A Dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology

(Μανεθώς [*](* His original Egyptian name was undoubtedly Manethōth, that is, Ma-ϟ-thôith, or the one given by Thoth, which would be expressed by the Greek Hermodotus or Hermodorus. (Bunsen, Aegyptens Stelle in der Weltgesch. vol. i. p. 91.)) or Μανεθών), an Egyptian priest of the town of Sebennytus, who lived in the reign of Ptolemy, the son of Lagus, and probably also in that of his successor, Ptolemy Philadelphus. He had in antiquity the reputation of having attained the highest possible degree of wisdom (Syncellus, Chronogr. p. 32, ed. Dindorf; Plut. de Is. et Os. 9; Aelian, Ael. NA 10.16), and it seems to have been this very reputation which induced later impostors to fabricate books, and publish them under his name. The fables arid mystical fancies which thus became current as the productions of the Egyptian sage, were the reason why Manetho was looked upon even by some of the ancients themselves as a half mythical personage, like Epimienides of Crete, of whose personal existence and history no one was able to form any distinct notion. The consequence has been, that the fragments of his genuine work did not meet, down to the most recent times, with that degree of attention which they deserved, although the inscriptions on the Egyptian monuments furnish the most satisfactory confirmation of some portions of his work that have come down to us. It was a further consequence of this mythical uncertainty by which his personal existence became surrounded, that some described him as a native of Diospolis (Thebes), the great centre of priestly learning among the Egyptians, or as a high priest at Heliopolis. (Suid. s. v. Μανέθως.) There can be no doubt that Manetho belonged to the class of priests, but whether he was high-priest of Egypt is uncertain, since we read this statement only in some MSS. of Suidas, and in one of the productions of the Pseudo-Manetho. Respecting his personal history scarcely anything is known, beyond the fact that he lived in the reign of the first Ptolemy, with whom he came in contact in consequence of his wisdom and learning. Plutarch (de Is. et Osir. 28) informs us, that the king was led by a dream to order a colossal statue of a god to be fetched from Sinope to Egypt. When the statue arrived, Ptolemy requested his interpreter Timotheus and Manetho of Sebennytus to inquire which god was represented in the statue. Their declaration that the god represented was Serapis, the Osiris of the lower world or Pluto, induced the king to build a temple to him, and establish his worship.

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