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Barbarians at the Gate: Herodotus, Bisotun, and a Persian Punishment in Egypt
- American Journal of Philology
- Johns Hopkins University Press
- Volume 141, Number 3 (Whole Number 563), Fall 2020
- pp. 349-380
- 10.1353/ajp.2020.0020
- Article
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Abstract:
This paper argues that Cambyses' treatment of Psammenitus in Book 3 of Herodotus' Histories constitutes the adaptation of a punishment recorded in the Old Persian text of the Bisotun inscription. By outlining a typology for the practice, the article demonstrates the primacy of a Persian source, and proposes a series of specific, programmatically significant alterations made by Herodotus in the constructi on of the punishment. The resulting episode represents a complex engagement with questions arising from the Persian invasion of Egypt both in the Histories and in the wider historical record concerning Cambyses' legitimacy as Egyptian ruler.