August 2024 Update
From Menes to Sethos, was a period of 341 generations.
Account of Menes
From Menes to Sethos, was a period of 341 generations.
Herodotus indeed mentions a timeline spanning from Menes, the first king of Egypt, to Sethos, a priest of Hephaestus who became king.
"They say that from Menes, the first king of Egypt, to Sethos, was a period of 341 generations.
Herodotus' claim of 341 generations from Menes to Sethos can be analyzed considering ancient Egyptian generational calculations.
Account of Sethos
Sethos, according to Herodotus, was a priest of Hephaestus (the Greek name for the Egyptian god Ptah) who rose to become the king of Egypt.
Sethos was originally a priest of Hephaestus.
Herodotus does not provide much detail on how Sethos transitioned from a priest to a king, but his ascension indicates the intertwining of religious and royal authority in Egypt.
"There was a priest of Hephaestus named Sethos who obtained the kingdom".
Sethos alienated the warrior class by stripping them of their privileges and lands.
"Sethos, who held in contempt and neglected the warrior class, thinking he would not need them, deprived them of their lands".
During Sethos' reign, Egypt faced a significant threat from Sennacherib, the king of Assyria.
With his military support weakened, Sethos turned to divine intervention.
In gratitude for the divine intervention, Sethos is said to have erected a statue of himself holding a mouse, with an inscription that highlighted the miraculous event.
Ancient Egypt – 11,800 BCE
"They say that from Menes to this priest of Hephaestus, whose name was Sethos, was a period of 341 generations" (Histories, Book 2, 2.142).
"Sethos, a priest of Hephaestus" (Histories, Book 2, 2.141).
"Sethos, a priest of Hephaestus" (Histories, Book 2, 2.141).