The origin of the class of Egyptian interpreters

Herodotus: The Histories

159002 Yingyuan Hu

156757 Nuno Furtado

Topics

• Biography
• Characteristics of Gods in Histories
• Herodotus’ attitude towards Oracles and religion
• The Twitter of Birds
• Psammetichus
• Origin of Egyptian interpreters

​

​

​

Herodotus

-Herodotus was an ancient Greek writer in the 5^th century B.C.

-Though he was Greek, Herodotus hometown was part of the Persian empire

-He recorded the achievements of Greeks and non-Greeks before they were lost to the passage of time

​

​

​

Characteristics of Gods in Histories

​

• The Mysteriousness

​

• The rain which rescued Creosus from Cyrus
• The Oracles that could not be understood

​

• The Humanity

– The spokesperson of the God, Pythia

Herodotus’ attitude towards Oracles and religion

​

• Observe religion from the perspective of the world

​

• Recognize the importance of religion in social life

​

• Treat religion from the standpoint of man

– Herodotus’ disdain of Myths

​

​

The Twitter of Birds

​

• Two versions of the Oracle
• Two women that linked by a temple were abducted by Phoenicians and sold, one to Libya (West of Nile) and one to Greece
• At Dodona, the priests tell a different story: two black doves flew away. One landed in Dodona, and one in Libya. The first one, with a human voice said that there should be an oracle of Zeus (in Dodona), and the other one said that there should be an oracle for Ammon (the Egyptian equivalent to Zeus).
• Herodotus’ attitude and reasons

Psammetichus

• The first pharaoh of the 26th dynasty
• Ruled from 664-610 BC
• Investigated the origins of language
• The first word, bekós
• Phrygians, the oldest civilization

Origin of Egyptian interpreters

​

​

• The 12 kings that ruled Egypt
• The sacrifice to the gods
• Psammetichus’ misunderstanding (ups)
• The prophecy
• Revenge is a dish best served cold
• The origin of the class of Egyptian interpreters

References

• Histories Herodotus
• Psammetichus, King of Egypt: I
• Yun Lee Too explores Psammetichus and the 'foundations' of language

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6YJbk41s1F0&list=WL&index=35

• The History of Herodotus

http://classics.mit.edu/Herodotus/history.2.ii.html

• king Psamtek I
• Religion and political life of Ancient Greek people. Journal of Shanghai university. Jan.2011

http://qktg.shnu.edu.cn/skb/ch/reader/download_pdf_file.aspx?journal_id=shsfqksskb&file_name=3618E016C89268ECD783EC9C130F29CBCB242C434ADE3EF46D87385D0781FA0E91905E9B97EF638A7E463E389B897E91A2CFA40DE0885ADE653E85C4834AC243&open_type=self&file_no=4205

• The religion of Ancient Greece: An Outline [M] Thaddeus Zielinski. Ares Publishers. 1975

​

Thank you