The Making of the Last Pharaoh: A Case Study of Changes in the History Writing of Ptolemaic Egypt

Xiya Liu

doi:10.54691/fhss.v3i10.5695

Authors

Xiya Liu

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.54691/fhss.v3i10.5695

Keywords:

Last Native Pharaoh; Ptolemaic Egypt; History Writing; Egyptianization.

Abstract

Historical writing about the last native pharaoh was a means of domination by the Ptolemaic royal family for political propaganda at the ideological level. In the official historical accounts, Nectanebo II of the Thirtieth Dynasty of Ancient Egypt has been regarded as the last native pharaoh. This paper re-examines the identity of the last native pharaoh of Ancient Egypt on the basis of excavating historical materials, explores the historical status of Nectanebo II and Khababash, confirms the real identity of Khababash as the last native pharaoh, and points out the shift in the historical writing about the last native pharaoh. At the same time, after analyzing the political propaganda color embodied in the shift of history writing, the reasons for the shift of history writing in this case are explored from the ancient Egyptian codified history tradition, the comparison of the two pharaohs' political achievements, and the demand of the Ptolemaic royal family's realistic rule. It can be seen that the creation of the last native pharaoh, from Khababash to Nectanebo II, is one of the important means of consolidating the rule of the Ptolemaic dynasty, and also an important symptom of the process of its "Egyptianization".

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Spalinger, A. (1978). The reign of King Khababash: An interpretation. Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache und Altertumskunde, 105(1): 142-154.

Huß, W. (1994). Der rätselhafte Pharao Khababash. Studi epigrafici e linguistici sul Vicino Oriente antico, 11:97-112.

Richter, U. (1994). Historical scepticism in the new culture era: Gu Jiegang and the 'Debate on ancient history'. Chinese History Research Newsletter, 23:369-370.

Huang, H. (2016) "Ku Chieh-Kang's" layered fabrications theory" and 20th-century research into the history of Chinese antiquity. Zhonghua Book Company, Beijing.

Li, C. (2019). Gu jiegang's "discussion of ancient history" movement and it relationship with developments in western sinology. Contemporary Social Sciences, 15(01):139-161.

Shaw, I. (2003). The Oxford history of ancient Egypt. Oxford University Press, Oxford.

Siculus, D. (1963). Library of History: Book XVI. Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusett.

R. Jasnow. (1997) The Alexander romance and demotic Egyption literature. Journal of Near Eastern Studies, 56(2):101.

Stoneman, R. (1991). The greek Alexander romance. Penguin UK, London.

Ritner, R. K., Simpson, W. K., Tobin, V. A., & Wente, E. F. (2003) The literature of ancient Egypt: An anthology of stories, instructions, stelae, autobiographies. Yale University Press, New Haven, CT.

Spiegelberg, W. (1907). Papyrus Libbey: an Egyptian marriage contract: a monograph. University of Michigan Library, Michigan.

Manetho. (1940) Greek elegiac poetry (The Loeb Classical Library). Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusett.

L. Koenen, (1985) The dream of Nectaneboos. The Bulletin of the American Society of Papyrologists, 22(1/4): 171-194.

G. Hölb. (2000) A history of the Ptolemaic Empire. Routledge, London.

Redford, D. B. (1970). The Hyksos invasion in history and tradition. Orientalia, 39(1): 1-51.

Van Seters, J. (1997). In search of history: Historiography in the ancient world and the origins of biblical history. Eisenbrauns, 135-138.

Tyldesley, J. (2019). The pharaohs. Hachette UK, London.

Schneider, T. (2013). History as festival? A reassessment of the use of the past and the place of historiography in ancient Egyptian thought. Thinking, Recording, and Writing History in the Ancient World, 126-128.