II

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 p