Source
herodotus-iii
Herodotus, The History, Book III (Thaleia), trans. G. C. Macaulay. Public domain, archived 2026-07-30, closing C392. Extracted from the Gutenberg volume without Books I–II, because Book II is already held separately and archiving it twice would double every hit drawn from it (C384). Supplies the markings, the conception, the oracle interval, and the Cambyses episode entire.
5 attestations across 1 entry rest on this source — 1% of every attestation in the corpus.
What rests on it
If this source were withdrawn, these are the claims that would need re-sourcing. That is the point of listing them.
| Entry | Locus | Attests |
|---|---|---|
| Apis ●full | *The History* III. 28 | the markings in full — **black**, **a white square on the forehead**, **the likeness of an eagle on the back**, **doubled hairs in the tail**, **a mark like a beetle on the tongue** |
| Apis ●full | *ibid.* III. 28 | conception by **a flash of light from heaven** upon the cow, who **is never permitted to conceive again** |
| Apis ●full | *ibid.* III. 27–29 | **Cambyses** mistakes the festival for mockery, executes the officers and priests, **aims at the belly and strikes the thigh**, and mocks a god "**with blood and flesh, and sensible of the stroke of iron weapons**" |
| Apis ●full | *ibid.* III. 29–30 | Apis **dies of the wound**; **the priests bury him without Cambyses' knowledge**; Cambyses "**as the Egyptians say**" goes mad — **and Herodotus doubts it in the same sentence** |
| Apis ●full | *ibid.* III. 27 | Apis "**wont to appear at intervals of long time**" |