§2.124.1μέχρι μέν νυν Ῥαμψινίτου βασιλέος εἶναι ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ πᾶσαν εὐνομίην ἔλεγον καὶ εὐθηνέειν Αἴγυπτον μεγάλως, μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον βασιλεύσαντα σφέων Χέοπα ἐς πᾶσαν κακότητα ἐλάσαι.
They said that until the reign of King Rhampsinitus there was complete good order in Egypt, and that Egypt flourished greatly; but that Cheops, who became king after him, drove them into every kind of wickedness.
κατακληίσαντα γάρ μιν πάντα τὰ ἱρὰ πρῶτα μὲν σφέας θυσιέων τουτέων ἀπέρξαι, μετὰ δὲ ἐργάζεσθαι ἑωυτῷ κελεύειν πάντας Αἰγυπτίους.
For he closed all the temples, first of all barring them from these sacrifices, and after that commanding all the Egyptians to work for him.
§2.124.2τοῖσι μὲν δὴ ἀποδεδέχθαι ἐκ τῶν λιθοτομιέων τῶν ἐν τῷ Ἀραβίῳ ὄρεϊ, ἐκ τουτέων ἕλκειν λίθους μέχρι τοῦ Νείλου· διαπεραιωθέντας δὲ τὸν ποταμὸν πλοίοισι τοὺς λίθους ἑτέροισι ἐπέταξε ἐκδέκεσθαι καὶ πρὸς τὸ Λιβυκὸν καλεύμενον ὄρος, πρὸς τοῦτο ἕλκειν.
To some indeed, it was assigned to drag stones from the quarries in the Arabian mountain as far as the Nile; and when the stones had been ferried across the river in boats, he ordered others to receive them and drag them to the mountain called Libyan.
§2.124.3ἐργάζοντο δὲ κατὰ δέκα μυριάδας ἀνθρώπων αἰεὶ τὴν τρίμηνον ἑκάστην.
They worked in shifts of a hundred thousand men at a time, each shift for three months.
χρόνον δὲ ἐγγενέσθαι τριβομένῳ τῷ λεῷ δέκα ἔτεα μὲν τῆς ὁδοῦ κατʼ ἣν εἷλκον τοὺς λίθους, τὴν ἔδειμαν ἔργον ἐὸν οὐ πολλῷ τεῳ ἔλασσον τῆς πυραμίδος. ὡς ἐμοὶ δοκέειν·
And for the people who were thus worn down, ten years were spent on the road along which they dragged the stones, which road they built, a work which is, as it seems to me, not much less than the pyramid itself.
§2.124.4τῆς μὲν γὰρ μῆκος εἰσὶ πέντε στάδιοι, εὖρος δὲ δέκα ὀργυιαί, ὕψος δέ, τῇ ὑψηλοτάτη ἐστὶ αὐτὴ ἑωυτῆς, ὀκτὼ ὀργυιαί, λίθου δὲ ξεστοῦ καὶ ζῴων ἐγγεγλυμμένων·
For its length is five stades, its width ten fathoms, and its height, where it is highest, eight fathoms, and it is made of polished stone with figures carved upon it.
ταύτης τε δὴ τὰ δέκα ἔτεα γενέσθαι καὶ τῶν ἐπὶ τοῦ λόφου ἐπʼ οὗ ἑστᾶσι αἱ πυραμίδες, τῶν ὑπὸ γῆν οἰκημάτων, τὰς ἐποιέετο θήκας ἑωυτῷ ἐν νήσῳ, διώρυχα τοῦ Νείλου ἐσαγαγών.
For this road, then, the ten years were spent, and also for the underground chambers on the hill whereon the pyramids stand, which chambers he caused to be made as tombs for himself on an island, having conducted thither a canal from the Nile.
§2.124.5τῇ δὲ πυραμίδι αὐτῇ χρόνον γενέσθαι εἴκοσι ἔτεα ποιευμένῃ· τῆς ἐστὶ πανταχῇ μέτωπον ἕκαστον ὀκτὼ, πλέθρα ἐούσης τετραγώνου καὶ ὕψος ἴσον, λίθου δὲ ξεστοῦ τε καὶ ἁρμοσμένου τὰ μάλιστα· οὐδεὶς τῶν λίθων τριήκοντα ποδῶν ἐλάσσων.
And for the pyramid itself twenty years were spent in the making; of this, which is square, each face is eight plethra, and its height is equal to this; and it is built of polished stone, fitted together with the utmost care; none of the stones is less than thirty feet.