5. It appears, therefore, that the most prosperous period of the kingdom of the Pharaohs must be placed somewhere between B. C. 1500-900: although, according to Diodorus, even this period was interrupted by a long anarchy. The splendour of the empire was obscured towards the end.

Sabaco, a foreign conqueror from Ethiopia, (probably from Meroe,) subjugated Egypt; after his departure from the country, Sethos, a priest of Phtha, contrary to all precedent, seated himself upon the throne. He was, consequently, considered an usurper; he offended the caste of warriors, and could not have escaped the dangers of an irruption threatened by the a.s.syrian, Sennacherib, had not a pestilence compelled the invader and his host to retreat.

The dynasty of Sabaco, Seuechus, and Tarhaco in Meroe, who as conquerors subjected Upper Egypt, is comprised between B. C. 800-700.