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[1]
The truth of the words and of a dream struck Cambyses the moment he heard the name Smerdis; for he had dreamt that a message had come to him that Smerdis sitting on the royal throne touched heaven with his head;
The truth of the words and of a dream struck Cambyses the moment he heard the name Smerdis; for he had dreamt that a message had come to him that Smerdis sitting on the royal throne touched heaven with his head;
[2] and perceiving that he had killed his brother without cause, he wept bitterly for
Smerdis. Having wept, and grieved by all his misfortune, he sprang upon his horse, with intent to march at once to
Shush [48.333,32.2] (inhabited place), Khuzestan, Iran, Asia
Susa
against the
Magus.
[3] As he sprang upon his horse, the cap fell off the sheath of his sword, and the naked blade pierced his thigh, wounding him in the same place where he had once wounded the
Egyptian god
Apis; and believing the wound to be mortal,
Cambyses asked what was the name of the town where he was.
[4] They told him it was
+Hamadan [48.583,34.766] (inhabited place), Hamadan, Iran, Asia
Ecbatana
. Now a prophecy had before this come to him from
+Kawm al-Farain [30.733,31.2] (deserted settlement), Kafr ash-Shaykh, Lower Egypt, Egypt, Africa
Buto
, that he would end his life at
+Hamadan [48.583,34.766] (inhabited place), Hamadan, Iran, Asia
Ecbatana
;
Cambyses supposed this to signify that he would die in old age at the Median
+Hamadan [48.583,34.766] (inhabited place), Hamadan, Iran, Asia
Ecbatana
, his capital city; but as the event proved, the oracle prophesied his death at
+Hamadan [48.583,34.766] (inhabited place), Hamadan, Iran, Asia
Ecbatana
of
+Syria [38,35] (nation), Asia
Syria
.
[5] So when he now inquired and learned the name of the town, the shock of his wound, and of the misfortune that came to him from the
Magus, brought him to his senses; he understood the prophecy and said: “Here
Cambyses son of
Cyrus is to die.”
Histories. Herodotus. ed. A.D. Godley. Cambridge. 1920-1925.
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