§3.3.1μηδενὸς δὲ τῆς ἐπιβολῆς καθικομένου.
and yet no one attained his purpose.
Καμβύσην μὲν γὰρ μεγάλῃ δυνάμει στρατεύσαντα τήν τε στρατιὰν ἀποβαλεῖν ἅπασαν καὶ αὐτὸν τοῖς ὅλοις κινδυνεῦσαι· Σεμίραμιν δέ, τῷ μεγέθει τῶν ἐπιβολῶν καὶ πράξεων διωνομασμένην, ἐπὶ βραχὺ τῆς Αἰθιοπίας προελθοῦσαν ἀπογνῶναι τὴν ἐπὶ τὸ σύμπαν ἔθνος στρατείαν· τούς τε περὶ Ἡρακλέα καὶ Διόνυσον ἐπιόντας ἅπασαν τὴν οἰκουμένην μόνους τοὺς Αἰθίοπας τοὺς ὑπὲρ Αἰγύπτου μὴ καταπολεμῆσαι διά τε τὴν εὐσέβειαν τῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ τὸ δυσκράτητον τῆς ἐπιβολῆς.
For Cambyses, having made an expedition with a great force, both lost his entire army and was himself in danger of total ruin; and Semiramis, who was renowned for the greatness of her undertakings and deeds, having advanced only a short distance into Ethiopia, abandoned her expedition against the whole nation; and those around Heracles and Dionysus, though they overran the entire inhabited world, failed to conquer only the Ethiopians who dwell beyond Egypt, both because of the piety of these men and the difficulty of the undertaking.
φασὶ δὲ καὶ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ἑαυτῶν ἀποίκους ὑπάρχειν, Ὀσίριδος ἡγησαμένου τῆς ἀποικίας.
And they say that the Egyptians also are colonists of theirs, Osiris having led the colony.
§3.3.2καθόλου γὰρ τὴν νῦν οὖσαν Αἴγυπτον λέγουσιν οὐ χώραν, ἀλλὰ θάλατταν γεγονέναι κατὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τοῦ κόσμου σύστασιν· ὕστερον μέντοι τοῦ Νείλου κατὰ τὰς ἀναβάσεις τὴν ἐκ τῆς Αἰθιοπίας ἰλὺν καταφέροντος ἐκ τοῦ κατʼ ὀλίγον προσχωσθῆναι.
For they say that, in general, Egypt which now exists was not land but sea at the original constitution of the universe; afterwards, however, as the Nile at its inundations carried down the mud from Ethiopia, it was gradually filled up.
ὅτι δʼ ἐστὶν αὐτῶν ἡ χώρα πᾶσα ποταμόχωστος ἐναργεστάτην ἔχειν ἀπόδειξιν τὴν γινομένην κατὰ τὰς ἐκβολὰς τοῦ Νείλου· §3.3.3καθʼ ἕκαστον γὰρ ἔτος ἀεὶ νέας ἰλύος ἀθροιζομένης πρὸς τὰ στόματα τοῦ ποταμοῦ καθορᾶται τὸ μὲν πέλαγος ἐξωθούμενον τοῖς προσχώμασιν, ἡ δὲ χώρα τὴν αὔξησιν λαμβάνουσα.
And that their entire country is silted up by the river, they have the clearest proof in what takes place at the mouths of the Nile; for each year, as new mud is constantly gathered at the mouths of the river, the sea is seen to be pushed out by the depositions, and the land to receive increase.
τὰ δὲ πλεῖστα τῶν νομίμων τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις ὑπάρχειν Αἰθιοπικά, τηρουμένης τῆς παλαιᾶς συνηθείας παρὰ τοῖς ἀποικισθεῖσι.
And the majority of the customs among the Egyptians are Ethiopian, the ancient usage being preserved among those who were colonized.
§3.3.4τό τε γὰρ τοὺς βασιλεῖς θεοὺς νομίζειν καὶ τὸ περὶ τὰς ταφὰς μάλιστα σπουδάζειν καὶ πολλὰ τοιαῦθʼ ἕτερα πράττειν Αἰθιόπων ὑπάρχειν ἐπιτηδεύματα, τάς τε τῶν ἀγαλμάτων ἰδέας καὶ τοὺς τῶν γραμμάτων τύπους Αἰθιοπικοὺς ὑπάρχειν· §3.3.5διττῶν γὰρ Αἰγυπτίοις ὄντων γραμμάτων, τὰ μὲν δημώδη προσαγορευόμενα πάντας μανθάνειν, τὰ δʼ ἱερὰ καλούμενα παρὰ μὲν τοῖς Αἰγυπτίοις μόνους γινώσκειν τοὺς ἱερεῖς παρὰ τῶν πατέρων ἐν ἀπορρήτοις μανθάνοντας, παρὰ δὲ τοῖς Αἰθίοψιν ἅπαντας τούτοις χρῆσθαι τοῖς τύποις.
For both to regard their kings as gods and to pay the greatest attention to their burials, and to do many other such things, are Ethiopian practices, and the forms of their statues and the characters of their writing are Ethiopian; For while there are two kinds of writing among the Egyptians, that which is called popular (demotic) being learned by everyone, but that which is called sacred (hieroglyphic) being known among the Egyptians by the priests alone, who learn it from their fathers among secret things, among the Ethiopians, on the other hand, everyone uses these characters.
§3.3.6τά τε συστήματα τῶν ἱερέων παραπλησίαν ἔχειν τάξιν παρʼ ἀμφοτέροις τοῖς ἔθνεσι· καθαρεύειν γὰρ ἅπαντας τοὺς περὶ τὴν τῶν θεῶν θεραπείαν ὄντας, ὁμοίως ἐξυρημένους καὶ τὰς στολὰς τὰς αὐτὰς ἔχοντας καὶ τὸν τοῦ σκήπτρου τύπον ἀροτροειδῆ καθεστῶτα, ὃν ἔχοντας τοὺς βασιλεῖς χρῆσθαι πίλοις μακροῖς ἐπὶ τοῦ πέρατος ὀμφαλὸν ἔχουσι καὶ περιεσπειραμένοις ὄφεσιν, οὓς καλοῦσιν ἀσπίδας· τοῦτο δὲ τὸ παράσημον ἔοικε συνεμφαίνειν ὅτι τοὺς ἐπιθέσθαι τολμήσοντας τῷ βασιλεῖ συμβήσεται θανατηφόροις περιπεσεῖν δήγμασι.
And the organizations of the priests have a similar arrangement among both nations; for all who are engaged in the service of the gods remain pure, being likewise shaven and wearing the same robes, and having the form of their sceptre shaped like a plow, which the kings also hold when they wear long hats that have a knob at the top and are encircled by serpents which they call asps; and this insignia seems to signify that those who dare to attack the king will happen to fall into deadly bites.
§3.3.7πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἄλλα λέγουσι περὶ τῆς αὑτῶν ἀρχαιότητος καὶ τῆς τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἀποικίας, περὶ ὧν οὐδὲν κατεπείγει γράφειν.
They tell also many other things about their own antiquity and the colony of the Egyptians, about which there is no pressing need to write.