that, in the intei-val from his reign to that of Sethon, the solar risings of stars — that is to say, their manifes- tations— had twice fallen on those days of the Vague Year on wliich their settings fell in their time, and vice versa; and that tlie historian, by a natural mis- take, supposed they spoke of the sun itself." Menes appears to have been a Thinite king, of the city of This, near Abydus, in Upper Egj'pt. Herodotus as- cribes the building of the city of Memphis to him, while Manetho saj's that he made a foreign expedition and acquired renown, and that eventually he was killed by a hippopotamus. Menes, after a long reign, was succeeded by his son Athothis, who was the sec- ond king of the first dynasty. Manetho saj-s that he built the palace at Memphis, that he was a phj-si- cian, and left anatomical books ; all of these state- ments implying that even at this early period the Egyptians were in a high state of civilization. About the time of Athothis, the od dynastj' is supposed, according to the scheme which seems most reasona- ble, to have commenced, and Memphis to have be- come independent, giving its name to five dynasties of kings— 3d, 4th, 6th, 7th, and 8th. The 1st" Thinite dynasty probablj' lasted about two centuries and a half. Of the 2d very little has reached us ; under one of the kings it was determined that women could hold the sovereign power ; in the time of another it was fabled, says Manetho, that the Nile flowed mixed with honey for the space of eleven days. The dura- tion of this dynast}' was probably between 300 and 400 years, and it seems to have come to a close at the time of the Shepherd invasion. The 3d (Memphite) dynast}', after having lasted about 200 years, was suc- ceeded by the 4th, one of the most famous of the lines which ruled in P3gy])t ; while the 5th dynasty of Ele- phantinite kings arose at tlie same time. This was emphatically tlie period of the pyramids, the earliest of which was jirobaljly the northern pyramid of Abu- Sir, supposed to have been the tomb of Soris or Shu- rai, the head of the 4th dynasty. He was succeeded by two kings of the name of Suphis, the first of whom, the Cheops of Herodotus, the Shujihu of the monu- ments, was probably the builder of tlie great pyramid. On these wondrous monuments we find traces at that remote period of the advanced state of civilization of later ages. The cursive character scrawled on the stones by the masons proves that writing had been long in common iise. Many of the blocks brought from Syene are built together in the pyramids of Ghi- zeh in a manner unrivalled at any period. The same manners and customs are portrayed on them as on the later monuments. The same boats are used, the same costume of the priests, the same trades, such as glass- blowing and cabinet-making. At the beginning of the 4th dynasty, moreover, tlie peninsula of Sinai was in the possession of the Egyptians, and its copper mines were worked by them. The duration of this dvnasty probably exceeded two centuries, and it was followed by the Gth. The 5th dynasty of Eltphantin- ites, as just remarked, began the same time as the 4th. The names of several of its kings occur in the Necrop- olis of Memphis. The most important of them is Se- phres, the Shuphra of the monuments, the Cliephren of Herodotus, and Chephren of Diodorus. This dy- nasty lasted nearly GOO years. Of the Gth dynasty, which lasted about 150 years, the two most famous sovereigns are Phiops or Pejii and queen Nitocris. The former is said to have ruled for a hundred years. With the latter the dynasty closed; for at tliis period Lower Egypt was invaded liy the Shepherds, who en- tered the country from the north-east, about 700 years after Menes, and eventually drove the Memphites from the throne. Of the 7th and 8th dynasties noth- ing is known with certainty; they probably followed the loth. To the former of them, one version of Ma- netho assigns a duration of 70 da}-s, and 150 years to the latter. The 8th dynasty of Heracleopolites, or,
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more proper!}', of Hermonthites, as Sir G. Wilkinson has suggested (Kawlinson's Herod, ii, 293), arose while the 6th was in power. Little is known of either the 9th or 10th dynasties, which together may have lasted nearly GOO years, ending at the time of the great Sliep- herd war of expulsion, which resulted in the over- throw of all the royal lines except the Diospolite or Theban. With the 11th dynasty commenced the Di- ospolite kingdom, which subsequently attained to greater power than any other. Amenenihet I was the last and most famous king of this dynasty, and during part of his reign he was co-regent of Osirtasen or Sesertesen I, head of the 12th. An epoch is marked in Egyptian history by the commencement of this dy- nasty, since the Shepherd rule, which lasted for 500 years, is coeval with it. The three Osirtasens flour- ished in this dynasty, the second of whom is probably the Sesostris of Manetho. It began about Abraham's time, or somewhat later. In ancient sculptures in Nubia we lind kings of the 18th dynasty worshipping Osirtasen III as a god, and this is the only case of the kind. The third Osirtasen was succeeded by Amenemhet III, supposed to be the Moeris of Herodo- tus, who built the lal)yrinth. After the reigns of two other sovereigns, this dynasty came to a close, having lasted about 160 years. The 13th dynasty, which lasted some 400 years, probably b^gan before the close of the r2th. The kings of thi.", dynasty were of little power, and probably tributo-vy to the Shepherds. The Diospolites, indeed, did not recover their prosporitj' till the beginning of the 13th dynasty. The 14th, or Xoite dynasty, seems to have risen with the 12th. It was named from Xois, a town of Lower Egj'pt, in the northern part of the Delta. It maj'^ have lasted for nearly 500 j-ears, and probably terminated during the great Shepherd war. The 15th, 16th, and 17th dynas- ties are those of the Shepherds. Who these foreign- ers were who are said to have subdued Egj'pt without a battle is a question of great uncertaintj'. Their name is called Hyksos by Manetho, which is variously interpreted to mean shepherd kings, or foreign shep- herds. Thejj^ have been pronounced to have been As- syrians, Sc^'thians, ^Ethiopians, Phoenicians, and Ar- abs. The kings of the loth dj'nasty were the greatest of the foreign rulers. The kings of the IGth and 17th dj'nasties are very obscure. Mr. Poole says there are strong reasons for supposing that the kings of the 16th were of a different race from those of the 15th, and that they may have been Assj'rians. Having held possession of Egj'pt 511, or, according to the longest date, 625 j'ears, the Shepherds were driven out by Ames, or Amosis, the first king of the 18th dynasty ; and the whole country was then united under one king, who rightly claimed the title of lord of the two regions, or of Upper and Lower Egj'pt.