herodotus

gave them, and he paid them besides all that he had promised: moreoverhe placed with them Egyptian boys to have them taught the Hellenictongue; and from these, who learnt the language thoroughly, aredescended the present class of interpreters in Egypt. Now the Ioniansand Carians occupied these portions of land for a long time, and theyare towards the sea a little below the city of Bubastis, on that whichis called the Pelusian mouth of the Nile. These men king Amasisafterwards removed from thence and established them at Memphis, makingthem into a guard for himself against the Egyptians: and they beingsettled in Egypt, we who are Hellenes know by intercourse with themthe certainty of all that which happened in Egypt beginning from kingPsammetichos and afterwards; for these were the first men of foreigntongue who settled in Egypt: and in the land from which they wereremoved there still remained down to my time the sheds where theirships were drawn up and the ruins of their houses.Thus then Psammetichos obtained Egypt: 155, and of the Oracle which isin Egypt I have made mention often before this, and now I will give anaccount of it, seeing that it is worthy to be described. This Oraclewhich is in Egypt is sacred to Leto, and it is established in a greatcity near that mouth of the Nile which is called Sebennytic, as onesails up the river from the sea; and the name of this city where theOracle is found is Buto, as I have said before in mentioning it. Inthis Buto there is a temple of Apollo and Artemis; and the templehouse[134]of Leto, in which the Oracle is, is both great in itselfand has a gateway of the height of ten fathoms: but that which causedme most to marvel of the things to be seen there, I will now tell.There is in this sacred enclosure a house[134] of Leto made of onesingle stone as regards both height and length, and of which all thewalls are in these two directions equal, each being forty cubits; andfor the covering in of the roof there lies another stone upon the top,the cornice measuring four cubits.[135] 156. This house[134] then ofall the things that were to be seen by me in that temple is the mostmarvellous, and among those which come next is the island calledChemmis. This is situated in a deep and broad lake by the side of thetemple at Buto, and it is said by the Egyptians that this island is afloating island. I myself did not see it either floating about ormoved from its place, and I feel surprise at hearing of it, wonderingif it be indeed a floating island. In this island of which I speakthere is a great temple-house[134] of Apollo, and three several altarsare set up within, and there are planted in the island many palm-treesand other trees, both bearing fruit and not bearing fruit. And theEgyptians, when they say that it is floating, add this story, namelythat in this island, which formerly was not floating, Leto, being oneof the eight gods who came into existence first, and dwelling in thecity of Buto where she has this Oracle, received Apollo from Isis as a