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{{Short description|3rd-century BC Egyptian historian and priest}}
'''Manetho''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|m|æ|n|ɪ|θ|oʊ}}; {{langx|grc-x-koine|Μανέθων}} ''Manéthōn'', ''gen''.: Μανέθωνος, ''fl''. 290–260 BCE<ref>{{Cite web |date=2005 |title=Manetho |url=https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195102345.001.0001/acref-9780195102345-e-0426?rskey=2PEtlp&result=428 |access-date=April 8, 2025 |website=The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt}}</ref>) was an [[Ancient Egyptian religion|Egyptian priest]] of the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]] who lived in the early third century BCE, at the very beginning of the [[Hellenistic period]]. Little is certain about his life. He is known today as the author of a [[History of ancient Egypt|history of Egypt]] in [[Greek language|Greek]] called the ''[[Aegyptiaca (Manetho)|Aegyptiaca]]'' (''History of Egypt''), written during the reign of [[Ptolemy I Soter]] or [[Ptolemy II Philadelphus]] (285–246 BCE). None of Manetho’s original texts have survived; they are [[lost literary work]]s, known only from [[Literary fragment|fragments]] transmitted by later authors of [[Classical antiquity|classical]] and [[late antiquity]].

[[File:Manetho Waddell1940 PD Excerpt pIX.jpg|thumb|Excerpt from ''Manetho, with an English translation'' by W.G. Waddell, p. ix.]]

The remaining fragments of the ''Aegyptiaca'' continue to be a singular resource for delineating [[Egyptian chronology]], more than two millennia since its composition. Until the [[Decipherment of ancient Egyptian scripts|decipherment of Ancient Egyptian scripts]] in the early 19th century CE, Manetho's fragments were an essential source for understanding Egyptian history. His work remains of unique importance in [[Egyptology]].{{sfn|Verbrugghe|Wickersham|2001|pp=116, 119}}{{sfn|Waddell|1940|pp=xvii, xx, xxvi}}

== Works attributed to Manetho ==

Eight works have been attributed to Manetho:{{Sfn|Waddell|1940|pp=xiv–xv}}{{Sfn|Verbrugghe|Wickersham|2001|p=97}}

# ''[[Aegyptiaca (Manetho)|Aegyptiaca]]''
# ''[[Book of Sothis|The Book of Sothis]]''
# ''The Sacred Book''
# ''An [[Epitome]] of Physical Doctrines''
# ''On Festivals''
# ''On Ancient Ritual and Religion''
# ''On the Making of [[Kyphi]]'' [a kind of incense]
# ''Criticisms of [[Herodotus]]''

Some of these have been considered "ghost" titles.{{Explain|reason=Explain "ghost" titles.|date=May 2025}} Of these eight, modern scholars agree that: the [[Historicity|historical]] Manetho is the author of ''Aegyptiaca;'' that Manetho cannot be the author of ''Sothis;'' and that the ''Criticisms'' is likely a part of the larger ''Aegypticia'' and not written as a separate work.{{Sfn|Waddell|1940|pp=xiv–xv}}

==Name==
[[File:0235 Altes Museum High Clerk in the Cult of Serapis anagoria.JPG|thumb|No likeness of Manetho exists. This is a bust of a [[Neokoros]], a senior official in the [[Egyptian temple|temple cult]] of [[Serapis]] (a [[Hellenistic]] appropriation of [[Osiris]] and [[Apis (deity)|Apis]]) from [[Roman Egypt]], 230-240 CE, over three centuries after Manetho lived. The circlet with the seven-rayed [[Solar symbol|sun disk]] in the hair identifies his position. Manetho was an authority on the temple cult of Serapis. Marble. [[Altes Museum]], Berlin.]]
Scholars agree that "Manetho" is a Greek [[Transcription (linguistics)|transcription]] of an Egyptian name, however there is no consensus on the original. Some speculate that it is a [[theophoric name]] invoking either the god [[Thoth]] or the goddess [[Neith]], e.g. "Truth of Thoth", "Beloved of Neith", or similar. Another proposal is "I have seen the great god". Others propose an [[Surname#Occupational surnames|occupational name]] based on Egyptian ''Myinyu-heter'' ("Shepherd" or "Groom"). In Latin sources he is called ''Manethon'', ''Manethos'', ''Manethonus'', and ''Manetos''.{{Sfn|Moyer|2011|p=85}}{{Sfn|Verbrugghe|Wickersham|2001|p=95}}

The earliest attestations of his name, all in Greek, come from three sources: an [[Epigraphy|inscription]] found in [[Carthage]]; the [[El Hiba|Hibeh]] [[Papyrus#Documents written on papyrus|papyrus]]; and the writings of [[Flavius Josephus|Josephus]]. The name that he called himself in Greek was likely ''Manethôn''.{{Sfn|Verbrugghe|Wickersham|2001|p=96}}

== Historical context ==
[[File:OsirisPriest.jpg|thumb|Statue of a priest of [[Osiris]], Ptolemaic Kingdom of Egypt, 1st century CE. [[Grand Palais|Le Grand Palais]] exhibition.]]
Manetho lived and worked at the very beginning of the new Hellenistic order in Egypt, when the [[Ancient Macedonians|Macedonian Greek]] ''[[Diadochi]]'' (successors) of [[Alexander the Great]] (d. 323 BCE) [[Diadochi#Chronology|fought each other]] for control of the new empire, a struggle finally ending in partition.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last1=Verbrugghe |title=Berossos and Manetho |last2=Wickersham |pages=95}}</ref> In Egypt, ''diadochos'' [[Ptolemy I Soter]] founded the Ptolemaic Kingdom in 305 BCE. Reigning for nearly three centuries, the [[Ptolemaic dynasty|Ptolemies]] were the final and longest-lived [[Dynasties of ancient Egypt|dynasty of ancient Egypt]] before [[Roman Egypt|Roman conquest]] in 30 BCE. They introduced the [[Hellenistic religion]], a unique [[syncretism]] between [[Ancient Greek religion|Greek]] and Egyptian religions and cultures.<ref name=":3">{{Cite book |last=Rutherford |title=Greco-Egyptian Interactions: Literature, Translation, and Culture, 500 BCE–300 CE}}</ref> Manetho wrote ''Aegyptiaca'' in order to preserve the history of his homeland for posterity and—as evidenced by his having written it in Greek—for its new foreign rulers.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Verbrugghe |title=Berossos and Manetho |last2=Wickersham |page=8}}</ref>

Manetho originated in [[Samannud|Sebennytos]] and was likely a priest of the [[solar deity]] [[Ra]] at [[Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]]. He was an authority on the [[Egyptian temple|temple cult]] of [[Serapis]] (a Hellenistic appropriation of [[Osiris]] and [[Apis (god)|Apis]]).<ref name=":2">{{Cite book |last1=Verbrugghe |title=Berossos and Manetho |last2=Wickersham |page=96}}</ref><ref name=":3" />

Most of the ancient witnesses group Manetho together with the [[Mesopotamian]] writer [[Berossus]] and treat the pair as similar in intent. Those who preserved the bulk of their writing are largely the same ([[Josephus]], [[Sextus Julius Africanus|Africanus]], [[Eusebius]], and [[George Syncellus|Syncellus]]). Both wrote in Greek at about the same time, and adopted the historiographical approach of the Greek writers [[Herodotus]] and [[Hesiod]] who preceded them. Both used chronological royal [[Genealogy|genealogies]] and [[regnal list]]s (also called "king-lists") as the structure for the narratives, and extended their histories far into a mythic past or [[origin myth]]—in Manetho's case a [[Religious syncretism|syncretized]] one. Modern historians consider Berossus and Manetho to have been rough contemporaries.{{citation  needed|date=May 2025}}

== The Fragments of Manetho ==
All of Manetho's original works are lost. What remains are purported excerpts, [[epitome]]s (summaries), and [[allusion]]s as transmitted in the writings of later authors. These pieces of transmitted text are called "[[literary fragment]]s"; and scholars have indexed individual fragments with numbers, as in "Fragment 1", "Fragment 2", etc.

Two English translations of the fragments of Manetho have been published: one by [[William Gillan Waddell]] (1884 – 1945) in 1940, and another by Gerald P. Verbrugghe and John Moore Wickersham in 2001.

Waddell's 1940 translation grouped fragments based on the preserving author and attempted to arrange them according to Manetho's original dynastic structure. His numbering followed this organizational principle.

Verbrugghe and Wickersham's work is informed by scholarship published after Waddell, particularly that of the German [[Classics|classicist]] and [[Philology|philologist]] [[Felix Jacoby]] (1876 – 1959).

Jacoby's ''[[Fragmente der griechischen Historiker|Fragments of the Greek Historians]]'' ([[German language|Ger]]: ''Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker''), commonly abbreviated as "FGrHist" or "FGrH", is a reference work that compiles extant citations, excerpts, and epitomes of otherwise [[Lost literary work|lost works]] by ancient historians written in Greek. Jacoby's section on Manetho (FGrHist 609){{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} established a highly influential system for classifying and numbering the fragments.

Verbrugghe and Wickersham's decision to base their work on Jacoby's system reflects a desire to align with the prevailing scholarly consensus in the field. Jacoby's work is known for its meticulousness and comprehensive approach to fragment collection and analysis. As Jacoby's work was in German and not immediately accessible in English translation at the time that Verbrugghe and Wickersham were working, their translation and commentary proved invaluable for English-speaking scholars.{{Sfn|Verbrugghe|Wickersham|2001|p=207}}

==The ''Aegyptiaca'' ==
{{Main|Aegyptiaca (Manetho)}}
The ''[[Aegyptiaca (Manetho)|Aegyptiaca]]'' ({{lang|grc|Αἰγυπτιακά}}, ''Aigyptiaka''), (or "History of Egypt") was a chronological history divided into three [[papyrus]] [[scrolls]] (Gr: ''tomoi''), or "books" or "volumes"; it may have been written as a response to [[Herodotus]]' ''[[Histories (Herodotus)|Histories]]''. It is—or more precisely, its accumulated fragments are—a foundational text for understanding the very long [[history of ancient Egypt]], particularly [[Egyptian chronology]]. It or its fragments were for many centuries a [[primary source]] on the subject until the [[Decipherment of ancient Egyptian scripts|decipherment of Ancient Egyptian scripts]] in the early 19th century CE. The text remains significant in [[Egyptology]].<ref name=":4">{{Cite book |last=Waddell |title=Manetho |pages=xvi–xvii}}</ref>

Manetho's ''Aegyptiaca'' chronicles the history of Egypt from a mythical epoch of divine rulers, through the unification of [[Upper and Lower Egypt]] by [[Menes]] (c. 3100 BCE in modern dating) and the subsequent thirty (or thirty-one) [[Dynasties of ancient Egypt|dynasties]], culminating in the establishment of the [[Ptolemaic Kingdom]] in 305 BCE. Key themes included the importance of a unified kingdom, periods of stability and innovation versus internal strife and foreign rule (like the [[Hyksos]], [[Kingdom of Kush|Kushites]], and [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenids]]), and the restoration of Egyptian power. Manetho aimed to present a comprehensive and continuous history of Egypt under divinely-sanctioned rulers, including foreign ones.{{Sfn|Verbrugghe|Wickersham|p=99|2001}}{{Sfn|Verbrugghe|Wickersham|p=100|2001}}

==Manetho's Legacy==
Manetho's unique legacy rests on the singular importance of his ''Aegyptiaca''.

=== The Dynastic Framework ===
Manetho coined the term "[[dynasty]]" (Greek: ''dynasteia''); his conception was not based on bloodlines—as we understand the term "dynasty" today—but rather as groupings of monarchs punctuated by discontinuities, either geographical (e.g., moving the [[List of historical capitals of Egypt|capital]]) or genealogical. After each discontinuity came a new dynasty.{{Sfn|Verbrugghe|Wickersham|2001|p=95}}

Arguably his most important legacy, Manetho's division of Egyptian rulers into thirty (or sometimes thirty-one) [[Dynasties of ancient Egypt|dynasties]]—despite its imperfections and the passage of millennia—still serves as the fundamental chronological backbone for [[Egyptology]]. Indeed, since Syncellus, his method of dynastic arrangement remains the foundational structure for all presentations of Pharaonic Egypt. {{sfn|Verbrugghe|Wickersham|2001|pp=98, 111, 116, 119, 120}}{{sfn|Waddell|1940|pp=viii, xv–xvii, xxii, xxv, xxvi}}

=== Written in Greek ===
Use of Egyptian hieroglyphic and [[Demotic (Egyptian)|demotic]] writing began to disappear in the third century CE, and with it went the knowledge to read these scripts.{{sfn|Loprieno|1995|p=26}} The temple-based priesthoods died out and [[Decline of ancient Egyptian religion|Egypt was gradually converted to Christianity]], and because [[Egyptian Christians]] wrote in the Greek-derived [[Coptic alphabet]], it came to supplant demotic. The [[Graffito of Esmet-Akhom|last hieroglyphic text]] was written by priests at the Temple of [[Isis]] at [[Philae]] in 394 CE, and the last known demotic text was inscribed there in {{nbsp}}452 CE.{{sfn|Iversen|1993|pp=26, 30–31}}

Manetho's decision to write his ''Aegyptiaca'' in Greek—the ''[[lingua franca]]'' of his day—rather than Egyptian ensured that the text remained accessible even after the knowledge of Egyptian scripts was lost, and enabled scholars from [[Classical antiquity|classical]] and [[late antiquity]] to the [[modern era]] to encounter Egypt's deep past. This history would have otherwise been largely inaccessible until the decipherment of ancient Egyptian scripts.{{sfn|Verbrugghe|Wickersham|2001|pp=95, 97, 102, 115, 116, 119, 120}}{{sfn|Waddell|1940|pp=vii, viii, x–xii, xv, xvii–xviii, xxiv–xxvii}}

=== A Native Egyptian Perspective ===
Manetho, an educated Egyptian who wrote for an audience of foreigners, is even today a singular guide to his civilization's profoundly ancient history. As the author of a complete and systematic work by a native Egyptian, Manetho's perspective held an inherent authority. His viewpoint still offers unparalleled insights into how Egyptians themselves conceived of their own past and their place in a changing world.{{sfn|Verbrugghe|Wickersham|2001|pp=95, 119, 120}}{{sfn|Waddell|1940|pp=viii, ix, xxvi}}

=== A Foundation for Later Scholarship ===
Despite the fragmented and imperfect transmission of his ''Aegyptiaca'', Manetho established a foundational chronology for thinking and writing about Egyptian history that endures to this day. For centuries, Manetho's fragments and summaries were the primary textual sources for understanding the sequence of Egyptian rulers. They provided a framework, however flawed, upon which early Egyptological scholarship was built. [[Jean-François Champollion]] relied on Manetho's [[Regnal list|king-lists]] as a cross-reference in his pioneering translations of ancient Egyptian scripts.{{sfn|Verbrugghe|Wickersham|2001|pp=98, 102, 115–120}}{{sfn|Waddell|1940|pp=vii, viii, xv–xvii, xxii, xxv, xxvi}}

==See also==
{{Portal|Ancient Egypt}}
*[[Aegyptiaca (Manetho)|''Aegyptiaca'' (Manetho)]]
*[[Berossus]]
*''[[Cory's Ancient Fragments|Cory’s Ancient Fragments]]''
*''[[Fragmente der griechischen Historiker]]''
*[[Hecataeus of Abdera]]
*[[List of lists of ancient kings]]
*[[Menander of Ephesus]]

==References==

===Explanatory notes===
{{notelist}}

=== Citations ===<!-- Inline citations added to your article will automatically display here. See en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WP:REFB for instructions on how to add citations. -->
{{reflist}}

===Bibliography===

{{Refbegin}}

*{{Cite book| last = Synkellos| first = Geōrgios| author-mask = 1| editor-last = Adler| editor-first = William| editor2-last = Tuffin| editor2-first = Paul| title = The Chronography of George Synkellos: a Byzantine Chronicle of Universal History from the Creation| publisher = Oxford University Press| location = Oxford| year = 2002}}
*{{Cite journal| last = Greenberg| first = Gary| year = 1995| title = Manetho's 7th and 8th Dynasties: A Puzzle Solved| url = https://www.academia.edu/45414666|  journal = Journal of the Society for the Study of Egyptian Antiquities| volume = XXV| pages = 50–55}}
*{{cite book |last=Iversen |first=Erik |title=The Myth of Egypt and Its Hieroglyphs in European Tradition |year=1993 |orig-year=First edition 1961 |publisher=Princeton University Press |isbn=978-0-691-02124-9  }}
*{{cite book |last=Loprieno |first=Antonio |authorlink=Antonio Loprieno |title=Ancient Egyptian: A Linguistic Introduction |year=1995 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-44384-5 }}
* {{Cite book| last = Moyer| first = Ian S.| title = Egypt and the Limits of Hellenism| publisher = Cambridge University Press| year = 2011}}
* {{Cite book| last = Rutherford| first = Ian| title = Greco-Egyptian Interactions: Literature, Translation, and Culture, 500 BC–AD 300| publisher = Oxford University Press| year = 2016}}
*{{cite book |last=Schneider |first=Thomas |title=Historiographie in der Antike |date=27 August 2008 |publisher=Walter de Gruyter |isbn=978-3-11-020672-2 |editor=Klaus-Peter Adam |pages=181–197 |chapter=Periodizing Egyptian History: Manetho, Convention, and Beyond |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=BTMAu2LRbVUC&pg=PA182 |authorlink=Thomas Schneider (Egyptologist)}}
*{{Cite book |last=Schneider |first=Thomas |title=Language Contact in Ancient Egypt |publisher=LIT Verlag |year=2023 |isbn=978-3-643-96507-3 |location=Zurich |pages=}}
*{{Cite book |last1=Verbrugghe |first1=Gerald |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=mdp.39015040709068&seq=3 |title=Berossos and Manetho, Introduced and Translated: Native Traditions in Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt |last2=Wickersham |first2=John Moore |publisher=University of Michigan Press |year=2001 |isbn=9780472086870 |access-date=28 April 2025}}
*{{Cite book |last=Waddell |first=William Gillan |title=Manetho; with an English translation |publisher=Harvard University Press |year=1940 |location=Cambridge, Mass.}}

{{Refend}}

=== Further reading ===

{{refbegin}}

*{{Cite book| last = Barclay| first = John M.G.| year = 2011| title = Flavius Josephus: Translation and Commentary, Volume 10: Against Apion| publisher = Brill| location = N.p.| volume = 10}}
*{{Cite encyclopedia |year=2024 |title=The Second Intermediate Period |encyclopedia=Oxford Research Encyclopedia of African History |url=https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.1201 |access-date=28 April 2025 |last=Candelora |first=Danielle|doi=10.1093/acrefore/9780190277734.013.1201 |isbn=978-0-19-027773-4 }}
*{{Cite journal |last=Dillery |first=John |year=1999 |title=The First Egyptian Narrative History: Manetho and Greek Historiography |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/20190475 |journal=Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik |volume=127 |pages=93–116 |jstor=20190475}}
* {{Cite book| last = Herodotus| title = The Histories| translator = A. D. Godley| publisher = Harvard University Press; William Heinemann Ltd| location = Cambridge; London| year = 1921}}
*{{Cite book| editor-last = Leahy| editor-first = A.| title = Libya and Egypt: c. 1300–750 BC| publisher = SOAS Centre of Near and Middle Eastern Studies and the Society for Libyan Studies| location = London| year = 1990}}
*{{Cite book| last = Redford| first = Donald B.| author-link = Donald B. Redford| year = 1986a| chapter = The Name Manetho| editor-last = Lesko| editor-first = Leonard H.| title = Egyptological Studies in Honor of Richard A. Parker Presented on the Occasion of His 78th Birthday, December 10, 1983| pages = 118–121| publisher = University Press of New England| location = Hannover and London}}
*{{Cite book| last = Redford| first = Donald B.| title = Pharaonic king-lists, annals, and day-books: a contribution to the study of the Egyptian sense of history| publisher = Benben| location = Mississauga| year = 1986}}
*{{Cite book| last = Thompson| first = Dorothy J.| title = Memphis Under the Ptolemies: Second Edition| edition = 2nd| series = NED-New edition| publisher = Princeton University Press| year = 2012| doi = 10.2307/j.ctv1n9dknx| jstor=}}

{{refend}}

==External links==
{{refbegin}}

*{{Cite book
| last1 = Verbrugghe
| first1 = Gerald P.
| last2 = Wickersham
| first2 = John M.
| last3 = Moore
| first3 = Sandra
| title = Berossos and Manetho, Introduced and Translated: Native Traditions in Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt
| year = 2001
| hdl = 2027/mdp.39015040709068
| url = https://hdl.handle.net/2027/mdp.39015040709068
| access-date = 2025-05-14
| via = HathiTrust
}}

*{{Cite web |url=https://penelope.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Manetho/home.html |title=The Fragments of Manetho online |others=transcribed from the 1940 Waddell Loeb Classical Library edition |access-date=2025-05-14}}
*{{Cite book
| last =
| title = Manetho und die Hundssternperiode, Ein Beitrag zur Geschichte der Pharaonen
| trans-title = Manetho and the Sothic Period, A Contribution to the History of the Pharaohs
| year = 1845
| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_FXgoAAAAYAAJ/page/n13/mode/1up
| access-date = 2025-05-14
}}

*{{Cite book
| url = https://www.oxfordreference.com/display/10.1093/acref/9780195102345.001.0001/acref-9780195102345?btog=chap&hide=true&page=32&pageSize=20&skipEditions=true&sort=titlesort&source=%2F10.1093%2Facref%2F9780195102345.001.0001%2Facref-9780195102345
| author      = <!-- not stated -->
| title = The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt
| date = 2001
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| isbn = 978-0-19-510234-5
| access-date = 2025-05-14
}}

{{refend}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:3rd-century BC births]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC deaths]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC clergy]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC Egyptian people]]
[[Category:3rd-century BC historians]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian historians]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian priests]]
[[Category:Texts in Koine Greek]]
[[Category:Hellenistic-era historians]]
[[Category:Regnal lists]]