It Is
Said However That Amasis, Even When He Was In A Private Station, Was A
Lover Of Drinking And
Of jesting, and not at all seriously disposed;
and whenever his means of livelihood failed him through his drinking
and
Luxurious living, he would go about and steal; and they from whom
he stole would charge him with having their property, and when he
denied it would bring him before the judgment of an Oracle, whenever
there was one in their place; and many times he was convicted by the
Oracles and many times he was absolved: 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.
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