An Account of Egypt

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As this Egyptian Sesostris was returning and bringing back many men of
the nations whose lands he had subdued, when he came (said the priests)
to Daphnai in the district of Pelusion on his journey home, his brother
to whom Sesostris had entrusted the charge of Egypt invited him and
with him his sons to a feast; and then he piled the house round with
brushwood and set it on fire: and Sesostris when he discovered this
forthwith took counsel with his wife, for he was bringing with him (they
said) his wife also; and she counselled him to lay out upon the pyre two
of his sons, which were six in number, and so to make a bridge over
the burning mass, and that they passing over their bodies should thus
escape. This, they said, Sesostris did, and two of his sons were burnt
to death in this manner, but the rest got away safe with their father.
Then Sesostris, having returned to Egypt and having taken vengeance on
his brother employed the multitude which he had brought in of those
who whose lands he had subdued, as follows:--these were they drew the
stones which in the reign of this king were brought to the temple of
Hephaistos, being of very good size; and also these were compelled to
dig all the channels which now are in Egypt; and thus (having no such
purpose) they caused Egypt, which before was all fit for riding and
driving, to be no longer fit for this from thenceforth: for from that
time forward Egypt, though it is plain land, has become all unfit for
riding and driving, and the cause has been these channels, which are
many and run in all directions. But the reason why the king cut up
the land was this, namely because those of the Egyptians who had their
cities not on the river but in the middle of the country, being in want
of water when the river went down from them, found their drink brackish
because they had it from wells. For this reason Egypt was cut up: and
they said that this king distributed the land to all the Egyptians,
giving an equal square portion to each man, and from this he made his
revenue, having appointed them to pay a certain rent every year: and
if the river should take away anything from any man's portion, he would
come to the king and declare that which had happened, and the king used
to send men to examine and to find out by measurement how much less the
piece of land had become, in order that for the future the man might pay
less, in proportion to the rent appointed: and I think that thus the art
of geometry was found out and afterwards came into Hellas also. For as
touching the sun-dial and the gnomon and the twelve divisions of the
day, they were learnt by the Hellenes from the Babylonians. He moreover
alone of all the Egyptian kings had rule over Ethiopia; and he left
as memorials of himself in front of the temple of Hephaistos two stone
statues of thirty cubits each, representing himself and his wife,
and others of twenty cubits each representing his four sons: and long
afterwards the priest of Hephaistos refused to permit Dareios the
Persian to set up a statue of himself in front of them, saying that
deeds had not been done by him equal to those which were done by
Sesostris the Egyptian; for Sesostris had subdued other nations besides,
not fewer than he, and also the Scythians; but Dareios had not been able
to conquer the Scythians: wherefore it was not just that he should set
up a statue in front of those which Sesostris had dedicated, if he did
not surpass him in his deeds. Which speech, they say, Dareios took in
good part.

Now after Sesostris had brought his life to an end, his son Pheros,
they told me, received in succession the kingdom, and he made no warlike
expedition, and moreover it chanced to him to become blind by reason of
the following accident:--when the river had come down in flood rising to
a height of eighteen cubits, higher than ever before that time, and had
gone over the fields, a wind fell upon it and the river became agitated
by waves: and this king (they say) moved by presumptuous folly took
a spear and cast it into the midst of the eddies of the stream; and
immediately upon this he had a disease of the eyes and was by it made
blind. For ten years then he was blind, and in the eleventh year there
came to him an oracle from the city of Buto saying that the time of his
punishment had expired, and that he should see again if he washed his
eyes with the water of a woman who had accompanied with her own husband
only and had not had knowledge of other men: and first he made trial of
his own wife, and then, as he continued blind, he went on to try all the
women in turn; and when he had at least regained his sight he gathered
together all the women of whom he had made trial, excepting her by
whose means he had regained his sight, to one city which now is named
Erythrabolos, and having gathered them to this he consumed them all by
fire, as well as the city itself; but as for her by whose means he
had regained his sight, he had her himself to wife. Then after he had
escaped the malady of his eyes he dedicated offerings at each one of the
temples which were of renown, and especially (to mention only that which
is most worthy of mention) he dedicated at the temple of the Sun works
which are worth seeing, namely two obelisks of stone, each of a single
block, measuring in length a hundred cubits each one and in breadth
eight cubits.

After him, they said, there succeeded to the throne a man of Memphis,
whose name in the tongue of the Hellenes was Proteus; for whom there is
now a sacred enclosure at Memphis, very fair and well ordered, lying on
that side of the temple of Hephaistos which faces the North Wind. Round
about this enclosure dwell Phenicians of Tyre, and this whole region is
called the Camp of the Tyrians. Within the enclosure of Proteus there
is a temple called the temple of the "foreign Aphrodite," which temple
I conjecture to be one of Helen the daughter of Tyndareus, not only
because I have heard the tale how Helen dwelt with Proteus, but also
especially because it is called by the name of the "foreign Aphrodite,"
for the other temples of Aphrodite which there are have none of them the
addition of the word "foreign" to the name.

And the priests told me, when I inquired, that the things concerning
Helen happened thus:--Alexander having carried off Helen was sailing
away from Sparta to his own land, and when he had come to the Egean Sea
contrary winds drove him from his course to the Sea of Egypt; and after
that, since the blasts did not cease to blow, he came to Egypt itself,
and in Egypt to that which is now named the Canobic mouth of the Nile
and to Taricheiai. Now there was upon the shore, as still there is now,
a temple of Heracles, in which if any man's slave take refuge and have
the sacred marks set upon him, giving himself over to the god, it is
not lawful to lay hands upon him; but this custom has continued still
unchanged from the beginning down to my own time. Accordingly the
attendants of Alexander, having heard of the custom which existed about
the temple, ran away from him, and sitting down as suppliants of the
god, accused Alexander, because they desired to do him hurt, telling
the whole tale how things were about Helen and about the wrong done to
Menalaos; and this accusation they made not only to the priests but also
to the warden of this river-mouth, whose name was Thonis. Thonis then
having heard their tale sent forthwith a message to Proteus at Memphis,
which said as follows: "There hath come a stranger, a Teucrian by race,
who hath done in Hellas an unholy deed; for he hath deceived the wife
of his own host, and is come hither bringing with him this woman herself
and very much wealth, having been carried out of his way by winds to thy
land. Shall we then allow him to sail out unharmed, or shall we first
take away from him that which he brought with him?" In reply to this
Proteus sent back a messenger who said thus: "Seize this man, whosoever
he may be, who has done impiety to his own host, and bring him away into
my presence that I may know what he will find to say." Hearing this,
Thonis seized Alexander and detained his ships, and after that he
brought the man himself up to Memphis and with him Helen and the wealth
he had, and also in addition to them the suppliants. So when all had
been conveyed up thither, Proteus began to ask Alexander who he was and
from whence he was voyaging; and he both recounted to him his descent
and told him the name of his native land, and moreover related of his
voyage, from whence he was sailing. After this Proteus asked him whence
he had taken Helen; and when Alexander went astray in his account and did
not speak the truth, those who had become suppliants convicted him of
falsehood, relating in full the whole tale of the wrong done. At length
Proteus declared to them this sentence, saying, "Were it not that I
count it a matter of great moment not to slay any of those strangers who
being driven from their course by winds have come to my land hitherto,
I should have taken vengeance on thee on behalf of the man of
Hellas, seeing that thou, most base of men, having received from him
hospitality, didst work against him a most impious deed. For thou didst
go in to the wife of thine own host; and even this was not enough for
thee, but thou didst stir her up with desire and hast gone away with her
like a thief. Moreover not even this by itself was enough for thee, but
thou art come hither with plunder taken from the house of thy host. Now
therefore depart, seeing that I have counted it of great moment not to
be a slayer of strangers. This woman indeed and the wealth which thou
hast I will not allow thee to carry away, but I shall keep them safe for
the Hellene who was thy host, until he come himself and desire to carry
them off to his home; to thyself however and thy fellow-voyagers I
proclaim that ye depart from your anchoring within three days and go
from my land to some other; and if not, that ye will be dealt with as
enemies."

This the priests said was the manner of Helen's coming to Proteus; and
I suppose that Homer also had heard this story, but since it was not so
suitable to the composition of his poem as the other which he followed,
he dismissed it finally, making it clear at the same time that he was
acquainted with that story also: and according to the manner in which he
described the wanderings of Alexander in the Iliad (nor did he elsewhere
retract that which he had said) of his course, wandering to various
lands, and that he came among other places to Sidon in Phenicia. Of this
the poet has made mention in the "prowess of Diomede," and the verses
run thus:

"There she had robes many-coloured, the works of women of Sidon,
Those whom her son himself the god-like of form Alexander
Carried from Sidon, what time the broad sea-path he sailed over
Bringing back Helene home, of a noble father begotten."

And in the Odyssey also he has made mention of it in these verses:

"Such had the daughter of Zeus, such drugs of exquisite cunning,
Good, which to her the wife of Thon, Polydamna, had given,
Dwelling in Egypt, the land where the bountiful meadow produces
Drugs more than all lands else, many good being mixed, many evil."

And thus too Menelaos says to Telemachos:

"Still the gods stayed me in Egypt, to come back hither desiring,
Stayed me from voyaging home, since sacrifice due I performed not."

In these lines he makes it clear that he knew of the wanderings of
Alexander to Egypt, for Syria borders upon Egypt and the Phenicians, of
whom is Sidon, dwell in Syria. By these lines and by this passage it is
also most clearly shown that the "Cyprian Epic" was not written by Homer
but by some other man: for in this it is said that on the third day
after leaving Sparta Alexander came to Ilion bringing with him Helen,
having had a "gently-blowing wind and a smooth sea," whereas in the
Iliad it says that he wandered from his course when he brought her.

Let us now leave Homer and the "Cyprian Epic"; but this I will say,
namely that I asked the priests whether it is but an idle tale which
the Hellenes tell of that which they say happened about Ilion; and they
answered me thus, saying that they had their knowledge by inquiries from
Menelaos himself. After the rape of Helen there came indeed, they said,
to the Teucrian land a large army of Hellenes to help Menelaos; and
when the army had come out of the ships to land and had pitched its
camp there, they sent messengers to Ilion, with whom went also Menelaos
himself; and when these entered within the wall they demanded back Helen
and the wealth which Alexander had stolen from Menelaos and had taken
away; and moreover they demanded satisfaction for the wrongs done: and
the Teucrians told the same tale then and afterwards, both with oath and
without oath, namely that in deed and in truth they had not Helen nor
the wealth for which demand was made, but that both were in Egypt; and
that they could not justly be compelled to give satisfaction for that
which Proteus the king of Egypt had. The Hellenes however thought that
they were being mocked by them and besieged the city, until at last they
took it; and when they had taken the wall and did not find Helen, but
heard the same tale as before, then they believed the former tale and
sent Menelaos himself to Proteus. And Menelaos having come to Egypt and
having sailed up to Memphis, told the truth of these matters, and not
only found great entertainment, but also received Helen unhurt, and
all his own wealth besides. Then, however, after he had been thus dealt
with, Menelaos showed himself ungrateful to the Egyptians; for when
he set forth to sail away, contrary winds detained him, and as this
condition of things lasted long, he devised an impious deed; for he took
two children of natives and made sacrifice of them. After this, when it
was known that he had done so, he became abhorred, and being pursued he
escaped and got away in his ships to Libya; but whither he went besides
after this, the Egyptians were not able to tell. Of these things they
said that they found out part by inquiries, and the rest, namely that
which happened in their own land, they related from sure and certain
knowledge.

Thus the priests of the Egyptians told me; and I myself also agree with
the story which was told of Helen, adding this consideration, namely
that if Helen had been in Ilion she would have been given up to the
Hellenes, whether Alexander consented or no; for Priam assuredly was not
so mad, nor yet the others of his house, that they were desirous to run
risk of ruin for themselves and their children and their city, in order
that Alexander might have Helen as his wife: and even supposing that
during the first part of the time they had been so inclined, yet when
many others of the Trojans besides were losing their lives as often as
they fought with the Hellenes, and of the sons of Priam himself always
two or three or even more were slain when a battle took place (if one
may trust at all to the Epic poets),--when, I say, things were coming
thus to pass, I consider that even if Priam himself had had Helen as his
wife, he would have given her back to the Achaians, if at least by so
doing he might be freed from the evils which oppressed him. Nor even
was the kingdom coming to Alexander next, so that when Priam was old the
government was in his hands; but Hector, who was both older and more
of a man than he, would certainly have received it after the death of
Priam; and him it behoved not to allow his brother to go on with his
wrong-doing, considering that great evils were coming to pass on his
account both to himself privately and in general to the other Trojans.
In truth however they lacked the power to give Helen back; and the
Hellenes did not believe them, though they spoke the truth; because,
as I declare my opinion, the divine power was purposing to cause them
utterly to perish, and so make it evident to men that for great wrongs
great also are the chastisements which come from the gods. And thus have
I delivered my opinion concerning these matters.

After Proteus, they told me, Rhampsinitos received in succession the
kingdom, who left as a memorial of himself that gateway to the temple of
Hephaistos which is turned towards the West, and in front of the gateway
he set up two statues, in height five-and-twenty cubits, of which the
one which stands on the North side is called by the Egyptians Summer and
the one on the South side Winter; and to that one which they call Summer
they do reverence and make offerings, while to the other which is called
Winter they do the opposite of these things. This king, they said, got
great wealth of silver, which none of the kings born after him could
surpass or even come near to; and wishing to store his wealth in safety
he caused to be built a chamber of stone, one of the walls whereof was
towards the outside of his palace: and the builder of this, having a
design against it, contrived as follows, that is, he disposed one of the
stones in such a manner that it could be taken out easily from the wall
either by two men or even by one. So when the chamber was finished, the
king stored his money in it, and after some time the builder, being near
the end of his life, called to him his sons (for he had two) and to them
he related how he had contrived in building the treasury of the king,
and all in forethought for them, that they might have ample means of
living. And when he had clearly set forth to them everything concerning
the taking out of the stone, he gave them the measurements, saying that
if they paid heed to this matter they would be stewards of the king's
treasury. So he ended his life, and his sons made no long delay in
setting to work, but went to the palace by night, and having found the
stone in the wall of the chamber they dealt with it easily and carried
forth for themselves great quantity of the wealth within. And the king
happening to open the chamber, he marvelled when he saw the vessels
falling short of the full amount, and he did not know on whom he should
lay the blame, since the seals were unbroken and the chamber had been
close shut; but when upon his opening the chamber a second and a third
time the money was each time seen to be diminished, for the thieves
did not slacken in their assaults upon it, he did as follows:--having
ordered traps to be made he set these round about the vessels in which
the money was; and when the thieves had come as at former times and one
of them had entered, then so soon as he came near to one of the vessels
he was straightway caught in the trap: and when he perceived in what
evil case he was, straightway calling his brother he showed him what the
matter was, and bade him enter as quickly as possible and cut off
his head, for fear lest being seen and known he might bring about the
destruction of his brother also. And to the other it seemed that he
spoke well, and he was persuaded and did so; and fitting the stone into
its place he departed home bearing with him the head of his brother.
Now when it became day, the king entered into the chamber and was very
greatly amazed, seeing the body of the thief held in the trap without
his head, and the chamber unbroken, with no way to come in by or go out:
and being at a loss he hung up the dead body of the thief upon the
wall and set guards there, with charge if they saw any one weeping or
bewailing himself to seize him and bring him before the king. And when
the dead body had been hung up, the mother was greatly grieved, and
speaking with the son who survived she enjoined him, in whatever way he
could, to contrive means by which he might take down and bring home the
body of his brother; and if he should neglect to do this, she earnestly
threatened that she would go and give information to the king that he
had the money. So as the mother dealt hardly with the surviving son, and
he though saying many things to her did not persuade her, he contrived
for his purpose a device as follows:--Providing himself with asses he
filled some skins with wine and laid them upon the asses, and after
that he drove them along: and when he came opposite to those who were
guarding the corpse hung up, he drew towards him two or three of the
necks of the skins and loosened the cords with which they were tied.
Then when the wine was running out, he began to beat his head and cry
out loudly, as if he did not know to which of the asses he should first
turn; and when the guards saw the wine flowing out in streams, they ran
together to the road with drinking vessels in their hands and collected
the wine that was poured out, counting it so much gain; and he abused
them all violently, making as if he were angry, but when the guards
tried to appease him, after a time he feigned to be pacified and to
abate his anger, and at length he drove his asses out of the road and
began to set their loads right. Then more talk arose among them, and one
or two of them made jests at him and brought him to laugh with them;
and in the end he made them a present of one of the skins in addition
to what they had. Upon that they lay down there without more ado, being
minded to drink, and they took him into their company and invited him
to remain with them and join them in their drinking: so he (as may be
supposed) was persuaded and stayed. Then as they in their drinking bade
him welcome in a friendly manner, he made a present to them also of
another of the skins; and so at length having drunk liberally the guards
became completely intoxicated; and being overcome by sleep they went to
bed on the spot where they had been drinking. He then, as it was now far
on in the night, first took down the body of his brother, and then in
mockery shaved the right cheeks of all the guards; and after that he
put the dead body upon the asses and drove them away home, having
accomplished that which was enjoined him by his mother. Upon this the
king, when it was reported to him that the dead body of the thief had
been stolen away, displayed great anger; and desiring by all means that
it should be found out who it might be who devised these things, did
this (so at least they said, but I do not believe the account),--he
caused his own daughter to sit in the stews, and enjoined her to receive
all equally, and before having commerce with any one to compel him to
tell her what was the most cunning and what the most unholy deed which
had been done by him in all his life-time; and whosoever should relate
that which had happened about the thief, him she must seize and not let
him go out. Then as she was doing that which was enjoined by her father,
the thief, hearing for what purpose this was done and having a desire to
get the better of the king in resource, did thus:--from the body of one
lately dead he cut off the arm at the shoulder and went with it under
his mantle: and having gone in to the daughter of the king, and being
asked that which the others also were asked, he related that he had done
the most unholy deed when he cut off the head of his brother, who had
been caught in a trap in the king's treasure-chamber, and the most
cunning deed in that he made drunk the guards and took down the dead
body of his brother hanging up; and she when she heard it tried to take
hold of him, but the thief held out to her in the darkness the arm of
the corpse, which she grasped and held, thinking that she was holding
the arm of the man himself; but the thief left it in her hands and
departed, escaping through the door. Now when this also was reported to
the king, he was at first amazed at the ready invention and daring of
the fellow, and then afterwards he sent round to all the cities and made
proclamation granting a free pardon to the thief, and also promising a
great reward if he would come into his presence. The thief accordingly
trusting to the proclamation came to the king, and Rhampsinitos greatly
marvelled at him, and gave him this daughter of his to wife, counting
him to be the most knowing of all men; for as the Egyptians were
distinguished from all other men, so was he from the other Egyptians.

After these things they said this king went down alive to that place
which by the Hellenes is called Hades, and there played at dice with
Demeter, and in some throws he overcame her and in others he was
overcome by her; and he came back again having as a gift from her a
handkerchief of gold: and they told me that because of the going down of
Rhampsinitos the Egyptians after he came back celebrated a feast, which
I know of my own knowledge also that they still observe even to my time;
but whether it is for this cause that they keep the feast or for
some other, I am not able to say. However, the priests weave a robe
completely on the very day of the feast, and forthwith they bind up the
eyes of one of them with a fillet, and having led him with the robe to
the way by which one goes to the temple of Demeter, they depart back
again themselves. This priest, they say, with his eyes bound up is led
by two wolves to the temple of Demeter, which is distant from the city
twenty furlongs, and then afterwards the wolves lead him back again from
the temple to the same spot. Now as to the tales told by the Egyptians,
any man may accept them to whom such things appear credible; as for me,
it is to be understood throughout the whole of the history that I write
by hearsay that which is reported by the people in each place. The
Egyptians say that Demeter and Dionysos are rulers of the world below;
and the Egyptians are also the first who reported the doctrine that the
soul of man is immortal, and that when the body dies, the soul enters
into another creature which chances then to be coming to the birth, and
when it has gone the round of all the creatures of land and sea and of
the air, it enters again into a human body as it comes to the birth;
and that it makes this round in a period of three thousand years. This
doctrine certain Hellenes adopted, some earlier and some later, as if
it were of their own invention, and of these men I know the names but I
abstain from recording them.