This
Psammetichos Had Formerly Been A Fugitive From The Ethiopian Sabacos
Who Had Killed His Father Necos, From Him, I
Say, he had then been a
fugitive in Syria; and when the Ethiopian had departed in consequence
of the vision
Of the dream, the Egyptians who were of the district of
Sais brought him back to his own country. Then afterwards, when he was
king, it was his fate to be a fugitive a second time on account of the
helmet, being driven by the eleven kings into the fen-country. So then
holding that he had been grievously wronged by them, he thought how he
might take vengeance on those who had driven him out: and when he had
sent to the Oracle of Leto in the city of Buto, where the Egyptians
have their most truthful Oracle, there was given to him the reply that
vengeance would come when men of bronze appeared from the sea. And he
was strongly disposed not to believe that bronze men would come to
help him; but after no long time had passed, certain Ionians and
Carians who had sailed forth for plunder were compelled to come to
shore in Egypt, and they having landed and being clad in bronze
armour, came to the fen-land and brought a report to Psammetichos that
bronze men had come from the sea and were plundering the plain. So he,
perceiving that the saying of the Oracle was coming to pass, dealt in
a friendly manner with the Ionians and Carians, and with large
promises he persuaded them to take his part. Then when he had
persuaded them, with the help of those Egyptians who favoured his
cause and of these foreign mercenaries he overthrew the kings. Having
thus got power over all Egypt, Psammetichos made for Hephaistos that
gateway of the temple at Memphis which is turned towards the South
Wind; and he built a court for Apis, in which Apis is kept when he
appears, opposite to the gateway of the temple, surrounded all with
pillars and covered with figures; and instead of columns there stand
to support the roof of the court colossal statues twelve cubits high.
Now Apis is in the tongue of the Hellenes Epaphos. To the Ionians and
to the Carians who had helped him Psammetichos granted portions of
land to dwell in, opposite to one another with the river Nile between,
and these were called "Encampments"; these portions of land he gave
them, and he paid them besides all that he had promised: moreover he
placed with them Egyptian boys to have them taught the Hellenic
tongue; and from these, who learnt the language thoroughly, are
descended the present class of interpreters in Egypt. Now the Ionians
and Carians occupied these portions of land for a long time, and they
are towards the sea a little below the city of Bubastis, on that which
is called the Pelusian mouth of the Nile. These men king Amasis
afterwards removed from thence and established them at Memphis, making
them into a guard for himself against the Egyptians: and they being
settled in Egypt, we who are Hellenes know by intercourse with them
the certainty of all that which happened in Egypt beginning from king
Psammetichos and afterwards; for these were the first men of foreign
tongue who settled in Egypt: and in the land from which they were
removed there still remained down to my time the sheds where their
ships were drawn up and the ruins of their houses.
Thus then Psammetichos obtained Egypt: and of the Oracle which is in
Egypt I have made mention often before this, and now I give an account
of it, seeing that it is worthy to be described. This Oracle which is
in Egypt is sacred to Leto, and it is established in a great city near
that mouth of the Nile which is called Sebennytic, as one sails up the
river from the sea; and the name of this city where the Oracle is
found is Buto, as I have said before in mentioning it. In this Buto
there is a temple of Apollo and Artemis; and the temple-house of Leto,
in which the Oracle is, is both great in itself and has a gateway of
the height of ten fathoms: but that which caused me most to marvel of
the things to be seen there, I will now tell. There is in this sacred
enclosure a house of Leto made of one single stone upon the top, the
cornice measuring four cubits. This house then of all the things that
were to be seen by me in that temple is the most marvellous, and among
those which come next is the island called Chemmis. This is situated
in a deep and broad lake by the side of the temple at Buto, and it is
said by the Egyptians that this island is a floating island. I myself
did not see it either floating about or moved from its place, and I
feel surprise at hearing of it, wondering if it be indeed a floating
island. In this island of which I speak there is a great temple-house
of Apollo, and three several altars are set up within, and there are
planted in the island many palm-trees and other trees, both bearing
fruit and not bearing fruit. And the Egyptians, when they say that it
is floating, add this story, namely that in this island which formerly
was not floating, Leto, being one of the eight gods who came into
existence first, and dwelling in the city of Buto where she has this
Oracle, received Apollo from Isis as a charge and preserved him,
concealing him in the island which is said now to be a floating
island, at that time when Typhon came after him seeking everywhere and
desiring to find the son of Osiris. Now they say that Apollo and
Artemis are children of Dionysos and of Isis, and that Leto became
their nurse and preserver; and in the Egyptian tongue Apollo is Oros,
Demeter is Isis, and Artemis is Bubastis.
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