CHAPTER VI.

THIRD LINE; FROM THE TWELVE KINGS TO AMASIS.

What things both other men and the Egyptians agree in saying occurred in this country, I shall now proceed to relate, and shall add to them some things of my own observation. The Egyptians having become free, after the reign of the priest of Vulcan, since they were at no time able to live without a king, divided all Egypt into twelve parts and established twelve others. These contracted intermarriages, and agreed that they would not attempt the subversion of one another, and would maintain the strictest friendship. They made these regulations and strictly upheld them, for the reason that it had been foretold them by an oracle when they first assumed the government, "that whoever among them should offer a libation in the temple of Vulcan from a bronze bowl, should be king of all Egypt"; for they used to assemble in all the temples. Now, being determined to leave in common a memorial of themselves, they built a labyrinth, a little above the lake of Mœris, situated near that called the city of Crocodiles; this I have myself seen, and found it greater than can be described. For if any one should reckon up all the buildings and public works of the Greeks, they would be found to have cost less labor and expense than this labyrinth alone, though the temple in Ephesus is deserving of mention, and also that in Samos. The pyramids likewise were beyond description, and each of them comparable to many of the great Greek structures. Yet the labyrinth surpasses even the pyramids. For it has twelve courts enclosed with walls, with doors opposite each other, six facing the north, and six the south, contiguous to one another; and the same exterior wall encloses them. It contains two kinds of rooms, some under ground and some above, to the number of three thousand, fifteen hundred of each. The rooms above ground I myself went through and saw, and relate from personal inspection. But the underground rooms I know only from report; for the Egyptians who have charge of the building would, on no account, show me them, saying that they held the sepulchres of the kings who originally built this labyrinth, and of the sacred crocodiles. I can therefore only relate what I have learnt by hearsay concerning the lower rooms; but the upper ones, which surpass all human works, I myself saw. The passages through the corridors, and the windings through the courts, from their great variety, presented a thousand occasions of wonder, as I passed from a court to the rooms, and from the rooms to halls, and to other corridors from the halls, and to other courts from the rooms. The roofs of all these are of stone, as also are the walls; but the walls are full of sculptured figures. Each court is surrounded with a colonnade of white stone, closely fitted. And adjoining the extremity of the labyrinth is a pyramid, forty orgyæ in height, on which large figures are carved, and a way to it has been made under ground.

Yet more wonderful than this labyrinth is the lake named from Mœris, near which this labyrinth is built; its circumference measures three thousand six hundred stades, or a distance equal to the sea-coast of Egypt. The lake stretches lengthways, north and south, being in depth in the deepest part fifty orgyæ. That it is made by hand and dry, this circumstance proves, for about the middle of the lake stand two pyramids, each rising fifty orgyæ above the surface of the water, and the part built under water extends to an equal depth; on each of these is placed a stone statue, seated on a throne. Thus these pyramids are one hundred orgyæ in height. The water in this lake does not spring from the soil, for these parts are excessively dry, but it is conveyed through a channel from the Nile, and for six months it flows into the lake, and six months out again into the Nile. And during the six months that it flows out it yields a talent of silver every day to the king's treasury from the fish; but when the water is flowing into it, twenty minæ. The people of the country told me that this lake discharges itself under ground into the Syrtis of Libya, running westward toward the interior by the mountain above Memphis. But when I did not see anywhere a heap of soil from this excavation, for this was an object of curiosity to me, I inquired of the people who lived nearest the lake, where the soil that had been dug out was to be found; they told me where it had been carried, and easily persuaded me, because I had heard that a similar thing had been done at Nineveh, in Assyria. For certain thieves formed a design to carry away the treasures of Sardanapalus, King of Nineveh, which were very large, and preserved in subterraneous treasuries; the thieves, therefore, beginning from their own dwellings, dug under ground by estimated measurement to the royal palace, and the soil that was taken out of the excavations, when night came on, they threw into the river Tigris, that flows by Nineveh; and so they proceeded until they had effected their purpose. The same method I heard was adopted in digging the lake in Egypt, except that it was not done by night, but during the day; for the Egyptians who dug out the soil carried it to the Nile, and the river receiving it, soon dispersed it.

While the twelve kings continued to observe justice, in course of time, as they were sacrificing in the temple of Vulcan, and were about to offer a libation on the last day of the festival, the high priest, mistaking the number, brought out eleven of the twelve golden bowls with which he used to make the libation. Whereupon he who stood last of them, Psammitichus, since he had not a bowl, having taken off his helmet, which was of bronze, held it out and made the libation. All the other kings were in the habit of wearing helmets, and at that time had them on. Psammitichus therefore, without any sinister intention, held out his helmet; but they having taken into consideration what was done by Psammitichus, and the oracle that had foretold to them, "that whoever among them should offer a libation from a bronze bowl, should be sole king of Egypt"; calling to mind the oracle, did not think it right to put him to death, since upon examination they found that he had done it by no premeditated design. But they determined to banish him to the marshes, having divested him of the greatest part of his power; and they forbade him to leave the marshes, or have any intercourse with the rest of Egypt. With the design of avenging himself on his persecutors, he sent to the city of Buto to consult the oracle of Latona, the truest oracle that the Egyptians have, and the answer was returned "that vengeance would come from the sea, when men of bronze should appear." He was very incredulous that men of bronze would come to assist him; but not long after a stress of weather compelled some Ionians and Carians, who had sailed out for the purpose of piracy, to bear away to Egypt; and when they had disembarked and were clad in bronze armor, an Egyptian, who had never before seen men clad in such manner, went to the marshes to Psammitichus, and told him that men of bronze had arrived from the sea, and were ravaging the plains. He felt at once that the oracle was accomplished, and treated these Ionians and Carians in a friendly manner, and by promising them great things, persuaded them to join with him; and, with their help and that of such Egyptians as were well disposed toward him, he overcame the other kings.

Psammitichus, now master of all Egypt, constructed the portico to Vulcan's temple at Memphis that faces the south wind; he built a court for Apis, in which he is fed whenever he appears, opposite the portico, surrounded by a colonnade, and full of sculptured figures; and instead of pillars, statues twelve cubits high are placed under the piazza. Apis, in the language of the Greeks, means Epaphus. To the Ionians, and those who with them had assisted him, Psammitichus gave lands opposite each other, with the Nile flowing between. These bear the name of "Camps." He royally fulfilled all his promises; and he moreover put Egyptian children under their care to be instructed in the Greek language; from whom the present interpreters in Egypt are descended. The Ionians and the Carians continued for a long time to inhabit these lands, situated near the sea, a little below the city of Bubastis. They were the first people of a different language who settled in Egypt. The docks for their ships, and the ruins of their buildings, were to be seen in my time in the places from which they had removed.

Psammitichus reigned in Egypt fifty-four years; during twenty-nine of which he sat down before and besieged Azotus, a large city of Syria, until he took it. This Azotus, of all the cities we know of, held out against a siege the longest period. Neco was son of Psammitichus, and became king of Egypt: he first set about the canal that leads to the Red Sea, which Darius the Persian afterward completed. Its length is a voyage of four days, and in width it was dug so that two triremes might sail rowed abreast. The water is drawn into it from the Nile, and enters it a little above the city Bubastis. The canal passes near the Arabian city Patumos, and reaches to the Red Sea. In the digging of it one hundred and twenty thousand Egyptians perished in the reign of Neco.

Psammis his son reigned only six years over Egypt. He made an expedition into Ethiopia, and shortly afterward died, Apries his son succeeding to the kingdom. He, next to his grandfather Psammitichus, enjoyed greater prosperity than any of the former kings, during a reign of five and twenty years, in which period he marched an army against Sidon, and engaged the Tyrians by sea. But it was destined for him to meet with adversity. For, having sent an army against the Cyrenæans, he met with a signal defeat. And the Egyptians, complaining of this, revolted from him, suspecting that Apries had designedly sent them to certain ruin, in order that they might be destroyed, and he might govern the rest of the Egyptians with greater security. Both those that returned and the friends of those who perished, being very indignant at this, openly revolted against him. Apries, having heard of this, sent Amasis to appease them by persuasion. But when he had come to them, and was urging them to desist from their enterprise, one of the Egyptians, standing behind him, placed a helmet on his head, and said: "I put this on you to make you king." And this action was not at all disagreeable to Amasis, as he presently showed. When Apries heard of this, he armed his auxiliaries and marched against the Egyptians with Carian and Ionian auxiliaries to the number of thirty thousand. They met near the city Momemphis, and prepared to engage with each other. Apries had a palace in the city of Sais that was spacious and magnificent.

There are seven classes of people among the Egyptians—priests, warriors, herdsmen, swineherds, tradesmen, interpreters, and pilots. Their warriors are called Calasiries or Hermotybies. The Hermotybies number, when they are most numerous, a hundred and sixty thousand. None of these learn any business or mechanical art, but apply themselves wholly to military affairs. The Calasiries number two hundred and fifty thousand men: nor are these allowed to practise any art, but they devote themselves to military pursuits alone, the son succeeding to his father.

When Apries, leading his auxiliaries, and Amasis, all the Egyptians, met together at Momemphis, the foreigners fought well, but being far inferior in numbers, were, on that account, defeated. Apries is said to have been of opinion that not even a god could deprive him of his kingdom, so securely did he think himself established; but he was beaten, taken prisoner, and carried back to Sais, to that which was formerly his own palace, but which now belonged to Amasis: here he was maintained for some time in the royal palace, and Amasis treated him well. But at length the Egyptians complaining that he did not act rightly in preserving a man who was the greatest enemy both to them and to him, he delivered Apries to the Egyptians. They strangled him, and buried him in his ancestral sepulchre, in the sacred precinct of Minerva, very near the temple, on the left hand as you enter.

Apries being thus dethroned, Amasis, who was of the Saitic district, reigned in his stead; the name of the city from which he came was Siuph. At first the Egyptians held him in no great estimation, as having been formerly a private person, and of no illustrious family; but afterward he conciliated them by an act of address, without any arrogance. He had an infinite number of treasures among them a golden foot-pan, in which Amasis himself and all his guests were accustomed to wash their feet. This he broke in pieces, had the statue of a god made from it, and placed it in the most suitable part of the city. The Egyptians flocked to the image and paid it the greatest reverence. Thus, Amasis called the Egyptians together and said: "This statue was made out of the foot-pan in which the Egyptians formerly spat and washed their feet, and which they then so greatly reverenced; now, the same has happened to me as to the foot-pan; for though I was before but a private person, I now am your king; you must therefore honor and respect me." By this means he won over the Egyptians, so that they thought fit to obey him. He adopted the following method of managing his affairs: early in the morning, until the time of full-market, he assiduously despatched the business brought before him; after that he drank and jested with his companions, and talked loosely and sportively. But his friends, offended at this, admonished him, saying: "You do not, O king, control yourself properly, in making yourself too common. For it becomes you, who sit on a venerable throne, to pass the day in transacting public business; thus the Egyptians would know that they are governed by a great man, and you would be better spoken of. But now you act in a manner not at all becoming a king." But he answered them: "They who have bows, when they want to use them, bend them; but when they have done using them, they unbend them; for if the bow were to be kept always bent, it would break. Such is the condition of man; if he should incessantly attend to serious business, and not give himself up sometimes to sport, he would shortly become mad or stupefied. I, being well aware of this, give up a portion of my time to each."

He built an admirable portico to the temple of Minerva at Sais, far surpassing all others both in height and size, as well as in the dimensions and quality of the stones; he likewise dedicated large statues, and huge andro-sphinxes, and brought other stones of a prodigious size for repairs: some from the quarries near Memphis; but those of greatest magnitude, from the city of Elephantine, distant from Sais a passage of twenty days. But that which I rather the most admire, is this: he brought a building of one stone from the city of Elephantine, and two thousand men, who were appointed to convey it, were occupied three whole years in its transport, and these men were all pilots. The length of this chamber, outside, is twenty-one cubits, the breadth fourteen, and the height eight. But inside, the length is eighteen cubits and twenty digits, the width twelve cubits, and the height five cubits. This chamber is placed near the entrance of the sacred precinct; for they say that he did not draw it within the precinct for the following reason: the architect, as the chamber was being drawn along, heaved a deep sigh, being wearied with the work, over which so long a time had been spent; whereupon Amasis, making a religious scruple of this, would not suffer it to be drawn any farther. Some persons however say, that one of the men employed at the levers was crushed to death by it, and that on that account it was not drawn into the precinct. Amasis dedicated in all the most famous temples, works admirable for their magnitude; and amongst them, at Memphis, the reclining colossus before the temple of Vulcan, of which the length is seventy-five feet; and on the same base stand two statues of Ethiopian stone, each twenty feet in height, one on each side of the temple. There is also at Sais another similar statue, lying in the same manner as that at Memphis. It was Amasis also who built the temple to Isis at Memphis, which is spacious and well worthy of notice.

Under the reign of Amasis, Egypt is said to have enjoyed the greatest prosperity, both in respect to the benefits derived from the river to the land, and from the land to the people; and it is said to have contained at that time twenty thousand inhabited cities. Amasis it was who established the law among the Egyptians, that every Egyptian should annually declare to the governor of his district, by what means he maintained himself; and if he failed to do this, or did not show that he lived by honest means, he should be punished with death. Solon the Athenian brought this law from Egypt and established it at Athens. Amasis, being partial to the Greeks, bestowed other favors on various of the Greeks, and gave the city of Naucratis for such as arrived in Egypt to dwell in; and to such as did not wish to settle there, but only to trade by sea, he granted places where they might erect altars and temples to the gods. Now, the most spacious of these sacred buildings, which is also the most renowned and frequented, called the Hellenium, was erected at the common charge of the following cities: of the Ionians,—Chios, Teos, Phocæa, and Clazomenæ; of the Dorians,—Rhodes, Cnidus, Halicarnassus, Phaselis; and of the Æolians,—Mitylene alone. So that this temple belongs to them, and these cities appoint officers to preside over the mart: and whatever other cities claim a share in it, claim what does not belong to them. Besides this, the people of Ægina built a temple to Jupiter for themselves; and the Samians another to Juno, and the Milesians one to Apollo. Naucratis was anciently the only place of resort for merchants, and there was no other in Egypt: and if a man arrived at any other mouth of the Nile, he was obliged to swear "that he had come there against his will"; and having taken such an oath, he must sail in the same ship to the Canopic mouth; but if he should be prevented by contrary winds from doing so, he was forced to unload his goods and carry them in barges round the Delta until he reached Naucratis. So great were the privileges of Naucratis. When the Amphyctions contracted to build the temple that now stands at Delphi for three hundred talents—for the temple that was formerly there had been burned by accident, and it fell upon the Delphians to supply a fourth part of the sum—the Delphians went about from city to city to solicit contributions, and brought home no small amount from Egypt. For Amasis gave them a thousand talents of alum, and the Greeks who were settled in Egypt twenty minæ.

Amasis also dedicated offerings in Greece. In the first place, a gilded statue of Minerva at Cyrene, and his own portrait painted; secondly, to Minerva in Lindus two stone statues and a linen corselet well worthy of notice; thirdly, to Juno at Samos two images of himself carved in wood, which stood in the large temple even in my time, behind the doors. He was the first who conquered Cyprus, and subjected it to the payment of tribute.

[12] By the Greek word Πόλος Herodotus means "a concave dial," shaped like the vault of heaven.

[13] Iliad, vi., 289.

[14] Odyssey, iv., 227.

[15] Odyssey, iv., 351.

_BOOK III. THALIA._