Draft sections of the 'Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended' and of a treatise on Daniel: section a(9) Drafts on chronology and Daniel: section a(9) Isaac Newton c. 2,848 words The Newton Project Falmer 2013 Newton Project, University of Sussex

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 after 1710, mainly in English, c. 2,859 words, 4 ff. 4 ff.

mainly in English

Section A(9) of a huge collection of disordered fragmentary drafts on ancient history in which Newton correlates Jewish, Greek and Egyptian chronology. Much of the historical material later found its way into the posthumous 'Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended' (1728). These papers also contain a draft interpretation of the visions of Daniel.

 Draft sections of the 'Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended' and of a treatise on Daniel: section a(10) [Yahuda Ms. 25.1a X]Yahuda Ms. 25Draft sections of the 'Chronology of Ancient Kingdoms Amended' and of a treatise on Daniel: section a(8) [Yahuda Ms. 25.1a VIII] Yahuda Ms. 25.1a IX, National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, Israel IsraelJerusalemNational Library of Israel Yahuda Mss Yahuda Ms. 25.1a IX SL226

Bought at the Sotheby sale by Gabriel Wells for £90 and presumably acquired by Yahuda not long afterwards.

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 after 1710 England English Latin Holograph ReligionChronology Catalogue information compiled by Rob Iliffe, Peter Spargo & John Young Catalogue exported to teiHeader by Michael Hawkins Catalogue information revised and updated by John Young Tagged transcription begun by Jeremy Schildt Transcription completed by Jeremy Schildt Checked by John Young Proofed by Robert Iliffe Preliminary audit of XML by Michael Hawkins
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Nechepsos & Nechus. And a fourth was at Tanis or Zoan under Petubastes, Osorchon & Psammis. And Egypt being weakned by this division was invaded & conquered by the Ethiopians under Sabacon who slew Boccharis & Nechus & made Anysis fly. The Olympiads began in the reign of Petubastes, & the Æra of Nabonassar in the 22th year of the reign of Boccharis according to Africanus. And therefore the division of Egypt into many kingdoms began before the Olympiads, but not above the length of two kings reigns before them.

After the study of Astronomy was set on foot for the use of navigation, & the Egyptians by the heliacal risings & settings of the starrs had determined the length of the solar year of 365 days, & by other observations had fixed the solstices & formed the fixt starrs into Asterisms (all wchwhich was done in the reign of Ammon, Sesac, Orus & Memnon) it may be presumed that they continued to observe the motions of the Planets. For they called them after the names of their Gods, & Nechepsos or Nicepsos king of Sais by the assistance of Petosiris a priest of Egypt invented Astrology grounding it upon the aspects of the planets & the qualities of the men & weomen to whom they were dedicated. And in the beginning of the reigne of Nabonassar king of Babylon, in whose days about wchwhich time the Ethiopians under Sabacus invaded Egypt, those Egyptians who fled from him to Babylon, carried thither the Egyptian year of 365 days & the study of Astrolnomy & Astrology, & founded the Æra of Nabonassar, dating it from the first year of that kings reign, wchwhich was the 22th year of Boccharis as above; & beginning the year on the same day with the Egyptians for the sake of their calculations. ☉☉ So aDiodor. l. 1. 51. d. Diodorus: They say that the Chaldæans in Babylon being Colonies of Egyptians became famous for Astrology having learnt it from the priests of Egypt. And so Estiæus who wrote an history of Egypt, in speaking, I think of a disaster of the invaded Egyptians, said bIoseph that the priests who survived this disaster, taking the sacra of Iupiter Enyalius, came to Sennaar in Babylonia. From the 15th year of Asa in which Zerah was beaten, & Menes or Amenophis began his reign, to the beginning of the Æra of Nabonassar, were 200 years; & this interval of time allows room for 9 or 10 reigns of kings at about 18 or 20 years to a reign one with another. And so many reigns there were according to the account set down above out of Herodotus, & therefore that account as it is the oldest & was received by Herodotus from the Priests of the three principal cities of Eg Thebes, Memphys & Heliopolis, the three principal cities of Egypt, so it agrees with the course of nature, & leaves no room for the reigns of the many nameless kings wchwhich we have omitted. These nameless kings reigned before Mœris & by consequence at Thebes. For For Mœris translated the seat of the Empire from Thebes to Memphis. They reigned between Menes & Mœris, & by consequence between Ramesses & Mœris. For Ramesses was the son & successor of Menes. Now Menes built the body of the temple of Vulcan, Ramesses the first portico, & Mœris the second portico thereof. But the Egyptians for making their Gods & kingdom look ancient have inserted between the builders of the first & second portico of this temple three hundred & thirty kings of Thebes, & supposed that these kings reigned eleven thousand years, as if any temple could stand so long. This being a manifest fiction we have corrected it by omitting those kings, & placing Mœris the builder of the second portico next after Ramesses who built the first.

In the dynasties of Manetho Sevechus is made the successor of Sabacus, being his son & perhaps he is the Sethon of Herodotus who became priest of Vulcan & neglected military discipline. For Sabacus is that So or Sua with whom Hoshea king of Israel conspired against the Assyrians in the fourth year of Hezekiah, Anno Nabonass. 24. Herodotus tells us twice or thrice that Sabacus after a long reign of fifty years, relinquished Ægypt voluntarily, & that Anysis who fled from him, returned & reigned again in the lower # # Egypt after him, or rather with him; & that Sethon reigned after Sabacus & went to Pelusium against Egypt, & was succeeded by Sethon reigned after him, or rather reigned with him & that Sethon reigned after Sabacus, & reigned after Sabacus, & went to Pelusium against the army of Sennacherib, & was relieved by a great multitude of mise which eat the bowstrings of the Assyrians: in memory of which the statue of Sethon (seen by Herodotus) was made with a mouse in its hand. A mouse was the Egyptian symbol of destruction, & the mouse in the hand of Sethon signifies only that he overcame the Assyrians with a great destruction. The scriptures inform us that when Sennacherib invaded Iudea & besieged Lachish & Lebnah (wchwhich was in the 14th year of Hezekiah, Anno Nabonass. 34) the king of Iudah trusted upon Pharaoh king of Egypt, that is, upon Sethon; & that Tirhakah king of Ethiopia came out also to fight against Sennacherib. (2 King. xviii.21 & xix.9.) Herod. l. 2.Which makes it probleprobable that when Sennacherib heard of the kings of Egypt & Ethiopia coming against him, he went from Libnah towards Pelusium to oppose them, & was there surprized & set upon in the night by them both, & routed with as great a slaughter as if the bowstrings of the Assyrians had been eaten by mise. Some think that the Assyrians were smitten by lightning, or by a fiery wind wchwhich sometimes comes from the southern parts of Chaldea. After this victory Terhakah succeeding Sethon carried his arms westward through Libya & Afric to the mouth of the straits. But Herodotus tells us that the priests of Egypt recconed Sethon the last king of Egypt who reigned before the division of Egypt into twelve contemporary kingdoms,202r kingdoms, & by consequence before the invasion of Egypt by the Assyrians.

For Asserhadon king of Assyria in the 68th year of Nabonassar, after he had reigned about thirty years over Assyria, invaded the kingdom of Babylon, & then carried into captivity many people from Babylon & Cutha & Ava & Hamath & Sepharvaim, placing them in the regions of Samaria & Damascus. And from thence they carried into Babylonia & Assyria the remainder of the people of Israel & Syria which had been left there by Tiglathpileser. This captivity was 65 years after the first year of Ahaz (Isa. vii.1, 8 & 2 King. xv.37, & xvi.5) & by consequence in the 20th year of Manasses, Anno Nabonass. 69. And then Tartan was sent by Asserhadon with an army against Ashdod or Azoth, (a town at that time subject to Iudea. 2 Chron. xx6.6) & took it (Isa. xx.1.) And this post being secured, the Assyrians beat the Iews & captivated Manasses, & subdued Iudea. And in these warrs Isaiah was sawn asunder by the command of Manasses for prophesying against him. Then the Assyrians invaded & subdued Egypt & Ethiopia, & carried the Egyptians & Ethiopians into captivity & thereby put an end to the reign of the Ethiopians over Egypt, Isa vii.18, & viii.7 & x.11, 12 & xix.23, & xx.4. In this war the city No-Ammon or Thebes, which had hitherto continued in a flourishing condition, was miserably wasted & led into captivity, as is described by Nahum, chap iii.8, 9, 10. For Nahum wrote after the last invasion of Iudea by the Assyrians (chap i 15) & therefore describes this captivity as fresh in memory. And this & other following invasions of Egypt under Nebuchadnezzar & Cambyses, put an end to the glory of that city. Asserhadon reigned over the Egyptians & Ethiopians The division three years (Isa. xx.3, 4,) that is untill his death, wchwhich was in the year of Nabonassar 81, & therefore invaded Egypt & & put an end to the reign of the Ethiopians over the Egyptians in the year of Nabonassar 78, so that the Ethiopians under Sabacon & his successors Sethon & Tirhakah reigned over Egypt between 70 & about 80 years. Herodotus allots 50 years to Sabacon & Africanus fourteen years to Sethon & 18 to Tirhakah.

After the death of Asserhadon

The division of Egypt into more kingdoms then one both before & after the reign of the Ethiopians, & the conquest of the Egyptians by Asserhadon the prophet Isaias aa. Isa. xix.2, 4, 11, 13, 23. seems to allude unto in these words. I will set, saith he, the Egyptians against the Egyptians, & they shall fight every one against his neighbour, city against city, & kingdom against kingdom; & the spirit of Egypt shall fail – And the Egyptians will I give over into the hands of a cruell Lord [vizt Asserhadon] & a fierce king shall reign over them – Surely the Princes of Zoan [Tanis] are fools, the counsel of the wise councellors of Pharaoh is become bruitish. How say ye unto Pharaoh, I am the son of the wise, the son of the ancient kings – The Princes of Zoan are become fools: the Princes of Noph [Memphis] are deceived, they that were the stay of the tribes thereof. – – In that day there shall be a high way out of Egypt into Assyria, & the Egyptians shall serve the Assyrians.

After the death of Asserhadon Egypt remained subject to twelve contemporary kings who revolted from the PersAssyrians & reigned together fifteen years, including, I think, the three years of Nabona Asserhadon, because the Egyptians do not reccon him among their kings. ‡ ‡ They aa Herod. l. 2. built the Labyrinth adjoyning to the lake of Mœris, wchwhich was a very magnificent structure with twelve Halls for their palaces. And then Psammiticus who was one of the twelve, conquered all the rest. He built the last Portico of the temple of Vulcan founded by Menes about 260 years before, & reigned 54 years, including the 15 years of his reign with the twelve kings. Then reigned his son Nechaoh or Nechus 17 years, Psammis six years, Vaphres, Apries, Eraphius or Hophra 25 years, Amasis 44 years, & Psamminitus six months according to Herodotus. Egypt was subdued by Nebuchadnezzar in the last year but one of Hophra, Anno Nabonass. 178 & remained in subjection to Babylon forty years (Ier xliv.30. & Ezek. xix.12, 13, 14, 17, 19.) that is, almost all the reign of Amosis, a plebeian set over Egypt by the conqueror.21.3r conqueror. The forty years ended with the death of Cyrus: for he reigned over Egypt & Ethiopia according to Xenophon. At that time therefore those nations recovered their liberty, but after four or five years more they were invaded & conquered by Cambyses, Anno Nabonass 223 or 224, & have almost ever since remained in servitude, as was predicted by the prophets

The reigns of Psammiticus, Nechus, Psammis, Apries, Amasis & Psammenitus set down by Herodotus amount unto 14612 years. And so many years there were from the 78th Olympiad year of Nabonassar in wchwhich the dominion of the Ethiopians over Egypt came to an end, unto the 224th year of Nabonassar in wchwhich Cambyses invaded Egypt & put an end to that kingdom. Which is an argument that Herodotus was circumspect & faithful in his narrations & has given us a good account of the antiquities of Egypt so far as the Priests of Egypt at Thebes Memphis & Heliopolis & the Cares & Ionians inhabiting Egypt during all these reigns were then able to inform him. For he consulted them all, & the Cares & Ionians had been in Egypt from the time of the reign of the twelve kings.

Pliny tells us that the Egyptian Obelisks were of a sort of stone dug neare Syene in Thebais & that the first Obelisk was made by Mitres (that is by MisphrgmuthosisMisphragmuthosis or perhaps his precessorpredecessor Mephres) who reigned in Heliopolis [after the expulsion of the shepherds] who reigned in Heliopolis (that is by Mephres the predecessor of Misphragmuthosis) & that afterwards other kings made others; Sachis (that is Sesachis or Sesac) four, each of 48 cubits in length; Ramises (i.e. Ramesses) two; Smarres (that is, Mœris) one of 48 cubits in length; Eraphius (or Hophra) one of 48; & Nectabis (or Nectenabis) one of 80. Mephres therefore extended his dominion over all the upper Egypt from Syene to Heliopolis & after him & Amosis reigned Ammon & Sesac who erected the first great empire in the world; & these four Amosis, Ammon, Sesac, & Orus reigned in the four ages of the great Gods of Egypt; & Amenophis was the Menes who reigned next after them. He was succeeded by Ramesses & Mœris & sometime after by Hophra. Diodorus recites the same kings of Egypt with Herodotus but in a more confused order, & repeats some of them twice or oftener under various names, & omits others. His kings are these. Iupiter (Ammon) & Iuno, Osiris & Isis, Horus, Menes, Busiris I, Busiris II, Osymanduas, Vchoreus, Myris, Sesoosis I, Sesoosis II, Amasis, Actisanes, Mendes or Marrus, Proteus, Remphis, Chembis, Cephren, Micerinus or Cherinus, Gnephactus, Boccharis, Sabacus, Twelve contemporary kings, Psammiticus, * * Vaphres, Amasis. Here I take Sesoosis I & Sesoosis II, Busiris I & Busiris II to be the same kings with Osiris & Orus. Also Osimanduas to be the same with Amenophis or Menes. Also Actisanes & Also Amasis & Actisanes an Ethiopian who conquered him to be the same with Anysis & Sabacus in Herodotus. And Vchoreus, Mendes, Marrus & Myris to be only several names of one & the same king. Whence the catalogue of Diodorus will be reduced to this. Iupiter (Ammon) & Iuno; Osiris Busiris or Sesoosis & Isis; Horus, Busiris II or Sesoosis II; Menes or Osimanduas; Proteus; Remphis, or Ramesses; Vchoreus, Myris, Mendes or Marrus; Chembis or Cheops; Cephren; Mycerinus * * Gnephactus; Boccharis; Amasis or Anysis; Actisanes or Sabachus; * Twelve contemporary kings; Psammiticus * * Vaphres; Amasis. To wchwhich if in their proper places you add Nitocris, Asychis, Sethon, Nechus & Psammis, you will have the catalogue of Herodotus. The Dynasties of Manetho & Eratosthenes are seem to be filled with many such names of kings as Herodotus omitted. When it shall be made appear that any of them reigned in Egypt since after the expulsion of the shepherds, & were different from the kings described above: they may be inserted in their proper places. Egypt was conquered by the Ethiopians under Sabacon about the beginning of the Æra of Nabonassar, or perhaps three or four years before, that is about three hundred years before224r before Herodotus wrote his history. And almost about eighty years after that conquest it was conquered again by the Assyrians under Asserhadon. And the history of Egypt set down by Herodotus from the time of this last conquest is right both as to the number & order & names of the kings & as to the length of their reigns. And therein he is now followed by historians, being the only author who hath given us so good an history of Egypt for that intervall of time. And if his history of the earlier times is less accurate it was because the Archives of Egypt had suffered much during the reign of the Ethiopians & Assyrians. And it is not likely that the Priests of Egypt, who lived two or three hundred years after the days of Herodotus could mend the matter. On the contrary, after Cambyses had carried away the records of Egypt, the priests were daily feigning new kings to make their Gods & nation look ancient, as is manifest by comparing Herodotus with Diodorus Siculus, & both of them with what Plato relates out of the Poem of Solon, which Poem makes the warrs of the great Gods of Egypt against the Greeks to have been in the age of Cecrops Erechtheus & Erechthonius, & a little before those of Theseus; these Gods at that time instituting to themselves temples & sacred rites to themselves. And therefore I have chosen to rely upon the stories related to Herodotus by the Priests of Egypt in those days & corrected by the poem of Solon so as to make these Gods of Egypt no older then Cecrops & Erechtheus, & their successor Menes no older then Theseus & Memnon, & the temple of Vulcan not above 280 years in building: then to correct Herodotus by Manetho, Eratosthenes, Diodorus & others who lived after the Priests of Egypt had corrupted their antiquities much more then they had done in the days of Herodotus.