herodotus

a man cut in the rock, of four cubits and a span in height, holding inhis right hand a spear and in his left a bow and arrows, and the otherequipment which he has is similar to this, for it is both Egyptian andEthiopian: and from the one shoulder to the other across the breastruns an inscription carved in sacred Egyptian characters, saying thus,"This land with my shoulders I won for myself." But who he is and fromwhence, he does not declare in these places, though in other places hehas declared this. Some of those who have seen these carvingsconjecture that the figure is that of Memnon, but herein they are veryfar from the truth.107. As this Egyptian Sesostris was returning and bringing back manymen of the nations whose lands he had subdued, when he came (said thepriests) to Daphnai in the district of Pelusion on his journey home,his brother to whom Sesostris had entrusted the charge of Egyptinvited him and with him his sons to a feast; and then he piled thehouse round with brushwood and set it on fire: and Sesostris when hediscovered this forthwith took counsel with his wife, for he wasbringing with him (they said) his wife also; and she counselled him tolay out upon the pyre two of his sons, which were six in number, andso to make a bridge over the burning mass, and that they passing overtheir bodies should thus escape. This, they said, Sesostris did, andtwo of his sons were burnt to death in this manner, but the rest gotaway safe with their father. 108. Then Sesostris, having returned toEgypt and having taken vengeance on his brother, employed themultitude which he had brought in of those whose lands he had subdued,as follows:--these were they who drew the stones which in the reign ofthis king were brought to the temple of Hephaistos, being of verygreat size; and also these were compelled to dig all the channelswhich now are in Egypt; and thus (having no such purpose) they causedEgypt, which before was all fit for riding and driving, to be nolonger fit for this from thenceforth: for from that time forwardEgypt, though it is plain land, has become all unfit for riding anddriving, and the cause has been these channels, which are many and runin all directions. But the reason why the king cut up the land wasthis, namely because those of the Egyptians who had their cities noton the river but in the middle of the country, being in want of waterwhen the river went down from them, found their drink brackish becausethey had it from wells. 109. For this reason Egypt was cut up; andthey said that this king distributed the land to all the Egyptians,giving an equal square portion to each man, and from this he made hisrevenue, having appointed them to pay a certain rent every year: andif the river should take away anything from any man's portion, hewould come to the king and declare that which had happened, and theking used to send men to examine and to find out by measurement howmuch less the piece of land had become, in order that for the future