Herodotus
AN ACCOUNT OF EGYPT IN TWO PARTS
PART TWO
Of the Egyptians themselves, those
who dwell
in the part of Egypt which is sown
for crops
practise memory more than any other
men and
are the most learned in history by
far of
all those of whom I have had experience:
and their manner of life is as follows:--For
three successive days in each month
they
purge, hunting after health with emetics
and clysters, and they think that all
the
diseases which exist are produced in
men
by the food on which they live: for
the Egyptians
are from other causes also the most
healthy
of all men next after the Libyans (in
my
opinion on account of the seasons,
because
the seasons do not change, for by the
changes
of things generally, and especially
of the
seasons, diseases are most apt to be
produced
in men), and as to their diet, it is
as follows:--they
eat bread, making loaves of maize,
which
they call /kyllestis/, and they use
habitually
a wine made out of barley, for vines
they
have not in their land. Of their fish
some
they dry in the sun and then eat them
without
cooking, others they eat cured in brine.
Of birds they eat quails and ducks
and small
birds without cooking, after first
curing
them; and everything else which they
have
belonging to the class of birds or
fishes,
except such as have been set apart
by them
as sacred, they eat roasted or boiled.
In
the entertainments of the rich among
them,
when they have finished eating, a man
bears
round a wooden figure of a dead body
in a
coffin, made as like the reality as
may be
both by painting and carving, and measuring
about a cubit or two cubits each way;
and
this he shows to each of those who
are drinking
together, saying: "When thou lookest
upon this, drink and be merry, for
thou shalt
be such as this when thou art dead."
Thus they do at their carousals. The
customs
which they practise are derived from
their
fathers and they do not acquire others
in
addition; but besides other customary
things
among them which are worthy of mention,
they
have one song, that of Linos, the same
who
is sung of both in Phenicia and in
Cyprus
and elsewhere, having however a name
different
according to the various nations. This
song
agrees exactly with that which the
Hellenes
sing calling on the name of Linos,
so that
besides many other things about which
I wonder
among those matters which concern Egypt,
I wonder especially about this, namely
whence
they got the song of Linos. It is evident
however that they have sung this song
from
immemorial time, and in the Egyptian
tongue
Linos is called Maneros. The Egyptians
told
me that he was the only son of him
who first
became king of Egypt, and that he died
before
his time and was honoured with these
lamentations
by the Egyptians, and that this was
their
first and only song. In another respect
the
Egyptians are in agreement with some
of the
Hellenes, namely with the Lacedemonians,
but not with the rest, that is to say,
the
younger of them when they meet the
elder
give way and move out of the path,
and when
their elders approach, they rise out
of their
seat. In this which follows however
they
are not in agreement with any of the
Hellenes,--instead
of addressing one another in the roads
they
do reverence, lowering their hand down
to
their knee. They wear tunics of linen
about
their legs with fringes, which they
call
/calasiris/; above these they have
garments
of white wool thrown over: woolen garments
however are not taken into the temples,
nor
are they buried with them, for this
is not
permitted by religion. In these points
they
are in agreement with the observances
called
Orphic and Bacchic (which are really
Egyptian),
and also with those of the Pythagoreans,
for one who takes part in these mysteries
is also forbidden by religious rule
to be
buried in woolen garments; and about
this
there is a sacred story told.
Besides these things the Egyptians
have found
out also to what god each month and
each
day belongs, and what fortunes a man
will
meet with who is born on any particular
day,
and how he will die, and what kind
of a man
he will be: and these inventions were
taken
up by those of the Hellenes who occupied
themselves about poesy. Portents too
have
been found out by them more than by
all other
men besides; for when a portent has
happened,
they observe and write down the event
which
comes of it, and if ever afterwards
anything
resembling this happens, they believe
that
the event which comes of it will be
similar.
Their divination is ordered thus:--the
art
is assigned not to any man but to certain
of the gods, for there are in their
land
Oracles of Heracles, of Apollo, of
Athene,
of Artemis, or Ares, and of Zeus, and
moreover
that which they hold most in honour
of all,
namely the Oracle of Leto which is
in the
city of Buto. The manner of divination
however
is not established among them according
to
the same fashion everywhere, but is
different
in different places. The art of medicine
among them is distributed thus:--each
physician
is a physician of one disease and of
no more;
and the whole country is full of physicians,
for some profess themselves to be physicians
of the eyes, others of the head, others
of
the teeth, others of the affections
of the
stomach, and others of the more obscure
ailments.
Their fashions of mourning and of burial
are these:--Whenever any household
has lost
a man who is of any regard amongst
them,
the whole number of women of that house
forthwith
plaster over their heads or even their
faces
with mud. Then leaving the corpse within
the house they go themselves to and
fro about
the city and beat themselves, with
their
garments bound up by a girdle and their
breasts
exposed, and with them go all the women
who
are related to the dead man, and on
the other
side the men beat themselves, they
too having
their garments bound up by a girdle;
and
when they have done this, they then
convey
the body to the embalming. In this
occupation
certain persons employ themselves regularly
and inherit this as a craft. These,
whenever
a corpse is conveyed to them, show
to those
who brought it wooden models of corpses
made
like reality by painting, and the best
of
the ways of embalming they say is that
of
him whose name I think it impiety to
mention
when speaking of a matter of such a
kind;
the second which they show is less
good than
this and also less expensive; and the
third
is the least expensive of all. Having
told
them about this, they inquire of them
in
which way they desire the corpse of
their
friend to be prepared. Then they after
they
have agreed for a certain price depart
out
of the way, and the others being left
behind
in the buildings embalm according to
the
best of these ways thus:--First with
the
crooked iron tool they draw out the
brain
through the nostrils, extracting it
partly
thus and partly by pouring in drugs;
and
after this with a sharp stone of Ethiopia
they make a cut along the side and
take out
the whole contents of the belly, and
when
they have cleared out the cavity and
cleansed
it with palm-wine they cleanse it again
with
spices pounded up: then they fill the
belly
with pure myrrh pounded up and with
cassia
and other spices except frankincense,
and
sew it together again. Having so done
they
keep it for embalming covered up in
natron
for seventy days, but for a longer
time than
this it is not permitted to embalm
it; and
when the seventy days are past, they
wash
the corpse and roll its whole body
up in
fine linen cut into bands, smearing
these
beneath with gum, which the Egyptians
use
generally instead of glue. Then the
kinsfolk
receive it from them and have a wooden
figure
made in the shape of a man, and when
they
have had this made they enclose the
corpse,
and having shut it up within, they
store
it then in a sepulchral chamber, setting
it to stand upright against the wall.
Thus
they deal with the corpses which are
prepared
in the most costly way; but for those
who
desire the middle way and wish to avoid
great
cost they prepare the corpse as follows:--
having filled their syringes with the
oil
which is got from cedar- wood, with
this
they forthwith fill the belly of the
corpse,
and this they do without having either
cut
it open or taken out the bowels, but
they
inject the oil by the breech, and having
stopped the drench from returning back
they
keep it then the appointed number of
days
for embalming, and on the last of the
days
they let the cedar oil come out from
the
belly, which they before put in; and
it has
such power that it brings out with
it the
bowels and interior organs of the body
dissolved;
and the natron dissolves the flesh,
so that
there is left of the corpse only the
skin
and the bones. When they have done
this they
give back the corpse at once in that
condition
without working upon it any more. The
third
kind of embalming, by which are prepared
the bodies of those who have less means,
is as follows:--they cleanse out the
belly
with a purge and then keep the body
for embalming
during the seventy days, and at once
after
that they give it back to the bringers
to
carry away. The wives of men of rank
when
they die are not given at once to be
embalmed,
nor such women as are very beautiful
or of
greater regard than others, but on
the third
or fourth day after their death (and
not
before) they are delivered to the embalmers.
They do so about this matter in order
that
the embalmers may not abuse their women,
for they say that one of them was taken
once
doing so to the corpse of a woman lately
dead, and his fellow-craftsman gave
information.
Whenever any one, either of the Egyptians
themselves or of strangers, is found
to have
been carried off by a crocodile or
brought
to his death by the river itself, the
people
of any city by which he may have been
cast
up on land must embalm him and lay
him out
in the fairest way they can and bury
him
in a sacred burial-place, nor may any
of
his relations or friends besides touch
him,
but the priests of the Nile themselves
handle
the corpse and bury it as that of one
who
was something more than man.
Hellenic usages they will by no means
follow,
and to speak generally they follow
those
of no other men whatever. This rule
is observed
by most of the Egyptians; but there
is a
large city named Chemmis in the Theban
district
near Neapolis, and in this city there
is
a temple of Perseus the son of Danae
which
is of a square shape, and round it
grow date-palms:
the gateway of the temple is built
of stone
and of very great size, and at the
entrance
of it stand two great statues of stone.
Within
this enclosure is a temple-house and
in it
stands an image of Perseus. These people
of Chemmis say that Perseus is wont
often
to appear in their land and often within
the temple, and that a sandal which
has been
worn by him is found sometimes, being
in
length two cubits, and whenever this
appears
all Egypt prospers. This they say,
and they
do in honour of Perseus after Hellenic
fashion
thus,-- they hold an athletic contest,
which
includes the whole list of games, and
they
offer in prizes cattle and cloaks and
skins:
and when I inquired why to them alone
Perseus
was wont to appear, and wherefore they
were
separated from all the other Egyptians
in
that they held an athletic contest,
they
said that Perseus had been born of
their
city, for Danaos and Lynkeus were men
of
Chemmis and had sailed to Hellas, and
from
them they traced a descent and came
down
to Perseus: and they told me that he
had
come to Egypt for the reason which
the Hellenes
also say, namely to bring from Libya
the
Gorgon's head, and had then visited
them
also and recognised all his kinsfolk,
and
they said that he had well learnt the
name
of Chemmis before he came to Egypt,
since
he had heard it from his mother, and
that
they celebrated an athletic contest
for him
by his own command.
All these are customs practised by
the Egyptians
who dwell above the fens: and those
who are
settled in the fenland have the same
customs
for the most part as the other Egyptians,
both in other matters and also in that
they
live each with one wife only, as do
the Hellenes;
but for economy in respect of food
they have
invented these things besides:--when
the
river has become full and the plains
have
been flooded, there grow in the water
great
numbers of lilies, which the Egyptians
call
/lotos/; these they cut with a sickle
and
dry in the sun, and then they pound
that
which grows in the middle of the lotos
and
which is like the head of a poppy,
and they
make of it loaves baked with fire.
The root
also of this lotos is edible and has
a rather
sweet taste: it is round in shape and
about
the size of an apple. There are other
lilies
too, in flower resembling roses, which
also
grow in the river, and from them the
fruit
is produced in a separate vessel springing
from the root by the side of the plant
itself,
and very nearly resembles a wasp's
comb:
in this there grow edible seeds in
great
numbers of the size of an olive-stone,
and
they are eaten either fresh or dried.
Besides
this they pull up from the fens the
papyrus
which grows every year, and the upper
parts
of it they cut off and turn to other
uses,
but that which is left below for about
a
cubit in length they eat or sell: and
those
who desire to have the papyrus at its
very
best bake it in an oven heated red-hot,
and
then eat it. Some too of these people
live
on fish alone, which they dry in the
sun
after having caught them and taken
out the
entrails, and then when they are dry,
they
use them for food.
Fish which swim in shoals are not much
produced
in the rivers, but are bred in the
lakes,
and they do as follows:--When there
comes
upon them the desire to breed, they
swim
out in shoals towards the sea; and
the males
lead the way shedding forth their milt
as
they go, while the females, coming
after
and swallowing it up, from it become
impregnated:
and when they have become full of young
in
the sea they swim up back again, each
shoal
to its own haunts. The same however
no longer
lead the way as before, but the lead
comes
now to the females, and they leading
the
way in shoals do just as the males
did, that
is to say they shed forth their eggs
by a
few grains at a time, and the males
coming
after swallow them up. Now these grains
are
fish, and from the grains which survive
and
are not swallowed, the fish grow which
afterwards
are bred up. Now those of the fish
which
are caught as they swim out towards
the sea
are found to be rubbed on the left
side of
the head, but those which are caught
as they
swim up again are rubbed on the right
side.
This happens to them because as they
swim
down to the sea they keep close to
the land
on the left side of the river, and
again
as they swim up they keep to the same
side,
approaching and touching the bank as
much
as they can, for fear doubtless of
straying
from their course by reason of the
stream.
When the Nile begins to swell, the
hollow
places of the land and the depressions
by
the side of the river first begin to
fill,
as the water soaks through from the
river,
and so soon as they become full of
water,
at once they are all filled with little
fishes;
and whence these are in all likelihood
produced,
I think that I perceive. In the preceding
year, when the Nile goes down, the
fish first
lay eggs in the mud and then retire
with
the last of the retreating waters;
and when
the time comes round again, and the
water
once more comes over the land, from
these
eggs forthwith are produced the fishes
of
which I speak.
Thus it is as regards the fish. And
for anointing
those of the Egyptians who dwell in
the fens
use oil from the castor-berry, which
oil
the Egyptians call /kiki/, and thus
they
do:--they sow along the banks of the
rivers
and pools these plants, which in a
wild form
grow of themselves in the land of the
Hellenes;
these are sown in Egypt and produce
berries
in great quantity but of an evil smell;
and
when they have gathered these some
cut them
up and press the oil from them, others
again
roast them first and then boil them
down
and collect that which runs away from
them.
The oil is fat and not less suitable
for
burning than olive-oil, but it gives
forth
a disagreeable smell. Against the gnats,
which are very abundant, they have
contrived
as follows:--those who dwell above
the fen-land
are helped by the towers, to which
they ascend
when they go to rest; for the gnats
by reason
of the winds are not able to fly up
high:
but those who dwell in the fen- land
have
contrived another way instead of the
towers,
and this it is:
--every man of them has got a casting
net,
with which by day he catches fish,
but in
the night he uses it for this purpose,
that
is to say he puts the casting-net round
about
the bed in which he sleeps, and then
creeps
in under it and goes to sleep: and
the gnats,
if he sleeps rolled up in a garment
or a
linen sheet, bite through these, but
through
the net they do not even attempt to
bite.
Their boats with which they carry cargoes
are made of the thorny acacia, of which
the
form is very like that of the Kyrenian
lotos,
and that which exudes from it is gum.
From
this tree they cut pieces of wood about
two
cubits in length and arrange them like
bricks,
fastening the boat together by running
a
great number of long bolts through
the two-cubits
pieces; and when they have thus fastened
the boat together, they lay cross-pieces
over the top, using no ribs for the
sides;
and within they caulk the seams with
papyrus.
They make one steering-oar for it,
which
is passed through the bottom of the
boat;
and they have a mast of acacia and
sails
of papyrus. These boats cannot sail
up the
river unless there be a very fresh
wind blowing,
but are towed from the shore: down-stream
however they travel as follows:--they
have
a door-shaped crate made of tamarisk
wood
and reed mats sewn together, and also
a stone
of about two talents weight bored with
a
hole; and of these the boatman lets
the crate
float on in front of the boat, fastened
with
a rope, and the stone drags behind
by another
rope. The crate then, as the force
of the
stream presses upon it, goes on swiftly
and
draws on the /baris/
(for so these boats are called), while
the
stone dragging after it behind and
sunk deep
in the water keeps its course straight.
These
boats they have in great numbers and
some
of them carry many thousands of talents'
burden.
When the Nile comes over the land,
the cities
alone are seen rising above the water,
resembling
more nearly than anything else the
islands
in the Egean Sea; for the rest of Egypt
becomes
a sea and the cities alone rise above
water.
Accordingly, whenever this happens,
they
pass by water not now by the channels
of
the river but over the midst of the
plain:
for example, as one sails up from Naucratis
to Memphis the passage is then close
by the
pyramids, whereas the usual passage
is not
the same even here, but goes by the
point
of the Delta and the city of Kercasoros;
while if you sail over the plain to
Naucratis
from the sea and from Canobos, you
will go
by Anthylla and the city called after
Archander.
Of these Anthylla is a city of note
and is
especially assigned to the wife of
him who
reigns over Egypt, to supply her with
sandals,
(this is the case since the time when
Egypt
came to be under the Persians): the
other
city seems to me to have its name from
Archander
the son-in-law of Danaos, who was the
son
of Phthios, the son of Achaios; for
it is
called the City of Archander. There
might
indeed by another Archander, but in
any case
the name is not Egyptian.
Hitherto my own observation and judgment
and inquiry are the vouchers for that
which
I have said; but from this point onwards
I am about to tell the history of Egypt
according
to that which I have heard, to which
will
be added also something of that which
I have
myself seen.
Of Min, who first became king of Egypt,
the
priests said that on the one hand he
banked
off the site of Memphis from the river:
for
the whole stream of the river used
to flow
along by the sandy mountain- range
on the
side of Libya, but Min formed by embankments
that bend of the river which lies to
the
South about a hundred furlongs above
Memphis,
and thus he dried up the old stream
and conducted
the river so that it flowed in the
middle
between the mountains: and even now
this
bend of the Nile is by the Persians
kept
under very careful watch, that it may
flow
in the channel to which it is confined,
and
the bank is repaired every year; for
if the
river should break through and overflow
in
this direction, Memphis would be in
danger
of being overwhelmed by flood. When
this
Min, who first became king, had made
into
dry land the part which was dammed
off, on
the one hand, I say, he founded in
it that
city which is now called Memphis; for
Memphis
too is in the narrow part of Egypt;
and outside
the city he dug round it on the North
and
West a lake communicating with the
river,
for the side towards the East is barred
by
the Nile itself. Then secondly he established
in the city the temple of Hephaistos
a great
work and most worthy of mention. After
this
man the priests enumerated to me from
a papyrus
roll the names of other kings, three
hundred
and thirty in number; and in all these
generations
of men eighteen were Ethiopians, one
was
a woman, a native Egyptian, and the
rest
were men and of Egyptian race: and
the name
of the woman who reigned was the same
as
that of the Babylonian queen, namely
Nitocris.
Of her they said that desiring to take
vengeance
for her brother, whom the Egyptians
had slain
when he was their king and then, after
having
slain him, had given his kingdom to
her,--desiring,
I say, to take vengeance for him, she
destroyed
by craft many of the Egyptians. For
she caused
to be constructed a very large chamber
under
ground, and making as though she would
handsel
it but in her mind devising other things,
she invited those of the Egyptians
whom she
knew to have had most part in the murder,
and gave a great banquet. Then while
they
were feasting, she let in the river
upon
them by a secret conduit of large size.
Of
her they told no more than this, except
that,
when this had been accomplished, she
threw
herself into a room full of embers,
in order
that she might escape vengeance. As
for the
other kings, they could tell me of
no great
works which had been produced by them,
and
they said that they had no renown except
only the last of them, Moiris: he
(they said) produced as a memorial
of himself
the gateway of the temple of Hephaistos
which
is turned towards the North Wind, and
dug
a lake, about which I shall set forth
afterwards
how many furlongs of circuit it has,
and
in it built pyramids of the size which
I
shall mention at the same time when
I speak
of the lake itself. He, they said,
produced
these works, but of the rest none produced
any.
Therefore passing these by I will make
mention
of the king who came after these, whose
name
is Sesostris. He (the priests said)
first
of all set out with ships of war from
the
Arabian gulf and subdued those who
dwelt
by the shores of the Erythraian Sea,
until
as he sailed he came to a sea which
could
no further be navigated by reason of
shoals:
then secondly, after he had returned
to Egypt,
according to the report of the priests
he
took a great army and marched over
the continent,
subduing every nation which stood in
his
way: and those of them whom he found
valiant
and fighting desperately for their
freedom,
in their lands he set up pillars which
told
by inscriptions his own name and the
name
of his country, and how he had subdued
them
by his power; but as to those of whose
cities
he obtained possession without fighting
or
with ease, on their pillars he inscribed
words after the same tenor as he did
for
the nations which had shown themselves
courageous,
and in addition he drew upon them the
hidden
parts of a woman, desiring to signify
by
this that the people were cowards and
effeminate.
Thus doing he traversed the continent,
until
at last he passed over to Europe from
Asia
and subdued the Scythians and also
the Thracians.
These, I am of opinion, were the furthest
people to which the Egyptian army came,
for
in their country the pillars are found
to
have been set up, but in the land beyond
this they are no longer found. From
this
point he turned and began to go back;
and
when he came to the river Phasis, what
happened
then I cannot say for certain, whether
the
king Sesostris himself divided off
a certain
portion of his army and left the men
there
as settlers in the land, or whether
some
of his soldiers were wearied by his
distant
marches and remained by the river Phasis.
For the people of Colchis are evidently
Egyptian,
and this I perceived for myself before
I
heard it from others. So when I had
come
to consider the matter I asked them
both;
and the Colchians had remembrance of
the
Egyptians more than the Egyptians of
the
Colchians; but the Egyptians said they
believed
that the Colchians were a portion of
the
army of Sesostris. That this was so
I conjectured
myself not only because they are dark-skinned
and have curly hair (this of itself
amounts
to nothing, for there are other races
which
are so), but also still more because
the
Colchians, Egyptians, and Ethiopians
alone
of all the races of men have practised
circumcision
from the first. The Phenicians and
the Syrians
who dwell in Palestine confess themselves
that they have learnt it from the Egyptians,
and the Syrians about the river Thermodon
and the river Parthenios, and the Macronians,
who are their neighbors, say that they
have
learnt it lately from the Colchians.
These
are the only races of men who practise
circumcision,
and these evidently practise it in
the same
manner as the Egyptians. Of the Egyptians
themselves however and the Ethiopians,
I
am not able to say which learnt from
the
other, for undoubtedly it is a most
ancient
custom; but that the other nations
learnt
it by intercourse with the Egyptians,
this
among others is to me a strong proof,
namely
that those of the Phenicians who have
intercourse
with Hellas cease to follow the example
of
the Egyptians in this matter, and do
not
circumcise their children. Now let
me tell
another thing about the Colchians to
show
how they resemble the Egyptians:--they
alone
work flax in the same fashion as the
Egyptians,
and the two nations are like one another
in their whole manner of living and
also
in their language: now the linen of
Colchis
is called by the Hellenes Sardonic,
whereas
that from Egypt is called Egyptian.
The pillars
which Sesostris king of Egypt set up
in the
various countries are for the most
part no
longer to be seen extant; but in Syria
Palestine
I myself saw them existing with the
inscription
upon them which I have mentioned and
the
emblem. Moreover in Ionia there are
two figures
of this man carved upon rocks, one
on the
road by which one goes from the land
of Ephesos
to Phocaia, and the other on the road
from
Sardis to Smyrna. In each place there
is
a figure of a man cut in the rock,
of four
cubits and a span in height, holding
in his
right hand a spear and in his left
a bow
and arrows, and the other equipment
which
he has is similar to this, for it is
both
Egyptian and Ethiopian: and from the
one
shoulder to the other across the breast
runs
an inscription carved in sacred Egyptian
characters, saying thus, "This
land
with my shoulders I won for myself."
But who he is and from whence, he does
not
declare in these places, though in
other
places he had declared this. Some of
those
who have seen these carvings conjecture
that
the figure is that of Memnon, but herein
they are very far from the truth.
As this Egyptian Sesostris was returning
and bringing back many men of the nations
whose lands he had subdued, when he
came
(said the priests) to Daphnai in the
district
of Pelusion on his journey home, his
brother
to whom Sesostris had entrusted the
charge
of Egypt invited him and with him his
sons
to a feast; and then he piled the house
round
with brushwood and set it on fire:
and Sesostris
when he discovered this forthwith took
counsel
with his wife, for he was bringing
with him
(they said) his wife also; and she
counselled
him to lay out upon the pyre two of
his sons,
which were six in number, and so to
make
a bridge over the burning mass, and
that
they passing over their bodies should
thus
escape. This, they said, Sesostris
did, and
two of his sons were burnt to death
in this
manner, but the rest got away safe
with their
father. Then Sesostris, having returned
to
Egypt and having taken vengeance on
his brother
employed the multitude which he had
brought
in of those who whose lands he had
subdued,
as follows:
--these were they drew the stones which
in
the reign of this king were brought
to the
temple of Hephaistos, being of very
good
size; and also these were compelled
to dig
all the channels which now are in Egypt;
and thus (having no such purpose) they
caused
Egypt, which before was all fit for
riding
and driving, to be no longer fit for
this
from thenceforth: for from that time
forward
Egypt, though it is plain land, has
become
all unfit for riding and driving, and
the
cause has been these channels, which
are
many and run in all directions. But
the reason
why the king cut up the land was this,
namely
because those of the Egyptians who
had their
cities not on the river but in the
middle
of the country, being in want of water
when
the river went down from them, found
their
drink brackish because they had it
from wells.
For this reason Egypt was cut up: and
they
said that this king distributed the
land
to all the Egyptians, giving an equal
square
portion to each man, and from this
he made
his revenue, having appointed them
to pay
a certain rent every year: and if the
river
should take away anything from any
man's
portion, he would come to the king
and declare
that which had happened, and the king
used
to send men to examine and to find
out by
measurement how much less the piece
of land
had become, in order that for the future
the man might pay less, in proportion
to
the rent appointed: and I think that
thus
the art of geometry was found out and
afterwards
came into Hellas also. For as touching
the
sun-dial and the gnomon and the twelve
divisions
of the day, they were learnt by the
Hellenes
from the Babylonians. He moreover alone
of
all the Egyptian kings had rule over
Ethiopia;
and he left as memorials of himself
in front
of the temple of Hephaistos two stone
statues
of thirty cubits each, representing
himself
and his wife, and others of twenty
cubits
each representing his four sons: and
long
afterwards the priest of Hephaistos
refused
to permit Dareios the Persian to set
up a
statue of himself in front of them,
saying
that deeds had not been done by him
equal
to those which were done by Sesostris
the
Egyptian; for Sesostris had subdued
other
nations besides, not fewer than he,
and also
the Scythians; but Dareios had not
been able
to conquer the Scythians: wherefore
it was
not just that he should set up a statue
in
front of those which Sesostris had
dedicated,
if he did not surpass him in his deeds.
Which
speech, they say, Dareios took in good
part.
Now after Sesostris had brought his
life
to an end, his son Pheros, they told
me,
received in succession the kingdom,
and he
made no warlike expedition, and moreover
it chanced to him to become blind by
reason
of the following accident:--when the
river
had come down in flood rising to a
height
of eighteen cubits, higher than ever
before
that time, and had gone over the fields,
a wind fell upon it and the river became
agitated by waves: and this king (they
say)
moved by presumptuous folly took a
spear
and cast it into the midst of the eddies
of the stream; and immediately upon
this
he had a disease of the eyes and was
by it
made blind. For ten years then he was
blind,
and in the eleventh year there came
to him
an oracle from the city of Buto saying
that
the time of his punishment had expired,
and
that he should see again if he washed
his
eyes with the water of a woman who
had accompanied
with her own husband only and had not
had
knowledge of other men: and first he
made
trial of his own wife, and then, as
he continued
blind, he went on to try all the women
in
turn; and when he had at least regained
his
sight he gathered together all the
women
of whom he had made trial, excepting
her
by whose means he had regained his
sight,
to one city which now is named Erythrabolos,
and having gathered them to this he
consumed
them all by fire, as well as the city
itself;
but as for her by whose means he had
regained
his sight, he had her himself to wife.
Then
after he had escaped the malady of
his eyes
he dedicated offerings at each one
of the
temples which were of renown, and especially
(to mention only that which is most
worthy
of mention) he dedicated at the temple
of
the Sun works which are worth seeing,
namely
two obelisks of stone, each of a single
block,
measuring in length a hundred cubits
each
one and in breadth eight cubits.
After him, they said, there succeeded
to
the throne a man of Memphis, whose
name in
the tongue of the Hellenes was Proteus;
for
whom there is now a sacred enclosure
at Memphis,
very fair and well ordered, lying on
that
side of the temple of Hephaistos which
faces
the North Wind. Round about this enclosure
dwell Phenicians of Tyre, and this
whole
region is called the Camp of the Tyrians.
Within the enclosure of Proteus there
is
a temple called the temple of the "foreign
Aphrodite," which temple I conjecture
to be one of Helen the daughter of
Tyndareus,
not only because I have heard the tale
how
Helen dwelt with Proteus, but also
especially
because it is called by the name of
the "foreign
Aphrodite," for the other temples
of
Aphrodite which there are have none
of them
the addition of the word "foreign"
to the name.
And the priests told me, when I inquired,
that the things concerning Helen happened
thus:--Alexander having carried off
Helen
was sailing away from Sparta to his
own land,
and when he had come to the Egean Sea
contrary
winds drove him from his course to
the Sea
of Egypt; and after that, since the
blasts
did not cease to blow, he came to Egypt
itself,
and in Egypt to that which is now named
the
Canobic mouth of the Nile and to Taricheiai.
Now there was upon the shore, as still
there
is now, a temple of Heracles, in which
if
any man's slave take refuge and have
the
sacred marks set upon him, giving himself
over to the god, it is not lawful to
lay
hands upon him; but this custom has
continued
still unchanged from the beginning
down to
my own time. Accordingly the attendants
of
Alexander, having heard of the custom
which
existed about the temple, ran away
from him,
and sitting down as suppliants of the
god,
accused Alexander, because they desired
to
do him hurt, telling the whole tale
how things
were about Helen and about the wrong
done
to Menalaos; and this accusation they
made
not only to the priests but also to
the warden
of this river-mouth, whose name was
Thonis.
Thonis then having heard their tale
sent
forthwith a message to Proteus at Memphis,
which said as follows: "There
hath come
a stranger, a Teucrian by race, who
hath
done in Hellas an unholy deed; for
he hath
deceived the wife of his own host,
and is
come hither bringing with him this
woman
herself and very much wealth, having
been
carried out of his way by winds to
thy land.
Shall we then allow him to sail out
unharmed,
or shall we first take away from him
that
which he brought with him?" In
reply
to this Proteus sent back a messenger
who
said thus: "Seize this man, whosoever
he may be, who has done impiety to
his own
host, and bring him away into my presence
that I may know what he will find to
say."
Hearing this, Thonis seized Alexander
and
detained his ships, and after that
he brought
the man himself up to Memphis and with
him
Helen and the wealth he had, and also
in
addition to them the suppliants. So
when
all had been conveyed up thither, Proteus
began to ask Alexander who he was and
from
whence he was voyaging; and he both
recounted
to him his descent and told him the
name
of his native land, and moreover related
of his voyage, from whence he was sailing.
After this Proteus asked him whence
he had
taken Helen; and when Alexander went
astray
n his account and did not speak the
truth,
those who had become suppliants convicted
him of falsehood, relating in full
the whole
tale of the wrong done. At length Proteus
declared to them this sentence, saying,
"Were
it not that I count it a matter of
great
moment not to slay any of those strangers
who being driven from their course
by winds
have come to my land hitherto, I should
have
taken vengeance on thee on behalf of
the
man of Hellas, seeing that thou, most
base
of men, having received from him hospitality,
didst work against him a most impious
deed.
For thou didst go in to the wife of
thine
own host; and even this was not enough
for
thee, but thou didst stir her up with
desire
and hast gone away with her like a
thief.
Moreover not even this by itself was
enough
for thee, but thou art come hither
with plunder
taken from the house of thy host. Now
therefore
depart, seeing that I have counted
it of
great moment not to be a slayer of
strangers.
This woman indeed and the wealth which
thou
hast I will not allow thee to carry
away,
but I shall keep them safe for the
Hellene
who was thy host, until he come himself
and
desire to carry them off to his home;
to
thyself however and thy fellow-voyagers
I
proclaim that ye depart from your anchoring
within three days and go from my land
to
some other; and if not, that ye will
be dealt
with as enemies."
This the priests said was the manner
of Helen's
coming to Proteus; and I suppose that
Homer
also had heard this story, but since
it was
not so suitable to the composition
of his
poem as the other which he followed,
he dismissed
it finally, making it clear at the
same time
that he was acquainted with that story
also:
and according to the manner in which
he described
the wanderings of Alexander in the
Iliad
(nor did he elsewhere retract that
which
he had said) of his course, wandering
to
various lands, and that he came among
other
places to Sidon in Phenicia. Of this
the
poet has made mention in the "prowess
of Diomede," and the verses run
thus:
"There she had robes many-coloured,
the works of women of Sidon, Those
whom her
son himself the god-like of form Alexander
Carried from Sidon, what time the broad
sea-path
he sailed over Bringing back Helene
home,
of a noble father begotten."
And in the Odyssey also he has made
mention
of it in these verses:
"Such had the daughter of Zeus,
such
drugs of exquisite cunning, Good, which
to
her the wife of Thon, Polydamna, had
given,
Dwelling in Egypt, the land where the
bountiful
meadow produces Drugs more than all
lands
else, many good being mixed, many evil."
And thus too Menelaos says to Telemachos:
"Still the gods stayed me in Egypt,
to come back hither desiring, Stayed
me from
voyaging home, since sacrifice due
I performed
not."
In these lines he makes it clear that
he
knew of the wanderings of Alexander
to Egypt,
for Syria borders upon Egypt and the
Phenicians,
of whom is Sidon, dwell in Syria. By
these
lines and by this passage it is also
most
clearly shown that the "Cyprian
Epic"
was not written by Homer but by some
other
man: for in this it is said that on
the third
day after leaving Sparta Alexander
came to
Ilion bringing with him Helen, having
had
a "gently-blowing wind and a smooth
sea," whereas in the Iliad it
says that
he wandered from his course when he
brought
her.
Let us now leave Homer and the "Cyprian
Epic"; but this I will say, namely
that
I asked the priests whether it is but
an
idle tale which the Hellenes tell of
that
which they say happened about Ilion;
and
they answered me thus, saying that
they had
their knowledge by inquiries from Menelaos
himself. After the rape of Helen there
came
indeed, they said, to the Teucrian
land a
large army of Hellenes to help Menelaos;
and when the army had come out of the
ships
to land and had pitched its camp there,
they
sent messengers to Ilion, with whom
went
also Menelaos himself; and when these
entered
within the wall they demanded back
Helen
and the wealth which Alexander had
stolen
from Menelaos and had taken away; and
moreover
they demanded satisfaction for the
wrongs
done: and the Teucrians told the same
tale
then and afterwards, both with oath
and without
oath, namely that in deed and in truth
they
had not Helen nor the wealth for which
demand
was made, but that both were in Egypt;
and
that they could not justly be compelled
to
give satisfaction for that which Proteus
the king of Egypt had. The Hellenes
however
thought that they were being mocked
by them
and besieged the city, until at last
they
took it; and when they had taken the
wall
and did not find Helen, but heard the
same
tale as before, then they believed
the former
tale and sent Menelaos himself to Proteus.
And Menelaos having come to Egypt and
having
sailed up to Memphis, told the truth
of these
matters, and not only found great entertainment,
but also received Helen unhurt, and
all his
own wealth besides. Then, however,
after
he had been thus dealt with, Menelaos
showed
himself ungrateful to the Egyptians;
for
when he set forth to sail away, contrary
winds detained him, and as this condition
of things lasted long, he devised an
impious
deed; for he took two children of natives
and made sacrifice of them. After this,
when
it was known that he had done so, he
became
abhorred, and being pursued he escaped
and
got away in his ships to Libya; but
whither
he went besides after this, the Egyptians
were not able to tell. Of these things
they
said that they found out part by inquiries,
and the rest, namely that which happened
in their own land, they related from
sure
and certain knowledge.
Thus the priests of the Egyptians told
me;
and I myself also agree with the story
which
was told of Helen, adding this consideration,
namely that if Helen had been in Ilion
she
would have been given up to the Hellenes,
whether Alexander consented or no;
for Priam
assuredly was not so mad, nor yet the
others
of his house, that they were desirous
to
run risk of ruin for themselves and
their
children and their city, in order that
Alexander
might have Helen as his wife: and even
supposing
that during the first part of the time
they
had been so inclined, yet when many
others
of the Trojans besides were losing
their
lives as often as they fought with
the Hellenes,
and of the sons of Priam himself always
two
or three or even more were slain when
a battle
took place (if one may trust at all
to the
Epic poets),--when, I say, things were
coming
thus to pass, I consider that even
if Priam
himself had had Helen as his wife,
he would
have given her back to the Achaians,
if at
least by so doing he might be freed
from
the evils which oppressed him. Nor
even was
the kingdom coming to Alexander next,
so
that when Priam was old the government
was
in his hands; but Hector, who was both
older
and more of a man than he, would certainly
have received it after the death of
Priam;
and him it behoved not to allow his
brother
to go on with his wrong-doing, considering
that great evils were coming to pass
on his
account both to himself privately and
in
general to the other Trojans. In truth
however
they lacked the power to give Helen
back;
and the Hellenes did not believe them,
though
they spoke the truth; because, as I
declare
my opinion, the divine power was purposing
to cause them utterly to perish, and
so make
it evident to men that for great wrongs
great
also are the chastisements which come
from
the gods. And thus have I delivered
my opinion
concerning these matters.
After Proteus, they told me, Rhampsinitos
received in succession the kingdom,
who left
as a memorial of himself that gateway
to
the temple of Hephaistos which is turned
towards the West, and in front of the
gateway
he set up two statues, in height five-and-twenty
cubits, of which the one which stands
on
the North side is called by the Egyptians
Summer and the one on the South side
Winter;
and to that one which they call Summer
they
do reverence and make offerings, while
to
the other which is called Winter they
do
the opposite of these things. This
king,
they said, got great wealth of silver,
which
none of the kings born after him could
surpass
or even come near to; and wishing to
store
his wealth in safety he caused to be
built
a chamber of stone, one of the walls
whereof
was towards the outside of his palace:
and
the builder of this, having a design
against
it, contrived as follows, that is,
he disposed
one of the stones in such a manner
that it
could be taken out easily from the
wall either
by two men or even by one. So when
the chamber
was finished, the king stored his money
in
it, and after some time the builder,
being
near the end of his life, called to
him his
sons (for he had two) and to them he
related
how he had contrived in building the
treasury
of the king, and all in forethought
for them,
that they might have ample means of
living.
And when he had clearly set forth to
them
everything concerning the taking out
of the
stone, he gave them the measurements,
saying
that if they paid heed to this matter
they
would be stewards of the king's treasury.
So he ended his life, and his sons
made no
long delay in setting to work, but
went to
the palace by night, and having found
the
stone in the wall of the chamber they
dealt
with it easily and carried forth for
themselves
great quantity of the wealth within.
And
the king happening to open the chamber,
he
marvelled when he saw the vessels falling
short of the full amount, and he did
not
know on whom he should lay the blame,
since
the seals were unbroken and the chamber
had
been close shut; but when upon his
opening
the chamber a second and a third time
the
money was each time seen to be diminished,
for the thieves did not slacken in
their
assaults upon it, he did as follows:--having
ordered traps to be made he set these
round
about the vessels in which the money
was;
and when the thieves had come as at
former
times and one of them had entered,
then so
soon as he came near to one of the
vessels
he was straightway caught in the trap:
and
when he perceived in what evil case
he was,
straightway calling his brother he
showed
him what the matter was, and bade him
enter
as quickly as possible and cut off
his head,
for fear lest being seen and known
he might
bring about the destruction of his
brother
also. And to the other it seemed that
he
spoke well, and he was persuaded and
did
so; and fitting the stone into its
place
he departed home bearing with him the
head
of his brother. Now when it became
day, the
king entered into the chamber and was
very
greatly amazed, seeing the body of
the thief
held in the trap without his head,
and the
chamber unbroken, with no way to come
in
by or go out: and being at a loss he
hung
up the dead body of the thief upon
the wall
and set guards there, with charge if
they
saw any one weeping or bewailing himself
to seize him and bring him before the
king.
And when the dead body had been hung
up,
the mother was greatly grieved, and
speaking
with the son who survived she enjoined
him,
in whatever way he could, to contrive
means
by which he might take down and bring
home
the body of his brother; and if he
should
neglect to do this, she earnestly threatened
that she would go and give information
to
the king that he had the money. So
as the
mother dealt hardly with the surviving
son,
and he though saying many things to
her did
not persuade her, he contrived for
his purpose
a device as follows:--Providing himself
with
asses he filled some skins with wine
and
laid them upon the asses, and after
that
he drove them along: and when he came
opposite
to those who were guarding the corpse
hung
up, he drew towards him two or three
of the
necks of the skins and loosened the
cords
with which they were tied. Then when
the
wine was running out, he began to beat
his
head and cry out loudly, as if he did
not
know to which of the asses he should
first
turn; and when the guards saw the wine
flowing
out in streams, they ran together to
the
road with drinking vessels in their
hands
and collected the wine that was poured
out,
counting it so much gain; and he abused
them
all violently, making as if he were
angry,
but when the guards tried to appease
him,
after a time he feigned to be pacified
and
to abate his anger, and at length he
drove
his asses out of the road and began
to set
their loads right. Then more talk arose
among
them, and one or two of them made jests
at
him and brought him to laugh with them;
and
in the end he made them a present of
one
of the skins in addition to what they
had.
Upon that they lay down there without
more
ado, being minded to drink, and they
took
him into their company and invited
him to
remain with them and join them in their
drinking:
so he (as may be supposed) was persuaded
and stayed. Then as they in their drinking
bade him welcome in a friendly manner,
he
made a present to them also of another
of
the skins; and so at length having
drunk
liberally the guards became completely
intoxicated;
and being overcome by sleep they went
to
bed on the spot where they had been
drinking.
He then, as it was now far on in the
night,
first took down the body of his brother,
and then in mockery shaved the right
cheeks
of all the guards; and after that he
put
the dead body upon the asses and drove
them
away home, having accomplished that
which
was enjoined him by his mother. Upon
this
the king, when it was reported to him
that
the dead body of the thief had been
stolen
away, displayed great anger; and desiring
by all means that it should be found
out
who it might be who devised these things,
did this (so at least they said, but
I do
not believe the account),--he caused
his
own daughter to sit in the stews, and
enjoined
her to receive all equally, and before
having
commerce with any one to compel him
to tell
her what was the most cunning and what
the
most unholy deed which had been done
by him
in all his life-time; and whosoever
should
relate that which had happened about
the
thief, him she must seize and not let
him
go out. Then as she was doing that
which
was enjoined by her father, the thief,
hearing
for what purpose this was done and
having
a desire to get the better of the king
in
resource, did thus:--from the body
of one
lately dead he cut off the arm at the
shoulder
and went with it under his mantle:
and having
gone in to the daughter of the king,
and
being asked that which the others also
were
asked, he related that he had done
the most
unholy deed when he cut off the head
of his
brother, who had been caught in a trap
in
the king's treasure-chamber, and the
most
cunning deed in that he made drunk
the guards
and took down the dead body of his
brother
hanging up; and she when she heard
it tried
to take hold of him, but the thief
held out
to her in the darkness the arm of the
corpse,
which she grasped and held, thinking
that
she was holding the arm of the man
himself;
but the thief left it in her hands
and departed,
escaping through the door. Now when
this
also was reported to the king, he was
at
first amazed at the ready invention
and daring
of the fellow, and then afterwards
he sent
round to all the cities and made proclamation
granting a free pardon to the thief,
and
also promising a great reward if he
would
come into his presence. The thief accordingly
trusting to the proclamation came to
the
king, and Rhampsinitos greatly marvelled
at him, and gave him this daughter
of his
to wife, counting him to be the most
knowing
of all men; for as the Egyptians were
distinguished
from all other men, so was he from
the other
Egyptians.
After these things they said this king
went
down alive to that place which by the
Hellenes
is called Hades, and there played at
dice
with Demeter, and in some throws he
overcame
her and in others he was overcome by
her;
and he came back again having as a
gift from
her a handkerchief of gold: and they
told
me that because of the going down of
Rhampsinitos
the Egyptians after he came back celebrated
a feast, which I know of my own knowledge
also that they still observe even to
my time;
but whether it is for this cause that
they
keep the feast or for some other, I
am not
able to say. However, the priests weave
a
robe completely on the very day of
the feast,
and forthwith they bind up the eyes
of one
of them with a fillet, and having led
him
with the robe to the way by which one
goes
to the temple of Demeter, they depart
back
again themselves. This priest, they
say,
with his eyes bound up is led by two
wolves
to the temple of Demeter, which is
distant
from the city twenty furlongs, and
then afterwards
the wolves lead him back again from
the temple
to the same spot. Now as to the tales
told
by the Egyptians, any man may accept
them
to whom such things appear credible;
as for
me, it is to be understood throughout
the
whole of the history that I write by
hearsay
that which is reported by the people
in each
place. The Egyptians say that Demeter
and
Dionysos are rulers of the world below;
and
the Egyptians are also the first who
reported
the doctrine that the soul of man is
immortal,
and that when the body dies, the soul
enters
into another creature which chances
then
to be coming to the birth, and when
it has
gone the round of all the creatures
of land
and sea and of the air, it enters again
into
a human body as it comes to the birth;
and
that it makes this round in a period
of three
thousand years. This doctrine certain
Hellenes
adopted, some earlier and some later,
as
if it were of their own invention,
and of
these men I know the names but I abstain
from recording them.
Down to the time when Rhampsinitos
was king,
they told me there was in Egypt nothing
but
orderly rule, and Egypt prospered greatly;
but after him Cheops became king over
them
and brought them to every kind of evil:
for
he shut up all the temples, and having
first
kept them from sacrifices there, he
then
bade all the Egyptians work for him.
So some
were appointed to draw stones from
the stone-quarries
in the Arabian mountains to the Nile,
and
others he ordered to receive the stones
after
they had been carried over the river
in boats,
and to draw them to those which are
called
the Libyan mountains; and they worked
by
a hundred thousand men at a time, for
each
three months continually. Of this oppression
there passed ten years while the causeway
was made by which they drew the stones,
which
causeway they built, and it is a work
not
much less, as it appears to me, than
the
pyramid; for the length of it is five
furlongs
and the breadth ten fathoms and the
height,
where it is highest, eight fathoms,
and it
is made of stone smoothed and with
figures
carved upon it. For this they said,
the ten
years were spent, and for the underground
he caused to be made as sepulchral
chambers
for himself in an island, having conducted
thither a channel from the Nile. For
the
making of the pyramid itself there
passed
a period of twenty years; and the pyramid
is square, each side measuring eight
hundred
feet, and the height of it is the same.
It
is built of stone smoothed and fitted
together
in the most perfect manner, not one
of the
stones being less than thirty feet
in length.
This pyramid was made after the manner
of
steps which some called "rows"
and others "bases": and when
they
had first made it thus, they raised
the remaining
stones with machines made of short
pieces
of timber, raising them first from
the ground
to the first stage of the steps, and
when
the stone got up to this it was placed
upon
another machine standing on the first
stage,
and so from this it was drawn to the
second
upon another machine; for as many as
were
the courses of the steps, so many machines
there were also, or perhaps they transferred
one and the same machine, made so as
easily
to be carried, to each stage successively,
in order that they might take up the
stones;
for let it be told in both ways, according
as it is reported. However that may
be the
highest parts of it were finished first,
and afterwards they proceeded to finish
that
which came next to them, and lastly
they
finished the parts of it near the ground
and the lowest ranges. On the pyramid
it
is declared in Egyptian writing how
much
was spent on radishes and onions and
leeks
for the workmen, and if I rightly remember
that which the interpreter said in
reading
to me this inscription, a sum of one
thousand
six hundred talents of silver was spent;
and if this is so, how much besides
is likely
to have been expended upon the iron
with
which they worked, and upon bread and
clothing
for the workmen, seeing that they were
building
the works for the time which has been
mentioned
and were occupied for no small time
besides,
as I suppose, in the cutting and bringing
of the stones and in working at the
excavation
under the ground? Cheops moreover came,
they
said, to such a pitch of wickedness,
that
being in want of money he caused his
own
daughter to sit in the stews, and ordered
her to obtain from those who came a
certain
amount of money
(how much it was they did not tell
me): and
she not only obtained the sum appointed
by
her father, but also she formed a design
for herself privately to leave behind
her
a memorial, and she requested each
man who
came in to give her one stone upon
her building:
and of these stones, they told me,
the pyramid
was built which stands in front of
the great
pyramid in the middle of the three,
each
side being one hundred and fifty feet
in
length.
This Cheops, the Egyptians said, reigned
fifty years; and after he was dead
his brother
Chephren succeeded to the kingdom.
This king
followed the same manner of dealing
as the
other, both in all the rest and also
in that
he made a pyramid, not indeed attaining
to
the measurements of that which was
built
by the former (this I know, having
myself
also measured it), and moreover there
are
no underground chambers beneath nor
does
a channel come from the Nile flowing
to this
one as to the other, in which the water
coming
through a conduit built for it flows
round
an island within, where they say that
Cheops
himself is laid: but for a basement
he built
the first course of Ethiopian stone
of divers
colours; and this pyramid he made forty
feet
lower than the other as regards size,
building
it close to the great pyramid. These
stand
both upon the same hill, which is about
a
hundred feet high. And Chephren they
said
reigned fifty and six years. Here then
they
reckon one hundred and six years, during
which they say that there was nothing
but
evil for the Egyptians, and the temples
were
kept closed and not opened during all
that
time. These kings the Egyptians by
reason
of their hatred of them are not very
willing
to name; nay, they even call the pyramids
after the name of Philitis the shepherd,
who at that time pastured flocks in
those
regions. After him, they said, Mykerinos
became king over Egypt, who was the
son of
Cheops; and to him his father's deeds
were
displeasing, and he both opened the
temples
and gave liberty to the people, who
were
ground down to the last extremity of
evil,
to return to their own business and
to their
sacrifices: also he gave decisions
of their
causes juster than those of all the
other
kings besides. In regard to this then
they
commend this king more than all the
other
kings who had arisen in Egypt before
him;
for he not only gave good decisions,
but
also when a man complained of the decision,
he gave him recompense from his own
goods
and thus satisfied his desire. But
while
Mykerinos was acting mercifully to
his subjects
and practising this conduct which has
been
said, calamities befell him, of which
the
first was this, namely that his daughter
died, the only child whom he had in
his house:
and being above measure grieved by
that which
had befallen him, and desiring to bury
his
daughter in a manner more remarkable
than
others, he made a cow of wood, which
he covered
over with gold, and then within it
he buried
this daughter who as I said, had died.
This
cow was not covered up in the ground,
but
it might be seen even down to my own
time
in the city of Sais, placed within
the royal
palace in a chamber which was greatly
adorned;
and they offer incense of all kinds
before
it every day, and each night a lamp
burns
beside it all through the night. Near
this
cow in another chamber stand images
of the
concubines of Mykerinos, as the priests
at
Sais told me; for there are in fact
colossal
wooden statues, in number about twenty,
made
with naked bodies; but who they are
I am
not able to say, except only that which
is
reported. Some however tell about this
cow
and the colossal statues the following
tale,
namely that Mykerinos was enamoured
of his
own daughter and afterwards ravished
her;
and upon this they say that the girl
strangled
herself for grief, and he buried her
in this
cow; and her mother cut off the hands
of
the maids who had betrayed the daughter
to
her father; wherefore now the images
of them
have suffered that which the maids
suffered
in their life. In thus saying they
speak
idly, as it seems to me, especially
in what
they say about the hands of the statues;
for as to this, even we ourselves saw
that
their hands had dropped off from lapse
of
time, and they were to be seen still
lying
at their feet even down to my time.
The cow
is covered up with a crimson robe,
except
only the head and the neck, which are
seen,
overlaid with gold very thickly; and
between
the horns there is the disc of the
sun figured
in gold. The cow is not standing up
but kneeling,
and in size is equal to a large living
cow.
Every year it is carried forth from
the chamber,
at those times, I say, the Egyptians
beat
themselves for that god whom I will
not name
upon occasion of such a matter; at
these
times, I say, they also carry forth
the cow
to the light of day, for they say that
she
asked of her father Mykerinos, when
she was
dying, that she might look upon the
sun once
in the year.
After the misfortune of his daughter
it happened,
they said, secondly to this king as
follows:--An
oracle came to him from the city of
Buto,
saying that he was destined to live
but six
years more, in the seventh year to
end his
life: and he being indignant at it
sent to
the Oracle a reproach against the god,
making
complaint in reply that whereas his
father
and uncle, who had shut up the temples
and
had not only not remembered the gods,
but
also had been destroyers of men, had
lived
for a long time, he himself, who practised
piety, was destined to end his life
so soon:
and from the Oracle came a second message,
which said that it was for this very
cause
that he was bringing his life to a
swift
close; for he had not done that which
it
was appointed for him to do, since
it was
destined that Egypt should suffer evils
for
a hundred and fifty years, and the
two kings
who had arisen before him had perceived
this,
but he had not. Mykerinos having heard
this,
and considering that this sentence
had passed
upon him beyond recall, procured many
lamps,
and whenever night came on he lighted
these
and began to drink and take his pleasure,
ceasing neither by day nor by night;
and
he went about to the fen-country and
to the
woods and wherever he heard there were
the
most suitable places of enjoyment.
This he
devised (having a mind to prove that
the
Oracle spoke falsely) in order that
he might
have twelve years of life instead of
six,
the nights being turned into days.
This king also left behind him a pyramid,
much smaller than that of his father,
of
a square shape and measuring on each
side
three hundred feet lacking twenty,
built
moreover of Ethiopian stone up to half
the
height. This pyramid some of the Hellenes
say was built by the courtesan Rhodopis,
not therein speaking rightly: and besides
this it is evident to me that they
who speak
thus do not even know who Rhodopis
was, for
otherwise they would not have attributed
to her the building of a pyramid like
this,
on which have been spent (so to speak)
innumerable
thousands of talents: moreover they
do not
know that Rhodopis flourished in the
reign
of Amasis, and not in this king's reign;
for Rhodopis lived very many years
later
than the kings who left behind them
these
pyramids. By descent she was of Thrace,
and
she was a slave of Iadmon the son of
Hephaistopolis
a Samian, and a fellow-slave of Esop
the
maker of fables; for he too was once
the
slave of Iadmon, as was proved especially
by this fact, namely that when the
people
of Delphi repeatedly made proclamation
in
accordance with an oracle, to find
some one
who would take up the blood-money for
the
death of Esop, no one else appeared,
but
at length the grandson of Iadmon, called
Iadmon also, took it up; and thus it
is showed
that Esop too was the slave of Iadmon.
As
for Rhodopis, she came to Egypt brought
by
Xanthes the Samian, and having come
thither
to exercise her calling she was redeemed
from slavery for a great sum by a man
of
Mytilene, Charaxos son of Scamandronymos
and brother of Sappho the lyric poet.
Thus
was Rhodopis set free, and she remained
in
Egypt and by her beauty won so much
liking
that she made great gain of money for
one
like Rhodopis, though not enough to
suffice
for the cost of such a pyramid as this.
In
truth there is no need to ascribe to
her
very great riches, considering that
the tithe
of her wealth may still be seen even
to this
time by any one who desires it: for
Rhodopis
wished to leave behind her a memorial
of
herself in Hellas, namely to cause
a thing
to be made such as happens not to have
been
thought of or dedicated in a temple
by any
besides, and to dedicate this at Delphi
as
a memorial of herself. Accordingly
with the
tithe of her wealth she caused to be
made
spits of iron of size large enough
to pierce
a whole ox, and many in number, going
as
far therein as her tithe allowed her,
and
she sent them to Delphi: these are
even at
the present time lying there, heaped
all
together behind the altar which the
Chians
dedicated, and just opposite to the
cell
of the temple. Now at Naucratis, as
it happens,
the courtesans are rather apt to win
credit;
for this woman first, about whom the
story
to which I refer is told, became so
famous
that all the Hellenes without exception
came
to know the name of Rhodopis, and then
after
her one whose name was Archidiche became
a subject of song all over Hellas,
though
she was less talked of than the other.
As
for Charaxos, when after redeeming
Rhodopis
he returned back to Mytilene, Sappho
in an
ode violently abused him. Of Rhodopis
then
I shall say no more.
After Mykerinos the priests said Asychis
became king of Egypt, and he made for
Hephaistos
the temple gateway which is towards
the sunrising,
by far the most beautiful and the largest
of the gateways; for while they all
have
figures carved upon them and innumerable
ornaments of building besides, this
has them
very much more than the rest. In this
king's
reign they told me that, as the circulation
of money was very slow, a law was made
for
the Egyptians that a man might have
that
money lent to him which he needed,
by offering
as security the dead body of his father;
and there was added moreover to this
law
another, namely that he who lent the
money
should have a claim also to the whole
of
the sepulchral chamber belonging to
him who
received it, and that the man who offered
that security should be subject to
this penalty,
if he refused to pay back the debt,
namely
that neither the man himself should
be allowed
to have burial, when he died, either
in that
family burial-place or in any other,
nor
should he be allowed to bury any of
his kinsmen
whom he lost by death. This king desiring
to surpass the kings of Egypt who had
arisen
before him left as a memorial of himself
a pyramid which he made of bricks and
on
it there is an inscription carved in
stone
and saying thus: "Despise not
me in
comparison with the pyramids of stone,
seeing
that I excel them as much as Zeus excels
the other gods; for with a pole they
struck
into the lake, and whatever of the
mud attached
itself to the pole, this they gathered
up
and made bricks, and in such manner
they
finished me."
Such were the deeds which this king
performed:
and after him reigned a blind man of
the
city of Anysis, whose name was Anysis.
In
his reign the Ethiopians and Sabacos
the
king of the Ethiopians marched upon
Egypt
with a great host of men; so this blind
man
departed, flying to the fen-country,
and
the Ethiopian was king over Egypt for
fifty
years, during which he performed deeds
as
follows:--whenever any man of the Egyptians
committed any transgression, he would
never
put him to death, but he gave sentence
upon
each man according to the greatness
of the
wrong-doing, appointing them to work
at throwing
up an embankment before that city from
whence
each man came of those who committed
wrong.
Thus the cities were made higher still
than
before; for they were embanked first
by those
who dug the channels in the reign of
Sesostris,
and then secondly in the reign of the
Ethiopian,
and thus they were made very high:
and while
other cities in Egypt also stood high,
I
think in the town at Bubastis especially
the earth was piled up. In this city
there
is a temple very well worthy of mention,
for though there are other temples
which
are larger and build with more cost,
none
more than this is a pleasure to the
eyes.
Now Bubastis in the Hellenic tongue
is Artemis,
and her temple is ordered thus:--Except
the
entrance it is completely surrounded
by water;
for channels come in from the Nile,
not joining
one another, but each extending as
far as
the entrance of the temple, one flowing
round
on the one side and the other on the
other
side, each a hundred feet broad and
shaded
over with trees; and the gateway has
a height
of ten fathoms, and it is adorned with
figures
six cubits high, very noteworthy. This
temple
is in the middle of the city and is
looked
down upon from all sides as one goes
round,
for since the city has been banked
up to
a height, while the temple has not
been moved
from the place where it was at the
first
built, it is possible to look down
into it:
and round it runs a stone wall with
figures
carved upon it, while within it there
is
a grove of very large trees planted
round
a large temple-house, within which
is the
image of the goddess: and the breadth
and
length of the temple is a furlong every
way.
Opposite the entrance there is a road
paved
with stone for about three furlongs,
which
leads through the market-place towards
the
East, with a breadth of about four
hundred
feet; and on this side and on that
grow trees
of height reaching to heaven: and the
road
leads to the temple of Hermes. This
temple
then is thus ordered.
The final deliverance from the Ethiopian
came about (they said) as follows:--he
fled
away because he had seen in his sleep
a vision,
in which it seemed to him that a man
came
and stood by him and counselled him
to gather
together all the priests in Egypt and
cut
them asunder in the midst. Having seen
this
dream, he said that it seemed to him
that
the gods were foreshowing him this
to furnish
an occasion against him, in order that
he
might do an impious deed with respect
to
religion, and so receive some evil
either
from the gods or from men: he would
not however
do so, but in truth (he said) the time
had
expired, during which it had been prophesied
to him that he should rule Egypt before
he
departed thence. For when he was in
Ethiopia
the Oracles which the Ethiopians consult
had told him that it was fated for
him to
rule Egypt fifty years: since then
this time
was now expiring, and the vision of
the dream
also disturbed him, Sabacos departed
out
of Egypt of his own free will.
Then when the Ethiopian had gone away
out
of Egypt, the blind man came back from
the
fen-country and began to rule again,
having
lived there during fifty years upon
an island
which he had made by heaping up ashes
and
earth: for whenever any of the Egyptians
visited him bringing food, according
as it
had been appointed to them severally
to do
without the knowledge of the Ethiopian,
he
bade them bring also some ashes for
their
gift. This island none was able to
find before
Amyrtaios; that is, for more than seven
hundred
years the kings who arose before Amyrtaios
were not able to find it. Now the name
of
this island is Elbo, and its size is
ten
furlongs each way.
After him there came to the throne
the priest
of Hephaistos, whose name was Sethos.
This
man, they said, neglected and held
in no
regard the warrior class of the Egyptians,
considering that he would have no need
of
them; and besides other slights which
he
put upon them, he also took from them
the
yokes of corn-land which had been given
to
them as a special gift in the reigns
of the
former kings, twelve yokes to each
man. After
this, Sanacharib king of the Arabians
and
of the Assyrians marched a great host
against
Egypt. Then the warriors of the Egyptians
refused to come to the rescue, and
the priest,
being driven into a strait, entered
into
the sanctuary of the temple and bewailed
to the image of the god the danger
which
was impending over him; and as he was
thus
lamenting, sleep came upon him, and
it seemed
to him in his vision that the god came
and
stood by him and encouraged him, saying
that
he should suffer no evil if he went
forth
to meet the army of the Arabians; for
he
would himself send him helpers. Trusting
in these things seen in sleep, he took
with
him, they said, those of the Egyptians
who
were willing to follow him, and encamped
in Pelusion, for by this way the invasion
came: and not one of the warrior class
followed
him, but shop-keepers and artisans
and men
of the market. Then after they came,
there
swarmed by night upon their enemies
mice
of the fields, and ate up their quivers
and
their bows, and moreover the handles
of their
shields, so that on the next day they
fled,
and being without defence of arms great
numbers
fell. And at the present time this
king stands
in the temple of Hephaistos in stone,
holding
upon his hand a mouse, and by letters
inscribed
he says these words: "Let him
who looks
upon me learn to fear the gods."
So far in the story the Egyptians and
the
priests were they who made the report,
declaring
that from the first king down to this
priest
of Hephaistos who reigned last, there
had
been three hundred and forty- one generations
of men, and that in them there had
been the
same number of chief-priests and of
kings:
but three hundred generations of men
are
equal to ten thousand years, for a
hundred
years is three generations of men;
and in
the one-and-forty generations which
remain,
those I mean which were added to the
three
hundred, there are one thousand three
hundred
and forty years. Thus in the period
of eleven
thousand three hundred and forty years
they
said that there had arisen no god in
human
form; nor even before that time or
afterwards
among the remaining kings who arise
in Egypt,
did they report that anything of that
kind
had come to pass. In this time they
said
that the sun had moved four times from
his
accustomed place of rising, and where
he
now sets he had thence twice had his
rising,
and in the place from whence he now
rises
he had twice had his setting; and in
the
meantime nothing in Egypt had been
changed
from its usual state, neither that
which
comes from the earth nor that which
comes
to them from the river nor that which
concerns
diseases or deaths. And formerly when
Hecataios
the historian was in Thebes, and had
traced
his descent and connected his family
with
a god in the sixteenth generation before,
the priests of Zeus did for him much
the
same as they did for me (though I had
not
traced my descent). They led me into
the
sanctuary of the temple, which is of
great
size, and they counted up the number,
showing
colossal wooden statues in number the
same
as they said; for each chief-priest
there
sets up in his lifetime an image of
himself:
accordingly the priests, counting and
showing
me these, declared to me that each
one of
them was a son succeeding his own father,
and they went up through the series
of images
from the image of the one who had died
last,
until they had declared this of the
whole
number. And when Hecataios had traced
his
descent and connected his family with
a god
in the sixteenth generation, they traced
a descent in opposition to his, besides
their
numbering, not accepting it from him
that
a man had been born from a god; and
they
traced their counter-descent thus,
saying
that each one of the statues had been
/piromis/
son of /piromis/, until they had declared
this of the whole three hundred and
forty-five
statues, each one being surnamed /piromis/;
and neither with a god nor a hero did
they
connect their descent. Now /piromis/
means
in the tongue of Hellas "honourable
and good man." From their declaration
then it followed, that they of whom
the images
were had been of form like this, and
far
removed from being gods: but in the
time
before these men they said that gods
were
the rulers in Egypt, not mingling with
men,
and that of these always one had power
at
a time; and the last of them who was
king
over Egypt was Oros the son of Osiris,
whom
the Hellenes call Apollo: he was king
over
Egypt last, having deposed Typhon.
Now Osiris
in the tongue of Hellas is Dionysos.
Among the Hellenes Heracles and Dionysos
and Pan are accounted the lastest-born
of
the gods; but with the Egyptians Pan
is a
very ancient god, and he is one of
those
which are called eight gods, while
Heracles
is of the second rank, who are called
the
twelve gods, and Dionysos is of the
third
rank, namely of those who were born
of the
twelve gods. Now as to Heracles I have
shown
already how many years old he is according
to the Egyptians themselves, reckoning
down
to the reign of Amasis, and Pan is
said to
have existed for yet more years than
these,
and Dionysos for the smallest number
of years
as compared with the others; and even
for
this last they reckon down to the reign
of
Amasis fifteen thousand years. This
the Egyptians
say that they know for a certainty,
since
they always kept a reckoning and wrote
down
the years as they came. Now the Dionysos
who is said to have been born of Semele
the
daughter of Cadmos, was born about
sixteen
hundred years before my time, and Heracles
who was the son of Alcmene, about nine
hundred
years, and that Pan who was born of
Penelope,
for of her and of Hermes Pan is said
by the
Hellenes to have been born, came into
being
later than the wars of Troy, about
eight
hundred years before my time. Of these
two
accounts every man may adopt that one
which
he shall find the more credible when
he hears
it. I however, for my part, have already
declared my opinion about them. For
if these
also, like Heracles the son of Amphitryon,
had appeared before all men's eyes
and had
lived their lives to old age in Hellas,
I
mean Dionysos the son of Semele and
Pan the
son of Penelope, then one would have
said
that these also had been born mere
men, having
the names of those gods who had come
into
being long before: but as it is, with
regard
to Dionysos the Hellenes say that as
soon
as he was born Zeus sewed him up in
his thigh
and carried him to Nysa, which is above
Egypt
in the land of Ethiopia; and as to
Pan, they
cannot say whither he went after he
was born.
Hence it has become clear to me that
the
Hellenes learnt the names of these
gods later
than those of the other gods, and trace
their
descent as if their birth occurred
at the
time when they first learnt their names.
Thus far then the history is told by
the
Egyptians themselves; but I will now
recount
that which other nations also tell,
and the
Egyptians in agreement with the others,
of
that which happened in this land: and
there
will be added to this also something
of that
which I have myself seen.
Being set free after the reign of the
priest
of Hephaistos, the Egyptians, since
they
could not live any time without a king,
set
up over them twelve kings, having divided
all Egypt into twelve parts. These
made intermarriages
with one another and reigned, making
agreement
that they would not put down one another
by force, nor seek to get an advantage
over
one another, but would live in perfect
friendship:
and the reason why they made these
agreements,
guarding them very strongly from violation,
was this, namely that an oracle had
been
given to them at first when they began
to
exercise their rule, that he of them
who
should pour a libation with a bronze
cup
in the temple of Hephaistos, should
be king
of all Egypt (for they used to assemble
together
in all the temples). Moreover they
resolved
to join all together and leave a memorial
of themselves; and having so resolved
they
caused to be made a labyrinth, situated
a
little above the lake of Moiris and
nearly
opposite to that which is called the
City
of Crocodiles. This I saw myself, and
I found
it greater than words can say. For
if one
should put together and reckon up all
the
buildings and all the great works produced
by Hellenes, they would prove to be
inferior
in labour and expense to this labyrinth,
though it is true that both the temple
at
Ephesos and that at Samos are works
worthy
of note. The pyramids also were greater
than
words can say, and each one of them
is equal
to many works of the Hellenes, great
as they
may be; but the labyrinth surpasses
even
the pyramids. It has twelve courts
covered
in, with gates facing one another,
six upon
the North side and six upon the South,
joining
on one to another, and the same wall
surrounds
them all outside; and there are in
it two
kinds of chambers, the one kind below
the
ground and the other above upon these,
three
thousand in number, of each kind fifteen
hundred. The upper set of chambers
we ourselves
saw, going through them, and we tell
of them
having looked upon them with our own
eyes;
but the chambers under ground we heard
about
only; for the Egyptians who had charge
of
them were not willing on any account
to show
them, saying that here were the sepulchres
of the kings who had first built this
labyrinth
and of the sacred crocodiles. Accordingly
we speak of the chambers below by what
we
received from hearsay, while those
above
we saw ourselves and found them to
be works
of more than human greatness. For the
passages
through the chambers, and the goings
this
way and that way through the courts,
which
were admirably adorned, afforded endless
matter for marvel, as we went through
from
a court to the chambers beyond it,
and from
the chambers to colonnades, and from
the
colonnades to other rooms, and then
from
the chambers again to other courts.
Over
the whole of these is a roof made of
stone
like the walls; and the walls are covered
with figures carved upon them, each
court
being surrounded with pillars of white
stone
fitted together most perfectly; and
at the
end of the labyrinth, by the corner
of it,
there is a pyramid of forty fathoms,
upon
which large figures are carved, and
to this
there is a way made under ground.
Such is this labyrinth: but a cause
for marvel
even greater than this is afforded
by the
lake, which is called the lake of Moiris,
along the side of which this labyrinth
is
built. The measure of its circuit is
three
thousand six hundred furlongs (being
sixty
/schoines/), and this is the same number
of furlongs as the extent of Egypt
itself
along the sea. The lake lies extended
lengthwise
from North to South, and in depth where
it
is deepest it is fifty fathoms. That
this
lake is artificial and formed by digging
is self-evident, for about in the middle
of the lake stand two pyramids, each
rising
above the water to a height of fifty
fathoms,
the part which is built below the water
being
of just the same height; and upon each
is
placed a colossal statue of stone sitting
upon a chair. Thus the pyramids are
a hundred
fathoms high; and these hundred fathoms
are
equal to a furlong of six hundred feet,
the
fathom being measured as six feet or
four
cubits, the feet being four palms each,
and
the cubits six. The water in the lake
does
not come from the place where it is,
for
the country there is very deficient
in water,
but it has been brought thither from
the
Nile by a canal; and for six months
the water
flows into the lake, and for six months
out
into the Nile again; and whenever it
flows
out, then for the six months it brings
into
the royal treasury a talent of silver
a day
from the fish which are caught, and
twenty
pounds when the water comes in. The
natives
of the place moreover said that this
lake
had an outlet under ground to the Syrtis
which is in Libya, turning towards
the interior
of the continent upon the Western side
and
running along by the mountain which
is above
Memphis. Now since I did not see anywhere
existing the earth dug out of this
excavation
(for that was a matter which drew my
attention),
I asked those who dwelt nearest to
the lake
where the earth was which had been
dug out.
These told me to what place it had
been carried
away; and I readily believed them,
for I
knew by report that a similar thing
had been
done at Nineveh, the city of the Assyrians.
There certain thieves formed a design
once
to carry away the wealth of Sardanapallos
son of Ninos, the king, which wealth
was
very great and was kept in treasure-houses
under the earth. Accordingly they began
from
their own dwelling, and making estimate
of
their direction they dug under ground
towards
the king's palace; and the earth which
was
brought out of the excavation they
used to
carry away, when night came on, to
the river
Tigris which flows by the city of Nineveh,
until at last they accomplished that
which
they desired. Similarly, as I heard,
the
digging of the lake in Egypt was effected,
except that it was done not by night
but
during the day; for as they dug the
Egyptians
carried to the Nile the earth which
was dug
out; and the river, when it received
it,
would naturally bear it away and disperse
it. Thus is this lake said to have
been dug
out.
Now the twelve kings continued to rule
justly,
but in course of time it happened thus:--After
sacrifice in the temple of Hephaistos
they
were about to make libation on the
last day
of the feast, and the chief-priest,
in bringing
out for them the golden cups with which
they
had been wont to pour libations, missed
his
reckoning and brought eleven only for
the
twelve kings. Then that one of them
who was
standing last in order, namely Psammetichos,
since he had no cup took off from his
head
his helmet, which was of bronze, and
having
held it out to receive the wine he
proceeded
to make libation: likewise all the
other
kings were wont to wear helmets and
they
happened to have them then. Now Psammetichos
held out his helmet with no treacherous
meaning;
but they taking note of that which
had been
done by Psammetichos and of the oracle,
namely
how it had been declared to them that
whosoever
of them should make libation with a
bronze
cup should be sole king of Egypt, recollecting,
I say, the saying of the Oracle, they
did
not indeed deem it right to slay Psammetichos,
since they found by examination that
he had
not done it with any forethought, but
they
determined to strip him of almost all
his
power and to drive him away into the
fen-country,
and that from the fen- country he should
not hold any dealings with the rest
of Egypt.
This Psammetichos had formerly been
a fugitive
from the Ethiopian Sabacos who had
killed
his father Necos, from him, I say,
he had
then been a fugitive in Syria; and
when the
Ethiopian had departed in consequence
of
the vision of the dream, the Egyptians
who
were of the district of Sais brought
him
back to his own country. Then afterwards,
when he was king, it was his fate to
be a
fugitive a second time on account of
the
helmet, being driven by the eleven
kings
into the fen-country. So then holding
that
he had been grievously wronged by them,
he
thought how he might take vengeance
on those
who had driven him out: and when he
had sent
to the Oracle of Leto in the city of
Buto,
where the Egyptians have their most
truthful
Oracle, there was given to him the
reply
that vengeance would come when men
of bronze
appeared from the sea. And he was strongly
disposed not to believe that bronze
men would
come to help him; but after no long
time
had passed, certain Ionians and Carians
who
had sailed forth for plunder were compelled
to come to shore in Egypt, and they
having
landed and being clad in bronze armour,
came
to the fen-land and brought a report
to Psammetichos
that bronze men had come from the sea
and
were plundering the plain. So he, perceiving
that the saying of the Oracle was coming
to pass, dealt in a friendly manner
with
the Ionians and Carians, and with large
promises
he persuaded them to take his part.
Then
when he had persuaded them, with the
help
of those Egyptians who favoured his
cause
and of these foreign mercenaries he
overthrew
the kings. Having thus got power over
all
Egypt, Psammetichos made for Hephaistos
that
gateway of the temple at Memphis which
is
turned towards the South Wind; and
he built
a court for Apis, in which Apis is
kept when
he appears, opposite to the gateway
of the
temple, surrounded all with pillars
and covered
with figures; and instead of columns
there
stand to support the roof of the court
colossal
statues twelve cubits high. Now Apis
is in
the tongue of the Hellenes Epaphos.
To the
Ionians and to the Carians who had
helped
him Psammetichos granted portions of
land
to dwell in, opposite to one another
with
the river Nile between, and these were
called
"Encampments"; these portions
of
land he gave them, and he paid them
besides
all that he had promised: moreover
he placed
with them Egyptian boys to have them
taught
the Hellenic tongue; and from these,
who
learnt the language thoroughly, are
descended
the present class of interpreters in
Egypt.
Now the Ionians and Carians occupied
these
portions of land for a long time, and
they
are towards the sea a little below
the city
of Bubastis, on that which is called
the
Pelusian mouth of the Nile. These men
king
Amasis afterwards removed from thence
and
established them at Memphis, making
them
into a guard for himself against the
Egyptians:
and they being settled in Egypt, we
who are
Hellenes know by intercourse with them
the
certainty of all that which happened
in Egypt
beginning from king Psammetichos and
afterwards;
for these were the first men of foreign
tongue
who settled in Egypt: and in the land
from
which they were removed there still
remained
down to my time the sheds where their
ships
were drawn up and the ruins of their
houses.
Thus then Psammetichos obtained Egypt:
and
of the Oracle which is in Egypt I have
made
mention often before this, and now
I give
an account of it, seeing that it is
worthy
to be described. This Oracle which
is in
Egypt is sacred to Leto, and it is
established
in a great city near that mouth of
the Nile
which is called Sebennytic, as one
sails
up the river from the sea; and the
name of
this city where the Oracle is found
is Buto,
as I have said before in mentioning
it. In
this Buto there is a temple of Apollo
and
Artemis; and the temple-house of Leto,
in
which the Oracle is, is both great
in itself
and has a gateway of the height of
ten fathoms:
but that which caused me most to marvel
of
the things to be seen there, I will
now tell.
There is in this sacred enclosure a
house
of Leto made of one single stone upon
the
top, the cornice measuring four cubits.
This
house then of all the things that were
to
be seen by me in that temple is the
most
marvellous, and among those which come
next
is the island called Chemmis. This
is situated
in a deep and broad lake by the side
of the
temple at Buto, and it is said by the
Egyptians
that this island is a floating island.
I
myself did not see it either floating
about
or moved from its place, and I feel
surprise
at hearing of it, wondering if it be
indeed
a floating island. In this island of
which
I speak there is a great temple-house
of
Apollo, and three several altars are
set
up within, and there are planted in
the island
many palm-trees and other trees, both
bearing
fruit and not bearing fruit. And the
Egyptians,
when they say that it is floating,
add this
story, namely that in this island which
formerly
was not floating, Leto, being one of
the
eight gods who came into existence
first,
and dwelling in the city of Buto where
she
has this Oracle, received Apollo from
Isis
as a charge and preserved him, concealing
him in the island which is said now
to be
a floating island, at that time when
Typhon
came after him seeking everywhere and
desiring
to find the son of Osiris. Now they
say that
Apollo and Artemis are children of
Dionysos
and of Isis, and that Leto became their
nurse
and preserver; and in the Egyptian
tongue
Apollo is Oros, Demeter is Isis, and
Artemis
is Bubastis. From this story and from
no
other AEschylus the son of Euphorion
took
this which I shall say, wherein he
differs
from all the preceding poets; he represented
namely that Artemis was the daughter
of Demeter.
For this reason then, they say, it
became
a floating island.
Such is the story which they tell;
but as
for Psammetichos, he was king over
Egypt
for four-and-fifty years, of which
for thirty
years save one he was sitting before
Azotos,
a great city of Syria, besieging it,
until
at last he took it: and this Azotos
of all
cities about which we have knowledge
held
out for the longest time under a siege.
The son of Psammetichos was Necos,
and he
became king of Egypt. This man was
the first
who attempted the channel leading to
the
Erythraian Sea, which Dareios the Persian
afterwards completed: the length of
this
is a voyage of four days, and in breadth
it was so dug that two triremes could
go
side by side driven by oars; and the
water
is brought into it from the Nile. The
channel
is conducted a little above the city
of Bubastis
by Patumos the Arabian city, and runs
into
the Erythraian Sea: and it is dug first
along
those parts of the plain of Egypt which
lie
towards Arabia, just above which run
the
mountains which extend opposite Memphis,
where are the stone-quarries,--along
the
base of these mountains the channel
is conducted
from West to East for a great way;
and after
that it is directed towards a break
in the
hills and tends from these mountains
towards
the noon-day and the South Wind to
the Arabian
gulf. Now in the place where the journey
is least and shortest from the Northern
to
the Southern Sea
(which is also called Erythraian),
that is
from Mount Casion, which is the boundary
between Egypt and Syria, the distance
is
exactly a thousand furlongs to the
Arabian
gulf; but the channel is much longer,
since
it is more winding; and in the reign
of Necos
there perished while digging it twelve
myriads
of the Egyptians. Now Necos ceased
in the
midst of his digging, because the utterance
of an Oracle impeded him, which was
to the
effect that he was working for the
Barbarian:
and the Egyptians call all men Barbarians
who do not agree with them in speech.
Thus
having ceased from the work of the
channel,
Necos betook himself to raging wars,
and
triremes were built by him, some for
the
Northern Sea and others in the Arabian
gulf
for the Erythraian Sea; and of these
the
sheds are still to be seen. These ships
he
used when he needed them; and also
on land
Necos engaged battle at Magdolos with
the
Syrians, and conquered them; and after
this
he took Cadytis, which is a great city
of
Syria: and the dress which he wore
when he
made these conquests he dedicated to
Apollo,
sending it to Branchidai of the Milesians.
After this, having reigned in all sixteen
years, he brought his life to an end,
and
handed on the kingdom to Psammis his
son.
While this Psammis was king of Egypt,
there
came to him men sent by the Eleians,
who
boasted that they ordered the contest
at
Olympia in the most just and honourable
manner
possible and thought that not even
the Egyptians,
the wisest of men, could find out anything
besides, to be added to their rules.
Now
when the Eleians came to Egypt and
said that
for which they had come, then this
king called
together those of the Egyptians who
were
reputed the wisest, and when the Egyptians
had come together they heard the Eleians
tell of all that which it was their
part
to do in regard to the contest; and
when
they had related everything, they said
that
they had come to learn in addition
anything
which the Egyptians might be able to
find
out besides, which was juster than
this.
They then having consulted together
asked
the Eleians whether their own citizens
took
part in the contest; and they said
that it
was permitted to any one who desired
it,
to take part in the contest: upon which
the
Egyptians said that in so ordering
the games
they had wholly missed the mark of
justice;
for it could not be but that they would
take
part with the man of their own State,
if
he was contending, and so act unfairly
to
the stranger: but if they really desired,
as they said, to order the games justly,
and if this was the cause for which
they
had come to Egypt, they advised them
to order
the contest so as to be for strangers
alone
to contend in, and that no Eleian should
be permitted to contend. Such was the
suggestion
made by the Egyptians to the Eleians.
When Psammis had been king of Egypt
for only
six years and had made an expedition
to Ethiopia
and immediately afterwards had ended
his
life, Apries the son of Psammis received
the kingdom in succession. This man
came
to be the most prosperous of all the
kings
up to that time except only his forefather
Psammetichos; and he reigned five-and-twenty
years, during which he led an army
against
Sidon and fought a sea- fight with
the king
of Tyre. Since however it was fated
that
evil should come upon him it came by
occasion
of a matter which I shall relate at
greater
length in the Libyan history, and at
present
but shortly. Apries having sent a great
expedition
against the Kyrenians, met with correspondingly
great disaster; and the Egyptians considering
him to blame for this revolted from
him,
supposing that Apries had with forethought
sent them out to evident calamity,
in order
(as they said) that there might be
a slaughter
of them, and he might the more securely
rule
over the other Egyptians. Being indignant
at this, both these men who had returned
from the expedition and also the friends
of those who had perished made revolt
openly.
Hearing this Apries sent to them Amasis,
to cause them to cease by persuasion;
and
when he had come and was seeking to
restrain
the Egyptians, as he was speaking and
telling
them not to do so, one of the Egyptians
stood
up behind him and put a helmet upon
his head,
saying as he did so that he put it
on to
crown him king. And to him this that
was
done was in some degree not unwelcome,
as
he proved by his behaviour; for as
soon as
the revolted Egyptians had set him
up as
king, he prepared to march against
Apries:
and Apries hearing this sent to Amasis
one
of the Egyptians who were about his
own person,
a man of reputation, whose name was
Patarbemis,
enjoining him to bring Amasis alive
into
his presence. When this Patarbemis
came and
summoned Amasis, the latter, who happened
to be sitting on horseback, lifted
up his
leg and behaved in an unseemly manner,
bidding
him take that back to Apries. Nevertheless,
they say, Patarbemis made demand of
him that
he should go to the king, seeing that
the
king had sent to summon him; and he
answered
him that he had for some time past
been preparing
to do so, and that Apries would have
no occasion
to find fault with him, for he would
both
come himself and bring others with
him. Then
Patarbemis both perceiving his intention
from that which he said, and also seeing
his preparations, departed in haste,
desiring
to make known as quickly as possible
to the
king the things which were being done:
and
when he came back to Apries not bringing
Amasis, the king paying no regard to
that
which he said, but being moved by violent
anger, ordered his ears and his nose
to be
cut off. And the rest of the Egyptians
who
still remained on his side, when they
saw
the man of most repute among them thus
suffering
shameful outrage, waited no longer
but joined
the others in revolt, and delivered
themselves
over to Amasis. Then Apries having
heard
this also, armed his foreign mercenaries
and marched against the Egyptians:
now he
had about him Carian and Ionian mercenaries
to the number of thirty thousand; and
his
royal palace was in the city of Sais,
of
great size and worthy to be seen. So
Apries
and his army were going against the
Egyptians,
and Amasis and those with him were
going
against the mercenaries; and both sides
came
to the city of Momemphis and were about
to
make trial of one another in fight.
Now of the Egyptians there are seven
classes,
and of these one class is called that
of
the priests, and another that of the
warriors,
while the others are the cowherds,
swineherds,
shopkeepers, interpreters, and boatmen.
This
is the number of the classes of the
Egyptians,
and their names are given them from
the occupations
which they follow. Of them the warriors
are
called Calasirians and Hermotybians,
and
they are of the following districts,--for
all Egypt is divided into districts.
The
districts of the Hermotybians are those
of
Busiris, Sais, Chemmis, Papremis, the
island
called Prosopitis, and the half of
Natho,--of
these districts are the Hermotybians,
who
reached when most numerous the number
of
sixteen myriads. Of these not one has
been
learnt anything of handicraft, but
they are
given up to war entirely. Again the
districts
of the Calasirians are those of Thebes,
Bubastis,
Aphthis, Tanis, Mendes, Sebennytos,
Athribis,
Pharbaithos, Thmuis, Onuphis, Anytis,
Myecphoris,--this
last is on an island opposite to the
city
of Bubastis. These are the districts
of the
Calasirians; and they reached, when
most
numerous, to the number of five-and-twenty
myriads of men; nor is it lawful for
these,
any more than for the others, to practise
any craft; but they practise that which
has
to do with war only, handing down the
tradition
from father to son. Now whether the
Hellenes
have learnt this also from the Egyptians,
I am not able to say for certain, since
I
see that the Thracians also and Scythians
and Persians and Lydians and almost
all the
Barbarians esteem those of their citizens
who learn the arts, and the descendants
of
them, as less honourable than the rest;
while
those who have got free from all practice
of manual arts are accounted noble,
and especially
those who are devoted to war: however
that
may be, the Hellenes have all learnt
this,
and especially the Lacedemonians; but
the
Corinthians least of all cast slight
upon
those who practise handicraft.
The following privilege was specially
granted
to this class and to none others of
the Egyptians
except the priests, that is to say,
each
man had twelve yokes of land specially
granted
to him free from imposts: now the yoke
of
land measures a hundred Egyptian cubits
every
way, and the Egyptian cubit is, as
it happens,
equal to that of Samos. This, I say,
was
a special privilege granted to all,
and they
also had certain advantages in turn
and not
the same men twice; that is to say,
a thousand
of the Calasirians and a thousand of
the
Hermotybians acted as body-guard to
the king
during each year; and these had besides
their
yokes of land an allowance given them
for
each day of five pounds weight of bread
to
each man, and two pounds of beef, and
four
half-pints of wine. This was the allowance
given to those who were serving as
the king's
body-guard for the time being.
So when Apries leading his foreign
mercenaries,
and Amasis at the head of the whole
body
of the Egyptians, in their approach
to one
another had come to the city of Momemphis,
they engaged in battle: and although
the
foreign troops fought well, yet being
much
inferior in number they were worsted
by reason
of this. But Apries is said to have
supposed
that not even a god would be able to
cause
him to cease from his rule, so firmly
did
he think that it was established. In
that
battle then, I say, he was worsted,
and being
taken alive was brought away to the
city
of Sais, to that which had formerly
been
his own dwelling but from thenceforth
was
the palace of Amasis. There for some
time
he was kept in the palace, and Amasis
dealt
well with him but at last, since the
Egyptians
blamed him, saying that he acted not
rightly
in keeping alive him who was the greatest
foe both to themselves and to him,
therefore
he delivered Apries over to the Egyptians;
and they strangled him, and after that
buried
him in the burial-place of his fathers:
this
is in the temple of Athene, close to
the
sanctuary, on the left hand as you
enter.
Now the men of Sais buried all those
of this
district who had been kings, within
the temple;
for the tomb of Amasis also, though
it is
further from the sanctuary than that
of Apries
and his forefathers, yet this too is
within
the court of the temple, and it consists
of a colonnade of stone of great size,
with
pillars carved to imitate date-palms,
and
otherwise sumptuously adorned; and
within
the colonnade are double doors, and
inside
the doors a sepulchral chamber. Also
at Sais
there is the burial-place of him whom
I account
it not pious to name in connexion with
such
a matter, which is in the temple of
Athene
behind the house of the goddess, stretching
along the whole wall of it; and in
the sacred
enclosure stand great obelisks of stone,
and near them is a lake adorned with
an edging
of stone and fairly made in a circle,
being
in size, as it seemed to me, equal
to that
which is called the "Round Pool"
in Delos. On this lake they perform
by night
the show of his sufferings, and this
the
Egyptians call Mysteries. Of these
things
I know more fully in detail how they
take
place, but I shall leave this unspoken;
and
of the mystic rites of Demeter, which
the
Hellenes call /thesmophoria/, of these
also,
although I know, I shall leave unspoken
all
except so much as piety permits me
to tell.
The daughters of Danaos were they who
brought
this rite out of Egypt and taught it
to the
women of the Pelasgians; then afterwards
when all the inhabitants of Peloponnese
were
driven out by the Dorians, the rite
was lost,
and only those who were left behind
of the
Peloponnesians and not driven out,
that is
to say the Arcadians, preserved it.
Apries having thus been overthrown,
Amasis
became king, being of the district
of Sais,
and the name of the city whence he
was is
Siuph. Now at the first the Egyptians
despised
Amasis and held him in no great regard,
because
he had been a man of the people and
was of
no distinguished family; but afterwards
Amasis
won them over to himself by wisdom
and not
wilfulness. Among innumerable other
things
of price which he had, there was a
foot-basin
of gold in which both Amasis himself
and
all his guests were wont always to
wash their
feet. This he broke up, and of it he
caused
to be made the image of a god, and
set it
up in the city, where it was most convenient;
and the Egyptians went continually
to visit
the image and did great reverence to
it.
Then Amasis, having learnt that which
was
done by the men of the city, called
together
the Egyptians and made known to them
the
matter, saying that the image had been
produced
from the foot-basin, into which formerly
the Egyptians used to vomit and make
water,
and in which they washed their feet,
whereas
now they did to it great reverence;
and just
so, he continued, had he himself now
fared,
as the foot-basin; for though formerly
he
was a man of the people, yet now he
was their
king, and he bade them accordingly
honour
him and have regard for him. In such
manner
he won the Egyptians to himself, so
that
they consented to be his subjects;
and his
ordering of affairs was this:--In the
early
morning, and until the time of the
filling
of the market he did with a good will
the
business which was brought before him;
but
after this he passed the time in drinking
and in jesting at his boon-companions,
and
was frivolous and playful. And his
friends
being troubled at it admonished him
in some
such words as these: "O king,
thou dost
not rightly govern thyself in thus
letting
thyself descend to behaviour so trifling;
for thou oughtest rather to have been
sitting
throughout the day stately upon a stately
throne and administering thy business;
and
so the Egyptians would have been assured
that they were ruled by a great man,
and
thou wouldest have had a better report:
but
as it is, thou art acting by no means
in
a kingly fashion." And he answered
them
thus: "They who have bows stretch
them
at such time as they wish to use them,
and
when they have finished using them
they loose
them again; for if they were stretched
tight
always they would break, so that the
men
would not be able to use them when
they needed
them. So also is the state of man:
if he
should always be in earnest and not
relax
himself for sport at the due time,
he would
either go mad or be struck with stupor
before
he was aware; and knowing this well,
I distribute
a portion of the time to each of the
two
ways of living." Thus he replied
to
his friends. It is said however that
Amasis,
even when he was in a private station,
was
a lover of drinking and of jesting,
and not
at all seriously disposed; and whenever
his
means of livelihood failed him through
his
drinking and luxurious living, he would
go
about and steal; and they from whom
he stole
would charge him with having their
property,
and when he denied it would bring him
before
the judgment of an Oracle, whenever
there
was one in their place; and many times
he
was convicted by the Oracles and many
times
he was absolved: and then when finally
he
became king he did as follows:--as
many of
the gods as had absolved him and pronounced
him not to be a thief, to their temples
he
paid no regard, nor gave anything for
the
further adornment of them, nor even
visited
them to offer sacrifice, considering
them
to be worth nothing and to possess
lying
Oracles; but as many as had convicted
him
of being a thief, to these he paid
very great
regard, considering them to be truly
gods,
and to present Oracles which did not
lie.
First in Sais he built and completed
for
Athene a temple-gateway which is a
great
marvel, and he far surpassed herein
all who
had done the like before, both in regard
to height and greatness, so large are
the
stones and of such quality. Then secondly
he dedicated great colossal statues
and man-headed
sphinxes very large, and for restoration
he caused to be brought from the stone-quarries
which are opposite Memphis, others
of very
great size from the city of Elephantine,
distant a voyage of not less than twenty
days from Sais: and of them all I marvel
most at this, namely a monolith chamber
which
he brought from the city of Elephantine;
and they were three years engaged in
bringing
this, and two thousand men were appointed
to convey it, who all were of the class
of
boatmen. Of this house the length outside
is one-and-twenty cubits, the breadth
is
fourteen cubits, and the height eight.
These
are the measures of the monolith house
outside;
but the length inside is eighteen cubits
and five-sixths of a cubit, the breadth
twelve
cubits, and the height five cubits.
This
lies by the side of the entrance to
the temple;
for within the temple they did not
draw it,
because, as it is said, while the house
was
being drawn along, the chief artificer
of
it groaned aloud, seeing that much
time had
been spent and he was wearied by the
work;
and Amasis took it to heart as a warning
and did not allow them to draw it further
onwards. Some say on the other hand
that
a man was killed by it, of those who
were
heaving it with levers, and that it
was not
drawn in for that reason. Amasis also
dedicated
in all the other temples which were
of repute,
works which are worth seeing for their
size,
and among them also at Memphis the
colossal
statue which lies on its back in front
of
the temple of Hephaistos, whose length
is
five-and-seventy feet; and on the same
base
made of the same stone are set two
colossal
statues, each of twenty feet in length,
one
on this side and the other on that
side of
the large statue. There is also another
of
stone of the same size in Sais, lying
in
the same manner as that at Memphis.
Moreover
Amasis was he who built and finished
for
Isis her temple at Memphis, which is
of great
size and very worthy to be seen.
In the reign of Amasis it is said that
Egypt
became more prosperous than at any
other
time before, both in regard to that
which
comes to the land from the river and
in regard
to that which comes from the land to
its
inhabitants, and that at this time
the inhabited
towns in it numbered in all twenty
thousand.
It was Amasis too who established the
law
that every year each one of the Egyptians
should declare to the ruler of his
district,
from what source he got his livelihood,
and
if any man did not do this or did not
make
declaration of an honest way of living,
he
should be punished with death. Now
Solon
the Athenian received from Egypt this
law
and had it enacted for the Athenians,
and
they have continued to observe it,
since
it is a law with which none can find
fault.
Moreover Amasis became a lover of the
Hellenes;
and besides other proofs of friendship
which
he gave to several among them, he also
granted
the city of Naucratis for those of
them who
came to Egypt to dwell in; and to those
who
did not desire to stay, but who made
voyages
thither, he granted portions of land
to set
up altars and make sacred enclosures
for
their gods. Their greatest enclosure
and
that one which has most name and is
most
frequented is called the Hellenion,
and this
was established by the following cities
in
common:
--of the Ionians Chios, Teos, Phocaia,
Clazomenai,
of the Dorians Rhodes, Cnidos, Halicarnassos,
Phaselis, and of the Aiolians Mytilene
alone.
To these belongs this enclosure and
these
are the cities which appoint superintendents
of the port; and all other cities which
claim
a share in it, are making a claim without
any right. Besides this the Eginetans
established
on their own account a sacred enclosure
dedicated
to Zeus, the Samians one to Hera, and
the
Milesians one to Apollo. Now in old
times
Naucratis alone was an open trading-place,
and no other place in Egypt: and if
any one
came to any other of the Nile mouths,
he
was compelled to swear that he came
not thither
of his own free will, and when he had
thus
sworn his innocence he had to sail
with his
ship to the Canobic mouth, or if it
were
not possible to sail by reason of contrary
winds, then he had to carry his cargo
round
the head of the Delta in boats to Naucratis:
thus highly was Naucratis privileged.
Moreover
when the Amphictyons had let out the
contract
for building the temple which now exists
at Delphi, agreeing to pay a sum of
three
hundred talents (for the temple which
formerly
stood there had been burnt down of
itself),
it fell to the share of the people
of Delphi
to provide the fourth part of the payment;
and accordingly the Delphians went
about
to various cities and collected contributions.
And when they did this they got from
Egypt
as much as from any place, for Amasis
gave
them a thousand talents' weight of
alum,
while the Hellenes who dwelt in Egypt
gave
them twenty pounds of silver.
Also with the people of Kyrene Amasis
made
an agreement for friendship and alliance;
and he resolved too to marry a wife
from
thence, whether because he desired
to have
a wife of Hellenic race, or, apart
from that,
on account of friendship for the people
of
Kyrene: however that may be, he married,
some say the daughter of Battos, others
of
Arkesilaos, and others of Critobulos,
a man
of repute among the citizens; and her
name
was Ladike. Now whenever Amasis lay
with
her he found himself unable to have
intercourse,
but with his other wives he associated
as
he was wont; and as this happened repeatedly,
Amasis said to his wife, whose name
was Ladike:
"Woman, thou hast given me drugs,
and
thou shall surely perish more miserably
than
any other." Then Ladike, when
by her
denials Amasis was not at all appeased
in
his anger against her, made a vow in
her
soul to Aphrodite, that if Amasis on
that
night had intercourse with her (seeing
that
this was the remedy for her danger),
she
would send an image to be dedicated
to her
at Kyrene; and after the vow immediately
Amasis had intercourse, and from thenceforth
whenever Amasis came in to her he had
intercourse
with her; and after this he became
very greatly
attached to her. And Ladike paid the
vow
that she had made to the goddess; for
she
had an image made and sent it to Kyrene,
and it is still preserved even to my
own
time, standing with its face turned
away
from the city of the Kyrenians. This
Ladike
Cambyses, having conquered Egypt and
heard
from her who she was, sent back unharmed
to Kyrene.
Amasis also dedicated offerings in
Hellas,
first at Kyrene an image of Athene
covered
over with gold and a figure of himself
made
like by painting; then in the temple
of Athene
at Lindos two images of stone and a
corslet
of linen worthy to be seen; and also
at Samos
two wooden figures of himself dedicated
to
Hera, which were standing even to my
own
time in the great temple, behind the
doors.
Now at Samos he dedicated offerings
because
of the guest-friendship between himself
and
Polycrates the son of Aiakes; at Lindos
for
no guest-friendship but because the
temple
of Athene at Lindos is said to have
been
founded by the daughters of Danaos,
who had
touched land there at the time when
they
were fleeing from the sons of Aigyptos.
These
offerings were dedicated by Amasis;
and he
was the first of men who conquered
Cyprus
and subdued it so that it paid him
tribute.
End
|
Evans Experientialism 
