παραπλεύσαντι δὲ ταῦτα ἐφʼ ἑκατὸν σταδίους πόλις ἐστὶν Ἀρσινόη· κροκοδείλων δὲ πόλις ἐκαλεῖτο πρότερον, σφόδρα γὰρ ἐν τῷ νομῷ τούτῳ τιμῶσι τὸν κροκόδειλον, καὶ ἔστιν ἱερὸς παρʼ αὐτοῖς ἐν λίμνῃ καθʼ αὑτὸν τρεφόμενος, χειροήθης τοῖς ἱερεῦσι· καλεῖται δὲ Σοῦχος· τρέφεται δὲ σιτίοις καὶ κρέασι καὶ οἴνῳ, προσφερόντων ἀεὶ τῶν ξένων τῶν ἐπὶ τὴν θέαν ἀφικνουμένων. ὁ γοῦν ἡμέτερος ξένος, ἀνὴρ τῶν ἐντίμων, αὐτόθι μυσταγωγῶν ἡμᾶς, συνῆλθεν ἐπὶ τὴν λίμνην, κομίζων ἀπὸ τοῦ δείπνου πλακουντάριόν τι καὶ κρέας ὀπτὸν καὶ προχοίδιόν τι μελικράτου· εὕρομεν δὲ ἐπὶ τῷ χείλει κείμενον τὸ θηρίον· προσιόντες δὲ οἱ ἱερεῖς οἱ μὲν διέστησαν αὐτοῦ τὸ στόμα, ὁ δὲ ἐνέθηκε τὸ πέμμα καὶ πάλιν τὸ κρέας, εἶτα τὸ μελίκρατον κατήρασε· καθαλόμενος δὲ εἰς τὴν λίμνην διῇξεν εἰς τὸ πέραν· ἐπελθόντος δὲ καὶ ἄλλου τῶν ξένων κομίζοντος ὁμοίως ἀπαρχήν, λαβόντες περιῆλθον δρόμῳ καὶ καταλαβόντες προσήνεγκαν ὁμοίως τὰ προσενεχθέντα.
Sailing along to the distance of 100 stadia, we come to the city Arsinoë, formerly called Crocodilopolis; for the inhabitants of this nome worship the crocodile. The animal is accounted sacred, and kept apart by himself in a lake; it is tame, and gentle to the priests, and is called Suchus. It is fed with bread, flesh, and wine, which strangers who come to see it always present. Our host, a distinguished person, who was our guide in examining what was curious, accompanied us to the lake, and brought from the supper table a small cake, dressed meat, and a small vessel containing a mixture of honey and milk. We found the animal lying on the edge of the lake. The priests went up to it; some of them opened its mouth, another put the cake into it, then the meat, and afterwards poured down the honey and milk. The animal then leaped into the lake, and crossed to the other side. When another stranger arrived with his offering, the priests took it, and running round the lake, caught the crocodile, and gave him what was brought, in the same manner as before.
μετὰ δὲ τὸν Ἀρσινοΐτην καὶ τὸν Ἡρακλεωτικὸν νομὸν Ἡρακλέους πόλις, ἐν ᾗ ὁ ἰχνεύμων τιμᾶται ὑπεναντίως τοῖς Ἀρσινοΐταις· οἱ μὲν γὰρ τοὺς κροκοδείλους τιμῶσι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἥ τε διῶρυξ αὐτῶν ἐστι μεστὴ τῶν κροκοδείλων καὶ ἡ τοῦ Μοίριδος λίμνη· σέβονται γὰρ καὶ ἀπέχονται αὐτῶν· οἱ δὲ τοὺς ἰχνεύμονας τοὺς ὀλεθριωτάτους τοῖς κροκοδείλοις, καθάπερ καὶ ταῖς ἀσπίσι· καὶ γὰρ τὰ ὠὰ διαφθείρουσιν αὐτῶν καὶ αὐτὰ τὰ θηρία, τῷ πηλῷ θωρακισθέντες· κυλισθέντες γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ ξηραίνονται πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον, εἶτα τὰς ἀσπίδας μὲν ἢ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἢ τῆς οὐρᾶς λαβόμενοι κατασπῶσιν εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν καὶ διαφθείρουσι· τοὺς δὲ κροκοδείλους ἐνεδρεύσαντες, ἡνίκʼ ἂν ἡλιάζωνται κεχηνότες, ἐμπίπτουσιν εἰς τὰ χάσματα καὶ διαφαγόντες τὰ σπλάγχνα καὶ τὰς γαστέρας ἐκδύνουσιν ἐκ νεκρῶν τῶν σωμάτων.
Next after the Arsinoïte and Heracleotic Nomes, is the city of Hercules, in which the ichneumon is worshipped, in opposition to the Arsinoïtes, who worship crocodiles; hence the canal and the lake Moeris is full of these animals, for they venerate them, and are careful to do them no harm: but the Heracleotae worship the ichneumon, which is most destructive both to crocodiles and asps. The ichneumons destroy not only the eggs of the latter, but the animals themselves. The ichneumons are protected by a covering of mud, in which they roll, and then dry themselves in the sun. They then seize the asps by the head or tail, and dragging them into the river, so kill them.
They lie in wait for the crocodiles, when the latter are basking in the sun with their mouths open; they then drop into their jaws, and eating through their intestines and belly, issue out of the dead body.
̔εξῆς δʼ ἐστὶν ὁ Κυνοπολίτης νομὸς καὶ Κυνῶν πόλις, ἐν ᾗ ὁ Ἄνουβις τιμᾶται καὶ τοῖς κυσὶ τιμὴ καὶ σίτισις τέτακταί τις ἱερά. ἐν δὲ τῇ περαίᾳ Ὀξύρυγχος πόλις καὶ νομὸς ὁμώνυμος· τιμῶσι δὲ τὸν ὀξύρυγχον καὶ ἔστιν αὐτοῖς ἱερὸν ὀξυρύγχου, καίτοι καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Αἰγυπτίων κοινῇ τιμώντων τὸν ὀξύρυγχον. τινὰ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ζῴων ἅπαντες κοινῇ τιμῶσιν Αἰγύπτιοι, καθάπερ τῶν μὲν πεζῶν τρία, βοῦν κύνα αἴλουρον, τῶν δὲ πτηνῶν δύο, ἱέρακα καὶ ἶβιν, τῶν δʼ ἐνύδρων δύο, λεπιδωτὸν ἰχθὺν καὶ ὀξύρυγχον· ἄλλα δʼ ἐστὶν ἃ τιμῶσι καθʼ ἑαυτοὺς ἕκαστοι, καθάπερ Σα̈ῖται πρόβατον καὶ Θηβα̈ῖται, λάτον δὲ τῶν ἐν τῷ Νείλῳ τινὰ ἰχθὺν Λατοπολῖται, λύκον τε Λυκοπολῖται, κυνοκέφαλον δὲ Ἑρμοπολῖται, κῆβον δὲ Βαβυλώνιοι οἱ κατὰ Μέμφιν· ἔστι δʼ ὁ κῆβος τὸ μὲν πρόσωπον ἐοικὼς σατύρῳ, τἆλλα δὲ κυνὸς καὶ ἄρκτου μεταξύ, γεννᾶται δʼ ἐν Αἰθιοπίᾳ· ἀετὸν δὲ Θηβαῖοι, λέοντα δὲ Λεοντοπολῖται, αἶγα δὲ καὶ τράγον Μενδήσιοι, μυγαλῆν δὲ Ἀθριβῖται, ἄλλοι δʼ ἄλλο τι· τὰς δʼ αἰτίας οὐχ ὁμολογουμένας λέγουσιν.
Next follows the Cynopolite Nome and Cynopolis, where they worship the dog Anubis, and pay certain honours to dogs; a subsistence is there provided for them, as sacred animals.
On the other side of the river is the city Oxyrynchus, and a nome of the same name. They worship the oxyrynchus, and have a temple dedicated to this animal; but all the other Egyptians worship the oxyrynchus. For all the Egyptians worship in common certain animals; three among the land animals, the ox, the dog, and the cat; two among the winged tribe, the hawk and the ibis; and two of the aquatic animals, the fish lepidotus and the oxyrynchus. There are also other animals which each people, independently of others, worship; as the Saïtae and Thebaïtae, a sheep; the Latopolitae, the latus, a fish inhabiting the Nile; the people of Lycopolis, a wolf; those of Hermopolis, the cynocephalus; those of Babylon, near Memphis, a cephus, which has the countenance of a satyr, and in other respects is between a dog and a bear; it is bred in Ethiopia. The inhabitants of Thebes worship an eagle; the Leontopolitae, a lion; the Mendesians, a male and female goat; the Athribitae, a shrewmouse; different people worshipping different animals. They do not, however, assign the same reasons for this difference of worship.
ἑξῆς δʼ ἐστὶν Ἑρμοπολιτικὴ φυλακή, τελώνιόν τι τῶν ἐκ τῆς Θηβαΐδος καταφερομένων· ἐντεῦθεν ἀρχὴ τῶν ἑξηκοντασταδίων σχοίνων ἕως Συήνης καὶ Ἐλεφαντίνης· εἶτα ἡ Θηβαϊκὴ φυλακὴ καὶ διῶρυξ φέρουσα ἐπὶ Τάνιν· εἶτα Λύκων πόλις καὶ Ἀφροδίτης καὶ Πανῶν πόλις, λινουργῶν καὶ λιθουργῶν κατοικία παλαιά.
Then follows the Hermopolite Castle, a place where is collected the toll on merchandise brought down from the Thebaïs. At this place begins the reckoning by schoeni of sixty stadia each, which is continued to Syene and Elephantina. Next is the Thebaïc Keep, and a canal leading to Tanis. Then follow Lycopolis, Aphroditopolis, and Panopolis, an old settlement belonging to masons and weavers of linen.
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