intrinsic value, for they possess none whatever, but of the use which Syncellus made of the worst of them, and the influence they have had, down to our own times, in perplexing the judgment of the Western world. V. THE PSEUDO-MANETHO'S BOOK OF SOTHIS, OR THE DOG-STAR. SYNCELLUS mentions this work in two passages. In the first 145, with reference to his assertion that the antediluvian race dwelt between the sea and Paradise, and that neither the primeval empire of the Chaldees, so greatly vaunted by Berosus and his followers, nor that of the Egyptian Gods, of which so much had been said by the lying and braggard Manetho, were then in existence. After endeavouring to prove this according to his own fashion 146, he returns to Berosus and Manetho, and sneers at "some of our historical critics" evidently Anianus and Panodorus - who have attempted to get rid of the endless myriads of years by reducing the Chaldee Sari to days, as if those periods had any claim whatever to substantial reality. He then quotes to the point two passages of Africanus. In the first, that author denies all credit to the Egyptian astrological dates, which, even when reduced to months, make up still 8000 or 9000 years. In the second, he ridicules the three myriads of the Phoenicians, and the forty-eight of the Chaldees, and substitutes in their stead the Scriptural number of 6500 years B. C. Then follows the Chaldee computation from Alorus to Xisuthus, "the Man of the Flood," which is evidently taken from Berosus, or one of his copyists. Syncellus then goes on to say: "Manetho, the Sebennyte, High Priest of the detestable Egyptian mysteries, who, according to Berosus, lived under Ptolemy Philadelphus, as great a liar as Berosus 145 Syncelli Chronographia, p. 15. himself, writes to this monarch concerning six dynasties, constituting the reigns of seven imaginary Gods, in 11,985 years. The first, Vulcan, reigned, according to him, 9000 years. These 9000 years, again, some of our historical critics have reckoned as months, and thus reduced to 727 years, in their absurd attempts to extract truth out of falsehood." We have here given the entire context of the passage, in order more clearly to shew that this citation of the real work of Manetho belongs entirely to Syncellus, and in no respect to the quotation from Africanus. Routh, therefore, has very properly entertained scruples as to inserting any thing more than these two passages in his collection. We have already shown, in our remarks on his extract from the genuine Manetho, that Eusebius was not aware of the fraud. Then follows, in Syncellus, the list of dynasties of Gods and Heroes, also already quoted on the occasion above referred to. Afterwards147, however, reverting to the work in question, he says: "Manetho, the High Priest of the Egyptian Idols, wrote a fabulous work on the Dog-star 148 under Philadelphus, and dedicated it to that King in the following words 'To the great King Ptolemy Philadelphus, Semper Augustus (BaσT!), Manetho, High Priest and Scribe of the Mysteries of the Temple, by birth a Sebennyte, dwelling in Heliopolis, to my Lord, Ptolemy, hail! All attention is due, greatest of Kings, to whatever thou mayest inquire of us. As thou hast questioned me concerning the future destinies of the world, it shall be declared to thee, as thou hast commanded, what the Holy Books, written by your ancestor, Hermes Trismegistus, have instructed. Farewell, King, my Lord.'" Syncellus further describes him as having declared 147 Syncelli Chronographia, p. 40. 148 Η βίβλος τῆς Σιώθεος. that certain Stelæ, still existing in the Syriadic land, were his authorities. His account of the inscriptions on these supposed Stela, was in the following words "They are in the Sacred Dialect, engraved in Hieroglyphics by Thoth, the first Hermes; but after the Flood, they were transcribed from the Sacred Dialect into the Greek tongue (sic), in Hieroglyphic characters, and deposited by Agathodæmon, the Son of the second Hermes, and father of Tat, in the shrines of the Egyptian Temples." The book so pompously announced, began with the history "of five Egyptian races, under the titles of Gods, Demigods, Manes, and Mortals." 149 36,910 We have already seen, that the sum of the reigns of Gods and Heroes, according to the Book of Sothis (of the Dog-star) embraces 11,985 years. If we add to that the number of the genuine Manetho, which, according to Eusebius, comprises the reigns of Gods, Heroes and Manes, as= - 24,925 years, the sum total will make consequently only 385 years more than the 36,525 years, which constitute the great Sothiac Cycle (25 × 1461), and which it was the impostor's object to make up. It is clear, therefore, that he introduced the cyclical element into the calculation, although wholly foreign to the method of the real Manetho. It were but a waste of time to enter upon any further proof of the spuriousness of this production. Zoëga 150 has remarked that the mention of a second Hermes indicates a late period. But this is a trifle compared with the effrontery of the dedication, and the folly of the introduction. In the former, the false 149 Θεοί, ἡμίθεοι, νέκυες, θνητοί. Ημίθεοι and νέκυες are therefore distinct here as well as in the extract in Eusebius. 150 Zoëga de Obelisc. p. 881. Manetho announces to his Lord and Master, that he will, as requested by him, unfold the mysteries of the future: instead of which, the genuine Manetho described the Past and the Antiquities of his nation. The latter derived his information from records and monuments, by the testimony of which his own authority is now again vindicated in the most triumphant manner. The former appeals to "Stela in the Syriadic country," to which our attention has already been turned in the introduction of the Egyptian traditions. The first Hermes had engraven the lore of primeval ages on those monuments in the Sacred Dialect with Hieroglyphic characters. After the Flood, Agathodæmon, the father of Thoth, translated them from that sacred language into Greek-but still in Hieroglyphic characters! No less fabulous are the "five Races," which he makes to consist of Gods, Demigods, Manes, Mortals, and probably the historical Kings (of Egypt). Lastly, the language is purely Hellenistic, no trace of which is found in the fragments of the genuine Manetho. This book therefore is clearly a very contemptible counterfeit of a late period, compiled for astrological purposes. But the credit of the genuine work of Manetho was exposed to still severer assaults according to the same Syncellus. VI. THE SO-CALLED OLD EGYPTIAN CHRONICLE. "THE Egyptians," says Syncellus 151, "BOAST of a certain old chronicle, by which also, in my opinion, Manetho" (the impostor)" was led astray." It comprises an immeasurable period, different from that of Manetho, of 30 Dynasties, in 113 generations, and 36,525 years, first of Gods, then of Demigods, thirdly of Egyptians; such are its terms, almost literally "word for word." 151 Chronog. p. 51. See Appendix of Authorities, A. III. The origin of this fiction is obvious. Its object, as well as that of the Pseudo-Manetho, is to represent the great year of the world of 36,525 years, or 25 Sothiac cycles. The timeless space of the Book of Sothis becomes the rule of Vulcan, the first of the Gods, through a mystic comparison of that deity with eternal light. To Helios, instead of the modest 9000 years of the first divine reign in the Pseudo-Manetho, three round myriads are assigned. The number fixed for the other Gods 3984 is quite original; perhaps it may not be mere accident, that it agrees with the computation of some chronographers for the period from the creation to the birth of Christ. The Dynasty of the Demigods. (217) reflects the same judicious moderation as in the scheme of the Pseudo-Manetho, where the number, as we have seen above, is 214. Then comes a series of |