The Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended · Isaac Newton
CHAP. I.
When the _Romans_ conquered the _Carthaginians_, the Archives of _Carthage_ came into their hands: And thence _Appian_, in his history of the _Punic_ wars, tells in round numbers that _Carthage_ stood seven hundred years: and [39] _Solinus_ adds the odd number of years in these words: _Adrymeto atque Carthagini author est a Tyro populus. Urbem istam, ut Cato in Oratione Senatoria autumat; cum rex Hiarbas rerum in Libya potiretur, Elissa mulier extruxit, domo Phœnix & Carthadam dixit, quod Phœnicum ore exprimit civitatem novam; mox sermone verso Carthago dicta est, quæ post annos septingentos triginta septem exciditur quam fuerat extructa_. _Elissa_ was _Dido_, and _Carthage_ was destroyed in the Consulship of _Lentulus_ and _Mummius_, in the year of the _Julian Period_ 4568; from whence count backwards _737_ years, and the _Encænia_ or Dedication of the City, will fall upon the 16th year of _Pygmalion_, the brother of _Dido_, and King of _Tyre_. She fled in the seventh year of _Pygmalion_, but the _Æra_ of the City began with its _Encænia_. Now _Virgil_, and his Scholiast _Servius_, who might have some things from the archives of _Tyre_ and _Cyprus_, as well as from those of _Carthage_, relate that _Teucer_ came from the war of _Troy_ to _Cyprus_, in the days of _Dido_, a little before the Reign of her brother _Pygmalion_; and, in conjunction with her father, seized _Cyprus_, and ejected _Cinyras_: and the Marbles say that _Teucer_ came to _Cyprus_ seven years after the destruction of _Troy_, and built _Salamis_; and _Apollodorus_, that _Cinyras_ married _Metharme_ the daughter of _Pygmalion_, and built _Paphos_. Therefore, if the _Romans_, in the days of _Augustus_, followed not altogether the artificial Chronology of _Eratosthenes_, but had these things from the records of _Carthage_, _Cyprus_, or _Tyre_; the arrival of _Teucer_ at _Cyprus_ will be in the Reign of the predecessor of _Pygmalion_: and by consequence the destruction of _Troy_, about 76 years later than the death of _Solomon_.
_Dionysius Halicarnassensis_ [40] tells us, that in the time of the _Trojan_ war, _Latinus_ was King of the _Aborigines_ in _Italy_, and that in the sixteenth Age after that war, _Romulus_ built _Rome_. By Ages he means Reigns of Kings: for after _Latinus_ he names sixteen Kings of the _Latines_, the last of which was _Numitor_, in whose days _Romulus_ built _Rome_: for _Romulus_ was contemporary to _Numitor_, and after him _Dionysius_ and others reckon six Kings more over _Rome_, to the beginning of the Consuls. Now these twenty and two Reigns, at about 18 years to a Reign one with another, for many of these Kings were slain, took up 396 years; which counted back from the consulship of _Junius Brutus_ and _Valerius Publicola_, the two first Consuls, place the _Trojan_ war about 78 years after the death of _Solomon_. The expedition of _Sesostris_ was one Generation earlier than the _Argonautic_ expedition: for in his return back into _Egypt_ he left _Æetes_ in _Colchis_, and _Æetes_ reigned there 'till the _Argonautic_ expedition; and _Prometheus_ was left by _Sesostris_ with a body of men at _Mount Caucasus_, to guard that pass, and after thirty years was released by _Hercules_ the _Argonaut_: and _Phlyas_ and _Eumedon_, the sons of the great _Bacchus_, so the Poets call _Sesostris_, and of _Ariadne_ the daughter of _Minos_, were _Argonauts_.
At the return of _Sesostris_ into _Egypt_, his brother _Danaus_ fled from him into _Greece_ with his fifty daughters, in a long ship; after the pattern of which the ship _Argo_ was built: and _Argus_, the son of _Danaus_, was the master-builder thereof. _Nauplius_ the _Argonaut_ was born in _Greece_, of _Amymone_, one of the daughters of _Danaus_, and of _Neptune_, the brother and admiral of _Sesostris_: And two others of the daughters of _Danaus_ married _Archander_ and _Archilites_, the sons of _Achæus_, the son of _Creusa_, the daughter of _Erechtheus_ King of _Athens_: and therefore the daughters of _Danaus_ were three Generations younger than _Erechtheus_; and by consequence contemporary to _Theseus_ the son of _Ægeus_, the adopted son of _Pandion_, the son of _Erechtheus_. _Theseus_, in the time of the _Argonautic_ expedition, was of about 50 years of age, and so was born about the 33d year of _Solomon_: for he stole _Helena_ [41] just before that expedition, being then 50 years old, and she but seven, or as some say ten. _Pirithous_ the son of _Ixion_ helped _Theseus_ to steal _Helena_, and then [42] _Theseus_ went with _Pirithous_ to steal _Persephone_, the daughter of _Aidoneus_, or _Orcus_, King of the _Molossians_, and was taken in the action: and whilst he lay in prison, _Castor_ and _Pollux_ returning from the _Argonautic_ expedition, released their sister _Helena_, and captivated _Æthra_ the mother of _Theseus_.
Now the daughters of _Danaus_ being contemporary to _Theseus_, and some of their sons being _Argonauts_, _Danaus_ with his daughters fled from his brother _Sesostris_ into _Greece_ about one Generation before the _Argonautic_ expedition; and therefore _Sesostris_ returned into _Egypt_ in the Reign of _Rehoboam_. He came out of _Egypt_ in the fifth year of _Rehoboam_, [43] and spent nine years in that expedition, against the Eastern Nations and _Greece_; and therefore returned back into _Egypt_, in the fourteenth year of _Rehoboam_. _Sesac_ and _Sesostris_ were therefore Kings of all _Egypt_, at one and the same time: and they agree not only in the time, but also in their actions and conquests. God gave _Sesac_ ממלכות הארצות _the Kingdoms of the lands_, 2 Chron. xii. Where _Herodotus_ describes the expedition of _Sesostris_, _Josephus_ [44] tells us that he described the expedition of _Sesac_, and attributed his actions to _Sesostris_, erring only in the name of the King. Corruptions of names are frequent in history; _Sesostris_ was otherwise called _Sesochris_, _Sesochis_, _Sesoosis_, _Sethosis_, _Sesonchis_, _Sesonchosis_. Take away the _Greek_ termination, and the names become _Sesost_, _Sesoch_, _Sesoos_, _Sethos_, _Sesonch_: which names differ very little from _Sesach_. _Sesonchis_ and _Sesach_ differ no more than _Memphis_ and _Moph_, two names of the same city. _Josephus_ [45] tells us also, from _Manetho_, that _Sethosis_ was the brother of _Armais_, and that these brothers were otherwise called _Ægyptus_ and _Danaus_; and that upon the return of _Sethosis_ or _Ægyptus_, from his great conquests into _Egypt_, _Armais_ or _Danaus_ fled from him into _Greece_.
_Egypt_ was at first divided into many small Kingdoms, like other nations; and grew into one monarchy by degrees: and the father of _Solomon's_ Queen, was the first King of _Egypt_, who came into _Phœnicia_ with an Army: but he only took _Gezir_, and gave it to his daughter. _Sesac_, the next King, came out of _Egypt_ with an army of _Libyans_, _Troglodites_ and _Ethiopians_, 2 Chron. xii. 3. and therefore was then King of all those countries; and we do not read in Scripture, that any former King of _Egypt_; who Reigned over all those nations, came out of _Egypt_ with a great army to conquer other countries. The sacred history of the _Israelites_, from the days of _Abraham_ to the days of _Solomon_, admits of no such conqueror. _Sesostris_ reigned over all the same nations of the _Libyans_, _Troglodites_ and _Ethiopians_, and came out of _Egypt_ with a great army to conquer other Kingdoms. The Shepherds reigned long in the lower part of _Egypt_, and were expelled thence, just before the building of _Jerusalem_ and the Temple; according to _Manetho_; and whilst they Reigned in the lower part of _Egypt_, the upper part thereof was under other Kings: and while _Egypt_ was divided into several Kingdoms, there was no room for any such King of all _Egypt_ as _Sesostris_; and no historian makes him later than _Sesac_: and therefore he was one and the same King of _Egypt_ with _Sesac_. This is no new opinion: _Josephus_ discovered it when he affirmed that _Herodotus_ erred, in ascribing the actions of _Sesac_ to _Sesostris_, and that the error was only in the name of the King: for this is as much as to say, that the true name of him who did those things described by _Herodotus_, was _Sesac_; and that _Herodotus_ erred only in calling him _Sesostris_; or that he was called _Sesostris_ by a corruption of his name.
Our great Chronologer, _Sir John Marsham_, was also of opinion that _Sesostris_ was _Sesac_: and if this be granted, it is then most certain, that _Sesostris_ came out of _Egypt_ in the fifth year of _Rehoboam_ to invade the nations, and returned back into _Egypt_ in the 14th year of that King; and that _Danaus_ then flying from his brother, came into _Greece_ within a year or two after: and the _Argonautic_ expedition being one Generation later than that invasion, and than the coming of _Danaus_ into _Greece_, was certainly about 40 or 45 years later than the death of _Solomon_. _Prometheus_ stay'd on _Mount Caucasus_ [46] thirty years, and then was released by _Hercules_: and therefore the _Argonautic_ expedition was thirty years after _Prometheus_ had been left on _Mount Caucasus_ by _Sesostris_, that is, about 44 years after the death of _Solomon_.
All nations, before the just length of the Solar year was known, reckoned months by the course of the moon; and years by the [47] returns of winter and summer, spring and autumn: and in making Calendars for their Festivals, reckoned thirty days to a Lunar month, and twelve Lunar months to a year; taking the nearest round numbers: whence came the division of the Ecliptic into 360 degrees. So in the time of _Noah_'s flood, when the Moon could not be seen, _Noah_ reckoned thirty days to a month: but if the Moon appeared a day or two before the end of the month, [48] they began the next month with the first day of her appearing: and this was done generally, 'till the _Egyptians_ of _Thebais_ found the length of the Solar year. So [49] _Diodorus_ tells us that _the _Egyptians_ of _Thebais_ use no intercalary months, nor subduct any days_ [from the month] _as is done by most of the _Greeks__. And [50] _Cicero_, _est consuetudo Siculorum cæterorumque Græcorum, quod suos dies mensesque congruere volunt cum Solis Lunæque ratione, ut nonnumquam siquid discrepet, eximant unum aliquem diem aut summum biduum ex mense_ [civili dierum triginta] _quos illi_ εξαιρεσιμους _dies nominant_. And _Proclus_, upon _Hesiod_'s τριακας mentions the same thing.
And [51] _Geminus_: Προθεσις γαρ ην τοις αρχαιοις, τους μεν μηνας αγειν κατα σεληνην, τους δε ενιαυτους καθ' ‛ηλιον. Το γαρ ‛υπο των νομων, και των χρησμων παραγγελλομενον, το θυειν κατα γ', ηγουν τα πατρια, μηνας, ‛ημερας, ενιαυτους: τουτο διελαβον απαντες ‛οι ‛Ελληνες τωι τους μεν ‛ενιαυτους συμφωνως αγειν τωι ‛ηλιωι· τας δε ‛ημερας και τους μηνας τηι σεληνη. εστι δε το μεν καθ' ‛ηλιον αγειν τους ενιαυτους, το περι τας αυτας ‛ωρας του ενιαυτου τας αυτας θυσιας τοις θεοις επιτελειθαι, και την μεν εαρινην θυσιαν δια παντος κατα το εαρ συντελειθαι· την δε θερινην, κατα το θερος· ‛ομοιως δε και κατα τους λοιπους καιρους του ετους τας αυτας θυσιας πιπτειν. Τουτο γαρ ‛υπελαβον προσηνες, και κεχαρισμενον ειναι τοις θεοις. Τουτο δ' αλλως ουκ αν δυναιτο γενεσθαι, ει μη ‛αι τροπαι, και ‛αι ισημεριαι περι τους αυτους τοπους γιγνοιντο. Το δε κατα σεληνην αγειν τας ‛ημερας, τοιουτον εστι· το ακολουθως τοις της σεληνης φωτισμοις τας προσηγοριας των ‛ημερων γινεσθαι. απο γαρ των της σεληνης φωτισμων ‛αι προσηγοριαι των ‛ημερων κατωνομασθησαν. Εν ‛ηι μεν γαρ ‛ημεραι νεα ‛η σεληνη φαινεται, κατα συναλοιφην νεομηνια προσηγορευθη· εν ‛ηι δε ‛ημεραι την δευτεραν φασιν ποιειται, δευτεραν προσηγορευσαν· την δε κατα μεσον του μηνος γινομενην φασιν της σεληνης, απο αυτου του συμβαινοντος διχομηνιαν εκαλεσαν. και καθολου δε πασας τας ‛ημερας απο των της σεληνης φωτισματων προσωνομασαν. ‛οθεν και την τριακοστην του μηνος ‛ημεραν εσχατην ουσαν απο αυτου του συμβαινοντος τριακαδα εκαλεσαν. _Propositum enim fuit veteribus, menses quidem agere secundum Lunam, annos vero secundum Solem.
Quod enim a legibus & Oraculis præcipiebatur, ut sacrificarent secundum tria, videlicet patria, menses, dies, annos; hoc ita distincte faciebant universi Græci, ut annos agerent congruenter cum Sole, dies vero & menses cum Luna. Porro secundum Solem annos agere, est circa easdem tempestates anni eadem sacrificia Diis perfici, & vernum sacrificium semper in vere consummari, æstivum autem in æstate: similiter & in reliquis anni temporibus eadem sacrificia cadere. Hoc enim putabant acceptum & gratum esse Diis. Hoc autem aliter fieri non posset nisi conversiones solstitiales & æquinoctia in iisdem Zodiaci locis fierent. Secundum Lunam vero dies agere est tale ut congruant cum Lunæ illuminationibus appellationes dierum. Nam a Lunæ illuminationibus appellationes dierum sunt denominatæ. In qua enim die Luna apparet nova, ea per Synalœphen, seu compositionem νεομηνια id est, Novilunium appellatur. In qua vero die secundam facit apparitionem, eam secundam Lunam vocarunt. Apparitionem Lunæ quæ circa medium mensis fit, ab ipso eventu διχομηνιαν, id est medietatem mensis nominarunt. Ac summatim, omnes dies a Lunæ illuminationibus denominarunt. Unde etiam tricesimam mensis diem, cum ultima sit, ab ipso eventu τριακαδα vocarunt_.
The ancient Calendar year of the _Greeks_ consisted therefore of twelve Lunar months, and every month of thirty days: and these years and months they corrected from time to time, by the courses of the Sun and Moon, omitting a day or two in the month, as often as they found the month too long for the course of the Moon; and adding a month to the year, as often as they found the twelve Lunar months too short for the return of the four seasons. _Cleobulus_, [52] one of the seven wise men of _Greece_, alluded to this year of the _Greeks_, in his Parable of one father who had twelve sons, each of which had thirty daughters half white and half black: and _Thales_ [53] called the last day of the month τριακαδα, the thirtieth: and _Solon_ counted the ten last days of the month backward from the thirtieth, calling that day ενην και νεαν, the old and the new, or the last day of the old month and the first day of the new: for he introduced months of 29 and 30 days alternately, making the thirtieth day of every other month to be the first day of the next month.
To the twelve Lunar months [54] the ancient _Greeks_ added a thirteenth, every other year, which made their _Dieteris_; and because this reckoning made their year too long by a month in eight years, they omitted an intercalary month once in eight years, which made their _Octaeteris_, one half of which was their _Tetraeteris_: And these Periods seem to have been almost as old as the religions of _Greece_, being used in divers of their _Sacra_. The [55] _Octaeteris_ was the _Annus magnus_ of _Cadmus_ and _Minos_, and seems to have been brought into _Greece_ and _Crete_ by the _Phœnicians_, who came thither with _Cadmus_ and _Europa_, and to have continued 'till after the days of _Herodotus_: for in counting the length of seventy years [56], he reckons thirty days to a Lunar month, and twelve such months, or 360 days, to the ordinary year, without the intercalary months, and 25 such months to the _Dieteris_: and according to the number of days in the Calendar year of the _Greeks_, _Demetrius Phalereus_ had 360 Statues erected to him by the _Athenians_. But the _Greeks_, _Cleostratus_, _Harpalus_, and others, to make their months agree better with the course of the Moon, in the times of the _Persian_ Empire, varied the manner of intercaling the three months in the _Octaeteris_; and _Meton_ found out the Cycle of intercaling seven months in nineteen years.
The Ancient year of the _Latines_ was also Luni-solar; for _Plutarch_ [57] tells us, that the year of _Numa_ consisted of twelve Lunar months, with intercalary months to make up what the twelve Lunar months wanted of the Solar year. The Ancient year of the _Egyptians_ was also Luni-solar, and continued to be so 'till the days of _Hyperion_, or _Osiris_, a King of _Egypt_, the father of _Helius_ and _Selene_, or _Orus_ and _Bubaste_: For the _Israelites_ brought this year out of _Egypt_; and _Diodorus_ tells [58] us that _Ouranus_ the father of _Hyperion_ used this year, and [59] that in the Temple of _Osiris_ the Priests appointed thereunto filled 360 Milk Bowls every day: I think he means one Bowl every day, in all 360, to count the number of days in the Calendar year, and thereby to find out the difference between this and the true Solar year: for the year of 360 days was the year, to the end of which they added five days. That the _Israelites_ used the Luni-solar year is beyond question. Their months began with their new Moons. Their first month was called _Abib_, from the earing of Corn in that month. Their Passover was kept upon the fourteenth day of the first month, the Moon being then in the full: and if the Corn was not then ripe enough for offering the first Fruits, the Festival was put off, by adding an intercalary month to the end of the year; and the harvest was got in before the Pentecost, and the other Fruits gathered before the Feast of the seventh month.
_Simplicius_ in his commentary [60] on the first of _Aristotle_'s _Physical Acroasis_, tells us, that _some begin the year upon the Summer Solstice, as the People of _Attica_; or upon the Autumnal Equinox, as the People of _Asia_; or in Winter, as the _Romans_; or about the Vernal Equinox, as the _Arabians_ and People of _Damascus_: and the month began, according to some, upon the Full Moon, or upon the New._ The years of all these Nations were therefore Luni-solar, and kept to the four Seasons: and the _Roman_ year began at first in Spring, as I seem to gather from the Names of their Months, _Quintilis_, _Sextilis_, _September_, _October_, _November_, _December_: and the beginning was afterwards removed to Winter. The ancient civil year of the _Assyrians_ and _Babylonians_ was also Luni-solar: for this year was also used by the _Samaritans_, who came from several parts of the _Assyrian_ Empire; and the _Jews_ who came from _Babylon_ called the months of their Luni-solar year after the Names of the months of the _Babylonian_ year: and _Berosus_ [61] tells us that the _Babylonians_ celebrated the Feast _Sacæa_ upon the 16th day of the month _Lous_, which was a Lunar month of the _Macedonians_, and kept to one and the same Season of the year: and the _Arabians_, a Nation who peopled _Babylon_, use Lunar months to this day. _Suidas_ [62] tells us, that the _Sarus_ of the _Chaldeans_ contains 222 Lunar months, which are eighteen years, consisting each of twelve Lunar months, besides six intercalary months: and when [63] _Cyrus_ cut the River _Gindus_ into 360 Channels, he seems to have alluded unto the number of days in the Calendar year of the _Medes_ and _Persians_: and the Emperor _Julian_ [64] writes, _For when all other People, that I may say it in one word, accommodate their months to the course of the Moon, we alone with the _Egyptians_ measure the days of the year by the course of the Sun._
At length the _Egyptians_, for the sake of Navigation, applied themselves to observe the Stars; and by their Heliacal Risings and Settings found the true Solar year to be five days longer than the Calendar year, and therefore added five days to the twelve Calendar months; making the Solar year to consist of twelve months and five days. _Strabo_ [65] and [66] _Diodorus_ ascribe this invention to the _Egyptians_ of _Thebes_. _The _Theban_ Priests_, saith _Strabo_, _are above others said to be Astronomers and Philosophers. They invented the reckoning of days not by the course of the Moon, but by the course of the Sun. To twelve months each of thirty days they add yearly five days._ In memory of this Emendation of the year they dedicated the [67] five additional days to _Osiris_, _Isis_, _Orus_ senior, _Typhon_, and _Nephthe_ the wife of _Typhon_, feigning that those days were added to the year when these five Princes were born, that is, in the Reign of _Ouranus_, or _Ammon_, the father of _Sesac_: and in [68] the Sepulchre of _Amenophis_, who Reigned soon after, they placed a Golden Circle of 365 cubits in compass, and divided it into 365 equal parts, to represent all the days in the year, and noted upon each part the Heliacal Risings and Settings of the Stars on that day; which Circle remained there 'till the invasion of _Egypt_ by _Cambyses_ King of _Persia_.
'Till the Reign of _Ouranus_, the father of _Hyperion_, and grandfather of _Helius_ and _Selene_, the _Egyptians_ used the old Lunisolar year: but in his Reign, that is, in the Reign of _Ammon_, the father of _Osiris_ or _Sesac_, and grandfather of _Orus_ and _Bubaste_, the _Thebans_ began to apply themselves to Navigation and Astronomy, and by the Heliacal Risings and Settings of the Stars determined the length of the Solar year; and to the old Calendar year added five days, and dedicated them to his five children above mentioned, as their birth days: and in the Reign of _Amenophis_, when by further Observations they had sufficiently determined the time of the Solstices, they might place the beginning of this new year upon the Vernal Equinox. This year being at length propagated into _Chaldæa_, gave occasion to the year of _Nabonassar_; for the years of _Nabonassar_ and those of _Egypt_ began on one and the same day, called by them _Thoth_, and were equal and in all respects the same: and the first year of _Nabonassar_ began on the 26th day of _February_ of the old _Roman_ year, seven hundred forty and seven years before the Vulgar _Æra_ of _Christ_, and thirty and three days and five hours before the Vernal Equinox, according to the Sun's mean motion; for it is not likely that the Equation of the Sun's motion should be known in the infancy of Astronomy.
Now reckoning that the year of 365 days wants five hours and 49 minutes of the Equinoctial year; the beginning of this year will move backwards thirty and three days and five hours in 137 years: and by consequence this year began at first in _Egypt_ upon the Vernal Equinox, according to the Sun's mean motion, 137 years before the _Æra_ of _Nabonassar_ began; that is, in the year of the _Julian_ Period 3830, or 96 years after the death of _Solomon_: and if it began upon the next day after the Vernal Equinox, it might begin four years earlier; and about that time ended the Reign of _Amenophis_: for he came not from _Susa_ to the _Trojan_ war, but died afterwards in _Egypt_. This year was received by the _Persian_ Empire from the _Babylonian_; and the _Greeks_ also used it in the _Æra Philippæa_, dated from the Death of _Alexander_ the great; and _Julius Cæsar_ corrected it, by adding a day in every four years, and made it the year of the _Romans_. _Syncellus_ tells us, that the five days were added to the old year by the last King of the Shepherds: and the difference in time between the Reign of this King, and that of _Ammon_, is but small; for the Reign of the Shepherds ended but one Generation, or two, before _Ammon_ began to add those days. But the Shepherds minded not Arts and Sciences.
The first month of the Luni-solar year, by reason of the Intercalary month, began sometimes a week or a fortnight before the Equinox or Solstice, and sometimes as much after it. And this year gave occasion to the first Astronomers, who formed the _Asterisms_, to place the Equinoxes and Solstices in the middles of the Constellations of _Aries_, _Cancer_, _Chelæ_, and _Capricorn_. _Achilles Tatius_ [69] tells us, that _some antiently placed the Solstice in the beginning of _Cancer_, others in the eighth degree of _Cancer_, others about the twelfth degree, and others about the fifteenth degree thereof._ This variety of opinions proceeded from the precession of the Equinox, then not known to the _Greeks_. When the Sphere was first formed, the Solstice was in the fifteenth degree or middle of the Constellation of _Cancer_: then it came into the twelfth, eighth, fourth, and first degree successively. _Eudoxus_, who flourished about sixty years after _Meton_, and an hundred years before _Aratus_, in describing the Sphere of the Ancients, placed the Solstices and Equinoxes in the middles of the Constellations of _Aries_, _Cancer_, _Chelæ_, and _Capricorn_, as is affirmed by [70] _Hipparchus Bithynus_; and appears also by the Description of the Equinoctial and Tropical Circles in _Aratus_, [71] who copied after _Eudoxus_; and by the positions of the _Colures_ of the Equinoxes and Solstices, which in the Sphere of _Eudoxus_, described by _Hipparchus_, went through the middles of those Constellations.
Text from Project Gutenberg, public domain in the United States.