Died 1279 BC | ||
Sethos (Greek: Σεθῶν Sethon) was a pharaoh of Egypt described by Herodotus in his Histories (book II, chapter 141):
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Pharaonisches gypten tempel sethos i
The Terrasson novel
Sethos became the hero of an influential fantasy novel, Life of Sethos, Taken from Private Memoirs of the Ancient Egyptians, published in 1731 by the French Abbé Jean Terrasson.
The book appeared in Paris in 1731 and in an English translation by Thomas Lediard published in London by J. Walthoe in 1732.
According to the noted classicist Mary Lefkowitz, Sethos:
This eighteenth century work of fiction is a primary source of Afrocentrism and of the kind of black history found in such popular books as Martin Bernal's Black Athena: The Afroasiatic Roots of Classical Civilization and George James's Stolen Legacy: Greek Philosophy Is Stolen Egyptian Philosophy.
It is also a key source of a popular web of conspiracy theories positing a secret pagan subculture or Freemasons, devotees of Satan, and environmentalists dedicated to the overthrow of Christianity.