Reign of Asychis and His Brick Pyramid — Herodotus, Histories Book 2 (2.136.1–2.136.4), Greek & English

§2.136.1

Ῥοδώπιος μέν νυν πέρι πέπαυμαι. μετὰ δὲ Μυκερῖνον γενέσθαι Αἰγύπτου βασιλέα ἔλεγον οἱ ἱρέες Ἄσυχιν, τὸν τὰ πρὸς ἥλιον ἀνίσχοντα ποιῆσαι¹ τῷ Ἡφαίστῳ προπύλαια, ἐόντα πολλῷ τε κάλλιστα καὶ πολλῷ μέγιστα· ἔχει μὲν γὰρ καὶ τὰ πάντα προπύλαια τύπους τε ἐγγεγλυμμένους καὶ ἄλλην ὄψιν οἰκοδομημάτων μυρίην, ἐκεῖνα δὲ καὶ μακρῷ μάλιστα.

About Rhodopis, then, I have now finished speaking. After Mycerinus, the priests said, Asychis became king of Egypt, who built the gateway for Hephaestus facing the rising sun, which is by far the most beautiful and by far the largest. For indeed all the gateways have carved reliefs and countless other architectural beauties, but those have them by far the most.

§2.136.2

ἐπὶ τούτου βασιλεύοντος ἔλεγον, ἀμιξίης ἐούσης πολλῆς χρημάτων, γενέσθαι νόμον Αἰγυπτίοισι, ἀποδεικνύντα² ἐνέχυρον τοῦ πατρὸς τὸν νέκυν οὕτω λαμβάνειν τὸ χρέος· προστεθῆναι δὲ ἔτι τούτῳ τῷ νόμῳ τόνδε, τὸν διδόντα τὸ χρέος καὶ ἁπάσης κρατέειν τῆς τοῦ λαμβάνοντος θήκης, τῷ δὲ ὑποτιθέντι τοῦτο τὸ ἐνέχυρον τήνδε ἐπεῖναι ζημίην μὴ βουλομένῳ ἀποδοῦναι τὸ χρέος, μήτε αὐτῷ ἐκείνῳ τελευτήσαντι εἶναι³ ταφῆς κυρῆσαι μήτʼ ἐν ἐκείνῳ τῷ πατρωίῳ τάφῳ μήτʼ ἐν ἄλλῳ μηδενί, μήτε ἄλλον μηδένα τῶν ἑωυτοῦ ἀπογενόμενον θάψαι.

During his reign, they said, as there was a great stagnation of money, a law was made for the Egyptians, that one could obtain a loan only by giving his father’s body as security; and to this law another was added: that the lender should also have power over the entire family tomb of the borrower, and that for the one who pledged this security, if he refused to repay the loan, the following penalty was imposed: that he himself when he died should not obtain burial either in that family tomb or in any other, nor could he bury any of his own kin who passed away.

§2.136.3

ὑπερβαλέσθαι δὲ βουλόμενον τοῦτον τὸν βασιλέα τοὺς πρότερον ἑωυτοῦ βασιλέας γενομένους Αἰγύπτου μνημόσυνον πυραμίδα λιπέσθαι ἐκ πλίνθων ποιήσαντα, ἐν τῇ γράμματα ἐν λίθῳ ἐγκεκολαμμένα τάδε λέγοντα ἐστί.

Desiring to surpass the kings of Egypt who had ruled before him, this king left a pyramid as a memorial, having had it made of bricks, on which there are characters carved in stone, which say as follows:

§2.136.4

μή με κατονοσθῇς πρὸς τὰς λιθίνας πυραμίδας·⁴ προέχω γὰρ αὐτέων τοσοῦτον ὅσον ὁ Ζεὺς τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν. κοντῷ γὰρ ὑποτύπτοντες ἐς λίμνην, ὅ τι πρόσσχοιτο τοῦ πηλοῦ τῷ κοντῷ, τοῦτο συλλέγοντες πλίνθους εἴρυσαν καί με τρόπῳ τοιούτῳ ἐξεποίησαν.

”Do not look down upon me in comparison with the pyramids of stone; for I surpass them as much as Zeus surpasses the other gods. For they struck into a lake with poles, and collecting whatever mud clung to the pole, they molded bricks and built me in such a manner.”

Syntax notes4 items

2.136.1τὸν ... ποιῆσαι
The relative pronoun τὸν (accusative) refers to the antecedent Ἄσυχιν, and together with the infinitive ποιῆσαι, it forms an accusative with infinitive construction (indirect discourse) governed by the main verb ἔλεγον.
2.136.2ἀποδεικνύντα
Present active participle in the masculine accusative singular. It agrees in gender, number, and case with the implied subject of the infinitive λαμβάνειν (an unspecified borrower, in the accusative).
2.136.2εἶναι
Used impersonally in the sense of ἔξεστι ("it is possible/permitted"). It takes a dative of agent (αὐτῷ ἐκείνῳ) and has the infinitive phrase (ταφῆς κυρῆσαι) as its subject.
2.136.4μή με κατονοσθῇς πρὸς τὰς λιθίνας πυραμίδας
The preposition πρὸς is used here to indicate a standard of comparison ("in comparison with"). The aorist subjunctive second person singular κατονοσθῇς preceded by μή expresses a prohibition ("do not look down upon").

Translated by Gemini 3.5 Flash (published 2026-05-25) · Revision history (1, latest 2026-09-21)

2026-09-21 AI review — translation 1

urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.136.1-2.136.4