CHAPTER III.

THE LEGENDARY PERIOD.

 

The fact that the ancient Egyptians of the historical period attempted to formulate their hazy ideas concerning the predynastic period of their history and its duration is made known to us by certain of the versions of the King List of Manetho, which have been preserved by George the Syncellus. The statements which refer to this period that are found in them, as well as the numbers of years which the gods, demi­gods, kings, ghosts, etc., are alleged to have reigned, prove that those who drew up the materials from which Manetho compiled his King List had no correct knowledge of the duration of the Predynastic Period in Egypt or even of the early Dynastic Period, and it is now quite clear that even in the time of the XIXth Dynasty its history had long since degenerated into legend and a confused mass of hopelessly mixed tradition. According to George the Syncellus the Egyptians possessed a “certain tablet called the “Old Chronicle, containing thirty dynasties in 113 descents, during the long period of 36,525 years. The first series of princes was that of the Auritae, the second was that of the Mestraeans, and the third of Egyptians.” The reign of the gods was as follows:—

HEPHAISTOS , to whom “ is assigned no time, as he “is apparent both by day and by night.”

HELIOS , the son of Hephaistos, reigned 30,000 years.

KRONOS , and the other twelve gods, reigned 3984 years.

Demi-gods, eight in number, reigned 217 years.

The 30 dynasties of kings reigned 2324 years, and thus we get a grand total of 36,525 years for the duration of the Predynastic and Dynastic Periods in Egypt. The Syncellus goes on to say that the period of 36,525 years equals 25 times 1461 years, and that it “relates to the fabled periodical revolution of the zodiac among the Egyptians and Greeks, that is, its revolution from a particular point to the same again, which point is the first minute of the first degree of that equinoctial sign which they call the Ram, as itis explained in the Genesis of Hermes and in the Cyrannian books.”

According to Eusebius1 the duration of the Predynastic and Dynastic Periods was as follows :—

I. Gods                                                      13,900 years.

II.  Demi-gods

1. Demi-gods                                 1,255

2. Other kings                               1,817

3. Thirty Memphite kings           1,790

4. Ten kings of This                         350

III. Manes                                                  5,813

                                          Total                24,925 years.

According to Manetho and Panodorus the Divine Dynasties were as follows :—

I. Gods                                 (Panodorus)                      (Manetho)

                                                   Years.                              Years.

1. Hephaistos                             727’3/4                         9,000

2. Helios                                     80’1/6                               992

3. Agathodaemon                     56’1/2                                700

4. Kronos                                   40’1/2                                501

5. Osiris and Isis                        35                                      433

6. Typhon                                   29                                       359

                                                  --------                               -----------

                                                    969                                    11,985

 

II. Demi-gods                      (Panodorus)                       (Manetho)

                                                   Years.                                   Years.

7. Horus                                     25                                           100

8. Ares                                        23                                             92

9. Anubis                                   17                                               68

10. Herakles                             15                                               60

11. Apollo                                  25                                               100

12. Ammon                               30                                               120

13. Tithoes                                 27                                               108

14. Sosus                                   32                                                 128

15. Zeus                                     20                                                  80

              (Wanting)                    ½                       (wanting)         2

                                                 -------                                          --------

                                                 214’1/2                                            858

Thus according to Manetho the reigns of the Gods and Demi-gods lasted about 12,843 years, and according to Panodorus about 11,834 years. The beings who are thus described as “Gods” and “Demi-gods” may or may not have been primeval chiefs or heads of tribes, but there can be little doubt that by the words demigods  we are to understand an allusion to the dead chiefs who flourished during the period which immediately preceded that of the 1st Dynasty. The demigods are in fact neither more nor less than the well-known “ Shemsu Heru,” or “Followers of Horus,” a class of beings who are mentioned frequently in Egyptian literature from the earliest times, and who seem to have introduced a higher grade of civilization into Egypt; possibly they came, as has been said above, from the East by way of the upper part of the Nile Valley. Of such chiefs or kings traces have been found, and a number of tombs which have been declared to be, and probably are, their sepulchres have been excavated during the years 1900 and 1901 at Abydos. With these we may not now class that of KHENT, who was certainly a successor of Mena, or Menes. The sign which expressed his name was, at a very early period, identified with the epithet applied to the god Osiris as “chief” of Amenti, and in the XIXth Dynasty, and probably earlier, we find that the tomb of the king KHENT was regarded as that of the god. Possibly the earliest king of the group was TE or DE, the symbol of his name being the hand. With this king must also be mentioned two monarchs who reigned over Upper Egypt who were called Re, or Ro, and Ka. From the evidence now forthcoming we are justified in saying that long before the unification of the rule of the Nile Valley under Mena, Upper Egypt, i.e., the country from the Fayyum on the north to about Silsila on the south, and Lower Egypt, i.e., the Delta and a small portion of Middle Egypt, existed as two entirely distinct and independent kingdoms. The kingdom of Lower Egypt was probably the older, that is to say, it seems to have been inhabited by the descendants of the aboriginal north-east African race who were conquered by the Shemsu Heru, or the “Followers of Horus”, i.e., the founders of the historical kingdom which had its beginning in Upper Egypt. This fact is proved by the use of the word SUTEN in the Egyptian language of the historical period; originally the SUTEN was the “king of Upper Egypt,” and the king of Lower Egypt was called NET or BAt, a word which has been conjectured to be of Libyan origin. It is worthy of note that in the group which means “King of the South and North,” the sign for “king of the South” precedes that of “king of the North.” Now gradually the word SUTEN gained the meaning of king, par excellence, a signification which the word NET or BAT never acquired. The fact that the Egyptians themselves always regarded their country as composed of two kingdoms, i.e., Upper and Lower Egypt, is proved by the two crowns which are usually united on the heads of their sovereigns. The crown of Upper Egypt was represented by the sign and was called HETCHET h, because of its “white” colour, and the crown of Lower Egypt was called TESHERT , because of its “red” colour; the united crowns were represented by a sign which has been commonly but erroneously read “Pschent,” the correct reading being, of course, “Sekhet.” Egyptian kings of the dynastic period were never tired of calling themselves “Lord of the two lands,”  a title which we now know must refer to the two kingdoms of the South and North, and not to the ATEBUI, or east and west banks of the Nile. Moreover, in the earliest dynastic times the king of all Egypt was already distinguished by the title i.e., “lord of the city of the goddess Nekhebet,” and “ lord of the city of the goddess Uatchet,” i.e., “lord of Eileithyiapolis and Buto,” which were held to be the representative cities of the South and the North. The idea of the union of the South and the North was symbolically expressed by the hieroglyphic which was intended to represent the tying together of the papyrus and lotus, plants which typified the South and the North respectively; the sign is read “ SAM TAUI,” i.e., “union of the two lands,” and is found engraved on the thrones of seated statues of kings. The first instance of its use occurs on a vase of King Besh, i.e., Kha-sekhem (Kha-sekhemui), the Betchau of the King Lists.

We have already stated that of the independent kings of Upper Egypt the names of three are known, i.e., Te or De, and Re, and Ka; of certain of the early independent kings of Lower Egypt we have a most interesting record on a monument which is preserved in the Museum of Palermo in Sicily, and of which an interesting account has been written by Signor A. Pellegrini. The inscriptions upon this monument or stele show that when complete it probably contained a list of the festivals celebrated in honour of various gods by kings who reigned before the end of the Vth Dynasty; it is important to remember in considering what follows that this monument itself dates from the Vth Dynasty, and that it is not removed from the predynastic period by an interval of time greater than 500 years. In the uppermost register occur the following names of predynastic kings of Lower Egypt, and each name is followed by the hieroglyphic for a seated king who is wearing the crown of Lower Egypt only on his head.

1.                 SEKA 2. TESAU 3. TAU 4. THESH5. NEHEB 6. UATCH NAR 7. MEKHA

When and exactly where these kings reigned cannot be said, but it seems certain that they were independent kings of Lower Egypt who reigned before the time of Mena, or Menes.