OSYMANMYAS, the name of a great king of Egypt, mentioned by Diodorus and Strabo, who reigned, according to these authors, as the 27th successor of Sesostris. He distinguished himself, according to these authors, by his victories, and invaded Asia with an army of 400,000 men and 20,0( 0 cavalry, and conquered the Bactriams, who had been rendered tributary to Egypt by Sesostris. In honor of this exploit, he is said by Hecatnus to have erected a monument which was at once a palace and a tomb, and which, under the name of Osymandeion, was renowed for its size and splendor in later times. It was said to be situated in the necropolis of Thebes, or at Gournah, and close to the sepulchres of the concubines of the god Amen Re. The Osymandeion is gener ally believed to be represented by the extant ruins of the palace of Mimeses M. at Medinet Haboo, though great difficulty has been felt in reconciling the descriptions of its magnificence in ancient writers with the dimensions of the modern relic; and Let•onne, in his Tombeau cl'Osymandyas (Par. 1831), has even ventured to suppose that it
was an imaginary edifice invented by the Greeks from their acquaintance with the great palaces of Thebes. but this skepticism is considered extreme. The name of Osymandyas is difficult to recognize amongst the Egyptian kings, the nearest approach to it being one of the Setis, either the 1st or 2d, called after death, Asiri-Meneptah. Others consider Osymandyas the Ismendes of Strabo, or the Mendes of Herodolus. The name of Anienophis may also lie concealed in his name, so much ambiguity pervades the subject.
Diodorus, i. 46-50; Strabo, xvii. p. 8, 11-16; Juvenal, xv. 38; Let•onne, Ahm, de rmAt. ix. p. 321; Champollion, Lettres Ecrites, p. 260, 303; Champollion-Figeac, L'Egypte, 69, 291, 313-315.