§1.83.1περὶ δὲ τῶν ἀφιερωμένων ζῴων κατʼ Αἴγυπτον εἰκότως φαίνεται πολλοῖς παράδοξον τὸ γινόμενον καὶ ζητήσεως ἄξιον.
Concerning the sacred animals in Egypt, what takes place naturally seems to many people incredible and worthy of inquiry.
σέβονται γὰρ ἔνια τῶν ζῴων Αἰγύπτιοι καθʼ ὑπερβολὴν οὐ ζῶντα μόνον, ἀλλὰ καὶ τελευτήσαντα, οἷον αἰλούρους καὶ τοὺς ἰχνεύμονας καὶ κύνας, ἔτι δʼ ἱέρακας καὶ τὰς καλουμένας παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἴβεις, πρὸς δὲ τούτοις τούς τε λύκους καὶ τοὺς κροκοδείλους καὶ ἕτερα τοιαῦτα πλείω, περὶ ὧν τὰς αἰτίας ἀποδιδόναι πειρασόμεθα, βραχέα πρότερον ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν διελθόντες.
For the Egyptians worship certain animals exceedingly, not only while they are living, but also after they have died, such as cats, ichneumons, and dogs, and furthermore hawks and the birds called ibises among them, and in addition to these, wolves and crocodiles and many other such creatures, concerning which we shall try to render the causes, after having briefly discussed them first.
§1.83.2πρῶτον μὲν γὰρ ἑκάστῳ γένει τῶν σεβασμοῦ τυγχανόντων ζῴων ἀφιέρωται χώρα φέρουσα πρόσοδον ἀρκοῦσαν εἰς ἐπιμέλειαν καὶ τροφὴν αὐτῶν· ποιοῦνται δὲ καὶ θεοῖς τισιν εὐχὰς ὑπὲρ τῶν παίδων οἱ κατʼ Αἴγυπτον τῶν ἐκ τῆς νόσου σωθέντων· ξυρήσαντες γὰρ τὰς τρίχας καὶ πρὸς ἀργύριον ἢ χρυσίον στήσαντες διδόασι τὸ νόμισμα τοῖς ἐπιμελομένοις τῶν προειρημένων ζῴων.
For first of all, to each kind of the animals that receive worship, land is consecrated which yields revenue sufficient for their care and sustenance; and those in Egypt also make vows to certain gods on behalf of their children who have been saved from illness; for having shaved their hair and weighed it against silver or gold, they give the money to the caretakers of the aforementioned animals.
§1.83.3οἱ δὲ τοῖς μὲν ἱέραξι κρέα κατατέμνοντες καὶ προσκαλούμενοι μεγάλῃ τῇ φωνῇ πετομένοις ἀναρρίπτουσι, μέχρι ἂν δέξωνται, τοῖς δʼ αἰλούροις καὶ τοῖς ἰχνεύμοσι καταθρύπτοντες τοὺς ἄρτους εἰς γάλα καὶ ποππύζοντες παρατιθέασιν ἢ τῶν ἰχθύων τῶν ἐκ τοῦ Νείλου κατατέμνοντες ὠμῶς σιτίζουσιν·
And the caretakers, cutting up meat for the hawks and calling out to them with a loud voice, toss it up to them as they fly until they catch it; and for the cats and the ichneumons, having crumbled bread into milk and making a clicking sound, they set it before them, or cutting up fish from the Nile, they feed them raw.
ὡσαύτως δὲ καὶ τῶν ἄλλων ζῴων ἑκάστῳ γένει τὴν ἁρμόζουσαν τροφὴν χορηγοῦσι.
In the same manner, they also provide the appropriate food for each of the other kinds of animals.
§1.83.4τὰς δὲ γινομένας περὶ ταῦτα λειτουργίας οὐχ οἷον ἐκκλίνουσιν ἢ τοῖς ὄχλοις γενέσθαι καταφανεῖς ἐπαισχύνονται, τοὐναντίον δʼ ὡς περὶ τὰς μεγίστας τῶν θεῶν γινόμενοι τιμὰς σεμνύνονται καὶ μετὰ σημείων ἰδίων περιέρχονται τὰς πόλεις καὶ τὴν χώραν.
And they are so far from avoiding the services performed for these animals or being ashamed of being seen by the crowds, that on the contrary, they take pride in them as though they were engaged in the greatest honors of the gods, and they go about the cities and the countryside with their own special insignia.
πόρρωθεν δʼ ὄντες φανεροὶ τίνων ζῴων ἔχουσι τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν, ὑπὸ τῶν ἀπαντώντων προσκυνοῦνται καὶ τιμῶνται.
And being recognizable from afar as to which animals they have the care of, they are bowed down to and honored by those who meet them.
§1.83.5ὅταν δʼ ἀποθάνῃ τι τῶν εἰρημένων, σινδόνι κατακαλύψαντες καὶ μετʼ οἰμωγῆς τὰ στήθη καταπληξάμενοι φέρουσιν εἰς τὰς ταριχείας· ἔπειτα θεραπευθέντων αὐτῶν κεδρίᾳ καὶ τοῖς δυναμένοις εὐωδίαν παρέχεσθαι καὶ πολυχρόνιον τοῦ σώματος τήρησιν θάπτουσιν ἐν ἱεραῖς θήκαις.
And whenever any of the aforementioned animals dies, having wrapped it in a linen cloth and beating their breasts with lamentation, they carry it to the embalmers; then, after they have been treated with cedar oil and substances capable of imparting a sweet odor and preserving the body for a long time, they bury them in sacred tombs.
§1.83.6ὃς δʼ ἂν τούτων τι τῶν ζῴων ἑκὼν διαφθείρῃ, θανάτῳ περιπίπτει, πλὴν ἐὰν αἴλουρον ἢ τὴν ἶβιν ἀποκτείνῃ· ταῦτα δὲ ἐάν τε ἑκὼν ἐάν τε ἄκων ἀποκτείνῃ, πάντως θανάτῳ περιπίπτει, τῶν ὄχλων συντρεχόντων καὶ τὸν πράξαντα δεινότατα διατιθέντων, καὶ τοῦτʼ ἐνίοτε πραττόντων ἄνευ κρίσεως.
And whoever kills one of these animals intentionally is put to death, except if he kills a cat or an ibis; but if he kills one of these, whether intentionally or unintentionally, he is by all means put to death, as the crowds run together and treat the perpetrator most terribly, and sometimes doing this without a trial.
§1.83.7διὰ δὲ τὸν ἐπὶ τούτοις φόβον οἱ θεασάμενοι τεθνηκός τι τούτων τῶν ζῴων ἀποστάντες μακρὰν βοῶσιν ὀδυρόμενοί τε καὶ μαρτυρόμενοι κατειλῆφθαι τετελευτηκός.
And because of the fear concerning these things, those who have seen any of these animals dead stand far off and cry out with lamentation, protesting that it was found already dead.
§1.83.8οὕτω δʼ ἐν ταῖς τῶν ὄχλων ψυχαῖς ἐντέτηκεν ἡ πρὸς τὰ ζῷα ταῦτα δεισιδαιμονία καὶ τοῖς πάθεσιν ἀμεταθέτως ἕκαστος διάκειται πρὸς τὴν τούτων τιμήν, ὥστε καὶ καθʼ ὃν χρόνον Πτολεμαῖος μὲν ὁ βασιλεὺς ὑπὸ Ῥωμαίων οὔπω προσηγόρευτο φίλος, οἱ δʼ ὄχλοι πᾶσαν εἰσεφέροντο σπουδὴν ἐκθεραπεύοντες τοὺς παρεπιδημοῦντας τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς Ἰταλίας καὶ σπεύδοντες μηδεμίαν ἀφορμὴν ἐγκλήματος ἢ πολέμου δοῦναι διὰ τὸν φόβον, ἀποκτείναντος Ῥωμαίου τινὸς αἴλουρον, καὶ τοῦ πλήθους συνδραμόντος ἐπὶ τὴν οἰκίαν τοῦ πράξαντος, οὔθʼ οἱ πεμφθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ βασιλέως ἄρχοντες ἐπὶ τὴν παραίτησιν οὔθʼ ὁ κοινὸς ἀπὸ τῆς Ῥώμης φόβος ἴσχυσεν ἐξελέσθαι τῆς τιμωρίας τὸν ἄνθρωπον, καίπερ ἀκουσίως τοῦτο πεπραχότα· §1.83.9καὶ τοῦτʼ οὐκ ἐξ ἀκοῆς ἡμεῖς ἱστοροῦμεν, ἀλλʼ αὐτοὶ κατὰ τὴν γεγενημένην ἡμῖν ἐπιδημίαν κατʼ Αἴγυπτον ἑορακότες.
And so deeply has the superstition toward these animals been ingrained in the souls of the crowds, and each person is so unalterably disposed in his feelings toward their honor, that even at the time when King Ptolemy had not yet been addressed as friend by the Romans, and the crowds were showing every eagerness in paying court to those visiting from Italy and hastening out of fear to give no pretext for accusation or war, when a certain Roman killed a cat and the multitude ran together to the house of the perpetrator, neither the officials sent by the king to plead for him nor the common fear of Rome was able to rescue the man from punishment, although he had done this unintentionally; and this we report not from hearsay, but having seen it ourselves during the visit we made to Egypt.