An Account of Egypt eBook By Herodotus
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Herodotus's Account of Egypt is the second book of the Histories, which contains descriptions of the marvels of the south the size of the land, the wonders of the Nile, the religious ceremonies which will be as fascinating to the modern reader as it was to the ancient. From the priests at Memphis, Heliopolis, and the Egyptian Thebes he learned what he reports of the size of the country, the wonders of the Nile, the ceremonies of Egyptian religion, their sacred animals, the Crocodile and the Phoenix, their funerals and embalming, lotus and papyrus eating, the great kings and queens, and of the pyramids. Keep in mind that to Herodotus and the ancient Greeks, Egypt essentially was Africa - primitive maps show an ocean on all sides of the mysterious land to the south; so to understand this place was to know much of the world.
An Account of Egypt eBook By Herodotus
An interesting read. Found this to not really be a "history" of Egypt as we think of history in today's world. It's more of a summary of Egypt in a historical overview. The book was a bit of a reading challenge without the Chapter breaks we are used to in today's world, but I found the punctuation - or lack thereof - to be a challenge. I'm not sure if that was a function of the way Herodotus wrote or the way it was translated. I do recommend this to anyone who would like to see the method used to describe a society (in this case Egypt) by a writer of the time.Product details
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An Account of Egypt eBook By Herodotus Reviews
Good read.
remarkable move in time back to ptolemaic egypt. found some fascinating facts such as egyptians practicing circumcision and abhoring pigs
This is a review of the free edition.
It's very interesting reading about a man's trip to Egypt 2500 years ago. It's remarkable how even then, Egypt was so ancient.
I didn't realize it was believed by some that the Greek gods were the Egyptian gods renamed. Herodotus had interesting views on this, the Illiad and Homer and what he saw in Egypt. He provides tons of detail (sometimes too many) on much of Egyptian history, stories, habits, embalming and animals.
If you have any interest in history, give this is a try. Slightly over 1000 locations. Suggest only for older teenagers and up.
Translated by GC Macaulay we are given Herodotus’ recount of his adventures through Egypt. The father of history herein tells us about the climate, geography, religion, society and people who inhabit Egypt. He also is inclined to paint a whole historical backdrop for the lands struggles and changes of power and leader, rules, practices, cultural aesthetics and accomplishments. Very confusing at times, due to the sheer number of peoples (their cultural classifications and relationships) and the geographical explanations which I couldn’t imaging (so I had to look at old maps) the most important and memorable items came to me through description of the people and practices, and though important – not so much through geographical references, which the work is wont to have a billion.
Having lived during the 5th Century BC (484-425BC) and writing this work ~440BC, Herodotus has been mostly renowned as the most accurate historian of his time, and in this work he attempts to cover some of the basic tenants of Egyptian life. It is important to remember that this tiny little book (or short, if you’re reading it on ) sets the tone for a much larger historical context, both before Herodotus visited and definitely afterward as we witness at the close of the work the beginning of the Acheamenid (Persian) rule in Egypt.
An Account of Egypt is Herodotus’ second book in his histories, titled ‘Euterpe’. When the work is not acting as a source of descriptive information, there are actually a few comical moments as it regards the Egyptian brazenness and crude sense of honest humor. Despite my own struggles in understanding the entirety of the work, due primarily to geographic unfamiliarity, it was an altogether interesting and occasionally fun read as it regards an abbreviated history of Egypt at its beginning.
It is important to remember that this tiny little book (or short, if you’re reading it on ) sets the tone for a much larger historical context, both before Herodotus visited and definitely afterward, as we witness at the close of the work the beginning of the Achaemenid (Persian) rule in Egypt.
Notes / SPOILERS
Egyptian priests felt they were the first group of people to accurately divide the calendar into 12 months each with 30 days and 5 inculcated days to ensure the seasons begin and end roughly where they should by the calendar.
Much attention is paid to the Nile, both as a geographical barrier and as a natural marvel (recall it travels north). Of its divisions ‘Pelusian mouth’ (eastwardly), Canobic mouth (westward) and the Sebennytic mouth which courses straight through the delta. This mouth is then divided into two others Saitic and the Mendesian mouth. Also mentioned are two other, man-made, mouths.
Humorously, Herodotus details the ‘Deserters’ of Psammetichos, warriors who were out posted and never saw reprieve. When attempted to be convinced not to abandon their people and join the Ethiopians, one of their rank states as he ‘pointed to his privy member’ – ‘that wherever this was, there would they have both children and wives.’ (247)
Culturally, it is the women who pervade the market place and the men whom stay at home and weave, it is the men who represent both male & female divinity, Egyptian priests were the only whom wore their heads shaved as opposed to their hair long, the Egyptians are one of only a few whom originally practices circumcision, and they were the foremost in reading and writing left to right so that they might carry the hand rightward.
The Egyptians strongly disliked the Hellenes (anybody of Greek decent), in fact, after any sacrifice they would take the head of the animal, which was weighted down with Egyptian sins, wrong-doing and curses and attempt to sell it at market to a Hellene. If there were no Hellene to sell it to, they would cast the head into the river.
Regarding the Gods only Isis and Osiris were reverently worshipped by the collective Egyptian populous. Of the Gods, there were originally eight, then were added another 12. So revered were some Gods, in this particular case – Pan, that Herodotus states ‘in my lifetime there happened in that district this marvel, that is to say a he-goat had intercourse with a woman publicly, and this was so done that all men might have evidenced of it.’ (389) Herodotus also mentions Homer and Hesiod, who proceeded him by 400 years and makes note of, respectively, ‘The Odyssey’ and ‘The Theogeny’.
The Dionysian festivals were celebration of the phallus. According to Herodotus, Melampus ‘set forth to the Hellenes the name of Dionysus and the manner of sacrifice and the procession of the phallus.’ (407)
Animals were revered with their geographical importance. There were caretakers specified for the creatures and they collected money for its food in an interesting fashion – a father would shave a part of his sons head, if not the whole, and would then have the resultant mass of hair weighted and would then pay that amount in silver talent. The exchange would then allow the caretaker to purchase that much in food for the creatures under their care. Herodotus alludes to the Phoenix, which he states ‘I did not myself see except in painting, for in truth he comes to them very rarely, at intervals, as the people of Heliopolis say, of five hundred years.’ (547)
Herodotus details the three types of embalming; this dependent upon what one could afford to pay for the service. At the high end there was removal of the brain through the nostrils and disembowelment, then a 70 day soak in nitron before being wrapped in clean linen. The middle road saw the corpse injected with cedar oil which when drained brought with it the liquefied innards. The body then was soaked in nitron for 70 days before being remitted to the individual’s family. The least expensive means of mummification was to clean out the innards by means of purge, putting the body in nitron and then, again, remitting it back to the family. Deceased women who were deemed good-looking or of a higher status were kept by their family for at least 4 days to prevent them from being sexually violated by embalmers.
Herodotus also relays the leaders of Egypt, having started with Sesostris he recounts a comical story about he and his army establishing pillars which state something akin to ‘I have taken this land with my own hands.’, only when the enemies did not fight back or were easily overtaken he accompanied this phrase with a pictograph of the female genetalia. His unwarlike son, Pheros, succeeded him.
Then there are the kings which now have stories surrounding them, and have been deemed mostly fictitious, embellished or altered in some fashion inconsistent with what is currently accepted
Proteus (fictitious) – the ‘old man of the sea’ whom kept Menelaus away from Helen after the battle of Troy (‘The Odyssey’).
Rhampsinitos (believed to be fictitious) – who was robbed by two brothers, one who was caught in a snare and beseeched his brother to cut his head off so that he couldn’t be identified and the other was pardoned after removing his brother’s body, secretly, from public display.
Cheops (Khufu, ~2566BC) – portrayed negatively and said to have shut up all of the religious temples to worship and then made the Egyptians to build the Great Pyramids of Giza.
Next mentioned are Cephren (~2570BC) then Mykerinos, Anysis, then the Ethiopian Sabacos (~707BC), Sethos. And it is mentioned that the last God amongst the Egyptians was Oros, the son of Osiris, after he had deposed Typhon (or Set), and in 11,340 years there had not been a God amongst them since. (1075) Refusing to be without rule the land was divided into 12 segments, each with their own king until Psammeticos drank from a bronze cup (his helmet) and was ousted from the land for fear that he would become the sole ruler of Egypt based upon a prophecy. Psammetichos (Psamtik I, ~610BC) became King, was then succeeded by his son, Necos (~595BC), his son Psammis (Psamtik II, ~589BC), and his son Apries (~570BC) and his son Amasis (~526) before the dictation leaves off upon Psamtik III (~525)– of who’s reign Herodotus’ work would be a fantastic recount if Psamtik III hadn’t ruled a mere six months. The position at the time of this work, I presume is held by the Persian – Cambysis II and represents Achaemenid Egypt, and recall the histories of Herodotus conclude in the Battle of Mycale, as the Greco Empire squared off against Xerexs and the Persian Empire.
One can clearly see that this historical progressing is a bit messy – filled with fictions and half-truths, missing now accepted Kings and Pharoahs and certainly unsure where to draw a line between the believable and the fantastic.
What an awesome book, and easy read. Herodotus states that the Egyptians taught the Greeks that learned everything from the Egyptians to include that the Egyptians were first to honor the Gods, and the Greeks copied the Egyptian Gods. In addition, he stated that the Egyptians were first in terms of creating divinity.
I decided to go through my original and found this. It wasn't very long and not really a historical account as you'd consider a history book today. This is more of a daily journal of what Herodotis saw during his travels through Egypt.
All in all it's an interesting read if your curious about the ancient world. One problem for me was the density of the paragraphs. Wow were they long. We're talking more than one page, that makes for some tough reading. At least for me.
This book offers an amazing glimpse into how a historian thought and wrote when there was no prior example of this profession. Herodotus writes with great detail, and is always careful to point out what he saw himself vs. what he was told by others. So we have a dual insight, from reading this, into both the history of Egypt but also how someone thought about history and society 2400 years ago. The language is a bit hard to follow at times because of the style as well as the many references to old units of measurement, but this is well worth making the effort.
An interesting read. Found this to not really be a "history" of Egypt as we think of history in today's world. It's more of a summary of Egypt in a historical overview. The book was a bit of a reading challenge without the Chapter breaks we are used to in today's world, but I found the punctuation - or lack thereof - to be a challenge. I'm not sure if that was a function of the way Herodotus wrote or the way it was translated. I do recommend this to anyone who would like to see the method used to describe a society (in this case Egypt) by a writer of the time.
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