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The History of Herodotus: Page 14
Volume One - Book II
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127. 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 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[109] 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,[110] 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.
128. 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[111]
the shepherd, who at that time pastured flocks in those regions.
129.
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.
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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.
130.
This cow was not covered up in the ground, but it might be seen even
down to my own time in the city of Saïs, 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 Saïs 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.
131. 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.
132. 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 it 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.
133. 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,[112] 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 there came a
second message, which said that it was for this very cause that he was
bringing his life to a swift close;[113] 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 risen before him had perceived this, but he had not. Mykerinos
having heard this, and considering that this sentence had been 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
for 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.
134. 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 the 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 in 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[114] 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
shown that Esop too was the slave of Iadmon.
135. 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,[115] 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.[116] Now at Naucratis, as it happens, the courtesans are
rather apt to win credit;[117] for this woman first, about whom the
story to which I refer is told, became so famous that all the Hellenes
without exception come to know the name of Rhodopis, and then after
her one whose name was Archidiche became a subject of song over all
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.[118] Of Rhodopis then I shall say no
more.
136. After Mykerinos the priests said Asychis became king of Egypt,
and he made for Hephaistos the temple gateway[119] 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[120] 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 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 one 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;
137, 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 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[121] 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 built with more cost, none more than this is a pleasure to
the eyes. Now Bubastis in the Hellenic tongue is Artemis, 138, 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.
139. 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 of 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,[122] 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.
140. 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.[123] This island none was able to find
before Amyrtaios; that is, for more than seven hundred years[124] 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.
141. 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[125] 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[126] 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 himself would 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."
142. 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 arose 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;[127] 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.
143. 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 this, 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."
144. 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[128] 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.
145. Among the Hellenes Heracles and Dionysos and Pan are accounted
the latest-born of the gods; but with the Egyptians Pan is a very
ancient god, and he is one of those which are called the 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.
146. 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.[129] 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[130] 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; 147,
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).
148. 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 the 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.
149. 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[131] (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[132] when the water comes in.
150. 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.
151. 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.
152.
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 Saïs 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, one of the Egyptians, not having before seen men 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.
153.
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.
154. 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":[133] 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: 155, and of the Oracle which is
in Egypt I have made mention often before this, and now I will 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[134] 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[134] of Leto made of one
single stone as regards both height and length, and of which all the
walls are in these two directions equal, each being forty cubits; and
for the covering in of the roof there lies another stone upon the top,
the cornice measuring four cubits.[135]
156. This house[134] 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[134] 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 Æschylus the son of Euphorion took[136] 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; 157, 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.
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