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The History of Herodotus: Page 13
Volume One - Book II
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96. 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-cubit pieces; and when they have thus fastened the
boat together, they lay cross-pieces[81] 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 drag 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.
97. 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,[82] 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.
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98. 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 be another Archander, but in any case
the name is not Egyptian.
*****
99. 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 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,[83]
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;[84] 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.
100. 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.
101. 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[85] except only the last of
them, Moris: 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.
102. Therefore passing these by I shall make mention of the king who
came after these, whose name was 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[86] 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.
103. 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[87] 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.
104.
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[88] who dwell in Palestine confess
themselves that they have learnt it from the Egyptians, and the
Syrians[89] about the river Thermodon and the river Parthenios, and
the Macronians, who are their neighbours, 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.
105. 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,[90] 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.
106. The pillars which Sesostris 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
has 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.
107. 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.
108. 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 were they who drew the stones which in the reign of
this king were brought to the temple of Hephaistos, being of very
great 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.
109. 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[91] and the gnomon[92]
and the twelve divisions of the day, they were learnt by the Hellenes
from the Babylonians.
110. 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.
111. 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 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 last 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,[93] 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.
112. 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.[94] 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.
113. 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; and 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 Menelaos; and
this accusation they made not only to the priests but also to the
warden of this river-mouth, whose name was Thonis.
114. 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.[95] 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."
115. 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."
116. 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,[96] making it clear at the
same time that he was acquainted with that story also: and according
to the manner in which he described[97] the wanderings of Alexander in
the Iliad (nor did he elsewhere retract that which he had said) it is
clear that when he brought Helen he was carried out 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 this:[98]
"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:[99]
"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:[100]
"Still the gods stayed me in Egypt, to come back hither desiring,
Stayed me from voyaging home, since sacrifice was due I performed not."
In these lines he makes it clear that he knew of the wandering of
Alexander to Egypt, for Syria borders upon Egypt and the Phenicians,
of whom is Sidon, dwell in Syria.
117. By these lines and by this
passage[101] 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.
118. 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.
119. 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.
120. 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
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.
121. 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.
(a) 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.
(b) 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. (c) 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 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 dead 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. (d) 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[102] 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. (e) 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. (f) 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.
122. 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.
123. 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[103] 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.
124. 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[104] to
every kind of evil: for he shut up all the temples, and having first
kept them from sacrificing 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[105] 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 chambers
on the hill upon which the pyramids stand, which 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.
125. This pyramid was made after the manner of steps, which some call
"rows"[106] and others "bases":[107] 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?
126. 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); but 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
her 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,[108] each side being one hundred
and fifty feet in length.
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