upper country. What may have happened before his accession, I do not pretend to decide; but the pyramids, and the tombs in their vicinity, which I conceive to have been much anterior to his reign, are evidently Egyptian; and as this circumstance requires a long period of tranquillity and freedom from aggression, previous to the reign of Osirtasen, the seventeenth dynasty of shepherds is rendered still more doubtful. It is, however, remarkable, that no buildings of a date prior to the reign of Osirtasen I., excepting the pyramids, some tombs and grottos, now exist in Upper or Lower Egypt: and hence these questions naturally arise: - Did Osirtasen expel the invaders from Lower Egypt, and afterwards erect the edifices to which the obelisks at Heliopolis and in the Fyoom once belonged? and if so, why have we not pointed allusions to those battles and welcome victories in the tombs of Beni Hassan ? Or are we to attribute the absence of monuments before the reign of Osirtasen to their great antiquity and consequent dilapidation? The last is more probable, since those bearing the name of Osirtasen only consist of a few broken columns at Karnak and the two obelisks above mentioned; the grottos of Beni Hassan being hewn in the imperishable rock: and, indeed, without them his name would have been almost as little known as those of other kings who preceded him. Nor could the loss of the early monuments have been the result of the irruption of the Pastors; since we do not even find any remaining at Thebes, which is beyond the point whither the invaders appear to have penetrated, and, consequently, out of the reach of destruction. I am, therefore, of opinion that the irruption of the Pastors was anterior to the erection of any building now extant in Egypt, and long before the accession of the seventeenth dynasty*; but, until some further light is thrown on the subject, either by the monuments or some equally authentic source, it will be better to commence our history of Egypt with the reign of that monarch whose records exist, and from whom we can establish a regular succession. I shall, however, first introduce the names and order of the sovereigns mentioned by Herodotus, Diodorus, Manetho, and Eratosthenes, with a few remarks on the probable origin of the shepherd kings; and then proceed, in the next chapter, to a comparison of the names occurring on the monuments, with the catalogues of the priest of Sebennytus, and other ancient authors. And in order to present a comparative view of the succession from Menes to the invasion of Cambyses, according to Herodotus and Diodorus, I shall arrange the names given by those historians separately in opposite columns. * The old chronicle gives four Memphites to the seventeenth dynasty, and eight Tanites to the sixteenth, which I have followed in preference to the forty-three of Manetho. No. 1. Egyptian dagger, length 11 inches. Salt's Collection. Egyptian kings, according to Herodotus. Menes. 18 Ethiopians and Queen Nitocris. (The Nitocris of Manetho is placed in the 6th Dynasty, and after Suphis the founder of the great pyramid.) Maris, built the Labyrinth and excavated the lake Moris. Sesostris the great conqueror. Pheron his son. -341 Generations (or Kings), " equal to 11,340 (or 5115) years. 330 Sovereigns. Herod. ii. 142. Actisanes the Ethiopian. Mendes, or Marrhus, an Egyptian, who built the labyrinth as a tomb for himself. An interregnum for 5 generations. Rhemphis. Seven Kings, of no note, from one of whom, Nileus, the river was called Nilus, having formerly borne the name of Ægyptus, The eighth was Chembes, or Chemmis, the Memphite. He reigned 50 years, and built the great pyramid. Cephren, his brother, reigned 56 years; others say he was his son, and call him Chabryïs. Mycerinus, or Cherinus, son of the founder of the great pyramid. He began a third, and died before it was finished. Tnephachthus, the Technatis of Plutarch. Bocchoris the Wise, his son. After a long time, Sabacôn the Ethicpian. An interregnum of 2 years. It is singular that Diodorus does not introduce the name of Osymandyas in this list of kings, though he mentions him as a Theban monarch in his description of that city. + Some suppose him to have been Busiris II. Egyptian Kings, according to Herodotus. The 12 Kings reigned over Egypt, Amasis, having usurped the throne, 44 Psammenitus, his son, reigned 6 months. According to Diodorus. Twelve chiefs (monarchs) 18 years. Psammetichus the Saïte, one of them, After 4 generations, came The Dynasties of Egyptian Monarchs, according to Manetho (on the authority of Africanus and Eusebius), are as follows: 1st Dynasty, of 8 Kings, either Thinites or Observations. * The same division of Egypt into 12 provinces, or beyliks, was retained to the time of the Memlooks. 25 25 8. Sesôchris, who was 5 cubits (7 ft. 9. Cheneres (or Keneres). This introduction of the worship of sacred animals is remarkable. ted by Eusebius Altogether Name omit 3d Dynasty, of 9 Memphite Kings. 1. Necheróphes (Echerophes or Necherôchis). In his reign the Libyans revolted from the Egyptians; but alarmed by an unexpected increase of the moon submitted 2. Tosorthrus (or Sesorthus), called Asclepius by the Egyptians, from his 28 29 |