Beginning of the Chronographeon, and then the Sum or Heads of what followed, and not the Particulars at large, that were contained in it, But I would observe, 2. That we have Reason to think, that the foregoing Account was not originally intended for an Account of the old Chronographeon only, but rather for an Account of the Chronographeon, and of fome other Work accommodated and connected to it. From the Beginning of the Account to the End of what is faid of the Heroes of the Cynic Cycle, we have the Substance of the old Chronographeon: From what follows thus, then the xvx Dynafty of Tanite Kings, &c. we have the Contents, not of the old Chronographeon, but of fome later Chronicle, which was thought to fupply what the old Chronographeon did not contain, towards the completing the Egyptian Hiftory. In the old Chronographeon, next to the Cynic Cycle, were Lifts of the Kings of three Kingdoms, first of the Auritans, fecondly, of the Meftraans, and thirdly of the Egyptians (x): And fo many Names of Kings were probably contained in each Lift, as had reigned to the Time perhaps when the Chronographeon was compofed: But the Author of the Account above produced, not purpofing to go on with the more obfolete Names of the old Chronographeon, but taking the Auritans to be the fame Nation as were afterwards called Tanites, the Meftræans the fame as Memphites, and the

(*) Πρῶτον μὲν τῶν ̓Αυριτῶν, δεύτερον δὲ τῶν Μεσαίων, τείτον ἢ Αιγυπτίων. Syncell. p. 51.

Egyptians

Egyptians the fame as Diofpolitans; and knowing that a later Chronicle at its XVI Dynafty began its Account of the Tanite Kings; and in its XVII and XVIII, its Account of the Memphites; and in the next Dynafty its Account of the Diofpolitans; he thought this to be a Point of Time where he was fure the two Registers, he copied from, coincided, and therefore having given the Contents of the more ancient one, down to this Point, instead of going on in that any further, here, fays he, we are come to the xvi Dynafty, an Epoch well known to those, who had perufed the Accounts of Manetho, and from hence he adds Dynafly to Dynafty down to what he took to be the End of the Egyptian Hiftory.

If we do not take the Account, I am treating of, in this Light, it will be hard to reconcile the feveral Parts of it to one another. We have in it the Contents of the Egyptian History of their Gods, Demi-Gods, Cynic Cycle, and then comes the xvi Dynafty: It must be obvious here to ask, how comes this to be called the XVI Dynafty; for where are the preceding xv? The learned Editor of Syncellus was aware of this Difficulty, and therefore fuggefts in his Annotations, that Γενεαὶ ιέ Κύκλο κυνικό fhould be read, δυνατείαι ιέ, that infead of 15 Generations of the Cynic Cycle, we fhould read 15 Dynafties (y); but this is to cut the Difficulty and not to folve it: This was certainly not the Intention of the Author of the Account: He

(y) Vid. Annotat. Goar, ad Syncell. pag. 51.

imagined

imagined the whole Hiftory, from the Beginning of the Chronographeon to the End of the Dynafties he added to it, to contain in all but 30 Dynafties, and accordingly endeavours to fum up the Amount of them all to be 36525 Years (*); but if we begin the Dynafiies from the Cynic Cycle, the Sum of them will fall fhort Myriads of Years of that Number, and the Chronographeon will contain the History of the Gods and Demi-Gods, befides the Dynafties, which the Composer of this Account had no Notion of its doing.

I might add further, that if we take the Account abovementioned to give us the Contents of the old Chronographeon only, we shall deftroy the fuppofed Antiquity of the Chronographeon; for as xxvII Dynafty mentions the Perfian Kings (a), of whom Cambyfes was the first (b); fo it is evident, that the other 3 Dynafties carry on the Egyptian Hiftory to about the Time of Nectanebus (c), and there Manetho's Tomes ended (d). Nectanebus was expelled his Kingdom by Ochus King of Perfia, about 350 Years before Chrift (e), A. M. 3654. Manetho dedicated his Tomes to Ptolemy Philadelphus before A. M. 3757 (ƒ), within about 100 Years after Nectanebus; fo that if the old Chronographeon reached down to Nectanebus, Manetho's Work and that must have been of about the

(z) Vid. Eufeb. Chronic. p. 7. Syncell. p. 52. (a) Kas μετὰ τέτες κζ' δυναςεία Περσῶν ἐ ἐτῶν ρκδ' Syncell. p. 52. (b) Vid. p. 76. Prideaux Connect. Part. I. B. III. (c) Syncell. P. 76, 77. Prideaux B. III.-VII. (d) Syncell. p. 256. (e) Prideaux B. VII.

Id. Part II. B. II.

fame

fame Antiquity. I ought here to take notice, that fome very learned Writers have imagined this old Chronographeon to be nothing else but an Abridgment of Manetho: This was Scaliger's Opinion, and accordingly, in his Chronicon of Eufebius, he puts upon it the following Title: Θεῶν Βασιλεία κατὰ τὸ παλαιὸν χρονικὸν ἐκ τῶν Mave. Or, "The Reign of the Gods ac

cording to the old Chronicle out of the "Books of Manetho" (g): And this, I believe, was Dean Prideaux's Sentiment: He tells us, we have an Epitome of Manetho's Work preferved in Syncellus (b), taking, I fuppofe, this Chronographeon to be that Epitome: But they were probably led to think it fo, from Manetho's Work, and the Chronographeon's ending at the fame Period, and would perhaps have thought differently of it, had they duly obferved how the Account we have of the Chronographeon differs, the former Part of it from the latter Part, in a very remarkable Particular, which argues it to have been an Abstract of not one, but of two different Works; the former Part exhibiting the Contents of a Work, which had not been divided into fuch Dynasties as the latter Part is made up of; the latter Part containing the Subftance of one half of a Work, which had comprehended in 30 Dynafties the whole Egyptian Hiftory.

That the old Chronographeon was a different and diftinct Work from Manetho's, is evident

(g) Eufeb. Chronic. p. 6. (b) Connect. Part I. B. VII. ad annum 350.

from

from Syncellus; for he collected from it, that Manetho had committed Errors (i); and fuggefts, that the Period of Time, which the old Chronographeon digefted into Dynafties, was not the fame with that which Manetho forted into Divifions of a like Denomination (k): From the old Chronographeon, Manetho took an Hint, which led him to compofe the Egyptian History in fuch Sections (1); but the Dynasties of the old Chronographeon were Aftronomical, not Hiftorical (m): The Page of Syncellus, from which we might hope to form a Judgment of this old Chronographeon, is printed very incor rectly; or perhaps never had the last Hand of its Author; for Syncellus died before he had completed and corrected his Work (n); and, I fhould think, has left us in this Page rather fome Hints, which he might purpose afterwards to perfect, than a clear and complete Account of the old Chronographeon: As far as we can guess from his fhort and imperfect Suggeftions, the old Chronographeon divided a very large Period of Time, a space of 36525 Years, first into 30 Dynafties, then, cv yeVERTS TV γενεαῖς πάλιν py', it fubdivided it again into 113 Generations (0): The Egyptians reputed a Period of 36525 Years to be the space of Time, in which the Luminaries of Heaven performed, what they

(i) κ καὶ τὸν Μανεθῶ πεπλανῆας νομίζω Syncell. p. 51. (7) περιέχον δ' δυναςειῶν -- χρόνον ἄπειρον, καὶ ἐ τὸν αὐτὸν τὸ Maved. Syncell. p. 51. (1) ἐκ τέτων δηλαδὴ λαβών αφορμάς. Id. p. 52. (m) Αιγύπλιοι μὲν τὰς περιόδες κα μυριάδας ἐτῶν κατάθεσίν τινα τῶν παρ αυτοῖς ἀκρολογεμένων To. Id. p. 17. (2) Præfat. in Syncell. (0) Syncell. p. 51.

called