father, of a square shape and measuring on each side three hundred feet
lacking twenty, built moreover of Ethiopian stone up to half the
height. This pyramid some of the Hellenes say was built by the courtesan
Rhodopis, not therein speaking rightly: and besides this it is evident
to me that they who speak thus do not even know who Rhodopis was,
for otherwise they would not have attributed to her the building of a
pyramid like this, on which have been spent (so to speak) innumerable
thousands of talents: moreover they do not know that Rhodopis flourished
in the reign of Amasis, and not in this king's reign; for Rhodopis
lived very many years later than the kings who left behind them these
pyramids. By descent she was of Thrace, and she was a slave of Iadmon
the son of Hephaistopolis a Samian, and a fellow-slave of Esop the
maker of fables; for he too was once the slave of Iadmon, as was
proved especially by this fact, namely that when the people of Delphi
repeatedly made proclamation in accordance with an oracle, to find some
one who would take up the blood-money for the death of Esop, no one else
appeared, but at length the grandson of Iadmon, called Iadmon also, took
it up; and thus it is showed that Esop too was the slave of Iadmon.
As for Rhodopis, she came to Egypt brought by Xanthes the Samian,
and having come thither to exercise her calling she was redeemed
from slavery for a great sum by a man of Mytilene, Charaxos son of
Scamandronymos and brother of Sappho the lyric poet. Thus was Rhodopis
set free, and she remained in Egypt and by her beauty won so much liking
that she made great gain of money for one like Rhodopis, though not
enough to suffice for the cost of such a pyramid as this. In truth there
is no need to ascribe to her very great riches, considering that the
tithe of her wealth may still be seen even to this time by any one
who desires it: for Rhodopis wished to leave behind her a memorial of
herself in Hellas, namely to cause a thing to be made such as happens
not to have been thought of or dedicated in a temple by any besides, and
to dedicate this at Delphi as a memorial of herself. Accordingly with
the tithe of her wealth she caused to be made spits of iron of size
large enough to pierce a whole ox, and many in number, going as far
therein as her tithe allowed her, and she sent them to Delphi: these
are even at the present time lying there, heaped all together behind the
altar which the Chians dedicated, and just opposite to the cell of the
temple. Now at Naucratis, as it happens, the courtesans are rather apt
to win credit; for this woman first, about whom the story to which I
refer is told, became so famous that all the Hellenes without exception
came to know the name of Rhodopis, and then after her one whose name was
Archidiche became a subject of song all over Hellas, though she was less
talked of than the other. As for Charaxos, when after redeeming Rhodopis
he returned back to Mytilene, Sappho in an ode violently abused him. Of
Rhodopis then I shall say no more.
After Mykerinos the priests said Asychis became king of Egypt, and he
made for Hephaistos the temple gateway which is towards the sunrising,
by far the most beautiful and the largest of the gateways; for while
they all have figures carved upon them and innumerable ornaments of
building besides, this has them very much more than the rest. In this
king's reign they told me that, as the circulation of money was very
slow, a law was made for the Egyptians that a man might have that money
lent to him which he needed, by offering as security the dead body of
his father; and there was added moreover to this law another, namely
that he who lent the money should have a claim also to the whole of the
sepulchral chamber belonging to him who received it, and that the man
who offered that security should be subject to this penalty, if he
refused to pay back the debt, namely that neither the man himself
should be allowed to have burial, when he died, either in that family
burial-place or in any other, nor should he be allowed to bury any of
his kinsmen whom he lost by death. This king desiring to surpass the
kings of Egypt who had arisen before him left as a memorial of himself a
pyramid which he made of bricks and on it there is an inscription
carved in stone and saying thus: "Despise not me in comparison with the
pyramids of stone, seeing that I excel them as much as Zeus excels the
other gods; for with a pole they struck into the lake, and whatever
of the mud attached itself to the pole, this they gathered up and made
bricks, and in such manner they finished me."
Such were the deeds which this king performed: and after him reigned a
blind man of the city of Anysis, whose name was Anysis. In his reign
the Ethiopians and Sabacos the king of the Ethiopians marched upon Egypt
with a great host of men; so this blind man departed, flying to the
fen-country, and the Ethiopian was king over Egypt for fifty years,
during which he performed deeds as follows:--whenever any man of the
Egyptians committed any transgression, he would never put him to death,
but he gave sentence upon each man according to the greatness of the
wrong-doing, appointing them to work at throwing up an embankment before
that city from whence each man came of those who committed wrong. Thus
the cities were made higher still than before; for they were embanked
first by those who dug the channels in the reign of Sesostris, and then
secondly in the reign of the Ethiopian, and thus they were made very
high: and while other cities in Egypt also stood high, I think in the
town at Bubastis especially the earth was piled up. In this city there
is a temple very well worthy of mention, for though there are other
temples which are larger and build with more cost, none more than
this is a pleasure to the eyes. Now Bubastis in the Hellenic tongue
is Artemis, and her temple is ordered thus:--Except the entrance it is
completely surrounded by water; for channels come in from the Nile, not
joining one another, but each extending as far as the entrance of the
temple, one flowing round on the one side and the other on the other
side, each a hundred feet broad and shaded over with trees; and the
gateway has a height of ten fathoms, and it is adorned with figures six
cubits high, very noteworthy. This temple is in the middle of the city
and is looked down upon from all sides as one goes round, for since the
city has been banked up to a height, while the temple has not been moved
from the place where it was at the first built, it is possible to look
down into it: and round it runs a stone wall with figures carved upon
it, while within it there is a grove of very large trees planted round
a large temple-house, within which is the image of the goddess: and the
breadth and length of the temple is a furlong every way. Opposite the
entrance there is a road paved with stone for about three furlongs,
which leads through the market-place towards the East, with a breadth
of about four hundred feet; and on this side and on that grow trees of
height reaching to heaven: and the road leads to the temple of Hermes.
This temple then is thus ordered.
The final deliverance from the Ethiopian came about (they said) as
follows:--he fled away because he had seen in his sleep a vision, in
which it seemed to him that a man came and stood by him and counselled
him to gather together all the priests in Egypt and cut them asunder in
the midst. Having seen this dream, he said that it seemed to him that
the gods were foreshowing him this to furnish an occasion against him,
in order that he might do an impious deed with respect to religion,
and so receive some evil either from the gods or from men: he would not
however do so, but in truth (he said) the time had expired, during
which it had been prophesied to him that he should rule Egypt before
he departed thence. For when he was in Ethiopia the Oracles which the
Ethiopians consult had told him that it was fated for him to rule Egypt
fifty years: since then this time was now expiring, and the vision of
the dream also disturbed him, Sabacos departed out of Egypt of his own
free will.
Then when the Ethiopian had gone away out of Egypt, the blind man came
back from the fen-country and began to rule again, having lived there
during fifty years upon an island which he had made by heaping up ashes
and earth: for whenever any of the Egyptians visited him bringing food,
according as it had been appointed to them severally to do without the
knowledge of the Ethiopian, he bade them bring also some ashes for their
gift. This island none was able to find before Amyrtaios; that is, for
more than seven hundred years the kings who arose before Amyrtaios were
not able to find it. Now the name of this island is Elbo, and its size
is ten furlongs each way.
After him there came to the throne the priest of Hephaistos, whose name
was Sethos. This man, they said, neglected and held in no regard the
warrior class of the Egyptians, considering that he would have no need
of them; and besides other slights which he put upon them, he also
took from them the yokes of corn-land which had been given to them as
a special gift in the reigns of the former kings, twelve yokes to each
man. After this, Sanacharib king of the Arabians and of the Assyrians
marched a great host against Egypt. Then the warriors of the Egyptians
refused to come to the rescue, and the priest, being driven into a
strait, entered into the sanctuary of the temple and bewailed to the
image of the god the danger which was impending over him; and as he was
thus lamenting, sleep came upon him, and it seemed to him in his vision
that the god came and stood by him and encouraged him, saying that he
should suffer no evil if he went forth to meet the army of the Arabians;
for he would himself send him helpers. Trusting in these things seen
in sleep, he took with him, they said, those of the Egyptians who were
willing to follow him, and encamped in Pelusion, for by this way the
invasion came: and not one of the warrior class followed him, but
shop-keepers and artisans and men of the market. Then after they came,
there swarmed by night upon their enemies mice of the fields, and ate up
their quivers and their bows, and moreover the handles of their shields,
so that on the next day they fled, and being without defence of arms
great numbers fell. And at the present time this king stands in the
temple of Hephaistos in stone, holding upon his hand a mouse, and by
letters inscribed he says these words: "Let him who looks upon me learn
to fear the gods."
So far in the story the Egyptians and the priests were they who made
the report, declaring that from the first king down to this priest of
Hephaistos who reigned last, there had been three hundred and forty-one
generations of men, and that in them there had been the same number of
chief-priests and of kings: but three hundred generations of men are
equal to ten thousand years, for a hundred years is three generations
of men; and in the one-and-forty generations which remain, those I mean
which were added to the three hundred, there are one thousand three
hundred and forty years. Thus in the period of eleven thousand three
hundred and forty years they said that there had arisen no god in human
form; nor even before that time or afterwards among the remaining kings
who arise in Egypt, did they report that anything of that kind had come
to pass. In this time they said that the sun had moved four times from
his accustomed place of rising, and where he now sets he had thence
twice had his rising, and in the place from whence he now rises he had
twice had his setting; and in the meantime nothing in Egypt had been
changed from its usual state, neither that which comes from the earth
nor that which comes to them from the river nor that which concerns
diseases or deaths. And formerly when Hecataios the historian was in
Thebes, and had traced his descent and connected his family with a god
in the sixteenth generation before, the priests of Zeus did for him much
the same as they did for me (though I had not traced my descent). They
led me into the sanctuary of the temple, which is of great size, and
they counted up the number, showing colossal wooden statues in number
the same as they said; for each chief-priest there sets up in his
lifetime an image of himself: accordingly the priests, counting and
showing me these, declared to me that each one of them was a son
succeeding his own father, and they went up through the series of images
from the image of the one who had died last, until they had declared
this of the whole number. And when Hecataios had traced his descent and
connected his family with a god in the sixteenth generation, they traced
a descent in opposition to his, besides their numbering, not accepting
it from him that a man had been born from a god; and they traced their
counter-descent thus, saying that each one of the statues had been
_piromis_ son of _piromis_, until they had declared this of the whole
three hundred and forty-five statues, each one being surnamed _piromis_;
and neither with a god nor a hero did they connect their descent. Now
_piromis_ means in the tongue of Hellas "honourable and good man." From
their declaration then it followed, that they of whom the images were
had been of form like this, and far removed from being gods: but in the
time before these men they said that gods were the rulers in Egypt, not
mingling with men, and that of these always one had power at a time;
and the last of them who was king over Egypt was Oros the son of Osiris,
whom the Hellenes call Apollo: he was king over Egypt last, having
deposed Typhon. Now Osiris in the tongue of Hellas is Dionysos.
Among the Hellenes Heracles and Dionysos and Pan are accounted the
lastest-born of the gods; but with the Egyptians Pan is a very ancient
god, and he is one of those which are called eight gods, while Heracles
is of the second rank, who are called the twelve gods, and Dionysos is
of the third rank, namely of those who were born of the twelve gods. Now
as to Heracles I have shown already how many years old he is according
to the Egyptians themselves, reckoning down to the reign of Amasis, and
Pan is said to have existed for yet more years than these, and Dionysos
for the smallest number of years as compared with the others; and even
for this last they reckon down to the reign of Amasis fifteen thousand
years. This the Egyptians say that they know for a certainty, since they
always kept a reckoning and wrote down the years as they came. Now the
Dionysos who is said to have been born of Semele the daughter of Cadmos,
was born about sixteen hundred years before my time, and Heracles who
was the son of Alcmene, about nine hundred years, and that Pan who was
born of Penelope, for of her and of Hermes Pan is said by the Hellenes
to have been born, came into being later than the wars of Troy, about
eight hundred years before my time. Of these two accounts every man may
adopt that one which he shall find the more credible when he hears it.
I however, for my part, have already declared my opinion about them. For
if these also, like Heracles the son of Amphitryon, had appeared before
all men's eyes and had lived their lives to old age in Hellas, I mean
Dionysos the son of Semele and Pan the son of Penelope, then one would
have said that these also had been born mere men, having the names
of those gods who had come into being long before: but as it is, with
regard to Dionysos the Hellenes say that as soon as he was born Zeus
sewed him up in his thigh and carried him to Nysa, which is above Egypt
in the land of Ethiopia; and as to Pan, they cannot say whither he went
after he was born. Hence it has become clear to me that the Hellenes
learnt the names of these gods later than those of the other gods, and
trace their descent as if their birth occurred at the time when they
first learnt their names.
Thus far then the history is told by the Egyptians themselves; but I
will now recount that which other nations also tell, and the Egyptians
in agreement with the others, of that which happened in this land: and
there will be added to this also something of that which I have myself
seen.
Being set free after the reign of the priest of Hephaistos, the
Egyptians, since they could not live any time without a king, set up
over them twelve kings, having divided all Egypt into twelve parts.
These made intermarriages with one another and reigned, making agreement
that they would not put down one another by force, nor seek to get an
advantage over one another, but would live in perfect friendship: and
the reason why they made these agreements, guarding them very strongly
from violation, was this, namely that an oracle had been given to them
at first when they began to exercise their rule, that he of them who
should pour a libation with a bronze cup in the temple of Hephaistos,
should be king of all Egypt (for they used to assemble together in all
the temples). Moreover they resolved to join all together and leave a
memorial of themselves; and having so resolved they caused to be made
a labyrinth, situated a little above the lake of Moiris and nearly
opposite to that which is called the City of Crocodiles. This I saw
myself, and I found it greater than words can say. For if one should
put together and reckon up all the buildings and all the great works
produced by Hellenes, they would prove to be inferior in labour and
expense to this labyrinth, though it is true that both the temple at
Ephesos and that at Samos are works worthy of note. The pyramids also
were greater than words can say, and each one of them is equal to many
works of the Hellenes, great as they may be; but the labyrinth surpasses
even the pyramids. It has twelve courts covered in, with gates facing
one another, six upon the North side and six upon the South, joining on
one to another, and the same wall surrounds them all outside; and there
are in it two kinds of chambers, the one kind below the ground and the
other above upon these, three thousand in number, of each kind fifteen
hundred. The upper set of chambers we ourselves saw, going through them,
and we tell of them having looked upon them with our own eyes; but the
chambers under ground we heard about only; for the Egyptians who had
charge of them were not willing on any account to show them, saying that
here were the sepulchres of the kings who had first built this labyrinth
and of the sacred crocodiles. Accordingly we speak of the chambers below
by what we received from hearsay, while those above we saw ourselves and
found them to be works of more than human greatness. For the passages
through the chambers, and the goings this way and that way through
the courts, which were admirably adorned, afforded endless matter for
marvel, as we went through from a court to the chambers beyond it, and
from the chambers to colonnades, and from the colonnades to other rooms,
and then from the chambers again to other courts. Over the whole of
these is a roof made of stone like the walls; and the walls are covered
with figures carved upon them, each court being surrounded with pillars
of white stone fitted together most perfectly; and at the end of the
labyrinth, by the corner of it, there is a pyramid of forty fathoms,
upon which large figures are carved, and to this there is a way made
under ground.
Such is this labyrinth: but a cause for marvel even greater than this is
afforded by the lake, which is called the lake of Moiris, along the side
of which this labyrinth is built. The measure of its circuit is three
thousand six hundred furlongs (being sixty _schoines_), and this is the
same number of furlongs as the extent of Egypt itself along the sea. The
lake lies extended lengthwise from North to South, and in depth where it
is deepest it is fifty fathoms. That this lake is artificial and formed
by digging is self-evident, for about in the middle of the lake stand
two pyramids, each rising above the water to a height of fifty fathoms,
the part which is built below the water being of just the same height;
and upon each is placed a colossal statue of stone sitting upon a chair.
Thus the pyramids are a hundred fathoms high; and these hundred fathoms
are equal to a furlong of six hundred feet, the fathom being measured as
six feet or four cubits, the feet being four palms each, and the cubits
six. The water in the lake does not come from the place where it is, for
the country there is very deficient in water, but it has been brought
thither from the Nile by a canal; and for six months the water flows
into the lake, and for six months out into the Nile again; and whenever
it flows out, then for the six months it brings into the royal treasury
a talent of silver a day from the fish which are caught, and twenty
pounds when the water comes in. The natives of the place moreover said
that this lake had an outlet under ground to the Syrtis which is in
Libya, turning towards the interior of the continent upon the Western
side and running along by the mountain which is above Memphis. Now since
I did not see anywhere existing the earth dug out of this excavation
(for that was a matter which drew my attention), I asked those who dwelt
nearest to the lake where the earth was which had been dug out. These
told me to what place it had been carried away; and I readily believed
them, for I knew by report that a similar thing had been done at
Nineveh, the city of the Assyrians. There certain thieves formed a
design once to carry away the wealth of Sardanapallos son of Ninos, the
king, which wealth was very great and was kept in treasure-houses under
the earth. Accordingly they began from their own dwelling, and making
estimate of their direction they dug under ground towards the king's
palace; and the earth which was brought out of the excavation they used
to carry away, when night came on, to the river Tigris which flows by
the city of Nineveh, until at last they accomplished that which they
desired. Similarly, as I heard, the digging of the lake in Egypt was
effected, except that it was done not by night but during the day; for
as they dug the Egyptians carried to the Nile the earth which was dug
out; and the river, when it received it, would naturally bear it away
and disperse it. Thus is this lake said to have been dug out.