THE HISTORY OF THE SECOND BOOK, ENTITLED EUTERPÉ. 1. On the death of Cyrus, Cambyses his son by Cassandané daughter of Pharnaspes took the kingdom. Cassandané had died in the lifetime of Cyrus, who had made a great mourning for her at her death, and had commanded all the subjects of his empire to observe the like. Cambyses, the son of this lady and of Cyrus, regarding the Ionian and Æolian Greeks as vassals of his father, took them with him in his expedition against Egypt1 among the other nations which owned his sway. 1 The date of the expedition of Cambyses against Egypt cannot be fixed with absolute certainty. Manetho, whose authority is of the greatest importance, gave Cambyses, according to Africanus (ap. Syncell, p. 141), a reign of six years in Egypt, which would place his invasion in B.C. 527. Eusebius, however (Chron. Can. Pars I. p. 105), reports Manetho differently, and himself agrees nearly with Diodorus (i. 68), who puts the expedition in the 3rd year of the 63rd Olympiad, or B.C. 525. This date, which is the one ordinarily received, is, on the whole, the most probable. It is curious that Herodotus, whose principal object, in Books i. to v., is to trace the gradual growth of the Persian power, should say nothing directly of the first four years of Cambyses, omitting thereby so imVOL. II. portant an event as the subjection of Phoenicia, which was certainly accomplished by him. (See below, iii. 34, and comp. note to Book iii. ch. 19.) This period probably contained, besides the submission of Phoenicia, and of Cyprus, the reduction or submission of Cilicia, which lay in the same quarter. Cilicia which was independent of the great Lydian kingdom (suprà, i. 28), and which was not reduced, so far as appears, by either Cyrus or Harpagus,-for the contrary statement of Xenophon (Cyrop. 1. i. § 4), who ascribes to Cyrus the conquest of Cilicia, Cyprus, Phoenicia, and Egypt (!) deserves no creditmust have been added to the empire either by Cambyses or by Darius, and is most probably a conquest of the former. These events would serve to occupy Cambyses during his B ہو 8 BOOK II. 2. Now the Egyptians, before the reign of their king Psammetichus, believed themselves to be the most ancient of mankind. Since Psammetichus, however, made an attempt to discover who were actually the primitive race, they have been of opinion that while they surpass all other nations, the Phrygians surpass them in antiquity. This king, finding it impossible to make out by dint of inquiry what men were the most ancient, contrived the following method of discovery :He took two children of the common sort, and gave them over to a herdsmen to bring up at his folds, strictly charging him to let no one utter a word in their presence, but to keep them in a sequestered cottage, and from time to time introduce goats to their apartment, see that they got their fill of milk, and in all other respects look after them. His object herein was to know, after the indistinct babblings of infancy were over, what word they would first articulate. It happened as he had anticipated. The herdsman obeyed his orders for two years, and at first four years, and explain the reason why he deferred the Egyptian expedition, already designed by Cyrus (i. 153), till his fifth. This affectation of extreme antiquity is strongly put by Plato in his Timæus (p. 22. B), where the Greek nation is taxed by the Egyptians with being in its infancy as compared with them. According to the account which Herodotus gives below (ch. 142), the priests in some places would seem to have pretended, in their discussions with foreigners, to an antiquity of above 11,000 years for their nation. The entire number of years, however, assigned by Manetho to his 30 dynasties of kings did not greatly exceed 5000, and Syncellus reports Manetho as claiming for the monarchy no longer actual duration than 3555 years before the conquest by Alex. ander. (See Müller's Fr. Hist. Gr., vol. ii. p. 534.) Even this view, however, seems to be extravagant, for it places the accession of Menes in B.C. 3887, which is considerably before the Deluge, according to the highest computation. Still the Egyptian numbers are moderate compared with those of some other nations. The Babylonians counted 468,000 years from their first king Alorus to the conquest by Cyrus (Beros. ap. Euseb. Chron. Can. i. p. 5-18; compare Brandis, Rerum Ass. Temp. Emendata, pp. 16-17 ;) and the Indians and Chinese trace their history for a still longer period. The Egyptian claims to a high relative antiquity had, no doubt, a solid basis of truth. It is probable that a settled monarchy was established in Egypt earlier than in any other country. Babylonian history does not go back beyond B.C. 2286. Egyptian begins nearly 500 years earlier. the end of that time, on his one day opening the door of their room and going in, the children both ran up to him with outstretched arms, and distinctly said "Becos." When this first happened the herdsman took no notice; but afterwards when he observed, on coming often to see after them, that the word was constantly in their mouths, he informed his lord, and by his command brought the children into his presence. Psammetichus then himself heard them say the word, upon which he proceeded to make inquiry what people there was who called anything "becos," and hereupon he learnt that "becos" was the Phrygian name for bread. In consideration of this circumstance the Egyptians yielded their claims, and admitted the greater antiquity of the Phrygians. 3. That these were the real facts I learnt at Memphis from the priests of Vulcan. The Greeks, among other foolish tales, relate that Psammetichus had the children brought up by women whose tongues he had previously cut out; but the priests said their bringing up was such as I have stated.above. I got much other information also from conversation with these priests while I was at Memphis, and I even went to Heliopolis and to Thebes,5 expressly to try whether the priests of those places would agree in their accounts with the priests 4 The word Békos has been thought connected with the German "backen" and our "bake." Lassen, however, throws doubt on this connexion, and suggests a formation from the Sanscrit root pac, which becomes (he says) in Greek Ten-w, Latin coq-uo, German coch-en, our "cook," Servian pec-en, &c. (See his Essay 'Ueber die Lykis. chen Inschriften, und die Alten Sprachen Klein Asiens,' p. 369.) But this connexion, which may be allowed, does not prevent the other from being also real. See on this point, and on the general subject of the Phrygian language, the Essays appended to Book i. Essay xi., "On the Ethnic Affinities of the Nations of Western Asia," § 12. If the story has any truth in it, the children probably (as Larcher ob serves) were imitating the bleating of the goats. (See note in Appendix to this Book, CH. i. § 1.) 5 The name of Thebes is almost always written in the plural by the Greeks and Romans-Bai, Thebaæbut Pliny writes, "Thebe portarum centum nobilis fama." The Egyptian name of Thebes was Ap, or A'pé, the head," or "capital." This, with the feminine article, became Tápé, and in the Memphitic dialect Thapé, pronounced, as by the Copts, Thaba, whence On Ba in Ionic Greek. The oldest known monuments in Western Thebes were of Anun-m-he I. at Karnak, and of his successor Osirtasen I., who ruled immediately after the 6th dynasty ended at Memphis, about B.C. 2080.-[G. W.] 4 THE EGYPTIAN SOLAR YEAR. Book II. at Memphis. The Heliopolitans have the reputation of being the best skilled in history of all the Egyptians. What they told me concerning their religion it is not my intention to repeat, except the names of their deities, which I believe all men know equally. If I relate anything else concerning these matters, it will only be when compelled to do so by the course of my narrative.7 4. Now with regard to mere human matters, the accounts which they gave, and in which all agreed, were the following. The Egyptians, they said, were the first to discover the solar year, and to portion out its course into twelve parts. They obtained this knowledge from the stars. (To my mind they contrive their year much more cleverly than the Greeks, for these last every other year intercalate a whole month, but the Egyptians, dividing the year into twelve months of thirty days each, add every year a space of five days besides, whereby the circuit of the seasons is made to return with uniformity.") The Egyptians, they went on to affirm, first brought into use the names of the twelve gods,10 which the Greeks adopted 6 Heliopolis was the great seat of learning, and the university of Egypt; and that it was one of the oldest cities is proved by the obelisk of Osir. tasen I. of the 12th dynasty. See below note on ch. 8.-[G. W.] 7 For instances of the reserve which Herodotus here promises, see chapters 45, 46, 47, 48, 61, 62, 65, 81, 132, 170, and 171. The secrecy in matters of religion, which was no doubt enjoined upon Herodotus by the Egyptian priests, did not seem strange to a Greek, who was accustomed to it in the "mysteries" of his own country. men. 8 Vide suprà, i. 32, and see note ad loc. 9 This at once proves they intercalated the quarter day, making their year to consist of 3654 days, without which the seasons could not return to the same periods. The fact of Hero. dotus not understanding their method of intercalation does not argue (as Goguet seems to think) that the Egyptians were ignorant of it. Their having fixed the Sothic period in 1322 B.C., and ascertained that 1460 Sothic were equal to 1461 vulgar or "vague" years, as well as the state. ments of ancient authors, decide the question. But for the date of a king's reign they used the old year of 360 days; and the months were not reckoned from his accession, but were part of the current year. Thus, if he came to the throne on the 10th of the last month of the year, or Mesóré, he would date in the 1st year, the 12th month, the 10th day; and his second year would be in the following month Thoth, or 25 days after his accession. The Jews appear to have done the same. (See the Appendix to this Book, CH. ii.)-[G. W.] 10 Some suppose these to be the twelve Gods of Olympus, the same as the Consentes of the Romans, given by Varro, CHAP. 3-5. THE TWELVE GODS. 5 from them; and first erected altars, images, and temples to the Gods; and also first engraved upon stone the figures of animals. In most of these cases they proved to me that what they said was true. And they told me that the first man1 who ruled over Egypt was Mên,2 and that in his time all Egypt, except the Thebaic canton, was a marsh, none of the land below lake Moris then showing itself above the surface of the water. This is a distance of seven days' sail from the sea up the river. 5. What they said of their country seemed to me very "Juno, Vesta, Minerva, Ceres, Diana, Venus, Mercurius, Jovi, Neptunus, Vulcanus, and that they do not refer to any ar- According to the chronological tables of the Egyptians the Gods were represented to have reigned first, and after them Menes the Thinite; and the same is found recorded in the Turin Papyrus of Kings, as well as in Manetho and other writers. Manetho gives them in this order-1. Vulcan (Pthah); 2. Helios (Re), the Sun; 3. Agathodæmon (Hor. Hat, or possibly Noum); 4. Chronos (Seb); 5. Osiris; 6. Typhon (properly Seth); and 7. Horus. In the Papyrus there remain only Seb, Osiris, Seth, Horus, Thoth, Thmei, (or Mei "Truth"), and apparently Horus (the Younger), who was "the last 8 (See God who reigned in Egypt." curse 2 Herodotus does not call this king Menes, or Menas (as Diodorus, i. 45), but Mên. The Egyptian form is M'na according to Bunsen and Lepsius. Note, besides the improbability of such a change, the fact that Menes was the reputed founder of Memphis, which is far to the north of this lake; and that Busiris, near the coast (the reputed burial-place of Osiris), Buto, Pelusium, and other towns of the Delta, were admitted by the Egyp tians to be of the earliest date.-[G. W.] |