DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12654#0074
46
THE PHCENIX CYCLE FIXED
[Part I.
limits of the commencements of two Phoenix Cycles, I
conclude that these two elates of the commencements
of Great Panegyrical Years are likewise the dates of the
appearances of the Phcenixes of Sesostris and Amasis,
and that the Great Panegyrical Year commencing in the
year B.C. 1986, and each following one, began with a
quarter of a Phcenix Cycle. It is evident that a cycle
commencing with that Great Panegyrical Year which
began in the year B.C. 1986 was called a Phcenix Cycle,
because at its commencement the manifestation of the
Phoenix was celebrated on the first day of Thoth. Thus
we obtain the true dates of the appearances of the Phce-
nix ; first, approximative^, from the astronomical sculp-
tures of the ceiling of the Rameseum of El-Kurneh;
then, more nearly, but still approximatively, from the
remarkable record, perhaps derived from Manetho,
transmitted to us by Tacitus ; and then, at last, truly
and accurately, from the commencements of Panegyrical
periods, fixed by means of the recorded dates on the
ancient Egyptian monuments. No one of these steps
in the process of fixing the commencement of the most
perplexing of ancient periods is in any way dependent
on another : all are independent, se])arate, and pos-
sessed of high authority. It is to be remembered, also,
that when I wrote on the Great Panegyrical Year, I had
not formed even a guess, much less an opinion, as to
the length and character of the Phcenix Cycle ; so that
I had in fact already determined it, before I was aware
of there being any record of it upon the ancient Egyp-
tian monuments. It is also to be remembered, that
the Great Panegyrical Year was not a subdivision of the
Phcenix Cycle before the appearance of the Phoenix of
Sesostris. Any one who will consider these things
will be convinced that the Phoenix, that mythic bird,
THE PHCENIX CYCLE FIXED
[Part I.
limits of the commencements of two Phoenix Cycles, I
conclude that these two elates of the commencements
of Great Panegyrical Years are likewise the dates of the
appearances of the Phcenixes of Sesostris and Amasis,
and that the Great Panegyrical Year commencing in the
year B.C. 1986, and each following one, began with a
quarter of a Phcenix Cycle. It is evident that a cycle
commencing with that Great Panegyrical Year which
began in the year B.C. 1986 was called a Phcenix Cycle,
because at its commencement the manifestation of the
Phoenix was celebrated on the first day of Thoth. Thus
we obtain the true dates of the appearances of the Phce-
nix ; first, approximative^, from the astronomical sculp-
tures of the ceiling of the Rameseum of El-Kurneh;
then, more nearly, but still approximatively, from the
remarkable record, perhaps derived from Manetho,
transmitted to us by Tacitus ; and then, at last, truly
and accurately, from the commencements of Panegyrical
periods, fixed by means of the recorded dates on the
ancient Egyptian monuments. No one of these steps
in the process of fixing the commencement of the most
perplexing of ancient periods is in any way dependent
on another : all are independent, se])arate, and pos-
sessed of high authority. It is to be remembered, also,
that when I wrote on the Great Panegyrical Year, I had
not formed even a guess, much less an opinion, as to
the length and character of the Phcenix Cycle ; so that
I had in fact already determined it, before I was aware
of there being any record of it upon the ancient Egyp-
tian monuments. It is also to be remembered, that
the Great Panegyrical Year was not a subdivision of the
Phcenix Cycle before the appearance of the Phoenix of
Sesostris. Any one who will consider these things
will be convinced that the Phoenix, that mythic bird,