- Source
- Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:1.198.1
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-02
The author describes the Babylonian custom of burial in honey, lamentations similar to those in Egypt, and the purification ritual with incense and washing after marital intercourse, noting that Arabians practice the same.
ταφαὶ δέ σφι ἐν μέλιτι, θρῆνοι δὲ παραπλήσιοι τοῖσι ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ.1 ὁσάκις δʼ ἂν μιχθῇ2 γυναικὶ τῇ ἑωυτοῦ ἀνὴρ Βαβυλώνιος, περὶ θυμίημα καταγιζόμενον ἵζει, ἑτέρωθι δὲ ἡ γυνὴ τὠυτὸ τοῦτο ποιέει, ὄρθρου δὲ γενομένου λοῦνται καὶ ἀμφότεροι· ἄγγεος γὰρ οὐδενὸς ἅψονται3 πρὶν ἂν λούσωνται.4 ταὐτὰ δὲ ταῦτα καὶ Ἀράβιοι ποιεῦσι.
And their burials are in honey, and their lamentations are similar to those in Egypt. Whenever a Babylonian man has intercourse with his own wife, he sits around burning incense, and in another place the woman does this very same thing; and when dawn comes, both of them wash themselves; for they will touch no vessel until they have washed themselves. And the Arabians also do these very same things.
- 1.198.1τοῖσι ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ
The article τοῖσι (equivalent to Attic τοῖς, used pronominally here) refers back to θρῆνοι in the preceding clause. The noun is omitted, meaning "with those [lamentations] in Egypt," preserving structural symmetry in the comparison.
- 1.198.1ὁσάκις δʼ ἂν μιχθῇ
The temporal adverb ὁσάκις combined with the particle ἄν and the aorist passive subjunctive μιχθῇ (from μίγνυμι, "to mingle/have intercourse") forms a conditional-temporal clause expressing general repetition in the present ("whenever he has intercourse").
- 1.198.1ἄγγεος γὰρ οὐδενὸς ἅψονται
The verb ἅπτομαι ("to touch") governs the genitive case, hence ἄγγεος οὐδενὸς ("any vessel") is in the genitive. The future tense ἅψονται expresses a strong volition or general rule in the present.
- 1.198.1πρὶν ἂν λούσωνται
In a temporal clause following a negative main clause (οὐδενὸς ἅψονται), the construction πρίν + ἄν + subjunctive (aorist subjunctive third-person plural λούσωνται) presents a future limitation or condition ("until they have washed themselves").