Name of an Egyptian priest who lived under Ptolemy I and II. His most important work, called 'Aegyptiaca', is a history of Egypt, which he dedicated to Ptolemy II. The work lists the rulers of Egypt from Menes up to and including Ptolemy II. It was based on annals, king lists and historical tales. The work has come down to us in an incomplete probably corrupted form in excerpts in Flavius Josephus (1st century BC) and summaries in various classical authors, for example Julius Africanus (beginning of the 3rd century AD), Eusebius (beginning of the 4th century AD) and Syncellus ('c.'800 AD). The systematic division into thirty dynasties (later tradition added a 31st Dynasty) was used by Champollion to sort the cartouches with kings' names into the right order when deciphering the hieroglyphic script. Among the other works attributed to Manetho are a critique on Herodotus and treatises on festivals, rituals and religion.