- 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-grc2:3.24.1-3.24.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The unique burial customs of the Ethiopians are described, detailing how they dry and paint corpses before keeping them in hollow pillars of glass.
μετὰ δὲ ταύτην τελευταίας1 ἐθεήσαντο τὰς θήκας αὐτῶν, αἳ λέγονται σκευάζεσθαι ἐξ ὑέλου τρόπῳ τοιῷδε·
And after this, they viewed their coffins as the last thing, which are said to be prepared from glass in the following manner.
ἐπεὰν τὸν νεκρὸν ἰσχνήνωσι, εἴτε δὴ κατά περ Αἰγύπτιοι εἴτε ἄλλως κως, γυψώσαντες ἅπαντα αὐτὸν γραφῇ κοσμέουσι, ἐξομοιεῦντες τὸ εἶδος ἐς τὸ δυνατόν, ἔπειτα δέ οἱ περιιστᾶσι στήλην ἐξ ὑέλου πεποιημένην κοίλην· ἣ δέ2 σφι πολλὴ καὶ εὐεργὸς ὀρύσσεται.
When they have dried the corpse, whether indeed just as the Egyptians do or in some other way, having covered it entirely with plaster, they decorate it with painting, making the appearance as similar to the deceased as possible, and then they place around it a hollow pillar made of glass; which is dug up for them in great quantity and is easy to work.
ἐν μέσῃ δὲ τῇ στήλῃ ἐνεὼν3 διαφαίνεται ὁ νέκυς, οὔτε ὀδμὴν οὐδεμίαν ἄχαριν παρεχόμενος οὔτε ἄλλο ἀεικὲς οὐδέν, καὶ ἔχει πάντα φανερὰ ὁμοίως αὐτῷ τῷ νέκυϊ.4
And being inside in the middle of the pillar, the corpse is clearly visible through it, neither giving off any unpleasant odor nor anything else unsightly, and it has all parts visible, just like the corpse itself.
ἐνιαυτὸν μὲν δὴ ἔχουσι τὴν στήλην ἐν τοῖσι οἰκίοισι οἱ μάλιστα προσήκοντες, πάντων ἀπαρχόμενοι καὶ θυσίας οἱ προσάγοντες· μετὰ δὲ ταῦτα ἐκκομίσαντες ἱστᾶσι περὶ τὴν πόλιν.
For a year indeed, the nearest relatives keep the pillar in their houses, offering first-fruits of everything and bringing sacrifices to it; and after this, carrying it out, they set it up around the city.
- 3.24.1τελευταίας
A predicative adjective agreeing with the feminine plural noun θήκας, functioning adverbially to mean 'as the last thing (they viewed the coffins)'.
- 3.24.2ἣ δέ
The relative pronoun with δέ, whose antecedent is the feminine noun ὑέλου (glass). It functions as the subject of the coordinate clause: 'and this [glass]...'.
- 3.24.3ἐνεὼν
The Ionic present participle of ἔνειμι (to be within), equivalent to Attic ἐνών. It modifies the subject ὁ νέκυς (the corpse), meaning 'being inside'.
- 3.24.3ὁμοίως αὐτῷ τῷ νέκυϊ
With ὁμοίως taking the dative, αὐτῷ τῷ νέκυϊ means 'like the corpse itself'. It expresses that all parts visible through the pillar look exactly as they would on the actual corpse itself.