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Why did Herodotus question priests at Memphis, Heliopolis, and Thebes?
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Herodotus
Herodotus, detail of a Roman herm probably copied from a Greek original of the first half of the 4th century bce; in the National Archaeological Museum, Naples.
Herodotus questioned the priests at Memphis, Heliopolis, and Thebes expressly to determine whether the accounts provided by the priests at Heliopolis and Thebes would agree with the information he had gathered from the priests at Memphis.1
By cross-referencing these accounts, the Greek historian sought to verify the consistency of the historical records he was collecting during his travels in Egypt. Through this investigative process, he discovered that Egyptian historical records extended much further back than those of the Greeks and observed significant differences between Egyptian customs and what he termed the common practice of mankind.1