“Concerning Egypt itself I shall extend my remarks to a great length, because there is no country that possesses so many wonders, nor any that has such a number of works which defy description.”
~ ‘The History’ by Herodotus (George Rawlinson translation. GB6 - p. 56)
The last book ended with the death of Cyrus, and this one picks up from there for a brief moment and then goes off into a detailed portrait of Egypt - its geography, history, customs and religious practices. Herodotus uses empirical observation and critical thinking in every aspect he discusses - how the land was created by deposits from the river, about the source of the river and the reason for floods, Egyptian customs regarding cleanliness and sacrifices, their gods predating those of the Greeks, and so forth. He uses logic to debunk a lot of theories.
“Now the Egyptians, before the reign of their king Psammetichus, believed themselves to be the most ancient of mankind. … In consideration of this circumstance the Egyptians yielded their claims, and admitted the greater antiquity of the Phrygians.” (Page 49)