Read an excerpt from Herodotus’s History on Egypt and the Egyptians.
Herodotus is considered the first historian, known as the Father of History; unlike other very early historians (Thucydides, for example), he does not cover just history, but discusses geography, culture, etc. as well … and he is not above including hearsay and gossip/rumor (which is why he is also called the Father of Lies).
Herodotus covers a number of elements in this excerpt; for example, history, geography, culture, division of labor between men and women, customs, religion… etc.
Choose one area and summarize Herodotus’ statements in at least one paragraph.
Staying with the area you chose, in a second paragraph (or set of paragraphs), analyze Herodotus’ statements. Do they fit in with what we have been studying? What we have learned about Egypt this semester? Can you detect a bias on the part of this Greek, writing about a country with markedly different customs, etc.?
