by Herodotus
151. Bactria may be regarded as fairly represented by the modern Balkh. The Sacae (Scyths) are more difficult to locate; it only appears that their country bordered upon and lay beyond Bactria.
152. The temple of Apollo at Branchidae and the port Panormus still remain. The former is twelve miles from Miletus, nearly due south. It lies near the shore, about two miles inland from Cape Monodendri. It is a magnificent ruin of Ionic architecture.
153. That is, ‘Athene, Guardian of the citadel’.
154. Atarneus lay to the north of the Aeolis of Herodotus, almost exactly opposite to Mytilene.
155. Not Magnesia under Sipylus, but Magnesia on the Maeander, one of the few ancient Greek settlements situated far inland.
156. This plan seems not to have been known to the Lydians. The Persians had learnt it, in all probability, from the Assyrians, by whom it had long been practised. (2 Kings xix, 32 and Isaiah xxxvii, 33.)
157. The Iberia of Herodotus is the Spanish peninsula. Tartessus was a colony formed there very early by the Phoenicians. It was situated beyond the straits at the mouth of the Baetis (Guadalquivir), near the site of the modern Cadiz. Tarsus, Tartessus, Tarshish, are variants of the same word.
158. The Oenussae lay between Chios and the mainland, opposite the northern extremity of that island (Lat. 38° 33’).
159. A most important influence was exercised by the Greek oracles, especially that of Delphi, over the course of Hellenic colonisation. Further instances occur at iv, 155; 157; 159 and v, 42.
160. The naval power of the Tyrrhenians was about this time at its height. Populonia and Caere (or Agylla) were the most important of their maritime towns. Like the Greeks at a somewhat earlier period (Thucydides i, 5), the Tyrrhenians at this time and for some centuries afterwards were pirates.
161. A Cadmeian victory was one from which the victor received more hurt than profit.
162. This is the town more commonly called Velia or Elea, where soon afterwards the great Eleatic school of philosophy arose.
163. This is the place now known as Paestum, so famous for its beautiful ruins.
164. Cyrnus was a son of Heracles.
165. Teos was situated on the south side of the isthmus which joined the peninsula of Erythrae to the mainland, very nearly opposite Clazomenae (Strabo xiv). It was the birthplace of Anacreon, the lyric poet.
166. For the site of Abdera, see vii, 109.
167. This statement appears to be too general. Samos certainly maintained her independence till the reign of Darius (see iii, 120).
168. Herodotus appears to have been entirely convinced that there was no island in the world so large as Sardinia. He puts the assertion into the mouth of Histiaeus (v, 106), and again (vi, 2) repeats the statement, without expressing any doubt of the fact.
169. Homer generally represents his heroes as managing their shields in this way (Iliad ii, 388; iv, 796; xi, 38; xii, 401, etc.). Sometimes, however, he speaks of shields with handles to them (viii, 193).
170. It seems probable that the Carians, who were a kindred nation to the Lydians and the Mysians, belonged originally to the Asiatic continent and thence spread to the islands.
171. Mylasa was an inland town of Caria, about twenty miles from the sea. It was the capital of the later Carian kingdom (BC 385-334).
172. The Caunians occupied a small district on the coast.
173. Calynda was on the borders of Caria and Lycia.
174. It is doubtful whether there is any truth at all in this tale, which would connect the Greeks with Lycia. One thing is clear, namely, that the real Lycian people of history were an entirely distinct race from the Greeks.
175. Milyas continued to be a district of Lycia in the age of Augustus.
176. The Solymi were mentioned by Chaerilus, who was contemporary with Herodotus and wrote a poem on the Persian War, as forming a part of the army of Xerxes. Their language, according to him, was Phoenician. That the Pisidians were Solymi is asserted by Pliny. The same people left their name in Lycia to Mount Solyma. Here we seem to have a trace of a Semitic occupation of these countries preceding the Indo-European. (cf. Homer, Iliad vi, 184.)
177. Pedasus was reckoned in Caria (see, v, 121). Its exact site is uncertain.
178. The Xanthian plain is to the south of the city, being in fact the alluvial deposit of the river Xanthus.
179. The real name of the city which the Greeks called Xanthus seems to have been Arna or Arina. This is confirmed by the monuments of the country.
180. There is reason to believe that the government of Lycia remained in the family of Harpagus.
181. Herodotus includes Babylonia in Assyria (see ch. 100).
182. The large number of important cities in Assyria, especially if we include in it Babylonia, is one of the most remarkable features of Assyrian greatness.
183. The vast space enclosed within the walls of Babylon is noticed by Aristotle (Politics iii, 1 sub fin.).
184. The great width and height of the walls are noticed in scripture (Jerem. vi: 53 and 58). There can be no doubt that the Babylonians and Assyrians surrounded their cities with walls of a height which to us is astounding.
185. The Greek metrical system was closely connected with the Babylonian.
186. Assuming at present that the Babylonian foot nearly equalled the English, the common cubit would have been 1 foot 8 inches, and the royal cubit 1 foot 10.4 inches.
187. Layers of reeds are found in some of the remains of brick buildings at present existing in Babylonia, but usually at much smaller intervals than here indicated.
188. The ‘inner wall’ here mentioned may have been the wall of Nebuchadnezzar’s new city, which lay entirely within the ancient circuit.
189. This is the mass or mound still called the Kasr or Palace, ‘a square of 700 yards in length and breadth’. (Rich, First Memoir, p. 22.) It is an immense pile of brickwork, chiefly of the finest kind.
190. The Babylonian worship of Bel is well known to us from Scripture (Isaiah xlvi, 1; Jerem. l, 2; Apoc. Dan. xii, 16). There is little doubt that he was (at least in the later times), the recognised head of the Babylonian Pantheon, and therefore properly identified by the Greeks with their Zeus.
191. The Chaldaeans then appear to have been a branch of the great Hamite race of Akkad, which inhabited Babylonia from the earliest times. With this race originated the art of writing, the building of cities, the institution of a religious system, and the cultivation of all science, and of astronomy in particular.
192. This fable of the god coming personally into his temple was contrary to the Egyptian belief in the nature of the gods. It was only a figurative expression, similar to that of the Jews, who speak of God visiting and dwelling in his holy hill, and was not intended to be taken literally.
193. The Theban Zeus, or god worshipped as the supreme being in the city of Thebes, was Ammon (Amun). Herodotus says the Theban rather than the Egyptian Zeus, because various gods were worshipped in various parts of Egypt as supreme.
194. Patara lay on the shore, a little to the east of the Xanthus.
195. There can be little doubt that this was done by Xerxes after the revolt of Babylon. Arrian relates that Xerxes not only plundered but destroyed the temple on his return from Greece.
196. The great temple of Babylon, regarding which the Greeks have left so many notices, is beyond all doubt to be identified with the enormous mound to which the Arabs universally apply the title of Bábil.
197. This statement of Herodotus is echoed by various writers.
198. The Gyndes is undoubtedly the Diyalah.
199. Herodotus intends to contrast this first capture with the second capture by Darius Hystaspes, of which he speaks in the latter portion of the third Book.
200. The name of Tritantaechmes is of considerable interest,
because it points to the Vedic traditions which the Persians brought with them from the Indus, and of the currency of which in the time of Xerxes we have thus distinct evidence. The name means ‘strong as Tritan’ – this title, which etymologically means ‘three-bodied’, being the Sanscrit and Zend form of the famous Feridun of Persian romance, who divided the world between his three sons, Selm, Tur, and Erij.
201. This is the same name as the ardeb of modern Egypt and, like the medimnus, is a corn measure. The ardeb is nearly five English bushels.
202. Models of favourite dogs are frequently found in excavating the cities of Babylonia. Some may be seen in the British Museum.
203. Rain is very rare in Babylonia during the summer months and productiveness depends entirely on irrigation. During the spring there are constant showers, and at other times of the year rain falls frequently but irregularly, and never in great quantities. The heaviest is in December. In ancient times when irrigation was carried to a far greater extent than it is at present the meteorology of the country may probably have been different.
204. At the present day it is not usual to trust even the first sprouting of the corn to nature. The lands are laid under water for a few days before the corn is sown; the water is then withdrawn, and the seed scattered upon the moistened soil.
205. The engine intended by Herodotus seems to have been the common hand-swipe, to which alone the name of keloneion would properly apply. The ordinary method of irrigation at the present day is by the help of oxen, which draw the water from the river to the top of the bank by means of ropes passed over a roller working between two upright posts.
206. The fertility of Babylonia is celebrated by a number of ancient writers.
207. This is still the case with respect to the people of the plains. The olive is cultivated on the banks of Mount Zagros, but Babylonia did not extend so far.
208. There is reason to believe that anciently the country was very much more thickly wooded than it is at present. The palm will grow wherever water is brought. In ancient times the whole country between the rivers, and the greater portion of the tract intervening between the Tigris and the mountains, was artificially irrigated.
209. Boats of this kind, closely resembling coracles, are represented in the Nineveh sculptures, and still ply on the Euphrates.
210. The dress of the Babylonians appears on the cylinders to be a species of flounced robe, reaching from their neck to their feet. In some representations there is an appearance of a division into two garments, the upper one being a sort of short jacket or tippet, flounced like the underrobe or petticoat. The long hair of the Babylonians is very conspicuous on the cylinders. It either depends in lengthy tresses which fall over the back and shoulders, or is gathered into what seems a club behind. There are several varieties of head-dress; the most usual are a low cap or turban, from which two curved horns branch out, and a high crown or mitre, the appearance of which is very remarkable.
211. The Babylonian cylinders are undoubtedly the ‘seals’ of Herodotus. Many impressions of them have been found upon clay-tablets.
212. Upon the cylinders the Babylonians are frequently, but not invariably, represented with sticks. In the Assyrian sculptures the officers of the court have always sticks, used apparently as staves of office.
213. The Eneti or Heneti are the same as the Venetians of later times (Livy i, 1).
214. Writers of the Augustan age mention this custom as still existing in their day.
215. Modern researches show two modes of burial to have prevailed in ancient Babylonia. Ordinarily the bodies seem to have been compressed into urns and baked, or burnt. Thousands of funeral urns are found, on the sites of the ancient cities. Coffins are also found, but rarely.
216. This unhallowed custom is mentioned among the abominations of the religion of the Babylonians in the book of Baruch (vi, 43).
217. The geographical knowledge of Herodotus seems to be nowhere so much at fault as in his account of this river. He appears to have confused together the information which had reached him concerning two or three distinct streams.
218. Here the geographical knowledge of Herodotus was much in advance of his age.
219. This was true within the limits of our author’s geographical knowledge. Peaks in the Caucasus attain the height of over 17,000 feet.
220. The deserts of Kharesm, Kizilkoum, etc., the most southern portion of the steppe region.
221. It may be observed here that the inscriptions confirm Herodotus thus far. Darius was son of Hystaspes (Vashtaspa) and grandson of Arsames (Arsháma). He traced his descent through four ancestors to Achaemenes (Hakhámanish).
222. It may be questioned whether the account, which out of many seemed to our author most worthy of credit, was ever really the most credible. Unwittingly Herodotus was drawn towards the most romantic and poetic version of each story, and what he admired most seemed to him the likeliest to be true. According to Xenophon, Cyrus died peacefully in his bed (Cyrop. VIII, vii); according to Ctesias, he was severely wounded in a battle which he fought with the Derbices, and died in camp of his wounds. Of these two authors, Ctesias, perhaps, is the less untrustworthy. On his authority, conjoined with that of Herodotus, it may be considered certain: 1. That Cyrus died a violent death; and 2. That he received his death wound in fight; but against what enemy must continue a doubtful point.
223. The sagaris is in all probability the khanjar of modern Persia, a short, curved, double-edged dagger, almost universally worn.
224. Both the Ural and the Altai mountains abound in gold. The richness of these regions in this metal is indicated (iv, 27) by the stories of the gold-guarding Grypes, and the Arimaspi who plunder them (iii, 116).
225. Horse sacrifices are said to prevail among the modern Parsees.
Book Two
1. On the death of Cyrus, Cambyses his son by Cassandane daughter of Pharnaspes took the kingdom. Cassandane 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 Aeolian Greeks as vassals of his father, took them with him in his expedition against Egypt [1] among the other nations which owned his sway.
2. Now the Egyptians, before the reign of their king Psammetichus, believed themselves to be the most ancient of mankind. [2] 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 herdsman 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 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 Hephaestus. 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, [3] expressly to try whether the priests of those places would agree in their accounts with the priests at Memphis. The Heliopolitans have the reputation of being the best skilled in history of all the Egyptians. [4] 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. [5]
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, [6] 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. [7] ) The Egyptians, they went on to affirm, first brought into use the names of the twelve gods, which the Greeks adopted 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 man [8] who ruled over Egypt was Mên, and that in his time all Egypt, except the Thebaic canton, was a marsh, [9] none of the land below lake Moeris 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 reasonable. For any one who sees Egypt, without having heard a word about it before, must perceive, if he has only common powers of observation, that the Egypt to which the Greeks go in their ships is an acquired country, the gift of the river. [10] The same is true of the land above the lake to the distance of three days’ voyage, concerning which the Egyptians say nothing, but which is exactly the same kind of country.