The Greek Legend of Egyptian King Sesostris

The ancient Greeks did not just have legends about their own nation. They also had legends pertaining to surrounding states. One of the most prominent nearby civilizations was that of Egypt. A particularly fascinating Greek legend about the Egyptians relates to King Sesostris. What did he supposedly do, and was he a real person?

Who was the legendary King Sesostris?

The legendary Egyptian king first appears in the writings of Herodotus in the fifth century BCE. He also appears in the writings of Diodorus Siculus and Strabo. As we compare the earliest version of this legend with later versions, we become aware the story evolved over time.

In the earliest version, recorded by Herodotus, King Sesostris leads a mighty military expedition outside of Egypt. He campaigns through a large part of the Middle East, making his way all the way through to Anatolia and even as far as Thrace.

In the later versions, such as that recorded by Strabo, Sesostris’ campaign makes its way even further. Strabo claims Sesostris campaigned as far out as Iberia, or modern-day Spain. All accounts, however, are similar in that Sesostris lived just a generation or two prior to the onset of the Trojan War.

How Manetho supposedly reveals the answer

Did the legendary King Sesostris really exist? The simple truth is that no Egyptian king in history ever engaged in feats as mighty as those described in this legend. Nonetheless, that does not mean that there could not have been a real king whose activities merely became exaggerated over time.

Manetho’s lists of kings ostensibly reveal the answer to this mystery. Manetho was a scribe of the third century BCE. In these lists, he uses the Greek forms of native Egyptian names. The name “Sesostris” appears here, too. It is used in the place of the native Egyptian name “Senusret.”

Therefore, this seems to reveal that Sesostris was one of the historical kings named Senusret, of which there were at least four. A common claim is that the legendary King Sesostris can be identified with Senusret III, a king who ruled around the year 1800 BCE.

Senusret III and the campaigns of King Sesostris

The reason for identifying Sesostris with Senusret III is that Senusret was a particularly powerful king. He engaged in military campaigns that reached as far as Syria. According to surviving records, he led at least four wars against Nubia to the south. Therefore, he was a powerful king and successful military leader.

Yet, none of these facts really make a convincing case for identifying him as the legendary Egyptian king Sesostris. For one thing, numerous Egyptian kings over the centuries engaged in military campaigns through Palestine and even into Syria.

For example, even more successful than Senusret III was Thutmose III in the 15th century BCE. The famous Ramesses the Great also fought as far as Syria, as did many others. How could Senusret III have become the subject of legend while these more recent and more impressive kings were forgotten? This is hardly logical.

Furthermore, most of Senusret III’s campaigns were directed against Nubia to the south. In contrast, Sesostris is always portrayed as going north and never south. Additionally, Senusret III lived long before even the earliest possible date for the Trojan War.

The more likely origin of the legendary Egyptian king Sesostris

The evidence from Manetho does appear to demonstrate that “Sesostris” was the Greek form of “Senusret.” However, that does not mean that it could not also be used as an approximation of a different but similar name. For example, in ancient translations, the Greek “Iesous” was used as an approximation for a variety of different names in the Hebrew scriptures of the ancient Jews.

An Egyptian king who explains the legendary career of King Sesostris is Shebitku, a king who lived around 700 BCE. Although his campaigns were not as far reaching as those of Senusret III in real life, they would have easily been remembered as more impressive.

Herodotus relates that an Egyptian king named Sethos defeated the Assyrian Empire. This is clearly a reference to the same conflict between Egypt and Assyria mentioned in the Bible. In that source, the king in question is named Tirhakah. This is evidently Taharqa, the successor of Shebitku.

It appears that there was a type of coregency between the two. Taharqa ruled as the king of Ethiopia, as the Bible refers to him, while Shebitku was still the ruler of Egypt. Thus, we find the campaign against the Assyrians attributed to both of them in different traditions.

The Assyrian campaign

In reality, there is no evidence the Egyptians were successful in their attack on the Assyrians in Palestine. Nevertheless, the Assyrians were driven back shortly afterwards, and the tradition recorded by Herodotus concerning Sethos proves the Egyptians claimed it was a victory.

It would only have been a small step for the Egyptians to have gone from presenting themselves as defeating the Assyrian Empire in battle to their claiming they actually conquered their whole empire. Similar exaggerations can be seen in the Greek legend of Ninus, for example.

The fact that there was such an exaggeration is supported by Strabo. In the same passage in which he discusses Sesostris’ mighty campaigns, he attributes similarly impressive campaigns to a certain Tearco the Ethiopian. This is Taharqa, the Ethiopian king of Egypt.

The only possible basis for the legend of Tearco, or Taharqa, engaging in such grand conquests is his historical conflict with the Assyrian Empire. Therefore, it would make complete sense for similar legends to have evolved around Shebitku since Herodotus demonstrates some traditions credited him with the alleged victory.