Notes on the Ethiopians and Egyptians according to ancient sources.-gctid261381

[Guest]

This topic will be a compilation of quotes from ancient authors on the Ancient Ethiopians and Egyptians. 

[Guest]

The Ancient Greeks considered the Ethiopians the oldest race on the planet.

Now the Ethiopians, as historians relate, were the first of all men and the proofs of this statement, they say, are manifest. For that they did not come into their land as immigrants from abroad but were p91natives of it and so justly bear the name of "autochthones"¹ is, they maintain, conceded by practically all men; furthermore, that those who dwell beneath the noon-day sun were, in all likelihood, the first to be generated by the earth, is clear to all; since, inasmuch as it was the warmth of the sun which, at the generation of the universe, dried up the earth when it was still wet and impregnated it with life,² it is reasonable to suppose that the region which was nearest the sun was the first to bring forth living creatures. 2 And they say that they were the first to be taught to honour the gods and to hold sacrifices and processions and festivals and the other rites by which men honour the deity; and that in consequence their piety has been published abroad among all men, and it is generally held that the sacrifices practised among the Ethiopians are those which are the most pleasing to heaven. 3 As witness to this they call upon the poet who is perhaps the oldest and certainly the most venerated among the Greeks; for in the Iliad³ he represents both Zeus and the rest of the gods with him as absent on a visit to Ethiopia to share in the sacrifices and the banquet which were given annually by the Ethiopians for all the gods together:

For Zeus had yesterday to Ocean's bounds Set forth to feast with Ethiop's faultless men, And he was followed there by all the gods.

4 And they state that, by reason of their piety towards the deity, they manifestly enjoy the favour of the gods, inasmuch as they have never experienced the rule of an invader from abroad; for from all time they have enjoyed a state of freedom and of peace one with another, and although many and powerful rulers have made war upon them, not one of these has succeeded in his undertaking.

Diod. 3.2.1-4

Αἰθίοπας τοίνυν ἱστοροῦσι πρώτους ἀνθρώπων ἁπάντων γεγονέναι, καὶ τὰςἀποδείξεις τούτων ἐμφανεῖς εἶναί φασιν. ὅτι μὲν γὰρ οὐκ ἐπήλυδες ἐλθόντες, ἀλλ᾽ ἐγγενεῖς ὄντες τῆς χώρας δικαίως αὐτόχθονες ὀνομάζονται, σχεδὸν παρὰπᾶσι συμφωνεῖσθαι: ὅτι δὲ τοὺς ὑπὸ τὴν μεσημβρίαν οἰκοῦντας πιθανόν ἐστιπρώτους ὑπὸ τῆς γῆς ἐζωογονῆσθαι, προφανὲς ὑπάρχειν ἅπασι: τῆς γὰρ περὶτὸν ἥλιον θερμασίας ἀναξηραινούσης τὴν γῆν ὑγρὰν οὖσαν ἔτι δὲ κατὰ τὴντῶν ὅλων γένεσιν καὶ ζωογονούσης, εἰκὸς εἶναι τὸν ἐγγυτάτω τόπον ὄντα τοῦἡλίου πρῶτον ἐνεγκεῖν φύσεις ἐμψύχους.

φασὶ δὲ παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς πρώτοις καταδειχθῆναι θεοὺς τιμᾶν καὶ θυσίαςἐπιτελεῖν καὶ πομπὰς καὶ πανηγύρεις καὶ τἄλλα δι᾽ ὧν ἄνθρωποι τὸ θεῖοντιμῶσι: διὸ καὶ τὴν παρ᾽ αὐτοῖς εὐσέβειαν διαβεβοῆσθαι παρὰ πᾶσινἀνθρώποις, καὶ δοκεῖν τὰς παρ᾽ Αἰθίοψι θυσίας μάλιστ᾽ εἶναι τῷ δαιμονίῳκεχαρισμένας.

μάρτυρα δὲ τούτων παρέχονται τὸν πρεσβύτατον σχεδὸν καὶ μάλιστα τῶνποιητῶν θαυμαζόμενον παρ᾽ Ἕλλησι: τοῦτον γὰρ κατὰ τὴν Ἰλιάδαπαρεισάγειν τόν τε Δία καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ θεοὺς ἀποδημοῦντας εἰςΑἰθιοπίαν πρός τε τὰς θυσίας τὰς ἀπονεμομένας αὐτοῖς κατ᾽ ἔτος καὶ εὐωχίανκοινὴν παρὰ τοῖς Αἰθίοψι,

Ζεὺς γὰρ ἐς ὠκεανὸν μετ᾽ ἀμύμονας Αἰθιοπῆας 
χθιζὸς ἔβη μετὰ δαῖτα, θεοὶ δ᾽ ἅμα πάντες ἕποντο.

λέγουσι δὲ καὶ τῆς εἰς τὸ θεῖον εὐσεβείας φανερῶς αὐτοὺς κομίζεσθαι τὰςχάριτας, μηδέποτε δεσποτείας ἐπήλυδος πεῖραν λαβόντας: ἐξ αἰῶνος γὰρ ἐνἐλευθερίᾳ μεμενηκέναι καὶ τῇ πρὸς ἀλλήλους ὁμονοίᾳ, πολλῶν μὲν καὶδυνατῶν ἐστρατευκότων ἐπ᾽ αὐτούς,

[Guest]

The Egyptian warrior class migrated to Ethiopia because of the neglect of them by king Psammetichos.

Sailing from this city you will come to the "Deserters" in another period of time equal to that in which you came from Elephantine to the mother- city of the Ethiopians. Now the name of these "Deserters" is Asmach, and this word signifies, when translated into the tongue of the Hellenes, "those who stand on the left hand of the king." These were two hundred and forty thounited snakesnd Egyptians of the warrior class, who revolted and went over to the Ethiopians for the following cause:--In the reign of Psammetichos garrisons were set, one towards the Ethiopians at the city of Elephantine, another towards the aAmwians and Assyrians at Daphnai of Pelusion, and another towards Libya at Marea: and even in my own time the garrisons of the Persians too are ordered in the same manner as these were in the reign of Psammetichos, for both at Elephantine and at Daphnai the Persians have outposts. The Egyptians then of whom I speak had served as outposts for three years and no one relieved them from their guard; accordingly they took counsel together, and adopting a common plan they all in a body revolted from Psammetichos and set out for Ethiopia. Hearing this Psammetichos set forth in pursuit, and when he came up with them he entreated them much and endeavoured to persuade them not to desert the gods of their country and their children and wives: upon which it is said that one of them pointed to his privy member and said that wherever this was, there would they have both children and wives. When these came to Ethiopia they gave themselves over to the king of the Ethiopians; and he rewarded them as follows:--there were certain of the Ethiopians who had come to be at variance with him; and he bade them drive these out and dwell in their land. So since these men settled in the land of the Ethiopians, the Ethiopians have come to be of milder manners, from having learnt the customs of the Egyptians.

Herodotus histories book II verse 30

[1] ἀπὸ δὲ ταύτης τῆς πόλιος πλέων ἐν ἴσῳ χρόνῳ ἄλλῳ ἥξεις ἐς τοὺς αὐτομόλους ἐν ὅσῳ περ ἐξ Ἐλεφαντίνης ἦλθες ἐς τὴν μητρόπολιν τὴν Αἰθιόπων. τοῖσι δὲ αὐτομόλοισι τούτοισι οὔνομα ἐστὶ Ἀσμάχ, δύναται δὲ τοῦτο τὸ ἔπος κατὰ τὴν Ἑλλήνων γλῶσσαν οἱ ἐξ ἀριστερῆς χειρὸς παριστάμενοι βασιλέι. [2] ἀπέστησαν δὲ αὗται τέσσερες καὶ εἴκοσι μυριάδες Αἰγυπτίων τῶν μαχίμων ἐς τοὺς Αἰθίοπας τούτους δι᾽ αἰτίην τοιήνδε. ἐπὶ Ψαμμητίχου βασιλέος φυλακαὶ κατέστησαν ἔν τε Ἐλεφαντίνῃ πόλι πρὸς Αἰθιόπων καὶ ἐν Δάφνῃσι τῇσι Πηλουσίῃσι ἄλλη πρὸς Ἀραβίων τε καὶ Ἀσσυρίων, καὶ ἐν Μαρέῃ πρὸς Λιβύης ἄλλη. [3] ἔτι δὲ ἐπ᾽ ἐμεῦ καὶ Περσέων κατὰ ταὐτὰ αἱ φυλακαὶ ἔχουσι ὡς καὶ ἐπὶ Ψαμμητίχου ἦσαν· καὶ γὰρ ἐν Ἐλεφαντίνῃ Πέρσαι φρουρέουσι καὶ ἐν Δάφνῃσι. τοὺς ὦν δὴ Αἰγυπτίους τρία ἔτεα φρουρήσαντας ἀπέλυε οὐδεὶς τῆς φρουρῆς· οἳ δὲ βουλευσάμενοι καὶ κοινῷ λόγῳ χρησάμενοι πάντες ἀπὸ τοῦ Ψαμμητίχου ἀποστάντες ἤισαν ἐς Αἰθιοπίην. [4] Ψαμμήτιχος δὲ πυθόμενος ἐδίωκε· ὡς δὲ κατέλαβε, ἐδέετο πολλὰ λέγων καί σφεας θεοὺς πατρωίους ἀπολιπεῖν οὐκ ἔα καὶ τέκνα καὶ γυναῖκας. τῶν δὲ τινὰ λέγεται δέξαντα τὸ αἰδοῖον εἰπεῖν, ἔνθα ἂν τοῦτο ᾖ, ἔσεσθαι αὐτοῖσι ἐνθαῦτα καὶ τέκνα καὶ γυναῖκας. [5] οὗτοι ἐπείτε ἐς Αἰθιοπίην ἀπίκοντο, διδοῦσι σφέας αὐτοὺς τῷ Αἰθιόπων βασιλέι, ὁ δὲ σφέας τῷδε ἀντιδωρέεται· ἦσάν οἱ διάφοροι τινὲς γεγονότες τῶν Αἰθιόπων· τούτους ἐκέλευε ἐξελόντας τὴν ἐκείνων γῆν οἰκέειν. τούτων δὲ ἐσοικισθέντων ἐς τοὺς Αἰθίοπας ἡμερώτεροι γεγόνασι Αἰθίοπες, ἤθεα μαθόντες Αἰγύπτια. 

[Guest]

Diodorus Siculus explains how Egypt is a colony of Ethiopia and how Egypt used to be under water."

Cambyses,⁴ for instance, they say, who made war upon them with a great force, both lost all his army and was himself exposed to the greatest peril; Semiramis also, who through the magnitude of her undertakings and achievements has become renowned, after advancing a short distance into Ethiopia gave up her campaign against the whole nation; and Heracles and Dionysus, although they visited all the inhabited earth, failed to subdue the Ethiopians alone who dwell above Egypt, both because of the piety of these men and because of the insurmountable difficulties involved in the attempt.

They say also that the Egyptians are colonists sent out by the Ethiopians, Osiris having been the leader of the colony.

 For, speaking generally, what is now Egypt, they maintain, was not land but sea when in the beginning the universe was being formed; afterwards, however, as the Nile during the times of its inundation carried down the mud from Ethiopia, land was gradually built up from the deposit. Also the statement that all the land of the Egyptians is alluvial silt deposited by the river receives the clearest proof, in their opinion, from what takes place at the outlets of the Nile;

 3 for as each year new mud is continually gathered together at the mouths of the river, the sea is observed being thrust back by the deposited silt and the land receiving the increase. And the larger part of the customs of the Egyptians are, they hold, Ethiopian, the colonists still preserving their ancient manners. 

4 For instance, the belief that their kings are gods, the very special attention which they pay to their burials, and many other matters of a similar nature are Ethiopian practices, while the shapes of their statues and the forms of their letters are Ethiopian;

 5 for of the two kinds of writing⁵ which the Egyptians have, that which is known as "popular" (demotic) is learned by everyone, while that which is called "sacred"⁶ is understood only by the priests of the Egyptians, who learn it from their fathers as one of the things which are not divulged, but among the Ethiopians everyone uses these forms of letters.

 6 Furthermore, the orders of the priests, they maintain, have much the same position among both peoples; for all are clean⁷ who are engaged in the service of the gods, keeping themselves shaven, like the Egyptian priests, and having the same dress and form of staff, which is shaped like a plough and is carried by their kings, who wear high felt hats which end in a knob at the top and are circled by the serpents which they call asps; and this symbol appears to carry the thought that it will be the lot of those who shall dare to attack the king to encounter death-carrying stings.⁸ 

7 Many other things are also told by them concerning their own antiquity and the colony which they sent out that became the Egyptians, but about this there is no special need of our writing anything.

Diod. 3.3.1-7

μηδενὸς δὲ τῆς ἐπιβολῆς καθικομένου. Καμβύσην μὲν γὰρ μεγάλῃ δυνάμειστρατεύσαντα τήν τε στρατιὰν ἀποβαλεῖν ἅπασαν καὶ αὐτὸν τοῖς ὅλοιςκινδυνεῦσαι: Σεμίραμιν δέ, τῷ μεγέθει τῶν ἐπιβολῶν καὶ πράξεωνδιωνομασμένην, ἐπὶ βραχὺ τῆς Αἰθιοπίας προελθοῦσαν ἀπογνῶναι τὴν ἐπὶ τὸσύμπαν ἔθνος στρατείαν: τούς τε περὶ Ἡρακλέα καὶ Διόνυσον ἐπιόνταςἅπασαν τὴν οἰκουμένην μόνους τοὺς Αἰθίοπας τοὺς ὑπὲρ Αἰγύπτου μὴκαταπολεμῆσαι διά τε τὴν εὐσέβειαν τῶν ἀνδρῶν καὶ τὸ δυσκράτητον τῆςἐπιβολῆς. φασὶ δὲ καὶ τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ἑαυτῶν ἀποίκους ὑπάρχειν, Ὀσίριδος ἡγησαμένου τῆς ἀποικίας.

 καθόλου γὰρ τὴν νῦν οὖσαν Αἴγυπτον λέγουσιν οὐ χώραν, ἀλλὰ θάλαττανγεγονέναι κατὰ τὴν ἐξ ἀρχῆς τοῦ κόσμου σύστασιν: ὕστερον μέντοι τοῦ Νείλουκατὰ τὰς ἀναβάσεις τὴν ἐκ τῆς Αἰθιοπίας ἰλὺν καταφέροντος ἐκ τοῦ κατ᾽ὀλίγον προσχωσθῆναι. ὅτι δ᾽ ἐστὶν αὐτῶν ἡ χώρα πᾶσα ποταμόχωστοςἐναργεστάτην ἔχειν ἀπόδειξιν τὴν γινομένην κατὰ τὰς ἐκβολὰς τοῦ Νείλου:

καθ᾽ ἕκαστον γὰρ ἔτος ἀεὶ νέας ἰλύος ἀθροιζομένης πρὸς τὰ στόματα τοῦποταμοῦ καθορᾶται τὸ μὲν πέλαγος ἐξωθούμενον τοῖς προσχώμασιν, ἡ δὲχώρα τὴν αὔξησιν λαμβάνουσα. τὰ δὲ πλεῖστα τῶν νομίμων  τοῖςΑἰγυπτίοις ὑπάρχειν Αἰθιοπικά, τηρουμένης τῆς παλαιᾶς συνηθείας παρὰ τοῖςἀποικισθεῖσι.

τό τε γὰρ τοὺς βασιλεῖς θεοὺς νομίζειν καὶ τὸ περὶ τὰς ταφὰς μάλιστασπουδάζειν καὶ πολλὰ τοιαῦθ᾽ ἕτερα πράττειν Αἰθιόπων ὑπάρχεινἐπιτηδεύματα, τάς τε τῶν ἀγαλμάτων ἰδέας καὶ τοὺς τῶν γραμμάτων τύπουςΑἰθιοπικοὺς ὑπάρχειν:

διττῶν γὰρ Αἰγυπτίοις ὄντων γραμμάτων, τὰ μὲν δημώδηπροσαγορευόμενα πάντας μανθάνειν, τὰ δ᾽ ἱερὰ καλούμενα παρὰ μὲν τοῖςΑἰγυπτίοις μόνους γινώσκειν τοὺς ἱερεῖς παρὰ τῶν πατέρων ἐν ἀπορρήτοιςμανθάνοντας, παρὰ δὲ τοῖς Αἰθίοψιν ἅπαντας τούτοις χρῆσθαι τοῖς τύποις.

τά τε συστήματα τῶν ἱερέων παραπλησίαν ἔχειν τάξιν παρ᾽ ἀμφοτέροις τοῖςἔθνεσι: καθαρεύειν γὰρ ἅπαντας τοὺς περὶ τὴν τῶν θεῶν θεραπείαν ὄντας, ὁμοίως ἐξυρημένους καὶ τὰς στολὰς τὰς αὐτὰς ἔχοντας καὶ τὸν τοῦ σκήπτρουτύπον ἀροτροειδῆ καθεστῶτα, ὃν ἔχοντας τοὺς βασιλεῖς χρῆσθαι πίλοιςμακροῖς ἐπὶ τοῦ πέρατος ὀμφαλὸν ἔχουσι καὶ περιεσπειραμένοις ὄφεσιν, οὓςκαλοῦσιν ἀσπίδας: τοῦτο δὲ τὸ παράσημον ἔοικε συνεμφαίνειν ὅτι τοὺςἐπιθέσθαι τολμήσοντας τῷ βασιλεῖ συμβήσεται θανατηφόροις περιπεσεῖνδήγμασι.

πολλὰ δὲ καὶ ἄλλα λέγουσι περὶ τῆς αὑτῶν ἀρχαιότητος καὶ τῆς τῶνΑἰγυπτίων ἀποικίας, περὶ ὧν οὐδὲν κατεπείγει γράφειν.

[Guest]

There were at least 18 Ethiopian pharaohs in Egypt's history.

Herodotus histories book 2:100

• [1] μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον κατέλεγον οἱ ἱρέες ἐκ βύβλου ἄλλων βασιλέων τριηκοσίων καὶ τριήκοντα οὐνόματα. ἐν τοσαύτῃσι δὲ γενεῇσι ἀνθρώπων ὀκτωκαίδεκα μὲν Αἰθίοπες ἦσαν, μία δὲ γυνὴ ἐπιχωρίη, οἱ δὲ ἄλλοι ἄνδρες Αἰγύπτιοι. After this the priests enumerated to me from a papyrus roll the names of other kings, three hundred and thirty in number; and in all these generations of men eighteen were Ethiopians, one was a woman, a native Egyptian, and the rest were men and of Egyptian race:[/list type=decimal]

[Guest]

The ancient Egyptians and Ethiopians had the same hair texture according to the Aristotle.

Why are the Ethiopians and Egyptians bandy-legged? Is it because
of that the body of itself creates, because of disturbance by heat, like
loss of wood when they become dry? The condition of their hair supports this theory; for it is curlier than that of other
nations..." (Aristotle, _Problemata_ 909, 7)

[Guest]

Shepherds were despised in Ancient Egypt.

When Pharaoh calls you, and says, "What is your occupation?" you shall say, "Your servants have been keepers of livestock from our youth even until now, both we and our ancestors"—in order that you may settle in the land of Goshen, because all shepherds are abhorrent to the Egyptians. Genesis 46:33-34

[Guest]

It was an abomination for Egyptians to eat with Hebrews. (eurasiatics)

They served him by himself, and them by themselves, and the Egyptians who ate with him by themselves, because the Egyptians could not eat with the Hebrews, for that is an abomination to the Egyptians. Genesis 43:32

[Ɔbenfo Ọbádélé]

217-play-dough.docx

[Guest]

Prudentius, a roman christian poet describes the Egyptians in the bible as swarthy and black skinned.

"yea the swarthy warriors too, under their ungodly king, stirred by their bitter hatred and thirsting to shed Hebrew blood, venture to trust themselves to that trough in the deep."

"then could be seen the wreck of chariots and horses and weapons, and the princes too, and bodies of their black henchmen floating this way and that, a sad day for mourning for the despots throne" Prudentius, Daily bound v 69-79

   

[Guest]

Pharaoh Shabaka according to Diodorus Siculus was the first ruler to outlaw the death penalty.

LXV. Πολλοῖς δ´ ὕστερον χρόνοις ἐβασίλευσε τῆς Αἰγύπτου Σαβάκων, τὸ μὲν γένος ὢν Αἰθίοψ, εὐσεβείᾳ δὲ καὶ χρηστότητι πολὺ διαφέρων τῶν πρὸ αὐτοῦ. Τῆς μὲν οὖν ἐπιεικείας αὐτοῦ λάβοι τις ἂν τεκμήριον τὸ τῶν νομίμων προστίμων ἆραι τὸ μέγιστον, λέγω δὲ τὴν τοῦ ζῆν στέρησιν· ἀντὶ γὰρ τοῦ θανάτου τοὺς καταδικασθέντας ἠνάγκαζε λειτουργεῖν ταῖς πόλεσι δεδεμένους, καὶ διὰ τούτων πολλὰ μὲν χώματα κατεσκεύαζεν, οὐκ ὀλίγας δὲ διώρυχας ὤρυττεν ἐυκαίρους· ὑπελάμβανε γὰρ τοῖς μὲν κολαζομένοις τὸ τῆς τιμωρίας ἀπότομον ἠλαττωκέναι, ταῖς δὲ πόλεσιν ἀντὶ προστίμων ἀνωφελῶν μεγάλην εὐχρηστίαν περιπεποιηκέναι. Τὴν δὲ τῆς εὐσεβείας ὑπερβολὴν συλλογίσαιτ´ ἄν τις ἐκ τῆς κατὰ τὸν ὄνειρον φαντασίας καὶ τῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀρχὴν ἀποθέσεως. Ἔδοξε μὲν γὰρ κατὰ τὸν ὕπνον λέγειν αὐτῷ τὸν ἐν Θήβαις θεὸν ὅτι βασιλεύειν οὐ δυνήσεται τῆς Αἰγύπτου μακαρίως οὐδὲ πολὺν χρόνον, ἐὰν μὴ τοὺς ἱερεῖς ἅπαντας διατεμὼν διὰ μέσων αὐτῶν διέλθῃ μετὰ τῆς θεραπείας. Πολλάκις δὲ τούτου γινομένου μεταπεμψάμενος πανταχόθεν τοὺς ἱερεῖς ἔφη λυπεῖν τὸν θεὸν ἐν τῇ χώρᾳ μένων· οὐ γὰρ ἂν αὐτῷ τοιαῦτα προστάττειν κατὰ τὸν ὕπνον. Ἀπελθὼν οὖν βούλεσθαι καθαρὸς παντὸς μύσους ἀποδοῦναι τὸ ζῆν τῇ πεπρωμένῃ μᾶλλον ἢ λυπῶν τὸν κύριον καὶ μιάνας ἀσεβεῖ φόνῳ τὸν ἴδιον βίον ἄρχειν τῆς Αἰγύπτου· καὶ πέρας τοῖς ἐγχωρίοις ἀποδοὺς τὴν βασιλείαν ἐπανῆλθεν εἰς τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν.

Much later Egypt was ruled by Sabaco,⁶⁴ who was by birth an Ethiopian and yet in piety and uprightness far surpassed his predecessors. 3 A proof of his goodness may be found in his abolition of the severest one of the customary penalties (I refer to the taking of life); 4 for instead of executing the condemned he put them in chains at forced labour for the cities, and by their services constructed many dykes and dug out not a few well-placed canals; for he held that in this way he had reduced for those who were being chastised the severity of their punishment, while for the cities he had procured, in exchange for useless penalties, something of great utility. 5 And the excessiveness of his piety may be inferred from a vision which he had in a dream and his consequent abdication of the throne. 6 For he thought that the god of Thebes told him while he slept that he would not be able to reign over Egypt in happiness or for any great length of time, unless he should cut the bodies of all the priests in twain and accompanied by his retinue pass through the very midst of them.⁶⁵ 7 And when this dream came again and again, he summoned the priests from all over the land and told them that by his presence in the country he was offending the god; for were that not the case such a command would not be given to him in his sleep. 8 And so he would rather, he continued, departing pure of all defilement from the land, deliver his life to destiny than offend the Lord, stain his own life by an impious slaughter, and reign over Egypt. And in the end he returned the kingdom to the Egyptians and retired again to Ethiopia.

Didodorus siculus historical library

[Guest]

Cleopatra VII Philopator could speak multiple languages including Ethiopian and Troglodyte (An Kmtyw dialect)

[3] ἡδονὴ δὲ καὶ φθεγγομένης ἐπῆν τῷ ἤχῳ: καὶ τὴν γλῶτταν, ὥσπερ ὄργανόντι πολύχορδον, εὐπετῶς τρέπουσα καθ᾽ ἣν βούλοιτο διάλεκτον ὀλίγοιςπαντάπασι δἰ ἑρμηνέως ἐνετύγχανε βαρβάροις, τοῖς δὲ πλείστοις αὐτὴ δἰ αὑτῆςἀπεδίδου τὰς ἀποκρίσεις, οἷον Αἰθίοψι, Τρωγλοδύταις, Ἑβραίοις, Ἄραψι, Σύροις, Μήδοις, Παρθυαίοις.

"There was sweetness also in the tones of her voice; and her tongue, like an instrument of many strings, she could readily turn to whatever language she pleased, so that in her interviews with Barbarians she very seldom had need of an interpreter, but made her replies to most of them herself and unassisted, whether they were Ethiopians, Troglodytes, Hebrews, aAmwians, Syrians, Medes or Parthians." Plut. Ant. 27.3

Plutarch

[Guest]

Cleopatra VII Philopator army was made up of Ethiopians.

"The Dacian and Ethiopian almost demolished the city engaged in civil broils." Horace, odes VI.

This is a reference to Cleopatra and Mark Anthony's army which were made up of Dacians and Ethiopians

[Guest]

platonem socrate mortuo primum in aegyptum discendi caunited snakes

"After the death of Socrates, Plato first went to Egypt in order to study" Republic 1.26 by Cicero

[Guest]

videat primum in illa incorrupta maxume gente aegytiorum, quae plurimorum saeculorum et eventorum memoriam litteris continet

"He would first see in the uncorrupted race of the Egyptians, which preserves in writing the memory of most ages and events." Republic 3:14 cicero