Appendix II. Biblical Dates.
b.c. 1348-1281. Ramses ii., the Pharaoh of the Oppression, and builder of Pithom.
Cir. 1200. Campaign of Ramses iii. in Judah and Moab.
Cir. 960. Solomon marries the daughter of the Tanite Pharaoh, and receives Gezer.
Cir. 925. Shishak (Shashanq i.) invades Palestine and takes Jerusalem.
Cir. 900. Invasion of Judah by Zerah (Osorkon ii.)
725. Hoshea of Israel makes alliance with So of Egypt.
720. Sargon defeats the “Pharaoh” and Sibe his general at Raphia.
701. Defeat of Tirhakah by Sennacherib at Eltekeh.
674. Invasion of Egypt by Esar-haddon.
670. Tirhakah driven from the frontier to Memphis and thence to Ethiopia.
668. Revolt of Egypt suppressed by Assur-bani-pal.
665. Destruction of Thebes (No-Amon) by the Assyrians.
609. Necho invades Asia; defeat and death of Josiah.
605. Necho defeated at Carchemish by Nebuchadrezzar; loss of Asiatic possessions.
Cir. 585. The Jews fly to Egypt, carrying Jeremiah with them.
567. Egypt invaded by Nebuchadrezzar.
[pg 317]320. Palestine seized by Ptolemy i.; many Jews settled by him in Egypt.
Cir. 280. The Greek translation of the Old Testament commenced.
167. Onias permitted by Ptolemy Philometor to build the temple at Onion.
4. Flight of the Holy Family into Egypt.
a.d. 70. Vespasian orders the prefect Lupus to close the temple at Onion.
Appendix III. The Greek Writers Upon Egypt.
(1) Hekataios of Miletos, tyrant, statesman, and writer, b.c. 500-480. Sent as ambassador to the Persians after the suppression of the Ionic revolt. Travelled in Egypt as far as Thebes. His account of Egypt contained in his great work on geography, now lost.
(2) Thales of Miletos, philosopher, b.c. 500. Wrote on the causes of the inundation of the Nile.
(3) Hellanikos of Mytilênê, historian, b.c. 420. Wrote an account of Egypt and a journey to the oasis of Ammon, now lost.
(4) Herodotos of Halikarnassos, historian, b.c. 445-430. Travelled in Egypt as far as the Fayyûm. His account of Egypt chiefly contained in the second book of his histories.
(5) Demokritos of Abdera, philosopher, b.c. 405. Spent five years in Egypt, and wrote books on geography and on the Ethiopic hieroglyphics, now lost.
(6) Aristagoras of Miletos, b.c. 350. Wrote a history of Egypt in at least two books, now lost.
(7) Eudoxos of Knidos, philosopher. Visited Egypt in b.c. 358, and wrote an account of it in his work on geography, now lost.
(8) Leo of Pella, b.c. 330. Wrote a book on the Egyptian gods, now lost.
(9) Hekataios of Abdera, b.c. 300. Lived at the court [pg 327] of Ptolemy i., travelled up the Nile and examined the Theban temples. Wrote a history of Egypt, the first book of which was on Egyptian philosophy, now lost. The account of the Ramesseum (the temple of Osymandyas or Usir-mâ-Ra) given by Diodôros is derived from his work.
(10) Manetho, Egyptian priest of Sebennytos, b.c. 270. Compiled the history of Egypt in Greek from the records contained in the temples. Corrected many of the errors of Herodotos, according to Josephus. The work was divided into three parts, and Josephus quotes from it the account of the Hyksos conquest, the list of the kings of the eighteenth dynasty, and the Egyptian legend of the Israelitish Exodus. An epitome of the history was probably added at the end of the work. We know it from the list of dynasties quoted by the Christian writers Julius Africanus (a.d. 220) and Eusebius, both of whom endeavoured to harmonise its chronology with that of the Old Testament. The work of Africanus is lost, but the list of dynasties has been preserved by Georgios the Synkellos or Coadjutor of the Patriarch of Constantinople (a.d. 792), who has added two other lists professedly from Manetho, but really from post-Christian forgeries (“The Old Chronicle” and “The Book of Sôthis”). Eusebius quotes from a copyist of Africanus, or some unknown copyist of Manetho himself, and his list has been preserved (like that of Africanus) by George the Synkellos, as well as in an Armenian translation. Manetho also wrote (in Greek) on Egyptian festivals and religion, but all his works are lost.
(11) Eratosthenes of Kyrênê, geographer, chronologist, astronomer and mathematician, b.c. 275-194. Librarian of the Alexandrine Museum under Ptolemy iv. First fixed the latitude of places by measuring the length of the sun's shadow at noon on the longest day in Alexandria and then [pg 328] calculating the distance to Assuan, where there was no shadow at all. In his work on chronology (now lost) he gave a list of Theban kings, selected from the various dynasties, like the lists of Karnak or Abydos. This has been preserved, along with an attempt to translate the meaning of the names. The translations, however, are erroneous, as they are made from the Greek forms of the names compared with words then current in the decaying Egyptian of the day.
(12) Ptolemy of Megalopolis, b.c. 200. Wrote a history of Ptolemy Philopator, now lost.
(13) Kallixenos of Rhodes, b.c. 210. Wrote a description of Alexandria in four or more books, now lost.
(14) Philistos of Naukratis, b.c. 225. Wrote a description of Naukratis, a history of Egypt in twelve books, and an account of Egyptian religion in three books: all lost.
(15) Kharôn of Naukratis, b.c. 160. Wrote on Naukratis and on the succession of the Ptolemaic priests; the works are lost.
(16) Lykeas of Naukratis, b.c. 160. Wrote an account of Egypt, now lost.
(17) Agatharkhides of Knidos, geographer and historian, b.c. 120. Gave an account of the working of the Egyptian gold-mines (in his geographical work on the Red Sea) which has been preserved by Photios.
(18) Lysimakhos of Alexandria, b.c. 50. Wrote a history of Egypt containing the Egyptian legend of the Hebrew Exodus, which has been preserved by Josephus.
(19) L. Cornelius Alexander Polyhistor, b.c. 82-60. Wrote an account of Egypt in three books; now lost.
(20) Diodôros of Sicily (Diodorus Siculus), historian, travelled in Egypt, b.c. 57, published his great historical work, called Bibliothêkê, b.c. 28. The first book of it devoted [pg 329] to Egypt and Ethiopia. Quoted largely from Herodotos, Hekataios of Abdera, Ephoros and other authors now lost. We are dependent on him for a connected history of Egypt during the Persian period.
(21) Ptolemy of Mendes, historian, a.d. 1. Wrote a history of Egypt in three (?) books, now lost.
(22) Strabo of Amasia, geographer, a.d. 20. Travelled in Egypt. The last (17th) book of his great work on geography is devoted to Egypt.
(23) Apion of El-Khargeh, grammarian and historian, a.d. 40. Pleaded for the Alexandrines against Philo and the Jews before Caligula. Wrote a history of Egypt in five books, the third of which discussed the Hebrew Exodus; now lost.
(24) Khairêmôn of Naukratis, stoic philosopher, a.d. 50. Was Nero's teacher. Wrote an account of Egypt and an explanation of the hieroglyphics; now lost.
(25) Josephus, son of the Jewish priest Matthias, born a.d. 37, received his freedom and the name of Flavius, a.d. 69. Quotes from Manetho, Lysimakhos, etc., in his Antiquities of the Jews and Contra Apionem.
(26) Plutarch of Khaironeia, moralist, a.d. 125. Wrote at Delphi his treatise on Isis and Osiris, which is of great value for the history of the Osiris-myth.
(27) Ptolemy of Alexandria, geographer, a.d. 160. Egypt is thoroughly and scientifically treated in his great work on geography.
(28) St. Clement of Alexandria, head of the Alexandrine (Christian) School, a.d. 191-220. Many references to Egyptian history and religion in his Strômateis. He divides Egyptian writing into hieroglyphic, hieratic and epistolographic (or demotic), the first being further divided into alphabetic and symbolic, and the symbolic characters into imitative, figurative and rebus-like.
[pg 330](29) Julius Africanus, Christian apologist, wrote in a.d. 221 his Chronology, in five books; now lost.
(30) Porphyry of Batanea, a.d. 233-305, wrote a history of the Ptolemies; now lost.
(31) Eusebios, bishop of Cæsarea, published in a.d. 326 his Chronicle, containing a list of Manetho's dynasties. The work has been preserved in an Armenian translation.
(32) Horapollo of Nilopolis, grammarian, a.d. 390, wrote a work on the hieroglyphics in Coptic, which was translated into Greek by Philippos. Only the ideographic values of the characters are given, but they are mostly correct.
Appendix IV. Archæological Excursions In The Delta.
(1) Tel el-Yehudîyeh or Onion.—Take the train from Cairo at 10 a.m., reaching Shibîn el-Qanâter at 12.25. Leave Shibîn el-Qanâter at 5.57 p.m., reaching Cairo at 6.50. Donkeys can be procured at Shibîn, but it is a pleasant walk of a mile and a half through the fields (towards the south-east) to the Tel. There is a café at Shibîn adjoining the station, but it is advisable to take lunch from Cairo.
(2) Kôm el-Atrib or Athribis.—The mounds lie close to the station of Benha el-´Asal, north-east of the town, and can easily be explored between two trains. All trains between Cairo and Alexandria stop at Benha.
(3) Naukratis.—The mounds of Naukratis (Kôm Qa´if) lie nearly five miles due west of the station of Teh el-Barûd on the line between Cairo and Alexandria, where all trains stop except the express. The first half of the walk is along a good road under an avenue of trees, but after a village is reached it leads through fields. Donkeys are not always to be had at Teh el-Barûd. The low mounds west of the station are not earlier than the Roman period.
(4) Kanôpos or Aboukir.—A train leaves the Ramleh station at Alexandria at 7.40 a.m., and reaches Aboukir at 10.42 a.m., returning from Aboukir at 4.42 p.m. It is a short walk northwards from the station to the temple of Zephyrion discovered by Daninos Pasha in 1891. Then [pg 332] walk eastward along the shore, where the rocks have been cut into baths and numerous relics of antiquity lie half-covered by the waves.
(5) The Monument of Darius, near Suez.—A ride of rather more than five miles through the desert north of Suez along the line of the Freshwater Canal brings us to the fragments of one of the granite stelæ erected by Darius to commemorate his re-opening of the Canal between the Red Sea and the Nile. Traces of the cuneiform and hieroglyphic inscriptions can still be detected upon some of them. The stelæ were erected at certain intervals along the line of the Canal, and the remains of three others of them have been found, on a mound one kilometre south of Tel el-Maskhûtah or Pithom, a little to the east of the station of the Serapeum on the Suez Canal, and on the side of a mound between the 61st kilometre of the Canal and the telegraphic station of Kabret. From Ismailîyeh to Tel el-Maskhûtah is a ride across the desert of eleven miles.
(6) Tanis or Zoan.—The easiest way of visiting Tanis or Sân is to sleep at Mansûrah, where there is a very tolerable hotel, and go by the morning train (at 9.15) to the station of Abu ´l-Shekûk, arriving there at 10.55 a.m. One of the small dahabiyehs which ply on the Mo'izz canal, which passes the station and runs to Sân, should have been previously engaged, and a servant sent with food the day before from Mansûrah to get it ready. It is advisable also to send cantine and bedding. A few hours (8 to 10) will take the traveller to Sân, where he can remain as long as he wishes. There is sufficient water in the canal all the year round to float the dahabiyeh. On the way to Abu ´l-Shekûk the station of Baqlîyeh is passed (at 9.41 a.m.), close to which (to the east) is Tel el-Baqlîyeh or Hermopolis Parva. The twin mounds of Tmei el-Amdîd (Mendes and Thmuis) are not far to the east of the station of [pg 333] Simbellauên, which is reached at 10.11 a.m. (or by the 6.45 a.m. train from Mansûrah at 7.30 a.m.). Donkeys should be telegraphed for beforehand. The great monolithic granite shrine of Amasis still stands on the mounds. Tel en-Nebêsheh is only eight miles south-east of Sân.
(7) Horbêt or Pharbaithos.—Leaving Mansûrah at 9.15 a.m., the train reaches Abu-Kebir at 11.55, where donkeys can be easily procured. It is a pleasant ride of three miles through the fields to Horbeit and the gigantic monoliths of Nektanebo. The train leaves Abu-Kebir for Zagazig and Cairo at 4 p.m., reaching Zagazig at 4.32 and Cairo at 6.50 p.m.
(8) Behbit (Egyptian Hebit, Roman Iseum).—The granite ruins of the temple of Isis, built by Ptolemy ii., lie eight miles by river north of Mansûrah, and are less than half-an-hour's walk from the eastern bank of the river. Delicate bas-reliefs have been carved on the granite blocks. The ruins are a favourite object of picnic parties from Mansûrah.
(9) Bubastis or Tel Bast.—The ruins of the ancient city are a few minutes' walk from the railway station and can be visited between two trains. The site of the temple is in the middle of the mounds, the ruins of the old houses rising up on all sides of it. There is a poor hotel in Zagazig, kept by a Greek.
(10) Sais or Sâ el-Hagar.—This has become difficult of access since the construction of the railway from Alexandria to Cairo. The nearest railway station is Kafr ez-Zaiyât, from which it is distant (by donkey) about five hours. The voyage by river involves the passage of several bridges.
(11) Tel ed-Deffeneh.—Tents and camels are necessary, as well as drinking water, for that of the canal and Lake Menzaleh is brackish. Either go by train to Salahîyeh [pg 334] (leaving Cairo at 5 p.m., arriving at 9.35 p.m.), or, better, sleep at Ismailîyeh, and go thence by tramway to Kantara. The distance across the desert to Tel ed-Deffeneh from Salahîyeh and Kantara is about the same (eleven miles), but donkeys are more easily procurable at Kantara than camels. At Kantara (on the east side of the canal) are monuments and a Tel (perhaps that of Zaru). The excursion may be combined with one to Pelusium, passing Tel el-Hir on the way. From Kantara to Pelusium is rather more than half-a-day's journey. Encamp at the edge of the sand-dunes, one-and-a-half miles from the mounds of Pelusium, walking to them over the mud, which sometimes will not bear the weight of a camel. No fresh water is procurable there.