Muthis may have been an ephemeral

ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt () was a cradle of civilization concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in Northeast Africa. It emerged from prehistoric Egypt around 3150BC (according to conventional Egyptian chronology), when Upper and Lower E ...

ian

pharaoh Pharaoh (, ; Egyptian language, Egyptian: ''wikt:pr ꜥꜣ, pr ꜥꜣ''; Meroitic language, Meroitic: 𐦲𐦤𐦧, ; Biblical Hebrew: ''Parʿō'') was the title of the monarch of ancient Egypt from the First Dynasty of Egypt, First Dynasty ( ...

of the Twenty-ninth Dynasty.

Biography

He is sometime reported as a son of

Nepherites I Nefaarud I or Nayfaurud I, better known with his hellenised name Nepherites I, was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, the founder of the 29th Dynasty in 399 BC. Reign Accession It is believed that Nepherites was a general from the deltaic city of Me ...

who ruled for a brief time before being deposed by an usurper,

Psammuthes Psammuthes or Psammuthis,Ray, J. D., 1986: "Psammuthis and Hakoris", '' The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology'', 72: 149-158. was a pharaoh of the Twenty-ninth Dynasty of Egypt during 392/1 BC. Biography The place of this king in the dynasty is a ...

. However, this statement is based on an interpretation of a passage in the Demotic Chronicle:

His son (i.e. of Nepherites I) was allowed to succeed him. (But) a short time was vouchsafed to him...

Nevertheless, the Demotic Chronicle never mentions the name of Muthis and, as pointed out by the

Egyptologist Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ) is the scientific study of ancient Egypt. The topics studied include ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end ...

John D. Ray, "his son" could be a reference to

Hakor Hakor or Hagar, also known by the hellenized forms Achoris or Hakoris, was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh of the 29th Dynasty. His reign marks the apex of this feeble and short-lived dynasty, having ruled for 13 years – more than half of its ent ...

instead. It is also possible that Muthis was a very shadowly usurper, maybe related to the other usurper Psammuthes. Another option is that "Muthis" was simply a copying error, and therefore never existed; the latter hypothesis is supported by the fact that the name is clearly

hellenized Hellenization or Hellenification is the adoption of Greek culture, religion, language, and identity by non-Greeks. In the ancient period, colonisation often led to the Hellenisation of indigenous people in the Hellenistic period, many of the te ...

but there are no clues of what could have originally meant "Muthis" in

Egyptian ''Egyptian'' describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of year ...

Attestations

His name does not appear on any monument, and he is only mentioned by

Eusebius Eusebius of Caesarea (30 May AD 339), also known as Eusebius Pamphilius, was a historian of Christianity, exegete, and Christian polemicist from the Roman province of Syria Palaestina. In about AD 314 he became the bishop of Caesarea Maritima. ...

's Epithome of

Manetho Manetho (; ''Manéthōn'', ''gen''.: Μανέθωνος, ''fl''. 290–260 BCE) was an Egyptian priest of the Ptolemaic Kingdom who lived in the early third century BCE, at the very beginning of the Hellenistic period. Little is certain about his ...

. Eusebius gave him a single year of reign and placed him at the very end of the dynasty, after

Nepherites II Nepherites II or Nefaarud II was the last pharaoh of the feeble and short-lived Twenty-ninth Dynasty (399/8–380 BC), the penultimate native dynasty of Egypt. Short reign An "ineffectual" ruler,Wilkinson 2011, p. 456. Nepherites II became ph ...

; however, the

Armenian Armenian may refer to: * Something of, from, or related to Armenia, a country in the South Caucasus region of Eurasia * Armenians, the national people of Armenia, or people of Armenian descent ** Armenian diaspora, Armenian communities around the ...

version of Eusebius placed him between Psammuthes and Nepherites II.Ray, op. cit., p. 158.

References

Bibliography

Ray, J.D., 1986: "Psammuthis and Hakoris", '' The Journal of Egyptian Archaeology'', 72: 149–158. 4th-century BC pharaohs Pharaohs of the Twenty-ninth Dynasty of Egypt Year of birth unknown Year of death unknown African people whose existence is disputed {{AncientEgypt-bio-stub