DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.12654#0132
104 THE PYRAMIDS OF UENEPHES. [part n.
the First and Second Dynasties, before entering upon
the consideration of the history of the Memphite
Kingdom.
Respecting Kenkenes, the third King of the First
Dynasty, we know nothing more than that he was the
son of Athothis. (Afr. and Eus.) We are told that
Uenephes, his successor, built the Pyramids near
Kochome. I have been unable to find any name which
I could reasonably suppose to be that of Kochome
among the names of the Egyptian cities found on the
monuments, or mentioned by Greek, Roman, or Copt,
writers. This is the earliest notice of Pyramids. We
are told nothing more respecting the Kings of this
Dynasty, and the events of their reigns, excepting that
a famine afflicted Egypt in the reign of the King last
mentioned; and that there happened a very great plague
(cf)0opa /jbeylarr}) in that of Semempses, the seventh
King of the Dynasty, and, as Eusebius adds, many
remarkable events.—Such are the fragments which
have come down to us, in Manetho's lists, of the his-
tory of the First Dynasty, and it is to be feared that
the hieroglyphic inscriptions will furnish us with few,
if any, more, owing to the remoteness of the period,
and the want of monuments which we can certainly
ascribe to this Dynasty.
In considering the history of the next Dynasty, I
shall not distinguish the statements which are given in
Manetho's lists, as no other ancient historian has pre-
served any records of it, and therefore no mistake can
arise. In the time of the first King of the Second
Dynasty, Boethos, we are told that a chasm of the
earth opened at Bubastis, and many perished. This is
a remarkable statement, as Egypt is seldom subject to
earthquakes, but often to the shocks of earthquakes
the First and Second Dynasties, before entering upon
the consideration of the history of the Memphite
Kingdom.
Respecting Kenkenes, the third King of the First
Dynasty, we know nothing more than that he was the
son of Athothis. (Afr. and Eus.) We are told that
Uenephes, his successor, built the Pyramids near
Kochome. I have been unable to find any name which
I could reasonably suppose to be that of Kochome
among the names of the Egyptian cities found on the
monuments, or mentioned by Greek, Roman, or Copt,
writers. This is the earliest notice of Pyramids. We
are told nothing more respecting the Kings of this
Dynasty, and the events of their reigns, excepting that
a famine afflicted Egypt in the reign of the King last
mentioned; and that there happened a very great plague
(cf)0opa /jbeylarr}) in that of Semempses, the seventh
King of the Dynasty, and, as Eusebius adds, many
remarkable events.—Such are the fragments which
have come down to us, in Manetho's lists, of the his-
tory of the First Dynasty, and it is to be feared that
the hieroglyphic inscriptions will furnish us with few,
if any, more, owing to the remoteness of the period,
and the want of monuments which we can certainly
ascribe to this Dynasty.
In considering the history of the next Dynasty, I
shall not distinguish the statements which are given in
Manetho's lists, as no other ancient historian has pre-
served any records of it, and therefore no mistake can
arise. In the time of the first King of the Second
Dynasty, Boethos, we are told that a chasm of the
earth opened at Bubastis, and many perished. This is
a remarkable statement, as Egypt is seldom subject to
earthquakes, but often to the shocks of earthquakes