And Then When Finally He
Became King He Did As Follows:
- As many of the gods as had absolved
him and pronounced him not to be a thief, to their
Temples he paid no
regard, nor gave anything for the further adornment of them, nor even
visited them to offer sacrifice, considering them to be worth nothing
and to possess lying Oracles; but as many as had convicted him of
being a thief, to these he paid very great regard, considering them to
be truly gods, and to present Oracles which did not lie. First in Sais
he built and completed for Athene a temple-gateway which is a great
marvel, and he far surpassed herein all who had done the like before,
both in regard to height and greatness, so large are the stones and of
such quality. Then secondly he dedicated great colossal statues and
man-headed sphinxes very large, and for restoration he caused to be
brought from the stone-quarries which are opposite Memphis, others of
very great size from the city of Elephantine, distant a voyage of not
less than twenty days from Sais: and of them all I marvel most at
this, namely a monolith chamber which he brought from the city of
Elephantine; and they were three years engaged in bringing this, and
two thousand men were appointed to convey it, who all were of the
class of boatmen. Of this house the length outside is one-and-twenty
cubits, the breadth is fourteen cubits, and the height eight. These
are the measures of the monolith house outside; but the length inside
is eighteen cubits and five-sixths of a cubit, the breadth twelve
cubits, and the height five cubits. This lies by the side of the
entrance to the temple; for within the temple they did not draw it,
because, as it is said, while the house was being drawn along, the
chief artificer of it groaned aloud, seeing that much time had been
spent and he was wearied by the work; and Amasis took it to heart as a
warning and did not allow them to draw it further onwards. Some say on
the other hand that a man was killed by it, of those who were heaving
it with levers, and that it was not drawn in for that reason. Amasis
also dedicated in all the other temples which were of repute, works
which are worth seeing for their size, and among them also at Memphis
the colossal statue which lies on its back in front of the temple of
Hephaistos, whose length is five-and-seventy feet; and on the same
base made of the same stone are set two colossal statues, each of
twenty feet in length, one on this side and the other on that side of
the large statue. There is also another of stone of the same size in
Sais, lying in the same manner as that at Memphis. Moreover Amasis was
he who built and finished for Isis her temple at Memphis, which is of
great size and very worthy to be seen.
In the reign of Amasis it is said that Egypt became more prosperous
than at any other time before, both in regard to that which comes to
the land from the river and in regard to that which comes from the
land to its inhabitants, and that at this time the inhabited towns in
it numbered in all twenty thousand. It was Amasis too who established
the law that every year each one of the Egyptians should declare to
the ruler of his district, from what source he got his livelihood, and
if any man did not do this or did not make declaration of an honest
way of living, he should be punished with death. Now Solon the
Athenian received from Egypt this law and had it enacted for the
Athenians, and they have continued to observe it, since it is a law
with which none can find fault.
Moreover Amasis became a lover of the Hellenes; and besides other
proofs of friendship which he gave to several among them, he also
granted the city of Naucratis for those of them who came to Egypt to
dwell in; and to those who did not desire to stay, but who made
voyages thither, he granted portions of land to set up altars and make
sacred enclosures for their gods. Their greatest enclosure and that
one which has most name and is most frequented is called the
Hellenion, and this was established by the following cities in common:
- of the Ionians Chios, Teos, Phocaia, Clazomenai, of the Dorians
Rhodes, Cnidos, Halicarnassos, Phaselis, and of the Aiolians Mytilene
alone. To these belongs this enclosure and these are the cities which
appoint superintendents of the port; and all other cities which claim
a share in it, are making a claim without any right. Besides this the
Eginetans established on their own account a sacred enclosure
dedicated to Zeus, the Samians one to Hera, and the Milesians one to
Apollo. Now in old times Naucratis alone was an open trading-place,
and no other place in Egypt: and if any one came to any other of the
Nile mouths, he was compelled to swear that he came not thither of his
own free will, and when he had thus sworn his innocence he had to sail
with his ship to the Canobic mouth, or if it were not possible to sail
by reason of contrary winds, then he had to carry his cargo round the
head of the Delta in boats to Naucratis: thus highly was Naucratis
privileged. Moreover when the Amphictyons had let out the contract for
building the temple which now exists at Delphi, agreeing to pay a sum
of three hundred talents (for the temple which formerly stood there
had been burnt down of itself), it fell to the share of the people of
Delphi to provide the fourth part of the payment; and accordingly the
Delphians went about to various cities and collected contributions.
And when they did this they got from Egypt as much as from any place,
for Amasis gave them a thousand talents' weight of alum, while the
Hellenes who dwelt in Egypt gave them twenty pounds of silver.
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