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Title: An Account of Egypt

Author: Herodotus

Translator: G. C. Macaulay

Release date: February 26, 2006 [eBook #2131]
Most recently updated: April 19, 2018

Language: English

Other information and formats: www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/2131

Credits: Produced by John Bickers; Dagny; David Widger

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK AN ACCOUNT
OF EGYPT ***

AN ACCOUNT OF EGYPT

By Herodotus

Translated By G. C. Macaulay

NOTE

BEING THE SECOND BOOK OF HIS HISTORIES CALLED
EUTERPE

NOTE
HERODOTUS was born at Halicarnassus, on the southwest coast of Asia
Minor, in the early part of the fifth century, B. C. Of his life we know
almost nothing, except that he spent much of it traveling, to collect the
material for his writings, and that he finally settled down at Thurii, in
southern Italy, where his great work was composed. He died in 424 B. C.
The subject of the history of Herodotus is the struggle between the
Greeks and the barbarians, which he brings down to the battle of Mycale in
479 B. C. The work, as we have it, is divided into nine books, named after
the nine Muses, but this division is probably due to the Alexandrine
grammarians. His information he gathered mainly from oral sources, as he
traveled through Asia Minor, down into Egypt, round the Black Sea, and
into various parts of Greece and the neighboring countries. The
chronological narrative halts from time to time to give opportunity for
descriptions of the country, the people, and their customs and previous
history; and the political account is constantly varied by rare tales and
wonders.
Among these descriptions of countries the most fascinating to the
modern, as it was to the ancient, reader is his account of the marvels of the
land of Egypt. From the priests at Memphis, Heliopolis, and the Egyptian
Thebes he learned what he reports of the size of the country, the wonders of
the Nile, the ceremonies of their religion, the sacredness of their animals.
He tells also of the strange ways of the crocodile and of that marvelous bird,
the Phoenix; of dress and funerals and embalming; of the eating of lotos and
papyrus; of the pyramids and the great labyrinth; of their kings and queens
and courtesans.
Yet Herodotus is not a mere teller of strange tales. However credulous he
may appear to a modern judgment, he takes care to keep separate what he
knows by his own observation from what he has merely inferred and from
what he has been told. He is candid about acknowledging ignorance, and
when versions differ he gives both. Thus the modern scientific historian,
with other means of corroboration, can sometimes learn from Herodotus
more than Herodotus himself knew.

There is abundant evidence, too, that Herodotus had a philosophy of
history. The unity which marks his work is due not only to the strong Greek
national feeling running through it, the feeling that rises to a height in such
passages as the descriptions of the battles of Marathon, Thermopylae, and
Salamis, but also to his profound belief in Fate and in Nemesis. To his
belief in Fate is due the frequent quoting of oracles and their fulfilment, the
frequent references to things foreordained by Providence. The working of
Nemesis he finds in the disasters that befall men and nations whose
towering prosperity awakens the jealousy of the gods. The final overthrow
of the Persians, which forms his main theme, is only one specially
conspicuous example of the operation of this force from which human life
can never free itself.
But, above all, he is the father of story-tellers. "Herodotus is such simple
and delightful reading," says Jevons; "he is so unaffected and entertaining,
his story flows so naturally and with such ease that we have a difficulty in
bearing in mind that, over and above the hard writing which goes to make
easy reading there is a perpetual marvel in the work of Herodotus. It is the
first artistic work in prose that Greek literature produced. This prose work,
which for pure literary merit no subsequent work has surpassed, than which
later generations, after using the pen for centuries, have produced no prose
more easy or more readable, this was the first of histories and of literary
prose."

AN ACCOUNT OF EGYPT
BY HERODOTUS

BEING THE SECOND BOOK OF HIS
HISTORIES CALLED EUTERPE
When Cyrus had brought his life to an end, Cambyses received the royal
power in succession, being the son of Cyrus and of Cassandane the
daughter of Pharnaspes, for whose death, which came about before his own,
Cyrus had made great mourning himself and also had proclaimed to all
those over whom he bore rule that they should make mourning for her:
Cambyses, I say, being the son of this woman and of Cyrus, regarded the
Ionians and Aiolians as slaves inherited from his father; and he proceeded
to march an army against Egypt, taking with him as helpers not only other
nations of which he was ruler, but also those of the Hellenes over whom he
had power besides.
Now the Egyptians, before the time when Psammetichos became king
over them, were wont to suppose that they had come into being first of all
men; but since the time when Psammetichos having become king desired to
know what men had come into being first, they suppose that the Phrygians
came into being before themselves, but they themselves before all other
men. Now Psammetichos, when he was not able by inquiry to find out any
means of knowing who had come into being first of all men, contrived a
device of the following kind:—Taking two newborn children belonging to
persons of the common sort he gave them to a shepherd to bring up at the
place where his flocks were, with a manner of bringing up such as I shall
say, charging him namely that no man should utter any word in their
presence, and that they should be placed by themselves in a room where
none might come, and at the proper time he should bring them she-goats,
and when he had satisfied them with milk he should do for them whatever
else was needed. These things Psammetichos did and gave him this charge
wishing to hear what word the children would let break forth first after they
had ceased from wailings without sense. And accordingly it came to pass;
for after a space of two years had gone by, during which the shepherd went
on acting so, at length, when he opened the door and entered, both children
fell before him in entreaty and uttered the word bekos, stretching forth their
hands. At first when he heard this the shepherd kept silence; but since this

word was often repeated, as he visited them constantly and attended to
them, at last he declared the matter to his master, and at his command he
brought the children before his face. Then Psammetichos having himself
also heard it, began to inquire what nation of men named anything bekos,
and inquiring he found that the Phrygians had this name for bread. In this
manner and guided by an indication such as this, the Egyptians were
brought to allow that the Phrygians were a more ancient people than
themselves. That so it came to pass I heard from the priests of that
Hephaistos who dwells at Memphis; but the Hellenes relate, besides many
other idle tales, that Psammetichos cut out the tongues of certain women
and then caused the children to live with these women.
With regard then to the rearing of the children they related so much as I
have said: and I heard also other things at Memphis when I had speech with
the priests of Hephaistos. Moreover I visited both Thebes and Heliopolis for
this very cause, namely because I wished to know whether the priests at
these places would agree in their accounts with those at Memphis; for the
men of Heliopolis are said to be the most learned in records of the
Egyptians. Those of their narrations which I heard with regard to the gods I
am not earnest to relate in full, but I shall name them only because I
consider that all men are equally ignorant of these matters: and whatever
things of them I may record I shall record only because I am compelled by
the course of the story. But as to those matters which concern men, the
priests agreed with one another in saying that the Egyptians were the first of
all men on earth to find out the course of the year, having divided the
seasons into twelve parts to make up the whole; and this they said they
found out from the stars: and they reckon to this extent more wisely than
the Hellenes, as it seems to me, inasmuch as the Hellenes throw in an
intercalated month every other year, to make the seasons right, whereas the
Egyptians, reckoning the twelve months at thirty days each, bring in also
every year five days beyond number, and thus the circle of their season is
completed and comes round to the same point whence it set out. They said
moreover that the Egyptians were the first who brought into use
appellations for the twelve gods and the Hellenes took up the use from
them; and that they were the first who assigned altars and images and
temples to the gods, and who engraved figures on stones; and with regard to
the greater number of these things they showed me by actual facts that they
had happened so. They said also that the first man who became king of

Egypt was Min; and that in his time all Egypt except the district of Thebes
was a swamp, and none of the regions were then above water which now lie
below the lake of Moiris, to which lake it is a voyage of seven days up the
river from the sea: and I thought that they said well about the land; for it is
manifest in truth even to a person who has not heard it beforehand but has
only seen, at least if he have understanding, that the Egypt to which the
Hellenes come in ships is a land which has been won by the Egyptians as an
addition, and that it is a gift of the river: moreover the regions which lie
above this lake also for a distance of three days' sail, about which they did
not go on to say anything of this kind, are nevertheless another instance of
the same thing: for the nature of the land of Egypt is as follows:—First
when you are still approaching it in a ship and are distant a day's run from
the land, if you let down a sounding-line you will bring up mud and you
will find yourself in eleven fathoms. This then so far shows that there is a
silting forward of the land. Then secondly, as to Egypt itself, the extent of it
along the sea is sixty schoines, according to our definition of Egypt as
extending from the Gulf of Plinthine to the Serbonian lake, along which
stretches Mount Casion; from this lake then the sixty schoines are reckoned:
for those of men who are poor in land have their country measured by
fathoms, those who are less poor by furlongs, those who have much land by
parasangs, and those who have land in very great abundance by schoines:
now the parasang is equal to thirty furlongs, and each schoine, which is an
Egyptian measure, is equal to sixty furlongs. So there would be an extent of
three thousand six hundred furlongs for the coast-land of Egypt. From
thence and as far as Heliopolis inland Egypt is broad, and the land is all flat
and without springs of water and formed of mud: and the road as one goes
inland from the sea to Heliopolis is about the same in length as that which
leads from the altar of the twelve gods at Athens to Pisa and the temple of
Olympian Zeus: reckoning up you would find the difference very small by
which these roads fail of being equal in length, not more indeed than fifteen
furlongs; for the road from Athens to Pisa wants fifteen furlongs of being
fifteen hundred, while the road to Heliopolis from the sea reaches that
number completely. From Heliopolis however, as you go up, Egypt is
narrow; for on the one side a mountain-range belonging to Arabia stretches
along by the side of it, going in a direction from the North towards the
midday and the South Wind, tending upwards without a break to that which
is called the Erythraian Sea, in which range are the stone-quarries which

were used in cutting stone for the pyramids at Memphis. On this side then
the mountain ends where I have said, and then takes a turn back; and where
it is widest, as I was informed, it is a journey of two months across from
East to West; and the borders of it which turn towards the East are said to
produce frankincense. Such then is the nature of this mountain-range; and
on the side of Egypt towards Libya another range extends, rocky and
enveloped in sand: in this are the pyramids, and it runs in the same direction
as those parts of the Arabian mountains which go towards the midday. So
then, I say, from Heliopolis the land has no longer a great extent so far as it
belongs to Egypt, and for about four days' sail up the river Egypt properly
so called is narrow: and the space between the mountain-ranges which have
been mentioned is plain-land, but where it is narrowest it did not seem to
me to exceed two hundred furlongs from the Arabian mountains to those
which are called the Libyan. After this again Egypt is broad. Such is the
nature of this land: and from Heliopolis to Thebes is a voyage up the river
of nine days, and the distance of the journey in furlongs is four thousand
eight hundred and sixty, the number of schoines being eighty-one. If these
measures of Egypt in furlongs be put together, the result is as follows:—I
have already before this shown that the distance along the sea amounts to
three thousand six hundred furlongs, and I will now declare what the
distance is inland from the sea to Thebes, namely six thousand one hundred
and twenty furlongs: and again the distance from Thebes to the city called
Elephantine is one thousand eight hundred furlongs.
Of this land then, concerning which I have spoken, it seemed to myself
also, according as the priests said, that the greater part had been won as an
addition by the Egyptians; for it was evident to me that the space between
the aforesaid mountain-ranges, which lie above the city of Memphis, once
was a gulf of the sea, like the regions about Ilion and Teuthrania and
Ephesos and the plain of the Maiander, if it be permitted to compare small
things with great; and small these are in comparison, for of the rivers which
heaped up the soil in those regions none is worthy to be compared in
volume with a single one of the mouths of the Nile, which has five mouths.
Moreover there are other rivers also, not in size at all equal to the Nile,
which have performed great feats; of which I can mention the names of
several, and especially the Acheloos, which flowing through Acarnania and
so issuing out into the sea has already made half of the Echinades from
islands into mainland. Now there is in the land of Arabia, not far from

Egypt, a gulf of the sea running in from that which is called the Erythraian
Sea, very long and narrow, as I am about to tell. With respect to the length
of the voyage along it, one who set out from the innermost point to sail out
through it into the open sea, would spend forty days upon the voyage, using
oars; and with respect to breadth, where the gulf is broadest it is half a day's
sail across: and there is in it an ebb and flow of tide every day. Just such
another gulf I suppose that Egypt was, and that the one ran in towards
Ethiopia from the Northern Sea, and the other, the Arabian, of which I am
about to speak, tended from the South towards Syria, the gulfs boring in so
as almost to meet at their extreme points, and passing by one another with
but a small space left between. If then the stream of the Nile should turn
aside into this Arabian gulf, what would hinder that gulf from being filled
up with silt as the river continued to flow, at all events within a period of
twenty thousand years? indeed for my part I am of the opinion that it would
be filled up even within ten thousand years. How, then, in all the time that
has elapsed before I came into being should not a gulf be filled up even of
much greater size than this by a river so great and so active? As regards
Egypt then, I both believe those who say that things are so, and for myself
also I am strongly of opinion that they are so; because I have observed that
Egypt runs out into the sea further than the adjoining land, and that shells
are found upon the mountains of it, and an efflorescence of salt forms upon
the surface, so that even the pyramids are being eaten away by it, and
moreover that of all the mountains of Egypt, the range which lies above
Memphis is the only one which has sand: besides which I notice that Egypt
resembles neither the land of Arabia, which borders upon it, nor Libya, nor
yet Syria (for they are Syrians who dwell in the parts of Arabia lying along
the sea), but that it has soil which is black and easily breaks up, seeing that
it is in truth mud and silt brought down from Ethiopia by the river: but the
soil of Libya, we know, is reddish in colour and rather sandy, while that of
Arabia and Syria is somewhat clayey and rocky. The priests also gave me a
strong proof concerning this land as follows, namely that in the reign of
king Moiris, whenever the river reached a height of at least eight cubits it
watered Egypt below Memphis; and not yet nine hundred years had gone by
since the death of Moiris, when I heard these things from the priests: now
however, unless the river rises to sixteen cubits, or fifteen at the least, it
does not go over the land. I think too that those Egyptians who dwell below
the lake of Moiris and especially in that region which is called the Delta, if

that land continues to grow in height according to this proportion and to
increase similarly in extent, will suffer for all remaining time, from the Nile
not overflowing their land, that same thing which they themselves said that
the Hellenes would at some time suffer: for hearing that the whole land of
the Hellenes has rain and is not watered by rivers as theirs is, they said that
the Hellenes would at some time be disappointed of a great hope and would
suffer the ills of famine. This saying means that if the god shall not send
them rain, but shall allow drought to prevail for a long time, the Hellenes
will be destroyed by hunger; for they have in fact no other supply of water
to save them except from Zeus alone. This has been rightly said by the
Egyptians with reference to the Hellenes: but now let me tell how matters
are with the Egyptians themselves in their turn. If, in accordance with what
I before said, their land below Memphis (for this is that which is increasing)
shall continue to increase in height according to the same proportion as in
the past time, assuredly those Egyptians who dwell here will suffer famine,
if their land shall not have rain nor the river be able to go over their fields.
It is certain however that now they gather in fruit from the earth with less
labour than any other men and also with less than the other Egyptians; for
they have no labour in breaking up furrows with a plough nor in hoeing nor
in any other of those labours which other men have about a crop; but when
the river has come up of itself and watered their fields and after watering
has left them again, then each man sows his own field and turns into it
swine, and when he has trodden the seed into the ground by means of the
swine, after that he waits for the harvest, and when he has threshed the corn
by means of the swine, then he gathers it in.
If we desire to follow the opinions of the Ionians as regards Egypt, who
say that the Delta alone is Egypt, reckoning its sea-coast to be from the
watch-tower called of Perseus to the fish-curing houses of Pelusion, a
distance of forty schoines, and counting it to extend inland as far as the city
of Kercasoros, where the Nile divides and runs to Pelusion and Canobos,
while as for the rest of Egypt, they assign it partly to Libya and partly to
Arabia,—if, I say, we should follow this account, we should thereby declare
that in former times the Egyptians had no land to live in; for, as we have
seen, their Delta at any rate is alluvial, and has appeared (so to speak) lately,
as the Egyptians themselves say and as my opinion is. If then at the first
there was no land for them to live in, why did they waste their labour to
prove that they had come into being before all other men? They needed not

to have made trial of the children to see what language they would first
utter. However I am not of the opinion that the Egyptians came into being at
the same time as that which is called by the Ionians the Delta, but that they
existed always ever since the human race came into being, and that as their
land advanced forwards, many of them were left in their first abodes and
many came down gradually to the lower parts. At least it is certain that in
old times Thebes had the name of Egypt, and of this the circumference
measures six thousand one hundred and twenty furlongs.
If then we judge aright of these matters, the opinion of the Ionians about
Egypt is not sound: but if the judgment of the Ionians is right, I declare that
neither the Hellenes nor the Ionians themselves know how to reckon since
they say that the whole earth is made up of three divisions, Europe, Asia,
and Libya: for they ought to count in addition to these the Delta of Egypt,
since it belongs neither to Asia nor to Libya; for at least it cannot be the
river Nile by this reckoning which divides Asia from Libya, but the Nile is
cleft at the point of this Delta so as to flow round it, and the result is that
this land would come between Asia and Libya.
We dismiss then our opinion of the Ionians, and express a judgment of
our own on this matter also, that Egypt is all that land which is inhabited by
Egyptians, just as Kilikia is that which is inhabited by Kilikians and Assyria
that which is inhabited by Assyrians, and we know of no boundary properly
speaking between Asia and Libya except the borders of Egypt. If however
we shall adopt the opinion which is commonly held by the Hellenes, we
shall suppose that the whole of Egypt, beginning from the Cataract and the
city of Elephantine, is divided into two parts and that it thus partakes of
both the names, since one side will thus belong to Libya and the other to
Asia; for the Nile from the Cataract onwards flows to the sea cutting Egypt
through in the midst; and as far as the city of Kercasoros the Nile flows in
one single stream, but from this city onwards it is parted into three ways;
and one, which is called the Pelusian mouth, turns towards the East; the
second of the ways goes towards the West, and this is called the Canobic
mouth; but that one of the ways which is straight runs thus,—when the river
in its course downwards comes to the point of the Delta, then it cuts the
Delta through the midst and so issues out to the sea. In this we have a
portion of the water of the river which is not the smallest nor the least
famous, and it is called the Sebennytic mouth. There are also two other
mouths which part off from the Sebennytic and go to the sea, and these are

called, one the Saitic, the other the Mendesian mouth. The Bolbitinitic, and
Bucolic mouths, on the other hand, are not natural but made by digging.
Moreover also the answer given by the Oracle of Ammon bears witness in
support of my opinion that Egypt is of the extent which I declare it to be in
my account; and of this answer I heard after I had formed my own opinion
about Egypt. For those of the city of Marea and of Apis, dwelling in the
parts of Egypt which border on Libya, being of opinion themselves that
they were Libyans and not Egyptians, and also being burdened by the rules
of religious service, because they desired not to be debarred from the use of
cows' flesh, sent to Ammon saying that they had nought in common with
the Egyptians, for they dwelt outside the Delta and agreed with them in
nothing; and they said they desired that it might be lawful for them to eat
everything without distinction. The god however did not permit them to do
so, but said that that land was Egypt where the Nile came over and watered,
and that those were Egyptians who dwelling below the city of Elephantine
drank of that river. Thus was it answered to them by the Oracle about this:
and the Nile, when it is in flood, goes over not only the Delta but also of the
land which is called Libyan and of that which is called Arabian sometimes
as much as two days' journey on each side, and at times even more than this
or at times less.
As regards the nature of the river, neither from the priests nor yet from
any other man was I able to obtain any knowledge: and I was desirous
especially to learn from them about these matters, namely why the Nile
comes down increasing in volume from the summer solstice onwards for a
hundred days, and then, when it has reached the number of these days, turns
and goes back, failing in its stream, so that through the whole winter season
it continues to be low, and until the summer solstice returns. Of none of
these things was I able to receive any account from the Egyptians, when I
inquired of them what power the Nile has whereby it is of a nature opposite
to that of all other rivers. And I made inquiry, desiring to know both this
which I say and also why, unlike all other rivers, it does not give rise to any
breezes blowing from it. However some of the Hellenes who desired to gain
distinction for cleverness have given an account of this water in three
different ways: two of these I do not think it worth while even to speak of
except only to indicate their nature; of which the one says that the Etesian
Winds are the cause that makes the river rise, by preventing the Nile from
flowing out into the sea. But often the Etesian Winds fail and yet the Nile

does the same work as it is wont to do; and moreover, if these were the
cause, all the other rivers also which flow in a direction opposed to the
Etesian Winds ought to have been affected in the same way as the Nile, and
even more, in as much as they are smaller and present to them a feebler
flow of streams: but there are many of these rivers in Syria and many also
in Libya, and they are affected in no such manner as the Nile. The second
way shows more ignorance than that which has been mentioned, and it is
more marvellous to tell; for it says that the river produces these effects
because it flows from the Ocean, and that the Ocean flows round the whole
earth. The third of the ways is much the most specious, but nevertheless it is
the most mistaken of all: for indeed this way has no more truth in it than the
rest, alleging as it does that the Nile flows from melting snow; whereas it
flows out of Libya through the midst of the Ethiopians, and so comes out
into Egypt. How then should it flow from snow, when it flows from the
hottest parts to those which are cooler? And indeed most of the facts are
such as to convince a man (one at least who is capable of reasoning about
such matters), that it is not at all likely that it flows from snow. The first and
greatest evidence is afforded by the winds, which blow hot from these
regions; the second is that the land is rainless always and without frost,
whereas after snow has fallen rain must necessarily come within five days,
so that if it snowed in those parts rain would fall there; the third evidence is
afforded by the people dwelling there, who are of a black colour by reason
of the burning heat. Moreover kites and swallows remain there through the
year and do not leave the land; and cranes flying from the cold weather
which comes on in the region of Scythia come regularly to these parts for
wintering: if then it snowed ever so little in that land through which the Nile
flows and in which it has its rise, none of these things would take place, as
necessity compels us to admit. As for him who talked about the Ocean, he
carried his tale into the region of the unknown, and so he need not be
refuted; since I for my part know of no river Ocean existing, but I think that
Homer or one of the poets who were before him invented the name and
introduced it into his verse.
If however after I have found fault with the opinions proposed, I am
bound to declare an opinion of my own about the matters which are in
doubt, I will tell what to my mind is the reason why the Nile increases in
the summer. In the winter season the Sun, being driven away from his
former path through the heaven by the stormy winds, comes to the upper

parts of Libya. If one would set forth the matter in the shortest way, all has
now been said; for whatever region this god approaches most and stands
directly above, this it may reasonably be supposed is most in want of water,
and its native streams of rivers are dried up most. However, to set it forth at
greater length, thus it is:—the Sun passing in his course by the upper parts
of Libya, does thus, that is to say, since at all times the air in those parts is
clear and the country is warm, because there are no cold winds, in passing
through it the Sun does just as he was wont to do in the summer, when
going through the midst of the heaven, that is he draws to himself the water,
and having drawn it he drives it away to the upper parts of the country, and
the winds take it up and scattering it abroad melt it into rain; so it is natural
that the winds which blow from this region, namely the South and South-
west Winds, should be much the most rainy of all the winds. I think
however that the Sun does not send away from himself all the water of the
Nile of each year, but that also he lets some remain behind with himself.
Then when the winter becomes milder, the Sun returns back again to the
midst of the heaven, and from that time onwards he draws equally from all
rivers; but in the meantime they flow in large volume, since water of rain
mingles with them in great quantity, because their country receives rain
then and is filled with torrent streams. In summer however they are weak,
since not only the showers of rain fail them, but also they are drawn by the
Sun. The Nile however, alone of all rivers, not having rain and being drawn
by the Sun, naturally flows during this time of winter in much less than its
proper volume, that is much less than in summer; for then it is drawn
equally with all the other waters, but in winter it bears the burden alone.
Thus I suppose the Sun to be the cause of these things. He also is the cause
in my opinion that the air in these parts is dry, since he makes it so by
scorching up his path through the heaven: thus summer prevails always in
the upper parts of Libya. If however the station of the seasons had been
changed, and where now in the heaven are placed the North Wind and
winter, there was the station of the South Wind and of the midday, and
where now is placed the South Wind, there was the North, if this had been
so, the Sun being driven from the midst of the heaven by the winter and the
North Wind would go to the upper parts of Europe, just as now he comes to
the upper parts of Libya, and passing in his course throughout the whole of
Europe I suppose he would do to the Ister that which he now works upon
the Nile. As to the breeze, why none blows from the river, my opinion is

that from very hot places it is not natural that anything should blow, and
that a breeze is wont to blow from something cold.
Let these matters then be as they are and as they were at the first: but as
to the sources of the Nile, not one either of the Egyptians or of the Libyans
or of the Hellenes, who came to speech with me, professed to know
anything, except the scribe of the sacred treasury of Athene at the city of
Sais in Egypt. To me however this man seemed not to be speaking seriously
when he said that he had certain knowledge of it; and he said as follows,
namely that there were two mountains of which the tops ran up to a sharp
point, situated between the city of Syene, which is in the district of Thebes,
and Elephantine, and the names of the mountains were, of the one Crophi
and of the other Mophi. From the middle between these mountains flowed
(he said) the sources of the Nile, which were fathomless in depth, and half
of the water flowed to Egypt and towards the North Wind, the other half to
Ethiopia and the South Wind. As for the fathomless depth of the source, he
said that Psammetichos king of Egypt came to a trial of this matter; for he
had a rope twisted of many thousand fathoms and let it down in this place,
and it found no bottom. By this the scribe (if this which he told was really
as he said) gave me to understand that there were certain strong eddies there
and a backward flow, and that since the water dashed against the mountains,
therefore the sounding-line could not come to any bottom when it was let
down. From no other person was I able to learn anything about this matter;
but for the rest I learnt so much as here follows by the most diligent inquiry;
for I went myself as an eye-witness as far as the city of Elephantine and
from that point onwards I gathered knowledge by report. From the city of
Elephantine as one goes up the river there is country which slopes steeply;
so that here one must attach ropes to the vessel on both sides, as one fastens
an ox, and so make one's way onward; and if the rope break, the vessel is
gone at once, carried away by the violence of the stream. Through this
country it is a voyage of about four days in length, and in this part the Nile
is winding like the river Maiander, and the distance amounts to twelve
schoines, which one must traverse in this manner. Then you will come to a
level plain, in which the Nile flows round an island named Tachompso.
(Now in the regions above the Elephantine there dwell Ethiopians at once
succeeding, who also occupy half of the island, and Egyptians the other
half.) Adjoining this island there is a great lake, round which dwell
Ethiopian nomad tribes; and when you have sailed through this you will

come to the stream of the Nile again, which flows into this lake. After this
you will disembark and make a journey by land of forty days; for in the
Nile sharp rocks stand forth out of the water, and there are many reefs, by
which it is not possible for a vessel to pass. Then after having passed
through this country in the forty days which I have said, you will embark
again in another vessel and sail for twelve days; and after this you will
come to a great city called Meroe. This city is said to be the mother-city of
all the other Ethiopians: and they who dwell in it reverence of the gods
Zeus and Dionysos alone, and these they greatly honour; and they have an
Oracle of Zeus established, and make warlike marches whensoever the god
commands them by prophesyings and to whatsoever place he commands.
Sailing from this city you will come to the "Deserters" in another period of
time equal to that in which you came from Elephantine to the mother-city of
the Ethiopians. Now the name of these "Deserters" is Asmach, and this
word signifies, when translated into the tongue of the Hellenes, "those who
stand on the left hand of the king." These were two hundred and forty
thousand Egyptians of the warrior class, who revolted and went over to
these Ethiopians for the following cause:—In the reign of Psammetichos
garrisons were set, one towards the Ethiopians at the city of Elephantine,
another towards the Arabians and Assyrians at Daphnai of Pelusion, and
another towards Libya at Marea: and even in my own time the garrisons of
the Persians too are ordered in the same manner as these were in the reign
of Psammetichos, for both at Elephantine and at Daphnai the Persians have
outposts. The Egyptians then of whom I speak had served as outposts for
three years and no one relieved them from their guard; accordingly they
took counsel together, and adopting a common plan they all in a body
revolted from Psammetichos and set out for Ethiopia. Hearing this
Psammetichos set forth in pursuit, and when he came up with them he
entreated them much and endeavoured to persuade them not to desert the
gods of their country and their children and wives: upon which it is said that
one of them pointed to his privy member and said that wherever this was,
there would they have both children and wives. When these came to
Ethiopia they gave themselves over to the king of the Ethiopians; and he
rewarded them as follows:—there were certain of the Ethiopians who had
come to be at variance with him; and he bade them drive these out and
dwell in their land. So since these men settled in the land of the Ethiopians,

the Ethiopians have come to be of milder manners, from having learnt the
customs of the Egyptians.
The Nile then, besides the part of its course which is in Egypt, is known
as far as a four months' journey by river and land: for that is the number of
months which are found by reckoning to be spent in going from
Elephantine to these "Deserters": and the river runs from the West and the
setting of the sun. But what comes after that point no one can clearly say;
for this land is desert by reason of the burning heat. This much however I
heard from men of Kyrene, who told me that they had been to the Oracle of
Ammon, and had come to speech with Etearchos king of the Ammonians:
and it happened that after speaking of other matters they fell to discourse
about the Nile and how no one knew the sources of it; and Etearchos said
that once there came to him men of the Nasamonians (this is a Libyan race
which dwells in the Syrtis, and also in the land to the East of the Syrtis
reaching to no great distance), and when the Nasamonians came and were
asked by him whether they were able to tell him anything more than he
knew about the desert parts of Libya, they said that there had been among
them certain sons of chief men, who were of unruly disposition; and these
when they grew up to be men had devised various other extravagant things
and also they had told off by lot five of themselves to go to see the desert
parts of Libya and to try whether they could discover more than those who
had previously explored furthest: for in those parts of Libya which are by
the Northern Sea, beginning from Egypt and going as far as the headland of
Soloeis, which is the extreme point of Libya, Libyans (and of them many
races) extend along the whole coast, except so much as the Hellenes and
Phenicians hold; but in the upper parts, which lie above the sea-coast and
above those people whose land comes down to the sea, Libya is full of wild
beasts; and in the parts above the land of wild beasts it is full of sand,
terribly waterless and utterly desert. These young men then (said they),
being sent out by their companions well furnished with supplies of water
and provisions, went first through the inhabited country, and after they had
passed through this they came to the country of wild beasts, and after this
they passed through the desert, making their journey towards the West
Wind; and having passed through a great tract of sand in many days, they
saw at last trees growing in a level place; and having come up to them, they
were beginning to pluck the fruit which was upon the trees: but as they
began to pluck it, there came upon them small men, of less stature than men

of the common size, and these seized them and carried them away; and
neither could the Nasamonians understand anything of their speech nor
could those who were carrying them off understand anything of the speech
of the Nasamonians; and they led them (so it was said) through very great
swamps, and after passing through these they came to a city in which all the
men were in size like those who carried them off and in colour of skin
black; and by the city ran a great river, which ran from the West towards the
sunrising, and in it were seen crocodiles. Of the account given by Etearchos
the Ammonian let so much suffice as is here said, except that, as the men of
Kyrene told me, he alleged that the Nasamonians returned safe home, and
that the people to whom they had come were all wizards. Now this river
which ran by the city, Etearchos conjectured to be the Nile, and moreover
reason compels us to think so; for the Nile flows from Libya and cuts Libya
through in the midst, and as I conjecture, judging of what is not known by
that which is evident to the view, it starts at a distance from its mouth equal
to that of the Ister: for the river Ister begins from the Keltoi and the city of
Pyrene and so runs that it divides Europe in the midst (now the Keltoi are
outside the Pillars of Heracles and border upon the Kynesians, who dwell
furthest towards the sunset of all those who have their dwelling in Europe):
and the Ister ends, having its course through the whole of Europe, by
flowing into the Euxine Sea at the place where the Milesians have their
settlement of Istria. Now the Ister, since it flows through land which is
inhabited, is known by the reports of many; but of the sources of the Nile
no one can give an account, for the part of Libya through which it flows is
uninhabited and desert. About its course however so much as it was
possible to learn by the most diligent inquiry has been told; and it runs out
into Egypt. Now Egypt lies nearly opposite to the mountain districts of
Kilikia; and from thence to Sinope, which lies upon the Euxine Sea, is a
journey in the same straight line of five days for a man without
encumbrance; and Sinope lies opposite to the place where the Ister runs out
into the sea: thus I think that the Nile passes through the whole of Libya and
is of equal measure with the Ister.
Of the Nile then let so much suffice as has been said. Of Egypt however I
shall make my report at length, because it has wonders more in number than
any other land, and works too it has to show as much as any land, which are
beyond expression great: for this reason then more shall be said concerning
it.

The Egyptians in agreement with their climate, which is unlike any other,
and with the river, which shows a nature different from all other rivers,
established for themselves manners and customs in a way opposite to other
men in almost all matters: for among them the women frequent the market
and carry on trade, while the men remain at home and weave; and whereas
others weave pushing the woof upwards, the Egyptians push it downwards:
the men carry their burdens upon their heads and the women upon their
shoulders: the women make water standing up and the men crouching
down: they ease themselves in their houses and they eat without in the
streets, alleging as reason for this that it is right to do secretly the things that
are unseemly though necessary, but those which are not unseemly, in
public: no woman is a minister either of male or female divinity, but men of
all, both male and female: to support their parents the sons are in no way
compelled, if they do not desire to do so, but the daughters are forced to do
so, be they never so unwilling. The priests of the gods in other lands wear
long hair, but in Egypt they shave their heads: among other men the custom
is that in mourning those whom the matter concerns most nearly have their
hair cut short, but the Egyptians, when deaths occur, let their hair grow
long, both that on the head and that on the chin, having before been close
shaven: other men have their daily living separated from beasts, but the
Egyptians have theirs together with beasts: other men live on wheat and on
barley, but to any one of the Egyptians who makes his living on these it is a
great reproach; they make their bread of maize, which some call spelt: they
knead dough with their feet and clay with their hands, with which also they
gather up dung: and whereas other men, except such as have learnt
otherwise from the Egyptians, have their members as nature made them, the
Egyptians practice circumcision: as to garments, the men wear two each
and the women but one: and whereas others make fast the rings and ropes
of the sails outside the ship, the Egyptians do this inside: finally in the
writing of characters and reckoning with pebbles, while the Hellenes carry
the hand from the left to the right, the Egyptians do this from the right to the
left; and doing so they say that they do it themselves rightwise and the
Hellenes leftwise: and they use two kinds of characters for writing, of
which the one kind is called sacred and the other common.
They are religious excessively beyond all other men, and with regard to
this they have customs as follows:—they drink from cups of bronze and
rinse them out every day, and not some only do this but all: they wear

garments of linen always newly washed, and this they make a special point
of practice: they circumcise themselves for the sake of cleanliness,
preferring to be clean rather than comely. The priests shave themselves all
over their body every other day, so that no lice or any other foul thing may
come to be upon them when they minister to the gods; and the priests wear
garments of linen only and sandals of papyrus, and any other garment they
may not take nor other sandals; these wash themselves in cold water twice
in a day and twice again in the night; and other religious services they
perform (one may almost say) of infinite number. They enjoy also good
things not a few, for they do not consume or spend anything of their own
substance, but there is sacred bread baked for them and they have each
great quantity of flesh of oxen and geese coming in to them each day, and
also wine of grapes is given to them; but it is not permitted to them to taste
of fish: beans moreover the Egyptians do not at all sow in their land, and
those which they grow they neither eat raw nor boil for food; nay the priests
do not endure even to look upon them, thinking this to be an unclean kind
of pulse: and there is not one priest only for each of the gods but many, and
of them one is chief-priest, and whenever a priest dies his son is appointed
to his place.
The males of the ox kind they consider to belong to Epaphos, and on
account of him they test them in the following manner:—If the priest sees
one single black hair upon the beast he counts it not clean for sacrifice; and
one of the priests who is appointed for the purpose makes investigation of
these matters, both when the beast is standing upright and when it is lying
on its back, drawing out its tongue moreover, to see if it is clean in respect
of the appointed signs, which I shall tell of in another part of the history: he
looks also at the hairs of the tail to see if it has them growing in a natural
manner; and if it be clean in respect of all these things, he marks it with a
piece of papyrus, rolling this round the horns, and then when he has
plastered sealing-earth over it he sets upon it the seal of his signet-ring, and
after that they take the animal away. But for one who sacrifices a beast not
sealed the penalty appointed is death. In this way then the beast is tested;
and their appointed manner of sacrifice is as follows:—they lead the sealed
beast to the altar where they happen to be sacrificing, and then kindle a fire:
after that, having poured libations of wine over the altar so that it runs down
upon the victim and having called upon the god, they cut its throat, and
having cut its throat they sever the head from the body. The body then of

the beast they flay, but upon the head they make many imprecations first,
and then they who have a market and Hellenes sojourning among them for
trade, these carry it to the market-place and sell it, while they who have no
Hellenes among them cast it away into the river: and this is the form of
imprecations which they utter upon the heads, praying that if any evil be
about to befall either themselves who are offering sacrifice or the land of
Egypt in general, it may come rather upon this head. Now as regards the
heads of the beasts which are sacrificed and the pouring over them of the
wine, all the Egyptians have the same customs equally for all their
sacrifices; and by reason of this custom none of the Egyptians eat of the
head either of this or of any other kind of animal: but the manner of
disembowelling the victims and of burning them is appointed among them
differently for different sacrifices; I shall speak however of the sacrifices to
that goddess whom they regard as the greatest of all, and to whom they
celebrate the greatest feast.—When they have flayed the bullock and made
imprecation, they take out the whole of its lower entrails but leave in the
body the upper entrails and the fat; and they sever from it the legs and the
end of the loin and the shoulders and the neck: and this done, they fill the
rest of the body of the animal with consecrated loaves and honey and raisins
and figs and frankincense and myrrh and every other kind of spices, and
having filled it with these they offer it, pouring over it great abundance of
oil. They make their sacrifice after fasting, and while the offerings are being
burnt, they all beat themselves for mourning, and when they have finished
beating themselves they set forth as a feast that which they left unburnt of
the sacrifice. The clean males then of the ox kind, both full-grown animals
and calves, are sacrificed by all the Egyptians; the females however they
may not sacrifice, but these are sacred to Isis; for the figure of Isis is in the
form of a woman with cow's horns, just as the Hellenes present Io in
pictures, and all the Egyptians without distinction reverence cows far more
than any other kind of cattle; for which reason neither man nor woman of
the Egyptian race would kiss a man who is a Hellene on the mouth, nor will
they use a knife or roasting-spits or a caldron belonging to a Hellene, nor
taste the flesh even of a clean animal if it has been cut with the knife of a
Hellene. And the cattle of this kind which die they bury in the following
manner:—the females they cast into the river, but the males they bury, each
people in the suburb of their town, with one of the horns, or sometimes
both, protruding to mark the place; and when the bodies have rotted away

and the appointed time comes on, then to each city comes a boat from that
which is called the island of Prosopitis (this is in the Delta, and the extent of
its circuit is nine schoines). In this island of Prosopitis is situated, besides
many other cities, that one from which the boats come to take up the bones
of the oxen, and the name of the city is Atarbechis, and in it there is set up a
holy temple of Aphrodite. From this city many go abroad in various
directions, some to one city and others to another, and when they have dug
up the bones of the oxen they carry them off, and coming together they bury
them in one single place. In the same manner as they bury the oxen they
bury also their other cattle when they die; for about them also they have the
same law laid down, and these also they abstain from killing.
Now all who have a temple set up to the Theban Zeus or who are of the
district of Thebes, these, I say, all sacrifice goats and abstain from sheep:
for not all the Egyptians equally reverence the same gods, except only Isis
and Osiris (who they say is Dionysos), these they all reverence alike: but
they who have a temple of Mendes or belong to the Mendesian district,
these abstain from goats and sacrifice sheep. Now the men of Thebes and
those who after their example abstain from sheep, say that this custom was
established among them for the cause which follows:—Heracles (they say)
had an earnest desire to see Zeus, and Zeus did not desire to be seen of him;
and at last when Heracles was urgent in entreaty Zeus contrived this device,
that is to say, he flayed a ram and held in front of him the head of the ram
which he had cut off, and he put on over him the fleece and then showed
himself to him. Hence the Egyptians make the image of Zeus with the face
of a ram; and the Ammonians do so also after their example, being settlers
both from the Egyptians and from the Ethiopians, and using a language
which is a medley of both tongues: and in my opinion it is from this god
that the Egyptians call Zeus Amun. The Thebans then do not sacrifice rams
but hold them sacred for this reason; on one day however in the year, on the
feast of Zeus, they cut up in the same manner and flay one single ram and
cover with its skin the image of Zeus, and then they bring up to it another
image of Heracles. This done, all who are in the temple beat themselves in
lamentation for the ram, and then they bury it in a sacred tomb.
About Heracles I heard the account given that he was of the number of
the twelve gods; but of the other Heracles whom the Hellenes know I was
not able to hear in any part of Egypt: and moreover to prove that the
Egyptians did not take the name of Heracles from the Hellenes, but rather

the Hellenes from the Egyptians,—that is to say those of the Hellenes who
gave the name Heracles to the son of Amphitryon,—of that, I say, besides
many other evidences there is chiefly this, namely that the parents of this
Heracles, Amphitryon and Alcmene, were both of Egypt by descent, and
also that the Egyptians say that they do not know the names either of
Poseidon or of the Dioscuroi, nor have these been accepted by them as gods
among the other gods; whereas if they had received from the Hellenes the
name of any divinity, they would naturally have preserved the memory of
these most of all, assuming that in those times as now some of the Hellenes
were wont to make voyages and were seafaring folk, as I suppose and as my
judgment compels me to think; so that the Egyptians would have learnt the
names of these gods even more than that of Heracles. In fact however
Heracles is a very ancient Egyptian god; and (as they say themselves) it is
seventeen thousand years to the beginning of the reign of Amasis from the
time when the twelve gods, of whom they count that Heracles is one, were
begotten of the eight gods. I moreover, desiring to know something certain
of these matters so far as might be, made a voyage also to Tyre of Phenicia,
hearing that in that place there was a holy temple of Heracles; and I saw
that it was richly furnished with many votive offerings besides, and
especially there were in it two pillars, the one of pure gold and the other of
an emerald stone of such size as to shine by night: and having come to
speech with the priests of the god, I asked them how long a time it was
since their temple had been set up: and these also I found to be at variance
with the Hellenes, for they said that at the same time when Tyre was
founded, the temple of the god also had been set up, and that it was a period
of two thousand three hundred years since their people began to dwell at
Tyre. I saw also at Tyre another temple of Heracles, with the surname
Thasian; and I came to Thasos also and there I found a temple of Heracles
set up by the Phenicians, who had sailed out to seek for Europa and had
colonised Thasos; and these things happened full five generations of men
before Heracles the son of Amphitryon was born in Hellas. So then my
inquiries show clearly that Heracles is an ancient god, and those of the
Hellenes seem to me to act most rightly who have two temples of Heracles
set up, and who sacrifice to the one as an immortal god and with the title
Olympian, and make offerings of the dead to the other as a hero. Moreover,
besides many other stories which the Hellenes tell without due
consideration, this tale is especially foolish which they tell about Heracles,

namely that when he came to Egypt, the Egyptians put on him wreaths and
led him forth in procession to sacrifice him to Zeus; and he for some time
kept quiet, but when they were beginning the sacrifice of him at the altar, he
betook himself to prowess and slew them all. I for my part am of opinion
that the Hellenes when they tell this tale are altogether without knowledge
of the nature and customs of the Egyptians; for how should they for whom
it is not lawful to sacrifice even beasts, except swine and the males of oxen
and calves (such of them as are clean) and geese, how should these sacrifice
human beings? Besides this, how is it in nature possible that Heracles,
being one person only and moreover a man (as they assert), should slay
many myriads? Having said so much of these matters, we pray that we may
have grace from both the gods and the heroes for our speech.
Now the reason why those of the Egyptians whom I have mentioned do
not sacrifice goats, female or male, is this:—the Mendesians count Pan to
be one of the eight gods (now these eight gods they say came into being
before the twelve gods), and the painters and image-makers represent in
painting and in sculpture the figure of Pan, just as the Hellenes do, with
goat's face and legs, not supposing him to be really like this but to resemble
the other gods; the cause however why they represent him in this form I
prefer not to say. The Mendesians then reverence all goats and the males
more than the females (and the goatherds too have greater honour than
other herdsmen), but of the goats one especially is reverenced, and when he
dies there is great mourning in all the Mendesian district: and both the goat
and Pan are called in the Egyptian tongue Mendes. Moreover in my lifetime
there happened in that district this marvel, that is to say a he-goat had
intercourse with a woman publicly, and this was so done that all men might
have evidence of it.
The pig is accounted by the Egyptians an abominable animal; and first, if
any of them in passing by touch a pig, he goes into the river and dips
himself forthwith in the water together with his garments; and then too
swineherds, though they may be native Egyptians, unlike all others, do not
enter any of the temples in Egypt, nor is anyone willing to give his daughter
in marriage to one of them or to take a wife from among them; but the
swineherds both give in marriage to one another and take from one another.
Now to the other gods the Egyptians do not think it right to sacrifice swine;
but to the Moon and to Dionysos alone at the same time and on the same
full-moon they sacrifice swine, and then eat their flesh: and as to the reason

why, when they abominate swine at all their other feasts, they sacrifice
them at this, there is a story told by the Egyptians; and this story I know, but
it is not a seemly one for me to tell. Now the sacrifice of the swine to the
Moon is performed as follows:—when the priest has slain the victim, he
puts together the end of the tail and the spleen and the caul, and covers
them up with the whole of the fat of the animal which is about the paunch,
and then he offers them with fire; and the rest of the flesh they eat on that
day of full moon upon which they have held sacrifice, but on any day after
this they will not taste of it: the poor however among them by reason of the
scantiness of their means shape pigs of dough and having baked them they
offer these as a sacrifice. Then for Dionysos on the eve of the festival each
one kills a pig by cutting its throat before his own doors, and after that he
gives the pig to the swineherd who sold it to him, to carry away again; and
the rest of the feast of Dionysos is celebrated by the Egyptians in the same
way as by the Hellenes in almost all things except choral dances, but
instead of the phallos they have invented another contrivance, namely
figures of about a cubit in height worked by strings, which women carry
about the villages, with the privy member made to move and not much less
in size than the rest of the body: and a flute goes before and they follow
singing the praises of Dionysos. As to the reason why the figure has this
member larger than is natural and moves it, though it moves no other part of
the body, about this there is a sacred story told. Now I think that Melampus
the son of Amytheon was not without knowledge of these rites of sacrifice,
but was acquainted with them: for Melampus is he who first set forth to the
Hellenes the name of Dionysos and the manner of sacrifice and the
procession of the phallos. Strictly speaking indeed, he when he made it
known did not take in the whole, but those wise men who came after him
made it known more at large. Melampus then is he who taught of the
phallos which is carried in procession for Dionysos, and from him the
Hellenes learnt to do that which they do. I say then that Melampus being a
man of ability contrived for himself an art of divination, and having learnt
from Egypt he taught the Hellenes many things, and among them those that
concern Dionysos, making changes in some few points of them: for I shall
not say that that which is done in worship of the god in Egypt came
accidentally to be the same with that which is done among the Hellenes, for
then these rites would have been in character with the Hellenic worship and
not lately brought in; nor certainly shall I say that the Egyptians took from

the Hellenes either this or any other customary observance: matters
concerning Dionysos from Cadmos the Tyrian and from those who came
with him from Phenicia to the land which we now call Boeotia.
Moreover the naming of almost all the gods has come to Hellas from
Egypt: for that it has come from the Barbarians I find by inquiry is true, and
I am of opinion that most probably it has come from Egypt, because, except
in the case of Poseidon and the Dioscuroi (in accordance with that which I
have said before), and also of Hera and Hestia and Themis and the Charites
and Nereids, the Egyptians say themselves: but as for the gods whose
names they profess that they do not know, these I think received their
naming from the Pelasgians, except Poiseidon; but about this god the
Hellenes learnt from the Libyans, for no people except the Libyans have
had the name of Poseidon from the first and have paid honour to this god
always. Nor, it may be added, have the Egyptians any custom of
worshipping heroes. These observances then, and others besides these
which I shall mention, the Hellenes have adopted from the Egyptians; but to
make, as they do the images of Hermes with the phallos they have learnt
not from the Egyptians but from the Pelasgians, the custom having been
received by the Athenians first of all the Hellenes and from these by the
rest; for just at the time when the Athenians were beginning to rank among
the Hellenes, the Pelasgians became dwellers with them in their land, and
from this very cause it was that they began to be counted as Hellenes.
Whosoever has been initiated in the mysteries of the Cabeiroi, which the
Samothrakians perform having received them from the Pelasgians, that man
knows the meaning of my speech; for these very Pelasgians who became
dwellers with the Athenians used to dwell before that time in Samothrake,
and from them the Samothrakians received their mysteries. So then the
Athenians were the first of the Hellenes who made the images of Hermes
with the phallos, having learnt from the Pelasgians; and the Pelasgians told
a sacred story about it, which is set forth in the mysteries in Samothrake.
Now the Pelasgians formerly were wont to make all their sacrifices calling
upon the gods in prayer, as I know from that which I heard at Dodona, but
they gave no title or name to any of them, for they had not yet heard any,
but they called them gods from some such notion as this, that they had set
in order all things and so had the distribution of everything. Afterwards
when much time had elapsed, they learnt from Egypt the names of the gods,
all except Dionysos, for his name they learnt long afterwards; and after a

time the Pelasgians consulted the Oracle at Dodona about the names, for
this prophetic seat is accounted to be the most ancient of the Oracles which
are among the Hellenes, and at that time it was the only one. So when the
Pelasgians asked the Oracle at Dodona whether they should adopt the
names which had come from the Barbarians, the Oracle in reply bade them
make use of the names. From this time they sacrificed using the names of
the gods, and from the Pelasgians the Hellenes afterwards received them:
but when the several gods had their birth, or whether they all were from the
beginning, and of what form they are, they did not learn till yesterday, as it
were, or the day before: for Hesiod and Homer I suppose were four hundred
years before my time and not more, and these are they who made a
theogony for the Hellenes and gave the titles to the gods and distributed to
them honours and arts, and set forth their forms: but the poets who are said
to have been before these men were really in my opinion after them. Of
these things the first are said by the priestesses of Dodona, and the latter
things, those namely which have regard to Hesiod and Homer, by myself.
As regards the Oracles both that among the Hellenes and that in Libya,
the Egyptians tell the following tale. The priests of the Theban Zeus told me
that two women in the service of the temple had been carried away from
Thebes by Phenicians, and that they had heard that one of them had been
sold to go into Libya and the other to the Hellenes; and these women, they
said, were they who first founded the prophetic seats among the nations
which have been named: and when I inquired whence they knew so
perfectly of this tale which they told, they said in reply that a great search
had been made by the priests after these women, and that they had not been
able to find them, but they had heard afterwards this tale about them which
they were telling. This I heard from the priests at Thebes, and what follows
is said by the prophetesses of Dodona. They say that two black doves flew
from Thebes in Egypt, and came one of them to Libya and the other to their
land. And this latter settled upon an oak-tree and spoke with human voice,
saying that it was necessary that a prophetic seat of Zeus should be
established in that place; and they supposed that that was of the gods which
was announced to them, and made one accordingly: and the dove which
went away to the Libyans, they say, bade the Libyans make an Oracle of
Ammon; and this also is of Zeus. The priestesses of Dodona told me these
things, of whom the eldest was named Promeneia, the next after her
Timarete, and the youngest Nicandra; and the other people of Dodona who

were engaged about the temple gave accounts agreeing with theirs. I
however have an opinion about the matter as follows:—If the Phenicians
did in truth carry away the consecrated women and sold one of them into
Libya and the other into Hellas, I suppose that in the country now called
Hellas, which was formerly called Pelasgia, this woman was sold into the
land of the Thesprotians; and then being a slave there she set up a sanctuary
of Zeus under a real oak-tree; as indeed it was natural that being an
attendant of the sanctuary of Zeus at Thebes, she should there, in the place
to which she had come, have a memory of him; and after this, when she got
understanding of the Hellenic tongue, she established an Oracle, and she
reported, I suppose, that her sister had been sold in Libya by the same
Phenicians by whom she herself had been sold. Moreover, I think that the
women were called doves by the people of Dodona for the reason that they
were barbarians and because it seemed to them that they uttered voice like
birds; but after a time (they say) the dove spoke with human voice, that is
when the woman began to speak so that they could understand; but so long
as she spoke a Barbarian tongue she seemed to them to be uttering voice
like a bird: for if it had been really a dove, how could it speak with human
voice? And in saying that the dove was black, they indicate that the woman
was Egyptian. The ways of delivering oracles too at Thebes in Egypt and at
Dodona closely resemble each other, as it happens, and also the method of
divination by victims has come from Egypt.
Moreover, it is true also that the Egyptians were the first of men who
made solemn assemblies and processions and approaches to the temples,
and from them the Hellenes have learnt them, and my evidence for this is
that the Egyptian celebrations of these have been held from a very ancient
time, whereas the Hellenic were introduced but lately. The Egyptians hold
their solemn assemblies not once in the year but often, especially and with
the greatest zeal and devotion at the city of Bubastis for Artemis, and next
at Busiris for Isis; for in this last-named city there is a very great temple of
Isis, and this city stands in the middle of the Delta of Egypt; now Isis is in
the tongue of the Hellenes Demeter: thirdly, they have a solemn assembly at
the city of Sais for Athene, fourthly at Heliopolis for the Sun (Helios),
fifthly at the city of Buto in honour of Leto, and sixthly at the city of
Papremis for Ares. Now, when they are coming to the city of Bubastis they
do as follows:—they sail men and women together, and a great multitude of
each sex in every boat; and some of the women have rattles and rattle with

them, while some of the men play the flute during the whole time of the
voyage, and the rest, both women and men, sing and clap their hands; and
when as they sail they come opposite to any city on the way they bring the
boat to land, and some of the women continue to do as I have said, others
cry aloud and jeer at the women in that city, some dance, and some stand up
and pull up their garments. This they do by every city along the river-bank;
and when they come to Bubastis they hold festival celebrating great
sacrifices, and more wine of grapes is consumed upon that festival than
during the whole of the rest of the year. To this place (so say the natives)
they come together year by year even to the number of seventy myriads of
men and women, besides children. Thus it is done here; and how they
celebrate the festival in honour of Isis at the city of Busiris has been told by
me before: for, as I said, they beat themselves in mourning after the
sacrifice, all of them both men and women, very many myriads of people;
but for whom they beat themselves it is not permitted to me by religion to
say: and so many as there are of the Carians dwelling in Egypt do this even
more than the Egyptians themselves, inasmuch as they cut their foreheads
also with knives; and by this it is manifested that they are strangers and not
Egyptians. At the times when they gather together at the city of Sais for
their sacrifices, on a certain night they all kindle lamps many in number in
the open air round about the houses; now the lamps are saucers full of salt
and oil mixed, and the wick floats by itself on the surface, and this burns
during the whole night; and to the festival is given the name Lychnocaia
(the lighting of lamps). Moreover those of the Egyptians who have not
come to this solemn assembly observe the night of the festival and
themselves also light lamps all of them, and thus not in Sais alone are they
lighted, but over all Egypt: and as to the reason why light and honour are
allotted to this night, about this there is a sacred story told. To Heliopolis
and Buto they go year by year and do sacrifice only: but at Papremis they
do sacrifice and worship as elsewhere, and besides that, when the sun
begins to go down while some few of the priests are occupied with the
image of the god, the greater number of them stand in the entrance of the
temple with wooden clubs, and other persons to the number of more than a
thousand men with purpose to perform a vow, these also having all of them
staves of wood, stand in a body opposite to those: and the image, which is
in a small shrine of wood covered over with gold, they take out on the day
before to another sacred building. The few then who have been left about

the image, draw a wain with four wheels, which bears the shrine and the
image that is within the shrine, and the other priests standing in the gateway
try to prevent it from entering, and the men who are under a vow come to
the assistance of the god and strike them, while the others defend
themselves. Then there comes to be a hard fight with staves, and they break
one another's heads, and I am of opinion that many even die of the wounds
they receive; the Egyptians however told me that no one died. This solemn
assembly the people of the place say that they established for the following
reason:—the mother of Ares, they say, used to dwell in this temple, and
Ares, having been brought up away from her, when he grew up came thither
desiring to visit his mother, and the attendants of his mother's temple, not
having seen him before, did not permit him to pass in, but kept him away;
and he brought men to help him from another city and handled roughly the
attendants of the temple, and entered to visit his mother. Hence, they say,
this exchange of blows has become the custom in honour of Ares upon his
festival.
The Egyptians were the first who made it a point of religion not to lie
with women in temples, nor to enter into temples after going away from
women without first bathing: for almost all other men except the Egyptians
and the Hellenes lie with women in temples and enter into a temple after
going away from women without bathing, since they hold that there is no
difference in this respect between men and beasts: for they say that they see
beasts and the various kinds of birds coupling together both in the temples
and in the sacred enclosures of the gods; if then this were not pleasing to the
god, the beasts would not do so.
Thus do these defend that which they do, which by me is disallowed: but
the Egyptians are excessively careful in their observances, both in other
matters which concern the sacred rites and also in those which follow:—
Egypt, though it borders upon Libya, does not very much abound in wild
animals, but such as they have are one and all accounted by them sacred,
some of them living with men and others not. But if I should say for what
reasons the sacred animals have been thus dedicated, I should fall into
discourse of matters pertaining to the gods, of which I most desire not to
speak; and what I have actually said touching slightly upon them, I said
because I was constrained by necessity. About these animals there is a
custom of this kind:—persons have been appointed of the Egyptians, both
men and women, to provide the food for each kind of beast separately, and

their office goes down from father to son; and those who dwell in the
various cities perform vows to them thus, that is, when they make a vow to
the god to whom the animal belongs, they shave the head of their children
either the whole or the half or the third part of it, and then set the hair in the
balance against silver, and whatever it weighs, this the man gives to the
person who provides for the animals, and she cuts up fish of equal value
and gives it for food to the animals. Thus food for their support has been
appointed and if any one kill any of these animals, the penalty, if he do it
with his own will, is death, and if against his will, such penalty as the
priests may appoint: but whosoever shall kill an ibis or a hawk, whether it
be with his will or against his will, must die. Of the animals that live with
men there are great numbers, and would be many more but for the accidents
which befall the cats. For when the females have produced young they are
no longer in the habit of going to the males, and these seeking to be united
with them are not able. To this end then they contrive as follows,—they
either take away by force or remove secretly the young from the females
and kill them (but after killing they do not eat them), and the females being
deprived of their young and desiring more, therefore come to the males, for
it is a creature that is fond of its young. Moreover when a fire occurs, the
cats seem to be divinely possessed; for while the Egyptians stand at
intervals and look after the cats, not taking any care to extinguish the fire,
the cats slipping through or leaping over the men, jump into the fire; and
when this happens, great mourning comes upon the Egyptians. And in
whatever houses a cat has died by a natural death, all those who dwell in
this house shave their eyebrows only, but those in which a dog has died
shave their whole body and also their head. The cats when they are dead are
carried away to sacred buildings in the city of Bubastis, where after being
embalmed they are buried; but the dogs they bury each people in their own
city in sacred tombs; and the ichneumons are buried just in the same way as
the dogs. The shrewmice however and the hawks they carry away to the city
of Buto, and the ibises to Hermopolis; the bears (which are not commonly
seen) and the wolves, not much larger in size than foxes, they bury on the
spot where they are found lying.
Of the crocodile the nature is as follows:—during the four most wintry
months this creature eats nothing: she has four feet and is an animal
belonging to the land and the water both; for she produces and hatches eggs
on the land, and the most part of the day she remains upon dry land, but the

whole of the night in the river, for the water in truth is warmer than the
unclouded open air and the dew. Of all the mortal creatures of which we
have knowledge this grows to the greatest bulk from the smallest beginning;
for the eggs which she produces are not much larger than those of geese and
the newly-hatched young one is in proportion to the egg, but as he grows he
becomes as much as seventeen cubits long and sometimes yet larger. He has
eyes like those of a pig and teeth large and tusky, in proportion to the size of
his body; but unlike all other beasts he grows no tongue, neither does he
move his lower jaw, but brings the upper jaw towards the lower, being in
this too unlike all other beasts. He has moreover strong claws and a scaly
hide upon his back which cannot be pierced; and he is blind in the water,
but in the air he is of a very keen sight. Since he has his living in the water
he keeps his mouth all full within of leeches; and whereas all other birds
and beasts fly from him, the trochilus is a creature which is at peace with
him, seeing that from her he receives benefit; for the crocodile having come
out of the water to the land and then having opened his mouth (this he is
wont to do generally towards the West Wind), the trochilus upon that enters
into his mouth and swallows down the leeches, and he being benefited is
pleased and does no harm to the trochilus. Now for some of the Egyptians
the crocodiles are sacred animals, and for others not so, but they treat them
on the contrary as enemies: those however who dwell about Thebes and
about the lake of Moiris hold them to be most sacred, and each of these two
peoples keeps one crocodile selected from the whole number, which has
been trained to tameness, and they put hanging ornaments of molten stone
and of gold into the ears of these and anklets round the front feet, and they
give them food appointed and victims of sacrifices and treat them as well as
possible while they live, and after they are dead they bury them in sacred
tombs, embalming them: but those who dwell about the city of Elephantine
even eat them, not holding them to be sacred. They are called not crocodiles
but champsai, and the Ionians gave them the name of crocodile, comparing
their form to that of the crocodiles (lizards) which appear in their country in
the stone walls. There are many ways in use of catching them and of
various kinds: I shall describe that which to me seems the most worthy of
being told. A man puts the back of a pig upon a hook as bait, and lets it go
into the middle of the river, while he himself upon the bank of the river has
a young live pig, which he beats; and the crocodile hearing its cries makes
for the direction of the sound, and when he finds the pig's back he swallows

it down: then they pull, and when he is drawn out to land, first of all the
hunter forthwith plasters up his eyes with mud, and having done so he very
easily gets the mastery of him, but if he does not do so he has much trouble.
The river-horse is sacred in the district of Papremis, but for the other
Egyptians he is not sacred; and this is the appearance which he presents: he
is four-footed, cloven-hoofed like an ox, flat-nosed, with a mane like a
horse and showing teeth like tusks, with a tail and voice like a horse and in
size as large as the largest ox; and his hide is so exceedingly thick that when
it has been dried shafts of javelins are made of it. There are moreover otters
in the river, which they consider to be sacred: and of fish also they esteem
that which is called the lepidotos to be sacred, and also the eel; and these
they say are sacred to the Nile: and of birds the fox-goose.
There is also another sacred bird called the phoenix which I did not
myself see except in painting, for in truth he comes to them very rarely, at
intervals, as the people of Heliopolis say, of five hundred years; and these
say that he comes regularly when his father dies; and if he be like the
painting he is of this size and nature, that is to say, some of his feathers are
of gold colour and others red, and in outline and size he is as nearly as
possible like an eagle. This bird they say (but I cannot believe the story)
contrives as follows:—setting forth from Arabia he conveys his father, they
say, to the temple of the Sun (Helios) plastered up in myrrh, and buries him
in the temple of the Sun; and he conveys him thus:—he forms first an egg
of myrrh as large as he is able to carry, and then he makes trial of carrying
it, and when he has made trial sufficiently, then he hollows out the egg and
places his father within it and plasters over with other myrrh that part of the
egg where he hollowed it out to put his father in, and when his father is laid
in it, it proves (they say) to be of the same weight as it was; and after he has
plastered it up, he conveys the whole to Egypt to the temple of the Sun.
Thus they say that this bird does.
There are also about Thebes sacred serpents, not at all harmful to men,
which are small in size and have two horns growing from the top of the
head: these they bury when they die in the temple of Zeus, for to this god
they say that they are sacred. There is a region moreover in Arabia, situated
nearly over against the city of Buto, to which place I came to inquire about
the winged serpents: and when I came thither I saw bones of serpents and
spines in quantity so great that it is impossible to make report of the

number, and there were heaps of spines, some heaps large and others less
large and others smaller still than these, and these heaps were many in
number. This region in which the spines are scattered upon the ground is of
the nature of an entrance from a narrow mountain pass to a great plain,
which plain adjoins the plain in Egypt; and the story goes that at the
beginning of spring winged serpents from Arabia fly towards Egypt, and the
birds called ibises meet them at the entrance to this country and do not
suffer the serpents to go by but kill them. On account of this deed it is (say
the Arabians) that the ibis has come to be greatly honoured by the
Egyptians, and the Egyptians also agree that it is for this reason that they
honour these birds. The outward form of the ibis is this:—it is a deep black
all over, and has legs like those of a crane and a very curved beak, and in
size it is about equal to a rail: this is the appearance of the black kind which
fight with the serpents, but of those which most crowd round men's feet (for
there are two several kinds of ibises) the head is bare and also the whole of
the throat, and it is white in feathering except the head and neck and the
extremities of the wings and the rump (in all these parts of which I have
spoken it is a deep black), while in legs and in the form of the head it
resembles the other. As for the serpent its form is like that of the
watersnake; and it has wings not feathered but most nearly resembling the
wings of the bat. Let so much suffice as has been said now concerning
sacred animals.
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 fenland 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 whose lands he had subdued, as follows:—these who
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 in 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.

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