Chapter XXX: Appendix: IV

EGYPTIAN CHRONOLOGY.

“The chronology of Egypt has been a disputed point for centuries. The Egyptians had no cycle, and only dated in the regnal years of their monarchs. The principal Greek sources have been the canon of Ptolemy, drawn up in the second century A.D., and the lists of the dynasties extracted from the historical work of Manetho, an Egyptian priest, who lived in the time of Ptolemy Philadelphus, B.C. 285-247. The discrepancies between these lists and the monuments have given rise to many schemes and rectifications of the chronology. The principal chronological points of information obtained from the monument are the conquest of Egypt by Cambyses, B.C. 527, the commencement of the reign of Psammetichus I, B.C. 665, the reign of Tirhaka, about B.C. 693, and that of Bocchoris, about B.C. 720, the synchronism of the reign of Shishak I with the capture of Jerusalem, about B.C. 970. The principal monuments throwing light on other parts of the chronology are the recorded heliacal risings of Sothis, or the Dog-star, in the reigns of Thothmes III and Rameses II, III, VI, IX, the date of four hundred years from the time of Rameses II to the shepherd kings, the dated sepulchral tablets of the bull Apis at the serapeum, the lists of kings at Sakkarah, Thebes and Abydus, the chronological canon of the Turin papyrus, and other incidental notices. But of the anterior dynasties no certain chronological dates are afforded by the monuments, those hitherto proposed not having stood the test of historical or philological criticism.”--S. Birch, LL.D.: “Guide to the First and Second Egyptian Rooms at the Brit. Museum.” 1874, p. 10.

As some indication of the wide divergence of opinion upon this subject, it is enough to point out that the German Egyptologists alone differ as to the date of Menes or Mena (the first authentic king of the ancient empire), to the following extent:

B. C.
BOECKH places Mena in 5702
UNGER places Mena in 5613
BRUGSCH places Mena in 4455
LAUTH places Mena in 4157
LEPSIUS places Mena in 3892
BUNSEN places Mena in 3623

Mariette, though recognizing the need for extreme caution in the acceptance or rejection of any of these calculations, inclined on the whole to abide by the lists of Manetho; according to which the thirty-four recorded dynasties would stand as follows:

ANCIENT EMPIRE. | NEW EMPIRE.
|
DYNASTIES. CAPITALS. B. C. | DYNASTIES. CAPITALS. B. C.
I. } This { 5004 | XVIII. } { 1703
II. } { 4751 | XIX. } Thebes { 1462
III. } { 4449 | XX. } { 1288
IV. } Memphis { 4235 | XXI. Tanis 1100
V. } { 3951 | XXII. Bubastis 980
VI. Elephantine 3703 | XXIII. Tanis 810
VII.v } | XXIV. Saïs 721
VIII.v } Memphis 3500 | XXV. (Ethiopians) 715
IX. } { 3358 | XXVI. Saïs 665
X. } Heracleopolis { 3240 | XXVII. (Persians) 527
| XXVIII. Saïs 405
MIDDLE EMPIRE. | XXIX. Mendes 399
XI.} { 3064 | XXX. Sebennytis 378
XII.} Thebes { 3064 | XXXI. (Persians) 340
XIII.} { 2851 |
XIV. Xoïs 2398 | LOWER EMPIRE.
XV.} | XXXII. Macedonians 332
XVI.} Shepherd Kings 2214 | XXXII. (Greeks) 305
XVII.} | XXXIV. (Romans) 30

To this chronology may be opposed the brief table of dates compiled by M. Chabas. This table represents what may be called the medium school of Egyptian chronology, and is offered by M. Chabas, “not as an attempt to reconcile systems,” but as an aid to the classification of certain broadly indicated epochs.

B. C. Mena and the commencement of the ancient empire 4000 Construction of the great pyramids 3300 Sixth dynasty 2800 Twelfth dynasty { 2400 { 2000 Shepherd invasion ? Expulsion of Shepherds and commencement of the new empire 1800 Thothmes III 1700 Seti I and Rameses II { 1500 { 1400 Sheshonk (Shishak), the conqueror of Jerusalem 1000 Saïtic dynasties { 700 { 600 Cambyses and the Persians 500 Second Persian conquest 400 { 300 Ptolemies { 200 { 100