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THE
CHRONOLOGY
OF
ANCIENT KINGDOMS
AMENDED.
To which is Prefix'd,
_A _SHORT CHRONICLE_ from the First
Memory of Things in _Europe_, to the Conquest
of _Persia_ by _Alexander_ the Great._
* * * * *
By Sir _ISAAC NEWTON_.
* * * * *
_LONDON_:
Printed for J. TONSON in the _Strand_, and J. OSBORN
and T. LONGMAN in _Pater-noster Row_.
MDCCXXVIII.
* * * * *
TO THE
QUEEN.
MADAM,
_As I could never hope to write any thing my self, worthy to be laid before
YOUR MAJESTY; I think it a very great happiness, that it should be my lot
to usher into the world, under Your Sacred Name, the last work of as great
a Genius as any Age ever produced: an Offering of such value in its self,
as to be in no danger of suffering from the meanness of the hand that
presents it._
_The impartial and universal encouragement which YOUR MAJESTY has always
given to Arts and Sciences, entitles You to the best returns the learned
world is able to make: And the many extraordinary Honours YOUR MAJESTY
vouchsafed the Author of the following sheets, give You a just right to his
Productions. These, above the rest, lay the most particular claim to Your
Royal Protection; For the _Chronology_ had never appeared in its present
Form without YOUR MAJESTY's Influence; and the _Short Chronicle_, which
precedes it, is entirely owing to the Commands with which You were pleased
to honour him, out of your singular Care for the education of the Royal
Issue, and earnest desire to form their minds betimes, and lead them early
into the knowledge of Truth._
_The Author has himself acquainted the Publick, that the following Treatise
was the fruit of his vacant hours, and the relief he sometimes had recourse
to, when tired with his other studies. What an Idea does it raise of His
abilities, to find that a Work of such labour and learning, as would have
been a sufficient employment and glory for the whole life of another, was
to him diversion only, and amusement! The Subject is in its nature
incapable of that demonstration upon which his other writings are founded,
but his usual accuracy and judiciousness are here no less observable; And
at the same time that he supports his suggestions, with all the authorities
and proofs that the whole compass of Science can furnish, he offers them
with the greatest caution; And by a Modesty, that was natural to Him and
always accompanies such superior talents, sets a becoming example to
others, not to be too presumptuous in matters so remote and dark. Tho' the
Subject be only _Chronology_, yet, as the mind of the Author abounded with
the most extensive variety of Knowledge, he frequently intersperses
Observations of a different kind; and occasionally instills principles of
Virtue and Humanity, which seem to have been always uppermost in his heart,
and, as they were the Constant Rule of his actions, appear Remarkably in
all his writings._
_Here YOUR MAJESTY will see _Astronomy_, and a just Observation on the
course of Nature, assisting other parts of Learning to illustrate
Antiquity; and a Penetration and Sagacity peculiar to the great Author,
dispelling that Mist, with which Fable and Error had darkened it; and will
with pleasure contemplate the first dawnings of Your favourite Arts and
Sciences, the noblest and most beneficial of which He alone carried farther
in a few years, than all the most Learned who went before him, had been
able to do in many Ages. Here too, MADAM, You will observe, that an
Abhorrence of Idolatry and Persecution (the very essence and foundation of
that Religion, which makes so bright a part of YOUR MAJESTY's character)
was one of the _earliest Laws_ of the Divine Legislator, the _Morality of
the first Ages, and the primitive Religion of both Jews and Christians_;
and, as the Author adds, _ought to be the standing Religion of all Nations;
it being for the honour of God, and good of Mankind_. Nor will YOUR MAJESTY
be displeased to find his sentiments so agreeable to Your own, whilst he
condemns _all oppression_; and every kind of _cruelty, even to brute
beasts_; and, with so much warmth, inculcates _Mercy_, _Charity_, and the
indispensable duty of _doing good_, and promoting the general _welfare of
mankind_: Those great ends, for which Government was first instituted, and
to which alone it is administred in this happy Nation, under a KING, who
distinguished himself early in opposition to the Tyranny which threatned
_Europe_, and chuses to reign in the hearts of his subjects; Who, by his
innate Benevolence, and Paternal Affection to his People, establishes and
confirms all their Liberties; and, by his Valour and Magnanimity, guards
and defends them._
_That Sincerity and Openness of mind, which is the darling quality of this
Nation, is become more conspicuous, by being placed upon the Throne; And we
see, with Pride, OUR SOVEREIGN the most eminent for a Virtue, by which our
country is so desirous to be distinguished. A Prince, whose views and heart
are above all the mean arts of Disguise, is far out of the reach of any
temptation to Introduce Blindness and Ignorance. And, as HIS MAJESTY is, by
his incessant personal cares, dispensing Happiness at home, and Peace
abroad; You, MADAM, lead us on by Your great Example to the most noble use
of that Quiet and Ease, which we enjoy under His Administration, whilst all
Your hours of leisure are employed in cultivating in Your Self That
Learning, which You so warmly patronize in Others._
_YOUR MAJESTY does not think the instructive Pursuit, an entertainment
below Your exalted Station; and are Your Self a proof, that the abstruser
parts of it are not beyond the reach of Your Sex. Nor does this Study end
in barren speculation; It discovers itself in a steady attachment to true
Religion; in Liberality, Beneficence, and all those amiable Virtues, which
increase and heighten the Felicities of a Throne, at the same time that
they bless All around it. Thus, MADAM, to enjoy, together with the highest
state of publick Splendor and Dignity all the retired Pleasures and
domestick Blessings of private life; is the perfection of human Wisdom, as
well as Happiness._
_The good Effects of this Love of knowledge, will not stop with the present
Age; It will diffuse its Influence with advantage to late Posterity: And
what may we not anticipate in our minds for the Generations to come under a
Royal Progeny, so descended, so educated, and formed by such Patterns!_
_The glorious Prospect gives us abundant reason to hope, that Liberty and
Learning will be perpetuated together; and that the bright Examples of
Virtue and Wisdom, set in this Reign by the Royal Patrons of Both, will be
transmitted with the Scepter to their Posterity, till this and the other
Works of Sir ISAAC NEWTON shall be forgot, and Time it self be no more:
Which is the most sincere and ardent wish of_
_MADAM,_
May it please YOUR MAJESTY,
YOUR MAJESTY's most obedient and most dutiful subject and servant,
_John Conduitt_.
* * * * *
THE CONTENTS.
_A Short Chronicle from the first Memory of Things in page 1
_Europe_, to the Conquest of _Persia_ by _Alexander_ the
Great._
The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms amended.
Chap. I. _Of the Chronology of the First Ages of the_ p. 43
Greeks_._
Chap. II. _Of the Empire of_ Egypt_._ p. 191
Chap. III. _Of the_ Assyrian _Empire._ p. 265
Chap. IV. _Of the two Contemporary Empires of the p. 294
_Babylonians_ and _Medes_._
Chap. V. _A Description of the Temple of _Solomon_._ p. 332
Chap. VI. _Of the Empire of the _Persians_._ p. 347
* * * * *
Advertisement.
_Tho' _The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms amended_, was writ by the Author
many years since; yet he lately revis'd it, and was actually preparing it
for the Press at the time of his death. But _The Short Chronicle_ was never
intended to be made public, and therefore was not so lately corrected by
him. To this the Reader must impute it, if he shall find any places where
_the Short Chronicle_ does not accurately agree with the Dates assigned in
the larger Piece. The Sixth Chapter was not copied out with the other Five,
which makes it doubtful whether he intended to print it: but being found
among his Papers, and evidently appearing to be a Continuation of the same
Work, and (as such) abridg'd in _the Short Chronicle_; it was thought
proper to be added._
_Had the _Great Author_ himself liv'd to publish this Work, there would
have been no occasion for this Advertisement; But as it is, the Reader is
desired to allow for such imperfections as are inseparable from Posthumous
Pieces; and, in so great a number of proper names, to excuse some errors of
the Press that have escaped._
* * * * *
A SHORT
CHRONICLE
FROM THE
First Memory of Things in _Europe_,
TO THE
Conquest of _Persia_ by _Alexander_ the Great.
* * * * *
The INTRODUCTION.
The _Greek_ Antiquities are full of Poetical Fictions, because the _Greeks_
wrote nothing in Prose, before the Conquest of _Asia_ by _Cyrus_ the
_Persian_. Then _Pherecydes Scyrius_ and _Cadmus Milesius_ introduced the
writing in Prose. _Pherecydes Atheniensis_, about the end of the Reign of
_Darius Hystaspis_, wrote of Antiquities, and digested his work by
Genealogies, and was reckoned one of the best Genealogers. _Epimenides_ the
Historian proceeded also by Genealogies; and _Hellanicus_, who was twelve
years older than _Herodotus_, digested his History by the Ages or
Successions of the Priestesses of _Juno Argiva_. Others digested theirs by
the Kings of the _Lacedæmonians_, or Archons of _Athens_. _Hippias_ the
_Elean_, about thirty years before the fall of the _Persian_ Empire,
published a breviary or list of the Olympic Victors; and about ten years
before the fall thereof, _Ephorus_ the disciple of _Isocrates_ formed a
Chronological History of _Greece_, beginning with the return of the
_Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_, and ending with the siege of _Perinthus_,
in the twentieth year of _Philip_ the father of _Alexander_ the great: But
he digested things by Generations, and the reckoning by Olympiads was not
yet in use, nor doth it appear that the Reigns of Kings were yet set down
by numbers of years. The _Arundelian_ marbles were composed sixty years
after the death of _Alexander_ the great (_An._ 4. _Olymp._ 128.) and yet
mention not the Olympiads: But in the next Olympiad, _Timæus Siculus_
published an history in several books down to his own times, according to
the Olympiads, comparing the Ephori, the Kings of _Sparta_, the Archons of
_Athens_, and the Priestesses of _Argos_, with the Olympic Victors, so as
to make the Olympiads, and the Genealogies and Successions of Kings,
Archons, and Priestesses, and poetical histories suit with one another,
according to the best of his judgment. And where he left off, _Polybius_
began and carried on the history.
So then a little after the death of _Alexander_ the great, they began to
set down the Generations, Reigns and Successions, in numbers of years, and
by putting Reigns and Successions equipollent to Generations, and three
Generations to an hundred or an hundred and twenty years (as appears by
their Chronology) they have made the Antiquities of _Greece_ three or four
hundred years older than the truth. And this was the original of the
Technical Chronology of the _Greeks_. _Eratosthenes_ wrote about an hundred
years after the death of _Alexander_ the great: He was followed by
_Apollodorus_, and these two have been followed ever since by Chronologers.
But how uncertain their Chronology is, and how doubtful it was reputed by
the _Greeks_ of those times, may be understood by these passages of
_Plutarch_. _Some reckon_, saith he, [1] Lycurgus _contemporary to
_Iphitus_, and to have been his companion in ordering the Olympic
festivals: amongst whom was _Aristotle_ the Philosopher, arguing from the
Olympic Disc, which had the name of _Lycurgus_ upon it. Others supputing
the times by the succession of the Kings of the _Lacedæmonians_, as
_Eratosthenes_ and _Apollodorus_, affirm that he was not a few years older
than the first Olympiad._ First _Aristotle_ and some others made him as old
as the first Olympiad; then _Eratosthenes_, _Apollodorus_, and some others
made him above an hundred years older: and in another place _Plutarch_ [2]
tells us: _The congress of _Solon_ with _Croesus_, some think they can
confute by Chronology. But an history so illustrious, and verified by so
many witnesses, and (which is more) so agreeable to the manners of _Solon_,
and so worthy of the greatness of his mind and of his wisdom, I cannot
persuade my self to reject because of some Chronological Canons, as they
call them: which hundreds of authors correcting, have not yet been able to
constitute any thing certain, in which they could agree among themselves,
about repugnancies_. It seems the Chronologers had made the Legislature of
_Solon_ too ancient to consist with that Congress.
For reconciling such repugnancies, Chronologers have sometimes doubled the
persons of men. So when the Poets had changed _Io_ the daughter of
_Inachus_ into the _Egyptian Isis_, Chronologers made her husband _Osiris_
or _Bacchus_ and his mistress _Ariadne_ as old as _Io_, and so feigned that
there were two _Ariadnes_, one the mistress of _Bacchus_, and the other the
mistress of _Theseus_, and two _Minos's_ their fathers, and a younger _Io_
the daughter of _Jasus_, writing _Jasus_ corruptly for _Inachus_. And so
they have made two _Pandions_, and two _Erechtheus's_, giving the name of
_Erechthonius_ to the first; _Homer_ calls the first, _Erechtheus_: and by
such corruptions they have exceedingly perplexed Ancient History.
And as for the Chronology of the _Latines_, that is still more uncertain.
_Plutarch_ represents great uncertainties in the Originals of _Rome_: and
so doth _Servius_. The old records of the _Latines_ were burnt by the
_Gauls_, sixty and four years before the death of _Alexander_ the great;
and _Quintus Fabius Pictor_, the oldest historian of the _Latines_, lived
an hundred years later than that King.
In Sacred History, the _Assyrian_ Empire began with _Pul_ and
_Tiglathpilaser_, and lasted about 170 years. And accordingly _Herodotus_
hath made _Semiramis_ only five generations, or about 166 years older than
_Nitocris_, the mother of the last King of _Babylon_. But _Ctesias_ hath
made _Semiramis_ 1500 years older than _Nitocris_, and feigned a long
series of Kings of _Assyria_, whose names are not _Assyrian_, nor have any
affinity with the _Assyrian_ names in Scripture.
The Priests of _Egypt_ told _Herodotus_, that _Menes_ built _Memphis_ and
the sumptuous temple of _Vulcan_, in that City: and that _Rhampsinitus_,
_Mœris_, _Asychis_ and _Psammiticus_ added magnificent porticos to that
temple. And it is not likely that _Memphis_ could be famous, before
_Homer_'s days who doth not mention it, or that a temple could be above two
or three hundred years in building. The Reign of _Psammiticus_ began about
655 years before Christ, and I place the founding of this temple by _Menes_
about 257 years earlier: but the Priests of _Egypt_ had so magnified their
Antiquities before the days of _Herodotus_, as to tell him that from
_Menes_ to _Mœris_ (who reigned 200 years before _Psammiticus_) there were
330 Kings, whose Reigns took up as many Ages, that is eleven thousand
years, and had filled up the interval with feigned Kings, who had done
nothing. And before the days of _Diodorus Siculus_ they had raised their
Antiquities so much higher, as to place six, eight, or ten new Reigns of
Kings between those Kings, whom they had represented to _Herodotus_ to
succeed one another immediately.
In the Kingdom of _Sicyon_, Chronologers have split _Apis Epaphus_ or
_Epopeus_ into two Kings, whom they call _Apis_ and _Epopeus_, and between
them have inserted eleven or twelve feigned names of Kings who did nothing,
and thereby they have made its Founder _Ægialeus_, three hundred years
older than his brother _Phoroneus_. Some have made the Kings of _Germany_
as old as the Flood: and yet before the use of letters, the names and
actions of men could scarce be remembred above eighty or an hundred years
after their deaths: and therefore I admit no Chronology of things done in
_Europe_, above eighty years before _Cadmus_ brought letters into _Europe_;
none, of things done in _Germany_, before the rise of the _Roman_ Empire.
Now since _Eratosthenes_ and _Apollodorus_ computed the times by the Reigns
of the Kings of _Sparta_, and (as appears by their Chronology still
followed) have made the seventeen Reigns of these Kings in both Races,
between the Return of the _Heraclides_ into _Peloponnesus_ and the Battel
of _Thermopylæ_, take up _622_ years, which is after the rate of 36½ years
to a Reign, and yet a Race of seventeen Kings of that length is no where to
be met with in all true History, and Kings at a moderate reckoning Reign
but 18 or 20 years a-piece one with another: I have stated the time of the
return of the _Heraclides_ by the last way of reckoning, placing it about
340 years before the Battel of _Thermopylæ_. And making the Taking of
_Troy_ eighty years older than that Return, according to _Thucydides_, and
the _Argonautic_ Expedition a Generation older than the _Trojan_ War, and
the Wars of _Sesostris_ in _Thrace_ and death of _Ino_ the daughter of
_Cadmus_ a Generation older than that Expedition: I have drawn up the
following Chronological Table, so as to make Chronology suit with the
Course of Nature, with Astronomy, with Sacred History, with _Herodotus_ the
Father of History, and with it self; without the many repugnancies
complained of by _Plutarch_. I do not pretend to be exact to a year: there
may be Errors of five or ten years, and sometimes twenty, and not much
above.
* * * * *
A SHORT
CHRONICLE
FROM THE
_First Memory of things in _Europe_ to
the Conquest of _Persia_ by _Alexander_
the great._
_The Times are set down in years before Christ._
The _Canaanites_ who fled from _Joshua_, retired in great numbers into
_Egypt_, and there conquered _Timaus_, _Thamus_, or _Thammuz_ King of the
lower _Egypt_, and reigned there under their Kings _Salatis_, _Bœon_,
_Apachnas_, _Apophis_, _Janias_, _Assis_, &c. untill the days of _Eli_ and
_Samuel_. They fed on flesh, and sacrificed men after the manner of the
_Phœnicians_, and were called Shepherds by the _Egyptians_, who lived only
on the fruits of the earth, and abominated flesh-eaters. The upper parts of
_Egypt_ were in those days under many Kings, Reigning at _Coptos_,
_Thebes_, _This_, _Elephantis_, and other Places, which by conquering one
another grew by degrees into one Kingdom, over which _Misphragmuthosis_
Reigned in the days of _Eli_.
In the year before Christ 1125 _Mephres_ Reigned over the upper _Egypt_
from _Syene_ to _Heliopolis_, and his Successor _Misphragmuthosis_ made a
lasting war upon the Shepherds soon after, and caused many of them to fly
into _Palestine_, _Idumæa_, _Syria_, and _Libya_; and under _Lelex_,
_Æzeus_, _Inachus_, _Pelasgus_, _Æolus_ the first, _Cecrops_, and other
Captains, into _Greece_. Before those days _Greece_ and all _Europe_ was
peopled by wandring _Cimmerians_, and _Scythians_ from the backside of the
_Euxine Sea_, who lived a rambling wild sort of life, like the _Tartars_ in
the northern parts of _Asia_. Of their Race was _Ogyges_, in whose days
these _Egyptian_ strangers came into _Greece_. The rest of the Shepherds
were shut up by _Misphragmuthosis_, in a part of the lower _Egypt_ called
_Abaris_ or _Pelusium_.
In the year 1100 the _Philistims_, strengthned by the access of the
Shepherds, conquer _Israel_, and take the Ark. _Samuel_ judges _Israel_.
1085. _Hæmon_ the son of _Pelasgus_ Reigns in _Thessaly_.
1080. _Lycaon_ the son of _Pelasgus_ builds _Lycosura_; _Phoroneus_ the son
of _Inachus_, _Phoronicum_, afterwards called _Argos_; _Ægialeus_ the
brother of _Phoroneus_ and son of _Inachus_, _Ægialeum_, afterwards called
_Sicyon_: and these were the oldest towns in _Peloponnesus_. 'Till then
they built only single houses scattered up and down in the fields. About
the same time _Cecrops_ built _Cecropia_ in _Attica_, afterwards called
_Athens_; and _Eleusine_, the son of _Ogyges_, built _Eleusis_. And these
towns gave a beginning to the Kingdoms of the _Arcadians_, _Argives_,
_Sicyons_, _Athenians_, _Eleusinians_, &c. _Deucalion_ flourishes.
1070. _Amosis_, or _Tethmosis_, the successor of _Misphragmuthosis_,
abolishes the _Phœnician_ custom in _Heliopolis_ of sacrificing men, and
drives the Shepherds out of _Abaris_. By their access the _Philistims_
become so numerous, as to bring into the field against _Saul_ 30000
chariots, 6000 horsemen, and people as the sand on the sea shore for
multitude. _Abas_, the father of _Acrisius_ and _Prœtus_, comes from
_Egypt_.
1069. _Saul_ is made King of _Israel_, and by the hand of _Jonathan_ gets a
great victory over the _Philistims_. _Eurotas_ the son of _Lelex_, and
_Lacedæmon_ who married _Sparta_ the daughter of _Eurotas_, Reign in
_Laconia_, and build _Sparta_.
1060. _Samuel_ dies.
1059. _David_ made King.
1048. The _Edomites_ are conquered and dispersed by _David_, and some of
them fly into _Egypt_ with their young King _Hadad_. Others fly to the
_Persian Gulph_ with their Commander _Oannes_; and others from the _Red
Sea_ to the coast of the _Mediterranean_, and fortify _Azoth_ against
_David_, and take _Zidon_; and the _Zidonians_ who fled from them build
_Tyre_ and _Aradus_, and make _Abibalus_ King of _Tyre_. These _Edomites_
carry to all places their Arts and Sciences; amongst which were their
Navigation, Astronomy, and Letters; for in _Idumæa_ they had Constellations
and Letters before the days of _Job_, who mentions them: and there _Moses_
learnt to write the Law in a book. These _Edomites_ who fled to the
_Mediterranean_, translating the word _Erythræa_ into that of _Phœnicia_,
give the name of _Phœnicians_ to themselves, and that of _Phœnicia_ to all
the sea-coasts of _Palestine_ from _Azoth_ to _Zidon_. And hence came the
tradition of the _Persians_, and of the _Phœnicians_ themselves, mentioned
by _Herodotus_, that the _Phœnicians_ came originally from the _Red Sea_,
and presently undertook long voyages on the _Mediterranean_.
1047. _Acrisius_ marries _Eurydice_, the daughter of _Lacedæmon_ and
_Sparta_. The _Phœnician_ mariners who fled from the _Red Sea_, being used
to long voyages for the sake of traffic, begin the like voyages on the
_Mediterranean_ from _Zidon_; and sailing as far as _Greece_, carry away
_Io_ the daughter of _Inachus_, who with other _Grecian_ women came to
their ships to buy their merchandize. The _Greek Seas_ begin to be infested
with Pyrates.
1046. The _Syrians_ of _Zobah_ and _Damascus_ are conquered by _David_.
_Nyctimus_, the son of _Lycaon_, reigns in _Arcadia_. _Deucalion_ still
alive.
1045. Many of the _Phœnicians_ and _Syrians_ fleeing from _Zidon_ and from
_David_, come under the conduct of _Cadmus_, _Cilix_, _Phœnix_,
_Membliarius_, _Nycteus_, _Thasus_, _Atymnus_, and other Captains, into
_Asia minor_, _Crete_, _Greece_, and _Libya_; and introduce Letters, Music,
Poetry, the _Octaeteris_, Metals and their Fabrication, and other Arts,
Sciences and Customs of the _Phœnicians_. At this time _Cranaus_ the
successor of _Cecrops_ Reigned in _Attica_, and in his Reign and the
beginning of the Reign of _Nyctimus_, the _Greeks_ place the flood of
_Deucalion_. This flood was succeeded by four Ages or Generations of men,
in the first of which _Chiron_ the son of _Saturn_ and _Philyra_ was born,
and the last of which according to _Hesiod_ ended with the _Trojan_ War;
and so places the Destruction of _Troy_ four Generations or about 140 years
later than that flood, and the coming of _Cadmus_, reckoning with the
ancients three Generations to an hundred years. With these _Phœnicians_
came a sort of men skilled in the Religious Mysteries, Arts, and Sciences
of _Phœnicia_, and settled in several places under the names of _Curetes_,
_Corybantes_, _Telchines_, and _Idæi Dactyli_.
1043. Hellen, the son of _Deucalion_, and father of _Æolus_, _Xuthus_, and
_Dorus_, flourishes.
1035. _Erectheus_ Reigns in _Attica_. _Æthlius_, the grandson of
_Deucalion_ and father of _Endymion_, builds _Elis_. The _Idæi Dactyli_
find out Iron in mount _Ida_ in _Crete_, and work it into armour and iron
tools, and thereby give a beginning to the trades of smiths and armourers
in _Europe_; and by singing and dancing in their armour, and keeping time
by striking upon one another's armour with their swords, they bring in
Music and Poetry; and at the same time they nurse up the _Cretan Jupiter_
in a cave of the same mountain, dancing about him in their armour.
1034. _Ammon_ Reigns in _Egypt_. He conquered _Libya_, and reduced that
people from a wandering savage life to a civil one, and taught them to lay
up the fruits of the earth; and from him _Libya_ and the desert above it
were anciently called _Ammonia_. He was the first that built long and tall
ships with sails, and had a fleet of such ships on the _Red Sea_, and
another on the _Mediterranean_ at _Irasa_ in _Libya_. 'Till then they used
small and round vessels of burden, invented on the _Red Sea_, and kept
within sight of the shore. For enabling them to cross the seas without
seeing the shore, the _Egyptians_ began in his days to observe the Stars:
and from this beginning Astronomy and Sailing had their rise. Hitherto the
Lunisolar year had been in use: but this year being of an uncertain length,
and so, unfit for Astronomy, in his days and in the days of his sons and
grandsons, by observing the Heliacal Risings and Setting of the Stars, they
found the length of the Solar year, and made it consist of five days more
than the twelve calendar months of the old Lunisolar year. _Creusa_ the
daughter of _Erechtheus_ marries _Xuthus_ the son of _Hellen_. _Erechtheus_
having first celebrated the _Panathenæa_ joins horses to a chariot.
_Ægina_, the daughter of _Asopus_, and mother of _Æacus_, born.
1030. _Ceres_ a woman of _Sicily_, in seeking her daughter who was stolen,
comes into _Attica_, and there teaches the _Greeks_ to sow corn; for which
Benefaction she was Deified after death. She first taught the Art to
_Triptolemus_ the young son of _Celeus_ King of _Eleusis_.
1028. _Oenotrus_ the youngest son of _Lycaon_, the _Janus_ of the
_Latines_, led the first Colony of _Greeks_ into _Italy_, and there taught
them to build houses. _Perseus_ born.
1020. _Arcas_, the son of _Callisto_ and grandson of _Lycaon_, and
_Eumelus_ the first King of _Achaia_, receive bread-corn from
_Triptolemus_.
1019. _Solomon_ Reigns, and marries the daughter of _Ammon_, and by means
of this affinity is supplied with horses from _Egypt_; and his merchants
also bring horses from thence for all the Kings of the _Hittites_ and
_Syrians_: for horses came originally from _Libya_; and thence _Neptune_
was called _Equestris_. _Tantalus_ King of _Phrygia_ steals _Ganimede_ the
son of _Tros_ King of _Troas_.
1017. _Solomon_ by the assistance of the _Tyrians_ and _Aradians_, who had
mariners among them acquainted with the _Red Sea_, sets out a fleet upon
that sea. Those assistants build new cities in the _Persian Gulph_, called
_Tyre_ and _Aradus_.
1015. The Temple of _Solomon_ is founded. _Minos_ Reigns in _Crete_
expelling his father _Asterius_, who flees into _Italy_, and becomes the
_Saturn_ of the _Latines_. _Ammon_ takes _Gezer_ from the _Canaanites_, and
gives it to his daughter, _Solomon's_ wife.
1014. _Ammon_ places _Cepheus_ at _Joppa_.
1010. _Sesac_ in the Reign of his father _Ammon_ invades _Arabia Fœlix_,
and sets up pillars at the mouth of the _Red Sea_. _Apis_, _Epaphus_ or
_Epopeus_, the son of _Phroroneus_, and _Nycteus_ King of _Bœotia_, slain.
_Lycus_ inherits the Kingdom of his brother _Nycteus_. _Ætolus_ the son of
_Endymion_ flies into the Country of the _Curetes_ in _Achaia_, and calls
it _Ætolia_; and of _Pronoe_ the daughter of _Phorbas_ begets _Pleuron_ and
_Calydon_, who built cities in _Ætolia_ called by their own names.
_Antiopa_ the daughter of _Nycteus_ is sent home to _Lycus_ by _Lamedon_
the successor of _Apis_, and in the way brings forth _Amphion_ and
_Zethus_.
1008. _Sesac_, in the Reign of his father _Ammon_, invades _Afric_ and
_Spain_, and sets up pillars in all his conquests, and particularly at the
mouth of the _Mediterranean_, and returns home by the coast of _Gaul_ and
_Italy_.
1007. _Ceres_ being dead _Eumolpus_ institutes her Mysteries in _Eleusine_.
The Mysteries of _Rhea_ are instituted in _Phrygia_, in the city _Cybele_.
About this time Temples begin to be built in _Greece_. _Hyagnis_ the
_Phrygian_ invents the pipe. After the example of the common-council of the
five Lords of the _Philistims_, the _Greeks_ set up the _Amphictyonic_
Council, first at _Thermopylæ_, by the influence of _Amphictyon_ the son of
_Deucalion_; and a few years after at _Delphi_ by the influence of
_Acrisius_. Among the cites, whose deputies met at _Thermopylæ_, I do not
find _Athens_, and therefore doubt whether _Amphictyon_ was King of that
city. If he was the son of _Deucalion_ and brother of _Hellen_, he and
_Cranaus_ might Reign together in several parts of _Attica_. But I meet
with a later _Amphictyon_ who entertained the great _Bacchus_. This Council
worshipped _Ceres_, and therefore was instituted after her death.
1006. _Minos_ prepares a fleet, clears the _Greek_ seas of Pyrates, and
sends Colonies to the Islands of the _Greeks_, some of which were not
inhabited before. _Cecrops_ II. Reigns in _Attica_. _Caucon_ teaches the
Mysteries of _Ceres_ in _Messene_.
1005. _Andromeda_ carried away from _Joppa_ by _Perseus_. _Pandion_ the
brother of _Cecrops_ II. Reigns in _Attica_. _Car_, the son of _Phoroneus_,
builds a Temple to _Ceres_.
1002. _Sesac_ Reigns in _Egypt_ and adorns _Thebes_, dedicating it to his
father _Ammon_ by the name of _No-Ammon_ or _Ammon-No_, that is the people
or city of _Ammon_: whence the _Greeks_ called it _Diospolis_, the city of
_Jupiter_. _Sesac_ also erected Temples and Oracles to his father in
_Thebes_, _Ammonia_, and _Ethiopia_, and thereby caused his father to be
worshipped as a God in those countries, and I think also in _Arabia Fœlix_:
and this was the original of the worship of _Jupiter Ammon_, and the first
mention of Oracles that I meet with in Prophane History. War between
_Pandion_ and _Labdacus_ the grandson of _Cadmus_.
994. _Ægeus_ Reigns in _Attica_.
993. _Pelops_ the son of _Tantalus_ comes into _Peloponnesus_, marries
_Hippodamia_ the granddaughter of _Acrisius_, takes _Ætolia_ from _Ætolus_
the son of _Endymion_, and by his riches grows potent.
990. _Amphion_ and _Zethus_ slay _Lycus_, put _Laius_ the son of _Labdacus_
to flight, and Reign in _Thebes_, and wall the city about.
989. _Dædalus_ and his nephew _Talus_ invent the saw, the turning-lath, the
wimble, the chip-ax, and other instruments of Carpenters and Joyners, and
thereby give a beginning to those Arts in _Europe_. _Dædalus_ also invented
the making of Statues with their feet asunder, as if they walked.
988. _Minos_ makes war upon the _Athenians_, for killing his son
_Androgeus_. _Æacus_ flourishes.
987. _Dædalus_ kills his nephew _Talus_, and flies to _Minos_. A Priestess
of _Jupiter Ammon_, being brought by _Phœnician_ merchants into _Greece_,
sets up the Oracle of _Jupiter_ at _Dodona_. This gives a beginning to
Oracles in _Greece_: and by their dictates, the Worship of the Dead is
every where introduced.
983. _Sisyphus_, the son of _Æolus_ and grandson of _Hellen_, Reigns in
_Corinth_, and some say that he built that city.
980. _Laius_ recovers the Kingdom of _Thebes_. _Athamas_, the brother of
_Sisyphus_ and father of _Phrixus_ and _Helle_, marries _Ino_ the daughter
of _Cadmus_.
979. _Rehoboam_ Reigns. _Thoas_ is sent from _Crete_ to _Lemnos_, Reigns
there in the city _Hephœstia_, and works in copper and iron.
978. _Alcmena_ born of _Electryo_ the son of _Perseus_ and _Andromeda_, and
of _Lysidice_ the daughter of _Pelops_.
974. _Sesac_ spoils the Temple, and invades _Syria_ and _Persia_, setting
up pillars in many places. _Jeroboam_, becoming subject to _Sesac_, sets up
the worship of the _Egyptian_ Gods in _Israel_.
971. _Sesac_ invades _India_, and returns with triumph the next year but
one: whence _Trieterica Bacchi_. He sets up pillars on two mountains at the
mouth of the river _Ganges_.
968. _Theseus_ Reigns, having overcome the _Minotaur_, and soon after
unites the twelve cities of _Attica_ under one government. _Sesac_, having
carried on his victories to _Mount Caucasus_, leaves his nephew
_Prometheus_ there, and _Æetes_ in _Colchis_.
967. _Sesac_, passing over the _Hellespont_ conquers _Thrace_, kills
_Lycurgus_ King thereof, and gives his Kingdom and one of his singing-women
to _Oeagrus_ the father of _Orpheus_. _Sesac_ had in his army _Ethiopians_
commanded by _Pan_, and _Libyan_ women commanded by _Myrina_ or _Minerva_.
It was the custom of the _Ethiopians_ to dance when they were entring into
a battel, and from their skipping they were painted with goats feet in the
form of Satyrs.
966. _Thoas_, being made King of _Cyprus_ by _Sesac_, goes thither with his
wife _Calycopis_, and leaves his daughter _Hypsipyle_ in _Lemnos_.
965. _Sesac_ is baffled by the _Greeks_ and _Scythians_, loses many of his
women with their Queen _Minerva_, composes the war, is received by
_Amphiction_ at a feast, buries _Ariadne_, goes back through _Asia_ and
_Syria_ into _Egypt_, with innumerable captives, among whom was _Tithonus_,
the son of _Laomedon_ King of _Troy_; and leaves his _Libyan Amazons_,
under _Marthesia_ and _Lampeto_, the successors of _Minerva_, at the river
_Thermodon_. He left also in _Colchos_ Geographical Tables of all his
conquests: And thence Geography had its rise. His singing-women were
celebrated in _Thrace_ by the name of the Muses. And the daughters of
_Pierus_ a _Thracian_, imitating them, were celebrated by the same name.
964. _Minos_, making war upon _Cocalus_ King of _Sicily_, is slain by him.
He was eminent for his Dominion, his Laws and his Justice: upon his
sepulchre visited by _Pythagoras_, was this inscription, ΤΟΥ ΔΙΟΣ the
Sepulchre of _Jupiter_. _Danaus_ with his daughters flying from his brother
_Egyptus_ (that is from _Sesac_) comes into _Greece_. _Sesac_ using the
advice of his Secretary _Thoth_, distributes _Egypt_ into xxxvi _Nomes_,
and in every _Nome_ erects a Temple, and appoints the several Gods,
Festivals and Religions of the several _Nomes_. The Temples were the
sepulchres of his great men, where they were to be buried and worshipped
after death, each in his own Temple, with ceremonies and festivals
appointed by him; while He and his Queen, by the names of _Osiris_ and
_Isis_, were to be worshipped in all _Egypt_. These were the Temples seen
and described by _Lucian_ eleven hundred years after, to be of one and the
same age: and this was the original of the several _Nomes_ of _Egypt_, and
of the several Gods and several Religions of those _Nomes_. _Sesac_ divided
also the land of _Egypt_ by measure amongst his soldiers, and thence
_Geometry_ had its rise. _Hercules_ and _Eurystheus_ born.
963. _Amphictyon_ brings the twelve Gods of _Egypt_ into _Greece_, and
these are the _Dii magni majorum gentium_, to whom the Earth and Planets
and Elements are dedicated.
962. _Phryxus_ and _Helle_ fly from their stepmother _Ino_ the daughter of
_Cadmus_. _Helle_ is drowned in the _Hellespont_, so named from her, but
_Phryxus_ arrived at _Colchos_.
960. The war between the _Lapithæ_ and the people of _Thessaly_ called
_Centaurs_.
958. _Oedipus_ kills his father _Laius_. _Sthenelus_ the son of _Perseus_
Reigns in _Mycene_.
956. _Sesac_ is slain by his brother _Japetus_, who after death was deified
in _Afric_ by the name of _Neptune_, and called _Typhon_ by the
_Egyptians_. _Orus_ Reigns and routs the _Libyans_, who under the conduct
of _Japetus_, and his Son _Antæus_ or _Atlas_, invaded _Egypt_. _Sesac_
from his making the river _Nile_ useful, by cutting channels from it to all
the cities of _Egypt_, was called by its names, _Sihor_ or _Siris_, _Nilus_
and _Egyptus_. The _Greeks_ hearing the _Egyptians_ lament, _O Siris_ and
_Bou Siris_, called him _Osiris_ and _Busiris_. The _Arabians_ from his
great acts called him _Bacchus_, that is, the Great. The _Phrygians_ called
him _Ma-fors_ or _Mavors_, the valiant, and by contraction _Mars_. Because
he set up pillars in all his conquests, and his army in his father's Reign
fought against the _Africans_ with clubs, he is painted with pillars and a
club: and this is that _Hercules_ who, according to _Cicero_, was born upon
the _Nile_, and according to _Eudoxus_, was slain by _Typhon_; and
according to _Diodorus_, was an _Egyptian_, and went over a great part of
the world, and set up the pillars in _Afric_. He seems to be also the
_Belus_ who, according to _Diodorus_, led a Colony of _Egyptians_ to
_Babylon_, and there instituted Priests called _Chaldeans_, who were free
from taxes, and observed the stars, as in _Egypt_. Hitherto _Judah_ and
_Israel_ laboured under great vexations, but henceforward _Asa_ King of
_Judah_ had peace ten years.
947. The _Ethiopians_ invade _Egypt_, and drown _Orus_ in the _Nile_.
Thereupon _Bubaste_ the sister of _Orus_ kills herself, by falling from the
top of an house, and their mother _Isis_ or _Astræa_ goes mad: and thus
ended the Reign of the Gods of _Egypt_.
946. _Zerah_ the _Ethiopian_ is overthrown by _Asa_. The people of the
lower _Egypt_ make _Osarsiphus_ their King, and call in two hundred
thousand _Jews_ and _Phœnicians_ against the _Ethiopians_. _Menes_ or
_Amenophis_ the young son of _Zerah_ and _Cissia_ Reigns.
944. The _Ethiopians_, under _Amenophis_, retire from the lower _Egypt_
and fortify _Memphis_ against _Osarsiphus_. And by these wars and the
_Argonautic_ expedition, the great Empire of _Egypt_ breaks in pieces.
_Eurystheus_ the son of _Sthenelus_ Reigns in _Mycenæ_.
943. _Evander_ and his mother _Carmenta_ carry Letters into _Italy_.
942. _Orpheus_ Deifies the son of _Semele_ by the name of _Bacchus_, and
appoints his Ceremonies.
940. The great men of _Greece_, hearing of the civil wars and distractions
of _Egypt_, resolve to send an embassy to the nations, upon the _Euxine_
and _Mediterranean_ Seas, subject to that Empire, and for that end order
the building of the ship _Argo_.
939. The ship _Argo_ is built after the pattern of the long ship in which
_Danaus_ came into _Greece_: and this was the first long ship built by the
_Greeks_. _Chiron_, who was born in the Golden Age, forms the
Constellations for the use of the _Argonauts_; and places the Solstitial
and Equinoctial Points in the fifteenth degrees or middles of the
Constellations of _Cancer_, _Chelæ_, _Capricorn_, and _Aries_. _Meton_ in
the year of _Nabonassar_ 316, observed the Summer Solstice in the eighth
degree of _Cancer_, and therefore the Solstice had then gone back seven
degrees. It goes back one degree in about seventytwo years, and seven
degrees in about 504 years. Count these years back from the year of
_Nabonassar_ 316, and they will place the _Argonautic_ expedition about 936
years before _Christ_. _Gingris_ the son of _Thoas_ slain, and Deified by
the name of _Adonis_.
938. _Theseus_, being fifty years old, steals _Helena_ then seven years
old. _Pirithous_ the son of _Ixion_, endeavouring to steal _Persephone_ the
daughter of _Orcus_ King of the _Molossians_, is slain by the Dog of
_Orcus_; and his companion _Theseus_ is taken and imprisoned. _Helena_ is
set at liberty by her brothers.
937. The _Argonautic_ expedition. _Prometheus_ leaves _Mount Caucasus_,
being set at liberty by _Hercules_. _Laomedon_ King of _Troy_ is slain by
_Hercules_. _Priam_ succeeds him. _Talus_ a brazen man, of the Brazen Age,
the son of _Minos_, is slain by the _Argonauts_. _Æsculapius_ and
_Hercules_ were _Argonauts_, and _Hippocrates_ was the eighteenth from
_Æsculapius_ by the father's side, and the nineteenth from _Hercules_ by
the mother's side; and because these generations, being noted in history,
were most probably by the chief of the family, and for the most part by the
eldest sons; we may reckon 28 or at the most 30 years to a generation: and
thus the seventeen intervals by the father's side and eighteen by the
mother's, will at a middle reckoning amount unto about 507 years; which
being counted backwards from the beginning of the _Peloponnesian_ war, at
which time _Hippocrates_ began to flourish, will reach up to the time where
we have placed the _Argonautic_ expedition.
936. _Theseus_ is set at liberty by _Hercules_.
934. The hunting of the _Calydonian_ boar slain by _Meleager_.
930. _Amenophis_, with an army out of _Ethiopia_ and _Thebais_, invades the
lower _Egypt_, conquers _Osarsiphus_, and drives out the _Jews_ and
_Canaanites_: and this is reckoned the second expulsion of the Shepherds.
_Calycopis_ dies, and is Deified by _Thoas_ with Temples at _Paphos_ and
_Amathus_ in _Cyprus_, and at _Byblus_ in _Syria_, and with Priests and
sacred Rites, and becomes the _Venus_ of the ancients, and the _Dea Cypria_
and _Dea Syria_. And from these and other places where Temples were erected
to her, she was also called _Paphia_, _Amathusia_, _Byblia_, _Cytherea_,
_Salaminia_, _Cnidia_, _Erycina_, _Idalia_, &c. And her three waiting-women
became the three Graces.
928. The war of the seven Captains against _Thebes_.
927. _Hercules_ and _Æsculapius_ are Deified. _Eurystheus_ drives the
_Heraclides_ out of _Peloponnesus_. He is slain by _Hyllus_ the son of
_Hercules_. _Atreus_ the son of _Pelops_ succeeds him in the Kingdom of
_Mycenæ_. _Menestheus_, the great grandson of _Erechtheus_, Reigns at
_Athens_.
925. _Theseus_ is slain, being cast down from a rock.
924. _Hyllus_ invading _Peloponnesus_ is slain by _Echemus_.
919. _Atreus_ dies. _Agamemnon_ Reigns. In the absence of _Menelaus_, who
went to look after what his father _Atreus_ had left to him, _Paris_ steals
_Helena_.
918. The second war against _Thebes_.
912. _Thoas_, King of _Cyprus_ and part of _Phœnicia_ dies; and for making
armour for the Kings of _Egypt_; is Deified with a sumptuous Temple at
_Memphis_ by the name of _Baal Canaan_, _Vulcan_. This Temple was said to
be built by _Menes_, the first King of _Egypt_ who reigned next after the
Gods, that is, by _Menoph_ or _Amenophis_ who reigned next after the death
of _Osiris_, _Isis_, _Orus_, _Bubaste_ and _Thoth_. The city, _Memphis_ was
also said to be built by _Menes_; he began to build it when he fortified it
against _Osarsiphus_. And from him it was called _Menoph_, _Moph_, _Noph_,
&c; and is to this day called _Menuf_ by the _Arabians_. And therefore
_Menes_ who built the city and temple Was _Menoph_ or _Amenophis_. The
Priests of _Egypt_ at length made this temple above a thousand years older
then _Amenophis_, and some of them five or ten thousand years older: but it
could not be above two or three hundred years older than the Reign of
_Psammiticus_ who finished it, and died 614 years before _Christ_. When
_Menoph_ or _Menes_ built the city, he built a bridge there over the
_Nile_: a work too great to be older than the Monarchy of _Egypt_.
909. _Amenophis_, called _Memnon_ by the _Greeks_, built the _Memnonia_ at
_Susa_, whilst _Egypt_ was under the government of _Proteus_ his Viceroy.
904. _Troy_ taken. _Amenophis_ was still at _Susa_; the _Greeks_ feigning
that he came from thence to the _Trojan_ war.
903. _Demophoon_, the son of _Theseus_ by _Phœdra_ the daughter of _Minos_,
Reigns at _Athens_.
901. _Amenophis_ builds small Pyramids in _Cochome_.
896. _Ulysses_ leaves _Calypso_ in the Island _Ogygie_ (perhaps _Cadis_ or
_Cales_.) She was the daughter of _Atlas_, according to _Homer_. The
ancients at length feigned that this Island, (which from _Atlas_ they
called _Atlantis_) had been as big as all _Europe_, _Africa_ and _Asia_,
but was sunk into the Sea.
895. _Teucer_ builds _Salamis_ in _Cyprus_. _Hadad_ or _Benhadad_ King of
_Syria_ dies, and is Deified at _Damascus_ with a Temple and Ceremonies.
887. _Amenophis_ dies, and is succeeded by his son _Ramesses_ or
_Rhampsinitus_, who builds the western Portico of the Temple of _Vulcan_.
The _Egyptians_ dedicated to _Osiris_, _Isis_, _Orus_ senior, _Typhon_, and
_Nephthe_ the sister and wife of _Typhon_, the five days added by the
_Egyptians_ to the twelve Calendar months of the old Luni-solar year, and
said that they were added when these five Princes were born. They were
therefore added in the Reign of _Ammon_ the father of these five Princes:
but this year was scarce brought into common use before the Reign of
_Amenophis_: for in his Temple or Sepulchre at _Abydus_, they placed a
Circle of 365 cubits in compass, covered on the upper side with a plate of
gold, and divided into 365 equal parts, to represent all the days of the
year; every part having the day of the year, and the Heliacal Risings and
Settings of the Stars on that day, noted upon it. And this Circle remained
there 'till _Cambyses_ spoiled the temples of _Egypt_: and from this
monument I collect that it was _Amenophis_ who established this year,
fixing the beginning thereof to one of the four Cardinal Points of the
heavens. For had not the beginning thereof been now fixed, the Heliacal
Risings and Settings of the Stars could not have been noted upon the days
thereof. The Priests of _Egypt_ therefore in the Reign of _Amenophis_
continued to observe the Heliacal Risings and Settings of the Stars upon
every day. And when by the Sun's Meridional Altitudes they had found the
Solstices and Equinoxes according to the Sun's mean motion, his Equation
being not yet known, they fixed the beginning of this year to the Vernal
Equinox, and in memory thereof erected this monument. Now this year being
carried into _Chaldæa_, the _Chaldæans_ began their year of _Nabonassar_ on
the same _Thoth_ with the _Egyptians_, and made it of the same length. And
the _Thoth_ of the first year of _Nabonassar_ fell upon the 26th day of
_February_: which was 33 days and five hours before the Vernal Equinox,
according to the Sun's mean motion. And the _Thoth_ of this year moves
backwards 33 days and five hours in 137 years, and therefore fell upon the
Vernal Equinox 137 years before the _Æra_ of _Nabonassar_ began; that is,
884 years before _Christ_. And if it began upon the day next after the
Vernal Equinox, it might begin three or four years earlier; and there we
may place the death of this King. The _Greeks_ feigned that he was the Son
of _Tithonus_, and therefore he was born after the return of _Sesac_ into
_Egypt_, with _Tithonus_ and other captives, and so might be about 70 or 75
years old at his death.
883. _Dido_ builds _Carthage_, and the _Phœnicians_ begin presently after
to sail as far as to the _Straights Mouth_, and beyond. _Æneas_ was still
alive, according to _Virgil_.
870. _Hesiod_ flourishes. He hath told us himself that he lived in the age
next after the wars of _Thebes_ and _Troy_, and that this age should end
when the men then living grew hoary and dropt into the grave; and therefore
it was but of an ordinary length: and _Herodotus_ has told us that _Hesiod_
and _Homer_ were but 400 years older than himself. Whence it follows that
the destruction of _Troy_ was not older than we have represented it.
860. _Mœris_ Reigns in _Egypt_. He adorned _Memphis_, and translated the
seat of his Empire thither from _Thebes_. There he built the famous
Labyrinth, and the northern portico of the Temple of _Vulcan_, and dug the
great Lake called the Lake of _Mœris_, and upon the bottom of it built two
great Pyramids of brick: and these things being not mentioned by _Homer_ or
_Hesiod_, were unknown to them, and done after their days. _Mœris_ wrote
also a book of Geometry.