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The Judgment of Animals in Classical Greece: Animal Sculpture and ...

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elief, are mentioned <strong>in</strong> the context <strong>of</strong> the logistics <strong>of</strong> the construction <strong>of</strong> the pyramid<br />

complex <strong>of</strong> Cheops (Khufu; reign c. 2596-2573 B.C.). Herodotus’ description <strong>of</strong> the<br />

materials, techniques, <strong>and</strong> labor force employed for the construction <strong>of</strong> the causeway <strong>of</strong><br />

this k<strong>in</strong>g’s pyramid complex runs as follow<strong>in</strong>g:<br />

<strong>The</strong> people worked <strong>in</strong> gangs <strong>of</strong> one hundred thous<strong>and</strong> for each period <strong>of</strong> three<br />

months. <strong>The</strong> people were afflicted for ten years <strong>of</strong> time <strong>in</strong> build<strong>in</strong>g the road along<br />

which they dragged the stones—<strong>in</strong> my op<strong>in</strong>ion a work as great as the pyramid<br />

itself. For the length <strong>of</strong> the road is more than half a mile, <strong>and</strong> its breadth is sixty<br />

feet, <strong>and</strong> its height, at its highest, is forty-eight feet. It is made <strong>of</strong> polished stone<br />

(li/qou te cestou~), <strong>and</strong> there are zw|&wn carved (e0ggeglumme/nwn) on it.<br />

(2.124) [101]<br />

Zw|&wn is the genitive plural form <strong>of</strong> zw|~on. As with all previous examples, Herodotus<br />

does not comment on how these zw|&wn looked. <strong>The</strong> lack <strong>of</strong> specificity <strong>and</strong> the use <strong>of</strong> the<br />

plural aga<strong>in</strong> <strong>in</strong>dicate that it was a term <strong>of</strong> general description for images. <strong>The</strong> word<br />

e0ggeglumme/nwn, which def<strong>in</strong>es zw|&wn, derives from the verb e0gglu&fw, which, as was<br />

shown previously, refers to carved material, most likely <strong>in</strong> relief, <strong>and</strong> therefore po<strong>in</strong>ts to<br />

sculpture. To the same process po<strong>in</strong>ts also the reference to zw|~a as be<strong>in</strong>g made <strong>of</strong> stone<br />

(li/qou). In addition, the fact that this stone was polished (cestou~) suggests f<strong>in</strong>e quality,<br />

but more precisely, “f<strong>in</strong>e work <strong>in</strong>tricate <strong>of</strong> process <strong>and</strong> accomplished <strong>of</strong><br />

workmanship.” 402 <strong>The</strong>se aspects <strong>of</strong> zw|~a establish that the context which Herodotus had<br />

<strong>in</strong> m<strong>in</strong>d while describ<strong>in</strong>g them was directly <strong>in</strong>volved with the arts. Given that the<br />

causeway to which these zw|~a belonged was part <strong>of</strong> a pyramid complex associated with<br />

the funerary cult <strong>of</strong> a k<strong>in</strong>g, then the term should be seen <strong>in</strong> direct association with an<br />

artistic context set with<strong>in</strong> a funerary/religious one.<br />

402 For a discussion <strong>of</strong> the mean<strong>in</strong>g <strong>of</strong> the verb ce/w from which cestou~ derives, as carry<strong>in</strong>g these<br />

associations, see Donohue, Xoana 28, n. 66.<br />

240

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