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have been lately introduced. 59. The Egyptians hold public festivals not only once in a year, but several times: that which is best and most rigidly observed, is in the city of Bubastis, in honour of Diana; the second, in the city of Busiris, is in honour of Isis; for in this city is the largest temple of Isis, and it is situated in the middle of the Egyptian Delta. Isis is in the Grecian language called Demeter. The third festival is held at Sais, in honour of Minerva; the fourth, at Heliopolis, in honour of the sun; the fifth, at the city of Buto, in honour of Latona; the sixth, at the city of Papremis, in honour of Mars. 60. Now, when they are being conveyed to the city Bubastis, they act as follows: for men and women embark together, and great numbers of both sexes in every barge some of the women have castanets on which they play, and the men play on the flute during the whole voyage; the rest of the women and men sing and clap their hands together at the same time. When in the course of their passage they come to any town, they lay their barge near to land, and do as follows: some of the women do as I have described; others shout and scoff at the women of the place; some dance, and others stand up and pull up their clothes: this they do at every town by the river-side. When they arrive at Bubastis, they celebrate the feast, offering up great sacrifices; and more wine is consumed at this festival than in all the rest of the year. What with men and women, besides children, they congregate, as the inhabitants say, to the number of seven hundred thousand. 61. I have already related how they celebrate the festival of Isis in the city of Busiris; and besides, all the men and women, to the number of many myriads, beat themselves after the sacrifice; but for whom they beat themselves it were impious for me to divulge. All the Carians that are settled in Egypt do still more than this, in that they cut their foreheads with knives, and thus show themselves to be foreigners and not Egyptians. 62. When they are assembled at the sacrifice, in the city of Sais, they all on a certain night kindle a great number of lamps in the open air, around their houses; the lamps are flat vessels filled with salt and oil, and the wick floats on the surface, and this burns all night; and the festival is thence named "the lighting of lamps." The Egyptians who do not come to this public assembly observe the rite of sacrifice, and all kindle lamps, and this not only in Sais, but throughout

all Egypt. A religious reason is given why this night is illuminated and so honoured. 63. Those who assemble at Heliopolis and Buto perform sacrifices only. But in Papremis they offer sacrifices and perform ceremonies, as in other places; but, when the sun is on the decline, a few priests are occupied about the image, but the greater number stand, with wooden clubs, at the entrance of the temple; while others accomplishing their vows, amounting to more than a thousand men, each armed in like manner, stand in a body on the opposite side. But the image, placed in a small wooden temple, gilded all over, they carry out to another sacred dwelling: then the few who were left about the image draw a four-wheeled carriage, containing the temple and the image that is in it. But the priests, who stand at the entrance, refuse to give them admittance; and the votaries, bringing succour to the god, oppose, and then strike, whereupon an obstinate combat with clubs ensues, and they break one another's heads, and, as I conjecture, many die of their wounds; though the Egyptians deny that any one dies. 64. The inhabitants say they instituted this festival on the following occasion: they say, that the mother of Mars dwelt in this temple, and that Mars, who had been educated abroad, when he reached to man's estate, came, and wished to converse with his mother; and that his mother's attendants, as they had never seen him before, did not allow him to pass them, but repelled him; whereupon he, having collected men from another city, handled the servants roughly, and got access to his mother. In consequence of this, they say that they have instituted this combat on this festival in honour of Mars.

The Egyptians were likewise the first who made it a point of religion that men should abstain from women in the sacred precincts; and not enter unwashed after the use of a woman. For almost all other nations, except the Egyptians and Grecians, have intercourse in sacred places, and enter them unwashed; thinking mankind to be like other animals: therefore, since they see other animals and birds coupling in the shrines and temples of the gods, they conclude that if this were displeasing to the god, the brute creatures even would not do it. Now, they who argue thus, act in a manner that I cannot approve. The Egyptians, then, are beyond measure scru

1 See Book I. ch. 199.

pulous in all things concerning religion, and especially in the above-mentioned particulars.

65. Egypt, though bordering on Libya, does not abound in wild beasts; but all that they have are accounted sacred, as well those that are domesticated as those that are not. But if I should give the reasons why they are consecrated, I must descend in my history to religious matters, which I avoid relating as much as I can; and such as I have touched upon in the course of my narrative, I have mentioned from necessity. They have a custom relating to animals of the following kind. Superintendents, consisting both of men and women, are appointed to feed every kind separately; and the son succeeds the father in this office. All the inhabitants of the cities perform their vows to the superintendents in the following manner having made a vow to the god to whom the animal belongs, they shave either the whole heads of their children, or a half, or a third part of the head, and then weigh the hair in a scale against silver, and whatever the weight may be, they give to the superintendent of the animals; and she in return cuts up some fish, and gives it as food to the animals such is the usual mode of feeding them. Should any one kill one of these beasts, if wilfully, death is the punishment; if by accident, he pays such fine as the priests choose to impose. But whoever kills an ibis or a hawk, whether wilfully or by accident, must necessarily be put to death. 66. Although the domesticated animals are many, they would be much more numerous, were it not for the following accidents which befal the cats. When the females have littered, they no longer seek the company of the males, and they, being desirous of having intercourse with them, are not able to do so; wherefore they have recourse to the following artifice : having taken the young from the females, and carried them away secretly, they kill them; though when they have killed them, they do not eat them. The females being deprived of their young, and desirous of others, again seek the company of the males; for this animal is very fond of its young. When a conflagration takes place, a supernatural impulse seizes on the cats. For the Egyptians, standing at a distance, take care of the cats, and neglect to put out the fire; but the cats, making their escape, and leaping over the men, throw themselves into the fire; and when this happens great lament

In whatever house a

ations are made among the Egyptians. cat dies of a natural death, all the family shave their eyebrows only; but if a dog die, they shave the whole body and the head. 67. All cats that die are carried to certain sacred houses, where being first embalmed, they are buried in the city of Bubastis. All persons bury their dogs in sacred vaults within their own city; and ichneumons are buried in the same manner as the dogs: but field-mice and hawks they carry to the city of Buto; the ibis to Hermopolis; the bears, which are few in number, and the wolves, which are not much larger than foxes, they bury wherever they are found lying.

68. The following is the nature of the crocodile. During the four coldest months it eats nothing, and though it has four feet, it is amphibious. It lays its eggs on land, and there hatches them. It spends the greater part of the day on the dry ground, but the whole night in the river; for the water is then warmer than the air and dew. Of all living things with which we are acquainted, this, from the least beginning, grows to be the largest. For it lays eggs little larger than those of a goose, and the young is at first in proportion to the egg; but when grown up it reaches to the length of seventeen cubits, and even more. It has the eyes of a pig, large teeth, and projecting tusks, in proportion to the body: it is the only animal that has no tongue: it does not move the lower jaw, but is the only animal that brings down its upper jaw to the under one. It has strong claws, and a skin covered with scales, that cannot be broken on the back. It is blind in the water, but very quick-sighted on land; and because it lives for the most part in the water, its mouth is filled with leeches. All other birds and beasts avoid him, but he is at peace with the trochilus, because he receives benefit from that bird. For when the crocodile gets out of the water on land, and then opens its jaws, which it does most commonly towards the west, the trochilus enters its mouth and swallows the leeches the crocodile is so well pleased with this service that it never hurts the trochilus. 69. With some of the Egyptians crocodiles are sacred; with others not, but they treat them as enemies. Those who dwell about Thebes, and Lake Mœris, consider them to be very sacred; and they each of them train up a crocodile, which is taught to be quite

tame; and they put crystal and gold ear-rings into their ears, and bracelets on their fore paws; and they give them appointed and sacred food, and treat them as well as possible while alive, and when dead they embalm them, and bury them in sacred vaults. But the people who dwell about the city of Elephantine eat them, not considering them sacred. They are not called crocodiles by the Egyptians, but "champsæ;" the Ionians gave them the name of crocodiles, because they thought they resembled lizards, which are also so called, and which are found in the hedges in their country. 70. The modes of taking the crocodile are many and various, but I shall only describe that which seems to me most worthy of relation. When the fisherman has baited a hook with the chine of a pig, he lets it down into the middle of the river, and holding a young live pig on the brink of the river, beats it; the crocodile, hearing the noise, goes in its direction, and meeting with the chine, swallows it; but the men draw it to land when it is drawn out on shore, the sportsman first of all plasters its eyes with mud; and having done this, afterwards manages it very easily; but until he has done this, he has a great deal of trouble. 71. The hippopotamus is esteemed sacred in the district of Papremis, but not so by the rest of the Egyptians. This is the nature of its shape. It is a quadruped, cloven-footed, with the hoofs of an ox, snub-nosed, has the mane of a horse, projecting tusks, and the tail and neigh of a horse. In size he is equal to a very large ox: his hide is so thick that spear-handles are made of it when dry. 72. Otters are also met with in the river, which are deemed sacred and amongst fish, they consider that which is called the lepidotus, and the eel, sacred; these they say are sacred to the Nile; and among birds, the vulpanser.

73. There is also another sacred bird, called the phoenix, which I have never seen except in a picture; for it seldom makes its appearance amongst them, only once in five hundred years, as the Heliopolitans affirm: they say that it comes on the death of its sire. If he is like the picture, he is of the following size and description: the plumage of his wings is partly golden-coloured, and partly red; in outline and size he is very like an eagle. They say that he has the following contrivance, which in my opinion is not credible. They say that he comes from Arabia, and brings the body of his father to

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