[93] Sais, in the Delta, was a magnificent city, and the temple of the goddess Neith, who was worshipped there, was celebrated for its splendour. The worship of Neith goes back to the earliest times, but under the dynasty which had its seat at Sais it attained very great prominence. Neith was a nature-goddess, and was called the ‘mother of the sun.’ She represents the hidden and mysterious ground of all things, and hence was naturally regarded as the goddess of wisdom. Like Athena, to whom the Greeks compared her, she was at the same time goddess of war. Over her temple was the inscription: ‘I am what is, what shall be, and what has been, and no man hath lifted my veil; I am the great mother of Ra.’ [94] Nahum iii. 7, 19; ‘No spark of pity mingles with the prophet’s delight.’—Stanley, _Jewish Church_. [95] Jer. xlvi. 8, 9. [96] Jer. xlvi. 5, 16. [97] 2 Kings xxiv. 7. [98] It was natural not to send Greeks against their fellow-countrymen, though the action was otherwise interpreted. [99] The story of Herodotus is that an Egyptian oculist had been sent to Persia to cure the king, who was suffering from some complaint of the eyes. Cambyses heard so much from him of the beauty of the daughter of Amasis, that he desired to have her for his wife. Amasis, unwilling to send his own daughter, substituted the daughter of his predecessor Apries. Cambyses, on discovering the fraud, was so enraged that he undertook the invasion of Egypt to punish the perfidy of its king. Cambyses certainly was not the man to wait for a pretext, whether the story be true or not. The narratives of Herodotus are by no means to be relied on; all that he relates as an eye-witness is of the utmost value. [100] Brugsch, _History of Egypt_. [101] It was Uah-hor-penres, priest of Neith, of whom Cambyses inquired, and who seems to have won great respect from the king. Sais appears, through his influence and good offices, to have been ‘saved in the great calamity that fell upon the land.’ [102] Lord Derby’s translation. [103] ‘All intellectual Greeks,’ says Grote, ‘were naturally attracted to go and visit the wonders on the banks of the Nile.’ [104] Grote. APPENDIX I. TABLE OF DYNASTIES. DYNASTY I.—THINITE. Mena. Hesepti. Teta. Merbap. Atet. Sememptah. Ata. Kebeh. DYNASTY II.—THINITE. Betau. Uatnes. Kakau. Senta. Bai-en-neter. DYNASTY III.—MEMPHITE. Tati. Teta I. Bebi. Setes. Nebka. Neferkara. Sersa. Senefru. DYNASTY IV.—MEMPHITE. Khufu. Menkaura. Tetefra. Aseskaf. Khafra. DYNASTY V.—MEMPHITE. Userkaf. Userenra. Sehura. Menkauhor. Kaka. Tetkara. Neferarkara. Unas.