The New International Encyclopædia/Menes

MENES, mē′nēz (Egyptian Meni; Gk. Μήν, Mēn, Μήνης, Mēnēs). A king of Egypt whom the Egyptians regarded as their first historical monarch. His name invariably stands at the head of all monumental lists of Egyptian kings, but little is known in regard to him. According to Manetho he was a native of This, and reigned for sixty-two years. Herodotus and other Greek writers attribute to him the foundation of Memphis, and relate many other fables concerning him. In modern times certain scholars have believed that he was the Pharaoh who united Upper and Lower Egypt under a single monarchy, but recent discoveries indicate that the union took place at an earlier date. At present there is a tendency to identify Menes with an early king of whom many small memorials have been found near This. Two large tombs—one at Naggadah, near Coptos, the other near Abydos—are filled with objects bearing the name of this King. The reading of the name is, however, not altogether certain, and the proposed identification is therefore doubtful. Consult: Budge, A History of Egypt (New York, 1902); Sitzungsberichte der Berliner Akademie der Wissenschaften (Berlin, 1897); Revue Critique (Paris, 1897); Zeitschrift für ägyptische Sprache, vol. xxxvi. (Leipzig, 1898). See also Egypt.