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The History of Herodotus: Page 15
Volume One - Book II
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158. 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[137] 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[137a] 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.
159. Thus having ceased from the work of the
channel, Necos betook himself to waging 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.
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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.
160. 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, both of their own people and of the other Hellenes equally, 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.
161. 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,[138] 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.
162. 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[139] 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,[140] 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. 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,[141] 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.
163. 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 Saïs, 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.
164. 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,[142]--for all
Egypt is divided into districts.
165. The districts of the Hermotybians are those of Busiris, Saïs, 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.[142a] Of these not one has learnt anything of handicraft, but
they are given up to war entirely.
166. Again the districts of the Calasirians are those of Thebes, Bubastis, Aphthis, Tanis, Mendes,
Sebennytos, Athribis, Pharbaithos, Thmuïs 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[142b] 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.
167. 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 handicrafts.
168. 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[143] 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;[144]
and these had besides their yokes of land an allowance given them for
each day of five pounds weight[144a] of bread to each man, and two
pounds of beef, and four half-pints[145] of wine. This was the
allowance given to those who were serving as the king's bodyguard for
the time being.
169. 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 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 Saïs, 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 Saïs 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.
170. Also at Saïs 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,[146] 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"[147] in Delos.
171. 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.
172. Apries having thus been overthrown, Amasis became king, being of
the district of Saïs, 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.
173. In such manner he won the Egyptians to himself,
so that they consented to be his subjects; and his ordering of affairs
was thus:--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;[148] 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.
174. 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.
175. First in Saïs 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 brought other stones of monstrous size.
Some of these 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 Saïs:
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,[149] 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 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.
176. 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[150] 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.[151] There is also another of stone of the same size in Saïs,
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.
177. 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.
178. 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.[152] 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.
179. 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 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.
180. 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.[153]
181. 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,[154] 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 shalt surely perish[155] more
miserably than any other woman." 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 was 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.
182. 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 Lindson 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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END OF BOOK II
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