M. F. ce qui

63. According to Manetho, the space of time in question hère should t>e 4,380 years. Manetho, Egyptian priest and annalist. Ile wmte

BOSSU ET xxvii

under Ptolemy II. a history of Egypt in Greek. His work is lost.

64. Sabacon, a King of Ethiopia, who reigned over Egypt. Sabacon, Sebichus, and Baracus form the twenty-fifth dynasty, according to Manetho.

65. Opiniâtrement = (more usual without acute accent) opiniâtrement.

66. Ptolémées = name of fourteen Greek Kings who reigned in Egypt from 306-30 B.c. Ptolemaus XII. (52-48 b.c.) was Cleopatra's husband.

Those interested to know more of Egypt should read : Mariette: Monuments of Upper Egypt; Wilkinson : Manners and Çustoms of the Ancient Egyptians (new édition by Birch, 1879) ; S. Lane Poole : Egypt ; Rawlinson : Egypt. P'or a short and concise account see the article ' Egypt,' by Bird and Lane Poole in Chamhers Encyclopicdia, vol. iv. , edit. 1901. Also longer article by K. S. Poole in the Encyclopœdia Britannica. For latest results of research see works of W. M. Flinders Pétrie. Several interesting monuments are to be seen in the Egyptian Gallery of the British Muséum.

1. In a preceding chapter Bossuet relates the rise and fall of the Assyrian Empire and Nineveh, which was followed by a revival of the supremacy of Babylon, the capital of the Chaldœans, conquered in turn by Cyrus (538 b.c.), who, after supplanting the feeble rulers of the Medes, founded the Persian Empire, to which he added Asia Minor. Cambyses^Kambouzia IL (530-522 b.c.), was the son and successor of Cyrus, and added Egypt to the Persian Empire.

2. It is rather the contact with the peoples of Central Asia which corrupted the morals of the Persians. For mœurs, see Pascal, Letter V., Note 10.