others weave pushing the woof upwards, the Egyptians push
it downwards: the men carry their burdens upon their heads and the
women upon their shoulders: the women make water standing up and the
men crouching down: they ease themselves in their houses and they eat
without in the streets, alleging as reason for this that it is right
to do secretly the things that are unseemly though necessary, but those
which are not unseemly, in public: no woman is a minister either of male
or female divinity, but men of all, both male and female: to support
their parents the sons are in no way compelled, if they do not desire
to do so, but the daughters are forced to do so, be they never so
unwilling.

36. The priests of the gods in other lands wear long hair, but in Egypt
they shave their heads: among other men the custom is that in mourning
those whom the matter concerns most nearly have their hair cut short,
but the Egyptians, when deaths occur, let their hair grow long, both
that on the head and that on the chin, having before been close shaven:
other men have their daily living separated from beasts, but the
Egyptians have theirs together with beasts: other men live on wheat and
barley, but to any one of the Egyptians who makes his living on these it
is a great reproach; they make their bread of maize, 38 which some call
spelt; 39 they knead dough with their feet and clay with their hands,
with which also they gather up dung: and whereas other men, except
such as have learnt otherwise from the Egyptians, have their members as
nature made them, the Egyptians practise circumcision: as to garments,
the men wear two each and the women but one: and whereas others make
fast the rings and ropes of the sails outside the ship, the Egyptians
do this inside: finally in the writing of characters and reckoning with
pebbles, while the Hellenes carry the hand from the left to the right,
the Egyptians do this from the right to the left; and doing so they say
that they do it themselves rightwise and the Hellenes leftwise: and they
use two kinds of characters for writing, of which the one kind is called
sacred and the other common. 40

37. They are religious excessively beyond all other men, and with regard
to this they have customs as follows:--they drink from cups of bronze and
rinse them out every day, and not some only do this but all: they wear
garments of linen always newly washed, and this they make a special
point of practice: they circumci