CHAPTER VIII

HISTORICAL LITERATURE

The historical period of Egyptian history, that is to say, the period during which Egypt was ruled by kings, each one calling himself NESU-BATI, or “King of the South, King of the North,” covers about 4400 years according to some Egyptologists, and 3300 years according to others.  Of the kings of All Egypt who reigned during the period we know the names of about two hundred, but only about one hundred and fifty have left behind them monuments that enable us to judge of their power and greatness.  There is no evidence to show that the Egyptians ever wrote history in our sense of the word, and there is not in existence any native work that can be regarded as a history of Egypt.  The only known attempt in ancient times to write a history of Egypt was that made by Manetho, a skilled scribe and learned man, who, in the reign of Ptolemy II Philadelphus (289-246 B.C.), undertook to write a history of the country, which was to be placed in the Great Library at Alexandria.  The only portion of this History that has come down to us is the List of Kings, which formed a section of it; this List, in a form more or less accurate, is extant in the works of Africanus and Eusebius.  According to the former 553 or 554 kings ruled over Egypt in 5380 years, and according to the latter 421 or 423 kings ruled over Egypt in 4547 or 4939 years.  It is quite certain that the principal acts and wars of each king were recorded by the court scribes, or official “remembrancer” or “recorder” of the day, and there is no doubt that such records were preserved in the “House of Books,” or Library, of the local temple for reference if necessary.  If this were not so it would have been impossible for the scribes of the eighteenth and nineteenth dynasties to compile the lists of kings found on the Palermo Stone, and in the Turin Papyrus, and on the Tablets set up by Seti I and Rameses II at Abydos, and on the Tablet of Ancestors at Karnak.  These Lists, however, seem to show that the learned scribes of the later period were not always sure of the true sequence of the names, and that when they were dealing with the names of the kings of the first two dynasties they were not always certain even about the correct spelling and reading of their names.  The reason why the Egyptians did not write the history of their country from a general point of view is easily explained.  Each king wished to be thought as great as possible, and each king’s courtiers lost no opportunity of showing that they believed him to be the greatest king who had sat on the throne of Egypt.  To magnify the deeds of his ancestors was neither politic nor safe, nor did it lead to favours or promotion.  In no inscription of their descendants do we find the mighty deeds and great conquests of Amenemhat III, or of Usertsen III, or of Thothmes III, praised or described, and no court scribe ever dared to draft a text stating that these were truly three of the greatest