Concerning the two oracles, that of the Hellenes, and the 54 other in Libya, the following account is given by the Egyptians. The priests of Thebaan Jupiter assert," That two consecrated women 95 were carried off by Phoenicians; that, it was ascertained, one of them was sold, to be taken into Libya; the other was disposed of to the Hellenes: that these women were the original foundresses of the oracles, in the "said nations." I asked, how they could know so positively that this was the case: to which their reply was: that diligent search was made by them after those women; but they "were unable to find them; and were subsequently made acquainted with what they had accordingly stated concern"ing the two women." Such, therefore, was the account I 55 heard from the priests at Thebes: the following, however, is stated by the women that pronounce the oracles at Dodona. Two black doves flew away from Thebes in Egypt: one "reached Libya; the other directed her flight to them. That "the dove perched in an oak-tree", and, with human voice, 66 proclaimed, it behoved an oracle of Jove should be there "established. They took this to be a divine token to them, "and did accordingly. They add, that the other dove ar"rived in Libya, and ordered the Libyans to found the "oracle of Ammon," which is also one of Jupiter's. The priestesses of Dodona said the same; both the eldest, named Promenia, and the juniors, called Timarete, and Nicandra: and all the Dodonaan people belonging to the holy precinct agreed with them. My opinion of these things is, that if it 56 was true that the Phoenicians did carry off the consecrated women, and that they were sold, one into Libya, and the other into Hellas, I presume that the latter was disposed of to some people of Thesprotia, now a part of Hellas, previously called Pelasgia; and that, reduced to slavery, she erected a temple to Jupiter under a green oak 99; as it was natural for a servant in the temple of Jupiter at Thebes to think of the place from which she came and from this arose the oracle, If we read ignias, Herodotus manifestly contradicts his statement, c. 35. Valckenaer proposes yuvaixas igas [as in c. 56], which will signify sacred women;' such, probably, as were employed to attend the temple and the priests, but were not admitted to the honour of priesthood.-Larcher. 95 is Aßún sentiras. The prepo. sition is, with the accusative, expresses motion: it would therefore be incorrect to translate was sold in Libya.'-Larcher. 97 The pyès of the Greeks is not the same with the fagus of the Latins. The latter is the beech; the former a species of oak.-Larcher. Schneider considers it to be the quercus esculus of Linnæus.-Schneid. Gr. Ger. Lex. 98 Schweighæuser proposes under a real oak,' inferring that the other particulars of this tradition were allegorical. when the woman had attained a knowledge of the Hellenic language; and the report originated with her, that her sister had been sold in the same manner by the Phoenicians, to go 57 into Libya. I presume, likewise, that the women were called doves by the people of Dodona; for this reason, that they were foreigners, and appeared to them to chatter like birds: after a time, they say, the dove spoke with human voice; that was, when the woman began to speak intelligibly: so long as she spoke a foreign tongue, they imagined she chattered as a bird; but how could a dove, of all things, speak like a human being? By saying that the bird was black, they give us to understand the woman was an Egyptian". The oracle at Thebes of Egypt, and that at Dodona, resemble each other very closely. The practice of divination by the victims in temples came likewise from Egypt. 58 Festive congregations 100, processions, and thanksgivings 10 to the gods were first introduced by the Egyptians, from whom the Hellenes learned the same practices: the early adoption of these rites by the Egyptians, and their comparatively modern establishment among the Hellenes, afford suffi59 cient proof of my assertion 102. The Egyptians have festive meetings more than once in every year: the greatest and the most rigidly-observed festival is that of Diana, at Bubastis; the second, that of Isis, at Busiris: the largest temple of Isis is in this town, which stands in the centre of the Egyptian Delta: Isis, when translated, signifies Ceres. The third festival is celebrated at Saïs, in honour of Minerva; the fourth at Heliopolis, to the Sun; the fifth at Buto, in honour of 60 Latona; the sixth at Papremis, to Mars. Those, accordingly, who come by water to Bubastis act in the following manner. Men and women embark together; vast numbers of both sexes are seen in every barge: some of the women have rattles, with which they make a noise 103, some of the men also play on the fife, in every boat: the rest of the women and men sing, and clap their hands. When, in their progress, they arrive at any town, they push their bark to land; where some of the women do as I have described, while others scoff and scream at the women belonging to the place: some also dance; while others, standing forth, pull up 99 The Egyptians were black: see chap. 104. 100 Пavyugs, Panegyris, Festorum dierum celebratio. Schweig. Lex. Herod. 101 Herodotus gives to goraywyas the meaning of solemn sacrifice' and 'feast,' called, in later times, gordu. Schneid. Lex. 102 φαίνονται ποιούμεναι. This mode of speech does not express a doubt; it rather contains an affirmation. Larcher. See Viger. sect. xiii. Reg. 1. Matt. 548, 5. 103 The xgoradov was a sort of rattle, made of a splitten reed, xáλauss ἐσχισμένος. their clothes and exhibit their persons. The same thing takes place at every town on the river-side: and when they have reached Bubastis, they celebrate the feast, and offer up great sacrifices more grape-wine is consumed at this feast than in all the rest of the year besides. The congregated multitude of men and women, without reckoning the children, amounts, the people of Bubastis say, to seven hundred thousand. In what manner the feast of Isis is kept at Busiris 61 has been already described by me 10: there, accordingly, after the sacrifice, all the men and women, to the amount of many myriads, beat themselves on the breast, to the honour of whom I am not at liberty to divulge 105. The Carians that are settled in Egypt carry their zeal still farther, inasmuch as they slash their faces with their knives; shewing thus, that they are not Egyptians, but foreigners. At Saïs, after the 62 people have collected to be present at the sacrifices 106, all the inhabitants, on a certain night, kindle a great number of lamps, in the open air, around their houses: the lamps are small flat saucers filled with salt and oil, on the surface of which floats a wick that burns through the whole night; and hence the feast is called the lighting up of lamps 167. The Egyptians who cannot join this festive congregation observe the night of sacrifice, and every one lights up lamps; so that the illumination is not confined to Sais alone, but extends all over Egypt. A religious reason is assigned for this night being so honoured, and the illumination that accompanies it. At 63 Heliopolis and Buto the people come merely, and attend the sacrifices: but at Papremis, not only are the sacrifices of fered up, and the holy ceremonies performed, as in the other towns, but, about sunset, a few of the priests are employed about the image, while the greater part, armed with bludgeons, stand in the portal of the sacred edifice: other men, determined to accomplish certain vows they have made, and more than a thousand strong, each provided also with a bludgeon, stand in a mass opposite: (the image, placed in a small wooden chapel, all gilt, is conveyed the day before to some other holy sojourn:) the few left about the image drag a four-wheel vehicle, with the chapel containing the image: the priests stationed in the portal refuse admittance: 104 Chap. 40. 105 See the end of chap. 4.-rò TÚTOVTAL. This is an example of the middle verb, taken in a reflective sense. The preposition à must be understood with rò di. Larcher. See likewise Matt. 419, 5. In this case, as in several others, Herodotus retrains, through religious scruples, from stating the origin of this cere mony. 106 Matt. 393, 5th parag. 107 This reminds us of the Feast of Lanterns, in China. the devotees, rushing to the assistance of the god, fall on the opponents with their bludgeons: then begins a furious struggle with clubs: they break one another's heads, and many must, I conceive, die of their wounds, although the 64 Egyptians themselves deny that this ever is the case. The people of Papremis assert, that the reason for thus celebrating the feast is this: that the mother of Mars resided in the temple; her son, educated at some distant spot 108, having come to manhood, wished to pay a visit to his mother; but the attendants, who had never before seen him, refused him admittance, and drove him away. Mars therefore collecting men from the other part of the city, handled the servants very severely, and forced an entrance to his mother. In consequence of that event they declare that this sort of combat is instituted on his festival. The Egyptians were also the first to establish the custom, that all communication with women in the sacred places should be prohibited, and that men who had been connected with females should not enter the temples unwashed. For with nearly all nations, except the Egyptians and Hellenes, men may either sleep with women within the sacred edifice, or, rising from a female partner, enter the temple unwashed. These people put mankind on a level with the brute creation; for, say they, other animals and various birds are seen coupling in the shrines, temples, and sacred precincts 10; and, consequently, if this was displeasing to the god, the brute creatures even would not do it. The persons that endeavour to excuse, by such reasoning, the above behaviour, do not by any means meet with my approbation. The Egyptians observe, with scrupulous care, all religious ordinances, and especially the above mentioned. Although Egypt confines on Libya, it is not very abundant 103 ἀπότροφον, μακρὰν τεθραμμένον. He sych. The whole of this passage may be translated in another manner; as the reader will see, if he consults the commentators. 109 This paragraph affords an instance of the three different terms isgòv, væòs, ríμavos. The igo was the whole of the sacred inclosure: it must, in some cases, have been very extensive, for that of the temple of Esculapius, at Epidaurus, the limits of which may to this day be pretty clearly ascertained, contained several hundred acres, and was adorned with theatres, amphitheatres, baths, and other buildings. The vas was the The cell itself of the deity, in which the rou igo. The nice distinction that I have just explained can hardly be attended to in the language of a country which a merciful Providence has long since delivered from the ty ranny of superstition. 110 in animals : those found in this country are all held to be sacred, whether domesticated by men or otherwise. Were I to mention the reasons why they are considered holy, I should be descending in my narrative to religious natters, which I wish, above all things, to avoid": even the few I have superficially spoken of, were mentioned from necessity. The practice with the Egyptians, in respect of animals, is this: curators are appointed for feeding every kind separately they are Egyptian men and women: and the son inherits the dignity of his father. The inhabitants of cities acquit themselves in the following manner of the vows they have made to the gods: when they pray to the god to whom the animal may be consecrated, they shave either the whole heads of their children, or the half, or the third only of their heads: they weigh the hair in scales against silver: whatever that weight may be, they give it to the curator of the animals; in return for which, she cuts up some fish, and gives it as food to them: such, accordingly, is the appointed mode of feeding them. Whoever kills one of these animals, if wilfully, the punishment is death 13: if accidentally, the culprit is bound to pay what fine the priests may impose: it is understood, however, that he who kills an ibis or a vulture, whether wittingly or unwittingly, must necessarily be put to death. Although the domesticated animals are numerous, their 66 numbers would be still greater, were it not for what takes place with the cats. When the females have littered, they no longer seek the company of the males, who, finding it impossible to gratify their desires at that time, have recourse, in consequence, to this artifice: they take away, secretly, the kittens from the females, and, carrying them off, kill them in so doing, however, the males do not devour the young. The female cats, deprived of their kittens, and desirous of others, seek again the company of the males; for the cat is much attached to her offspring. When a fire occurs, a surprising prodigy takes place among the cats: for the Egyptians, not heeding the conflagration, stand at some distance, and give their whole attention to the cats: those animals however slip between, and leap over the ranks of men, to rush into the fire at this, great sorrow takes possession of the Egyptian. When a cat dies, in a house, of a 110 Libya abounded in wild animals of all kinds: it might perhaps have been inferred, that the case was the same with Egypt: this assumption the Historian contradicts. This passage, coupled with a similar one in c. 3, in fin., accounts VOL. I. N for the scrupulousness with which 112 Comp. chap. 3. |