Histories, 2.137

Herodotus  translated by G. C. Macaulay

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137and after him reigned a blind man of the city of Anysis, whose name was Anysis. In his reign the Ethiopians and Sabacos the king of the Ethiopians marched upon Egypt with a great host of men; so this blind man departed, flying to the fen-country, and the Ethiopian was king over Egypt for fifty years, during which he performed deeds as follows:—whenever any man of the Egyptians committed any transgression, he would never put him to death, but he gave sentence upon each man according to the greatness of the wrong-doing, appointing them work at throwing up an embankment before that city from whence each man came of those who committed wrong. Thus the cities were made higher still than before; for they were embanked first by those who dug the channels in the reign of Sesostris, and then secondly in the reign of the Ethiopian, and thus they were made very high: and while other cities in Egypt also stood[121] high, I think in the town at Bubastis especially the earth was piled up. In this city there is a temple very well worthy of mention, for though there are other temples which are larger and built with more cost, none more than this is a pleasure to the eyes. Now Bubastis in the Hellenic tongue is Artemis,

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Notes

  • [121] {tassomenon}, "posted," like an army; but the text is probably unsound: so also in the next line, where the better MSS. have {men Boubasti poli}, others {e en Boubasti polis}. Stein reads {e en Boubasti poli}, "the earth at the city of Bubastis." Perhaps {e en Boubasti polis} might mean the town as opposed to the temple, as Mr. Woods suggests.