230 THE HORSES OF PREHISTORIC [CH. 



have had a very real personality. Unfortunately the work itself 

 has been lost and our knowledge of it is only derived from 

 fragments embodied in the writings of other ancient historians. 

 Josephus^ has fortunately preserved for us Manetho's account of 

 the Hyksos, and this supplemented by one or two Egyptian 

 monuments is practically all the evidence that we possess. 



In the Second Book of his Egyptian History Manetho wrote 

 as follows : " In the time of this king (Timaeus), for some reason 

 or other God was displeased with us, and from the eastern 

 quarters, contrary to all expectation, men of a race not marked 

 by any distinctive appellation" became emboldened and marched 

 against our land and easily subdued it by their force without 

 fighting any battle. And having got into their hands the 

 leading men of the land, they savagely both burned the cities 

 and demolished the temples of the gods, and treated most 

 cruelly the people of the land, slaying some and enslaving the 

 children and wives of others. Finally the invaders took as king 

 one of themselves named Salitis. He dwelt in Memphis, and 

 made tributary both the upper and the lower country, and left 

 garrisons in the most suitable places. He took special precau- 

 tions to fortify his eastern frontier, foreseeing that, as the 

 Assyrians were waxing in power, they would one day desire 

 to invade his kingdom. Having found in the Sethroite nome 

 on the east side of the Bubastic river {i.e. the Bubastic 

 arm of the Nile), a city most advantageously situated and 

 named Avaris from some ancient sacred legend, he fortified it 

 very strongly with walls and planted in it a force of 240,000 

 armed men to defend it. Thither in the summer season he 

 repaired, partly to collect the food tribute and to pay his troops, 

 partly to train them in order to strike terror into those beyond 

 his borders. He reigned nineteen years and then died, and 

 after him another king, by name Beon, reigned for forty-four 

 years. After him another king named Apachnas reigned thirty- 

 six years and seven months. Then Apophis reigned sixty-one 

 years, and lannas fifty years and one month. After all these 

 also reigned Assis forty-nine years and two months. These six 

 were the first amongst them who became rulers, continually 



^ Contra Apionem, i. 14. ^ t6 yivos aari/xoL. 



