An Account of Egypt

by Herodotus

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Pages: 59

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About this book

The Nile shapes both the land and the stories in Herodotus's account of ancient Egypt. This second book of his Histories, translated by G. C. Macaulay, combines descriptions of the country with reports gathered from Egyptian priests. At Memphis, Thebes and Heliopolis, he compares accounts of early kings, religious practices and the calendar, setting their explanations beside his own observations and judgments.

Practical details give the account much of its texture: acacia boats fastened together with long bolts, papyrus sails, and flooded plains where cities stand above the water like islands. The narrative also follows traditions about Min and the embankments protecting Memphis. Readers interested in ancient history can see how Herodotus builds his account from travel, conversation and inference, while explicitly distinguishing what he has seen from what others have told him.