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The Arabians wore the zeira, or long cloak, fastened about them with
a girdle; and carried at their right side long bows, which when
unstrung bent backwards.
The Ethiopians were clothed in the skins of leopards and lions, and
had long bows made of the stem of the palm-leaf, not less than four
cubits in length. On these they laid short arrows made of reed, and
armed at the tip, not with iron, but with a piece of stone, sharpened
to a point, of the kind used in engraving seals. They carried
likewise spears, the head of which was the sharpened horn of an
antelope; and in addition they had knotted clubs. When they went into
battle they painted their bodies, half with chalk, and half with
vermilion. The Arabians, and the Ethiopians who came from the
region above Egypt, were commanded by Arsames, the son of Darius
and of Artystone daughter of Cyrus. This Artystone was the
best-beloved of all the wives of Darius; and it was she whose statue
he caused to be made of gold wrought with the hammer. Her son Arsames
commanded these two nations.
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