Anthony Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Tommi Huhtamaki Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > > Herodotus witnessed them reading the
> writing
> > on
> > > the wall of the pyramid. The Egyptians
> of
> > this
> > > time could easily read hieroglyphic.
> Which
> > one
> > > was lying? Where's your proof?
> >
> >
> > Who exactly were these Egyptians reading the
> > hieroglyphics to Herodotus? Where's your
> proof?
> >
>
>
> Herodotus explains the differences between priests
> and commoners.
>
>
Quote:They are religious excessively beyond all
> other men, and with regard to this they have
> customs as follows:--they drink from cups of
> bronze and rinse them out every day, and not some
> only do this but all: they wear garments of linen
> always newly washed, and this they make a special
> point of practice: they circumcise themselves for
> the sake of cleanliness, preferring to be clean
> rather than comely. The priests shave themselves
> all over their body every other day, so that no
> lice or any other foul thing may come to be upon
> them when they minister to the gods; and the
> priests wear garments of linen only and sandals of
> papyrus, and any other garment they may not take
> nor other sandals; these wash themselves in cold
> water twice in the day and twice again in the
> night; and other religious services they perform
> (one may almost say) of infinite number. Book II,
> 37
>
> It is apparently quite obvious when one is being
> addressed by a priest, as opposed to a deceptive
> tour guide. In addition, access to the sacred
> sites was probably not quite the same as we see it
> today. This was not a tourist trap.
>
> And, to be sure, he says the information was given
> to him by a priest:
In fact, he says "hermêneus" (discussed in
an earlier post.)
>
Quote:
> "Thus the priests of the Egyptians told me..."
> Herodotus, Book II, 120
That's the section where they're talking about Helen of Troy ...
> He continues his narration uninterrupted after
> this identification of who was telling him the
> facts he relates.
In II: 99 or thereabouts, he says:
Quote
Up to this point I have confined what I have written to the results of my own direct observation and research, and the views I have formed from them; but from now on the basis of my story will be the accounts given to me by the Egyptians themselves - though here, too, I shall put in one or two things which I have seen with my own eyes". (De Sélincourt trans.)
This is followed by a long section where he specifically notes that the priests tell him things. His narration then comes on to "Cheops (to continue the account which the priests gave me)" (II, 125), and then carries on discussing the pyramid, inscription, the "hermêneus", etc.
It would be interesting, actually, to have more information on the state of mind of the priests who received Herodotus. Were they pleased by his visit? Delighted, honoured, intrigued, bored, indifferent, resentful ... ? Was it a one-off for them, or were they always having to show round foreign visitors?
> There is no logical reason to assume he was wrong
> in his identification of the men translating the
> inscriptions, as there is no evidence to support
> such a conjecture.
His description of the inscription episode is, unfortunately, too generalised for the reader to be able to deduce exactly who exactly was responsible for translating the hieroglyphs.
Hermione
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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/06/2007 08:08AM by Hermione.