Manetho
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Manetho (circa 3rd century BC), alternatively known as Manethon of Sebennytos, was a Hellenistic Egyptian historian and priest of Serapis in Heliopolis during the reigns of Ptolemy I and Ptolemy II.
His magnum opus, Aegyptiaca, written in Greek to contest errors he claimed existed in Herodotus' Histories, was the most important source for the history of Ancient Egypt before the successful decipherment of the Egyptian language by Jean-François Champollion in 1820s. Even now, it remains a major primary source for its aid in compiling and systematizing ancient Egyptian Pharaonic dynasties into the order that still serves as the basis for Egyptian chronology. The titles of his other works include The Sacred Book and An Epitome of Physical Doctrines. Much of what the ancient Greek and Latin authors write about Egyptian religion is believed to come from Manetho's works.
His works were lost over the centuries, except for what was quoted in works of later authors such as Josephus Flavius, Sextus Julius Africanus, Eusebius of Caesarea, and George Syncellus.
By the time of Josephus, it was widely believed that the Hyksos, who ruled Egypt during the Second Intermediate Period, were the same as the Hebrews who were believed to have lived for several generations in Egypt. Because Manetho and some of his followers, such as Apion, voiced the hostility their countrymen felt towards the Hyksos, Josephus believed they were espousing anti-Semitic views, and wrote his pamphlet Against Apion to combat them.
References
- Helck, Hans Wolfgang. 1975. "Manethon (1)". In Der kleine Pauly: Lexikon der Antiek, auf der Grundlage von Pauly’s Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, edited by Konrat Ziegler, Walter Sontheimer, and Hans Gärtner. Vol. 3. München: Alfred Druckenmüller Verlag. 952–953
- Laqueur, Richard. 1928. "Manethon". In Paulys Real-Encyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, edited by August Friedrich von Pauly, Georg Wissowa, and Wilhelm Kroll. Vol. 14 of 24 vols. Stuttgart: Alfred Druckenmüller Verlag. 1060–1106
- Redford, Donald Bruce. 1986a. "The Name Manetho". In Egyptological Studies in Honor of Richard A. Parker Presented on the Occasion of His 78th Birthday, December 10, 1983, edited by Leonard H. Lesko. Hannover and London: University Press of New England. 118–121
- ———. 1986b. Pharaonic King–Lists, Annals and Day–Books: A Contribution to the Study of the Egyptian Sense of History. Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities Publications 4, ser. ed. Loretta M. James. Mississauga: Benben Publications
- ———. 2001. "Manetho". In The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, edited by Donald Bruce Redford. Vol. 2 of 3 vols. Oxford, New York, and Cairo: Oxford University Press and The American University in Cairo Press. 336–337
- Thissen, Heinz-Josef. 1980. "Manetho". In Lexikon der Ägyptologie, edited by Hans Wolfgang Helck, and Wolfhart Westendorf. Vol. 3 of 7 vols. Wiesbaden: Otto Harrassowitz. 1180–1181
- Verbrugghe, Gerald P., and John Moore Wickersham. 1996. Berossos and Manetho, Introduced and Translated: Native Traditions in Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press
- Waddell, William Gillian, ed. 1940. Manetho. The Loeb Classical Library 350, ser. ed. George P. Goold. London and Cambridge: William Heinemann ltd. and Harvard University Press
See also
External Links
- Manetho: A short summary (http://www.eblaforum.org/library/bcah/manetho.html)de:Manetho
eo:Manetono fr:Manéthon de Sebennytos nl:Manetho pl:Manethon