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SEBENNYTUS (Ancient city) EGYPT
(Manethos or Manethon). An Egyptian, a priest at Heliopolis in the reign of the
first Ptolemy (B.C. 283-246), and who was the first Egyptian to give in Greek
an account of the history and religion of his native country. One work was entitled
Ton Phusikon Epitome, dealing with the theology of the Egyptians and with the
origin of the world; the second was styled Aiguptiake Historia, and in three books
treated of Aegyptian chronology and history. The first book covers the mythical
period prior to the eleventh dynasty; the second, from the eleventh to the twentieth;
the third, from the twentieth dynasty to the reign of Nectanebus, the last native
Egyptian king. The original works of Manetho are lost, but copious extracts remain
preserved by the ecclesiastical writers, especially Iulius Africanus, Eusebius,
and Georgius Syncellus. The sources of Manetho's history were the early archives
and sacred books of Egypt, and in recent years much corroborative evidence of
the truth of what he wrote has been derived by Egyptologists from the hieroglyphics
and other sources. The fragments of Manetho are collected and edited by C. Muller
in his Frag. Hist. Graec. (Paris, 1856). A long astrological poem in six books
and entitled Apotelesmatika, once ascribed to Manetho, is now regarded as written
several centuries later than his time. It is edited by Axt and Rigler (Cologne,
1832), and Kochly (1858).
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Manetho (Manethos or Manethon), an Egyptian priest of the town of Sebennytus, who lived
in the reign of Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, and probably also in that of his successor,
Ptolemy Philadelphus. He had in antiquity the reputation of having attained the
highest possible degree of wisdom (Syncellus, Chronogr.; Plut. de Is. et Os. 9;
Aelian, H. A. x. 16), and it seems to have been this very reputation which induced
later impostors to fabricate books, and publish them under his name. The fables
arid mystical fancies which thus became current as the productions of the Egyptian
sage, were the reason why Manetho was looked upon even by some of the ancients
themselves as a half mythical personage, like Epimienides of Crete, of whose personal
existence and history no one was able to form any distinct notion. The consequence
has been, that the fragments of his genuine work did not meet, down to the most
recent times, with that degree of attention which they deserved, although the
inscriptions on the Egyptian monuments furnish the most satisfactory confirmation
of some portions of his work that have come down to us. It was a further consequence
of this mythical uncertainty by which his personal existence became surrounded,
that some described him as a native of Diospolis (Thebes), the great centre of
priestly learning among the Egyptians, or as a high priest at Heliopolis (Suid.
s. v. Manethos). There can be no doubt that Manetho belonged to the class of priests,
but whether he was high-priest of Egypt is uncertain, since we read this statement
only in some MSS. of Suidas, and in one of the productions of the Pseudo-Manetho.
Respecting his personal history scarcely anything is known, beyond the fact that
he lived in the reign of the first Ptolemy, with whom he came in contact in consequence
of his wisdom and learning. Plutarch (de Is. et Osir. 28) informs us, that the
king was led by a dream to order a colossal statue of a god to be fetched from
Sinope to Egypt. When the statue arrived, Ptolemy requested his interpreter Timotheus
and Manetho of Sebennytus to inquire which god was represented in the statue.
Their declaration that the god represented was Serapis, the Osiris of the lower
world or Pluto, induced the king to build a temple to him, and establish his worship.
The circumstance to which Manetho owes his great reputation in antiquity
as well as in modern times is, that he was the first Egyptian who gave in the
Greek language an account of the doctrines, wisdom, history, and chronology of
his country, and based his information upon the ancient works of the Egyptians
themselves, and more especially upon their sacred books. The object of his works
was thus of a twofold nature, being at once theological and historical. (Euseb.
Praep. Ev. ii. init.; Theodoret. Serm. II. de Therap.)
The work in which he explained the doctrines of the Egyptians concerning
the gods, the laws of morality, the origin of the gods and the world, seems to
have borne the title of Ton phusikon epitome. (Diog. Laert. Prooem. 10, 11.) Various
statements, which were derived either from this same or a similar work, are preserved
in Plutarch's treatise De Iside et Osiri (cc. 8, 9, 49, 62, 73; comp. Procl. ad
Hesiod. Op. et D. 767), and in some other writers, who confirm the statements
of Plutarch. (Iamblich. de Myster. viii. 3; Aelian, H. A. x. 16; Porphyr. de Abstin.
p. 199.)
Suidas mentions a work on (Cyphi, or the sacred incense of the Egyptians,
its preparation and mixture, as taught in the sacred books of the Egyptians, and
the same work is referred to by Plutarch at the end of his above-mentioned treatise.
In all the passages in which statements from Manetho are preserved concerning
the religious and moral doctrines of the Egyptians, he appears as a man of a sober
and intelligent mind, and of profound knowledge of the religious affairs of his
own country; and the presumption therefore must be, that in his historical works,
too, his honesty was not inferior to his learning, and that he ought not to be
made responsible for the blunders of transcribers and copyists, or the forgeries
of later impostors.
The historical productions of Manetho, although lost, are far better
known than his theological works. Josephus (Ant. Jud. i. 3. 9) mentions the great
work under the title of History of Egypt, and quotes some passages verbatim from
it, which show that it was a pleasing narrative in good Greek (c. Apion. i. 14,
&c.). The same author informs us that Manetho controverted and corrected many
of the statements of Herodotus. But whether this was done in a separate work,
as we are told by some writers, who speak of a treatise Pros Herodoton (Eustath.
ad Hom.; Etym. Magn. s. v. Leontokomos), or whether this treatise was merely an
extract from the work of Manetho, made by later compilers or critics of Herodotus,
is uncertain. The Egyptian history of Manetho was divided into three parts or
books; the first contained the history of the country previous to the thirty dynasties,
or what may be termed the mythology of Egypt, as it gave the dynasties of the
gods, concluding with those of mortal kings, of whom the first eleven dynasties
formed the conclusion of the first book. The second opened with the twelfth and
concluded with the nineteenth dynasty, and the third gave the history of the remaining
eleven dynasties, and concluded with an account of Nectanebus, the last of the
native Egyptian kings. (Syncell. Chronog. p. 97, &c.) These dynasties are preserved
in Julius Africanus and Eusebius (most correct in the Armenian version), who,
however, has introduced various interpolations. A thirty-first dynasty, which
is added under the name of Manetho, and carries the list of kings down to Dareius
Codomannus, is undoubtedly a later fabrication. The duration of the first period
described in the work of Manetho was calculated by him to be 24,900 years, and
the thirty dynasties, beginning with Menes, filled a period of 3555 years. The
lists of the Egyptian kings and the duration of their several reigns were undoubtedly
derived by him from genuine documents, and their correctness, so far as they are
not interpolated, is said to be confirmed by the inscribed monuments which it
has been the privilege of our time to decipher. (Comp. Schell, Gesch. der Griech.
Lit.; Bunsen, Aegypt. Stelle in der Weltgesch.)
There exists an astrological poem, entitled Apotelesmatika, in six
books, which bears the name of Manetho; but it is now generally acknowledged that
this poem, which is mentioned also by Suidas, cannot have been written before
the fifth century of our era. A good edition of it was published some years ago
by C. A. M. Axt and F. A. Rigler, Cologne, 1832, 8vo. Whether this poem was written
with a view to deception, under the name of Manetho, or whether it is actually
the production of a person of that name, is uncertain.
But there is a work which is undoubtedly a forgery, and was made with
a view to harmonise the chronology of the Jews and Christians with that of the
Egyptians. This work is often referred to by Syncellus (Chron. pp. 27, 30), who
says that the author lived in the reign of Ptolemy Philadelphs, and wrote a work
on the Dog Star (he Biblos tes sotheos). which he dedicated to the king, whom
he called Sebastos (Syncell. Chron.). The very introduction to this book, which
Syncellus quotes, is so full of extraordinary things and absurdities, that it
clearly betrays its late author, who, under the illustrious name of the Egyptian
historian, hoped to deceive the world.
The work of the genuine Manetho was gradually superseded: first by
epitomisers, by whom the genuine history and chronology were obscured; next by
the hasty work of Eusebius, and the interpolations he made, for the purpose of
supporting his system; afterwards by the impostor who assumed the name of Manetho
of Sebennytus, and mixed truth with falsehood; and lastly by a chronicle, in which
the dynasties of Manetho were arbitrarily arranged according to certain cycles
(Syncell. Chron.). For a more minute account of the manner in which the chronology
of Manetho was gradually corrupted see the excellent work of Bunsen above referred
to, vol. i. p. 256, &c.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
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