DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12654#0078
50
THE LITTLE YEAR.
[Part I.
were to consider which of the three Kings was the
Sesostris famous for his conquests, we should at once
say Sesertesen I., who appears undoubtedly to have been
the most powerful monarch of his dynasty. It seems
to me that Sesertesen I. is Sesostris the conqueror, and
Sesertesen III. Sesostris the lawgiver, though I see no
reason for supposing that the latter King did not distin-
guish himself by foreign conquests. Some may object
to this explanation, that the Egyptians could not have
had a great conqueror among their Kings while the
Shepherds were in Egypt. This is an erroneous suppo-
sition : the Shepherd-Kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty
were merely contemporary Kings ruling in Lower Egypt,
and in the time of Sesertesen I. most probably at
peace with the Egyptians, and probably the Egyptians
were aided by them. The whole history of the
Pharaohs shows that they had often foreign troops;
mercenaries, or allies, or both.
In accordance with what Tacitus remarks, we find
that the most common period assigned to the return of
the Phoenix, by ancient writers, was 500 years;
and Herodotus, among the Greeks, and Horapollo,
among the Egyptians, with many others, speak of
the same period of 500 years. I think it most
probable that this is " the Little Year " mentioned in
the longer Benee-Hasan inscription. Since it is there
mentioned immediately after " the Great Year," it ap-
pears to have been connected with that period, which I
have shown to be the Tropical Cycle of 1500 Vague
Years, and to have commenced with it. Its most pro-
bable length would be 500 years, which would, if com-
posed of Vague Years, exactly correspond to one-third
of the Tropical Cycle, and be the period in which the
Vague Year retrograded through one season of the Tro-
THE LITTLE YEAR.
[Part I.
were to consider which of the three Kings was the
Sesostris famous for his conquests, we should at once
say Sesertesen I., who appears undoubtedly to have been
the most powerful monarch of his dynasty. It seems
to me that Sesertesen I. is Sesostris the conqueror, and
Sesertesen III. Sesostris the lawgiver, though I see no
reason for supposing that the latter King did not distin-
guish himself by foreign conquests. Some may object
to this explanation, that the Egyptians could not have
had a great conqueror among their Kings while the
Shepherds were in Egypt. This is an erroneous suppo-
sition : the Shepherd-Kings of the Fifteenth Dynasty
were merely contemporary Kings ruling in Lower Egypt,
and in the time of Sesertesen I. most probably at
peace with the Egyptians, and probably the Egyptians
were aided by them. The whole history of the
Pharaohs shows that they had often foreign troops;
mercenaries, or allies, or both.
In accordance with what Tacitus remarks, we find
that the most common period assigned to the return of
the Phoenix, by ancient writers, was 500 years;
and Herodotus, among the Greeks, and Horapollo,
among the Egyptians, with many others, speak of
the same period of 500 years. I think it most
probable that this is " the Little Year " mentioned in
the longer Benee-Hasan inscription. Since it is there
mentioned immediately after " the Great Year," it ap-
pears to have been connected with that period, which I
have shown to be the Tropical Cycle of 1500 Vague
Years, and to have commenced with it. Its most pro-
bable length would be 500 years, which would, if com-
posed of Vague Years, exactly correspond to one-third
of the Tropical Cycle, and be the period in which the
Vague Year retrograded through one season of the Tro-