Chapter 3 Document

A Greek Historian on Persia and Egypt:

Herodotus Background:
   Born to a wealthy family in Asia Minor during the age when the wars between the Greeks and Persians was still a recent memory. He devoted a large portion of his life to recording the history of the conflict in a book called The Histories. Thus he in essence began the first systematically recorded narrative based on research.

The Histories: observations and cultural differences

Persians:
Sacrifice- 

  • No images of the gods, no temples or altars- see them as signs of foolishness; thought that this way of thinking may be due to the Persians "not believing the gods to have the same nature as human beings" (138)
  • Practice climbing to the highest mountain top to offer sacrifices to Zeus, god of the universe; "sacrifice the sun and moon to the earth to fire to water and to the winds..." (138)
  • Sacrifice ritual- "they bring the victim to the spot of ground that is pure from ritual pollution and there calls upon the name of the god for whom the sacrifice is meant" (138); the one that sacrifices can't pray for blessings themselves, must pray for the welfare of the king as well as the Persian people as a whole
  • To finish the sacrifice- the sacrificer cuts the animal victim in pieces, boils the meat, and lays it out on the softest grass, usually clover
Occasions/ Celebrations-
  • The most celebrated occasion of the Persians is their birthdays- serve much more food on this day than on others, more extra courses are served rather than main courses
    • Wealthy- "richer Persians have an ox, a horse, a camel, and an ass roasted whole for the meal"
    • Less wealthy- "poorer people cook smaller kinds of cattle"  
Social- 
  • Equal status- kiss each other on the lips
  • "little inferior to the other"- kiss is given upon the cheek 
  • "difference in rank is great"- inferior lies down on the ground
  • farther from Persia= direct correlation to their excellence (farther- less excellence)
Clothing-
  • Wear clothing of the Medes because they consider it better than their own- if another country has a more luxurious clothing they adopt it for themselves, "instantly make it their own" (139)
Egyptians:
    Herodotus speaks very highly of the Egyptians saying "[t]here is no country that possesses so many amazing things or has such a large number of buildings and monuments that defy description" (139). 

Social-
  • "women there participate in the markets and in trade, while the men sit at home weaving on a loom" (139)
  • "what is shameful but necessary should be done in private"(139)- they use the bathroom inside their homes but eat out-of-doors in the streets
  • Priests may only be men
  • Live with animals unlike other places that stay separate from animals
Religion- 
  • Priests have their heads shaved, other places have long hair
  • Grow out their beards and hair after the passing of a relative, other places cut both short

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