them had been elected to rule by Rā, and Åmen, and Ptaḥ, either by some motion made by the figures of the gods which were enshrined within their sanctuaries, or by declarations made on their behalf by the high priests. Another early royal title, of which an example occurs on the ivory plaque of king Aḥa, now in the Cairo Museum, is

11. About the meaning of this there can be little doubt, and we are justified in assuming that it is something like “chosen of the Hawk-god, chosen of the Serpent-god," or “lord of the shrine of the hawk, lord of the shrine of the serpent,” and that king Aủa employed it to synıbolize his rule over the South and the North. The names of a number of kings of Egypt who probably lived in the Predynastic Period have been found in recent years on objects from very early tombs, but nothing is known of the chronology of their reigns.

n.

n.

PREDYNASTIC PERIOD-KINGS OF

LOWER EGYPT.
B.C. ? Seka.

? Tesáu.
? Tàu.
? Thesh.
? Neheb.
? Uatch-nār.
? Mekha.

n.

DYNASTIC PERIOD-ANCIENT EMPIRE.

Dynasty I., from This. B.C. 4400. Mena, the first dynastic king of Egypt, founded

Memphis, having turned aside the course of the
Nile, and established a temple service there. He
has been identified by some with a king whose
Horus name was Aḥa. He is said to have died

of a wound given to him by a hippopotamus. 4366. Teta wrote a book on anatomy, and continued

buildings at Memphis. 4333. Ateth, or Åta. 4300. Åta. 4266. Semtid . Some papyri say that the

64th Chapter of the Book of the Dead was “found” in his time. Semti was a devotee of the “God on the Staircase," i.e., Osiris, and he appears to have reformed the cult of Seker, the old god of

the dead of Memphis. 4233. Mer-pe-ba. 4200. Hu or Nekht. 4166. Sen, whose name was wrongly read by the Egyptians

of the XIXth dynasty as Qebh, i.e., they read

instead of 1

Dynasty 11., from This. 4133. Neter-baiu,* or Besh, or Betchau, in whose

reign an earthquake swallowed up many people at Bubastis. In his reign the sign was first

B.C. 4133. perhaps

used to indicate the union of the South with the North. The Horus and Set name of this king is

Hetep-Sekhemui, or Smerkha. 4100. Kakau, in whose days the worship of Apis at

Memphis, and that of Mnevis at Heliopolis, was

continued. 4066. Ba-en-neter, in whose reign, according to John of

Antioch, the Nile flowed with honey for eleven days. During the reign of this king the succession of females to the throne of Egypt was

declared valid. Uatch-nes.

Per-Åb-sen, or Sekhem-åb;

the former is his Set name, and
the latter his Horus name.

4000. Sent. Sepulchral stelæ of this king's priests are

preserved at Oxford, at Cairo, and in the British

Museum.
Ka-Rā.
Nefer-ka-Rā.
Nefer-ka-Seker, in whose reign an eclipse appears

to be mentioned; he was "five cubits and three

hand-breadths ” in height.
Hetchefa.
Tchatchai.

Dynasty III., from Memphis. B.C. 4000. Sa-Nekht.

Neb-ka, Neb-ka-Rā. 3900. Tcheser, the builder of the famous “Step Pyramid”

at Şaşķâra. An inscription on the Island of Sâḥal says that a seven years' famine took place in his reign. His tomb was discovered at Bêt Khallâf by Mr. John Garstang in 1901. Tcheser worked the turquoise mines of Sinai, and his Horus name is inscribed on a rock at Wâdi Maghâra. Tcheser-Tetà. Aḥtes. Setches. Nefer-ka-Rā Huni. The Prisse Papyrus says that this king was succeeded by Seneferu.

Dynasty IV., from Memphis. 3766. Seneferu. Important contemporaneous monuments

of this king exist. During his reign the copper mines of Wâdî Maghara were worked. He built the pyramid of Mêdûm. His wife's name was Merti-tef-s. Seneferu made an expedition into the Sûdân and carried off 7,000 men and 200,000 animals. This is the first slave-raid in the Sûdân

recorded in history. 3733. Khufu (Cheops) vanquished the people of Sinai ;

he built the largest of the pyramids at Gîzah. * His son Herutātāf was famous for his learning and

B.C. Book of the Dead to him. In the reign of Khufu, 3733.

Teta the magician flourished. A tradition of the XVIIIth dynasty indicates that in the reign of this king the Sphinx was buried in desert sand.

Rā-tet-f, or Asså. 3666. Khā-f-Rā (Chephren), the builder of the second

pyramid at Gizah. He performed some work in

connexion with the Sphinx. 3633. Men-kau-Rā (Mycerinus), the builder of the third

pyramid at Gîzah. The fragments of his coffin are in the British Museum. Some copies of the Book of the Dead say that the 64th chapter of that work

was compiled during the reign of this king. Shepses-ka-f.

Dynasty V., from Elephantine.
User-ka-f. He built a pyramid at Abû-Şîr.
3533. Sahu-Rā. He built a pyramid at Abu-Şîr.

Kakaå.
Rā-nefer-åri-ka.
Rā-shepses-ka. He built a pyramid at Abû-Şir.

Rā-nefer-f. He built a pyramid at Abû-Şir. 3443. Rā-en-user or An. He built a pyramid at Abû-Şir.

Men-kau-Heru. He built a pyramid at Abû-Şir. 3366. Tet-ka-Rā. He built a pyramid at Abû-Şir. The

Precepts of Ptah-ḥetep were written during the reign of this king. This king sent Ba-ur-tet, a high official, to the “ Land of the Spirits,"

$, to bring back a tenk

S is , or pygmy,” to dance before him. 3333. Unás, whose pyramid at Sakkâra was explored in

1881 by Prof. Maspero. The walls of the corridors and chambers of this pyramid are inscribed with