μετὰ δὲ Μέμφιν Ἄκανθος πόλις ὁμοίως ἐν τῇ Λιβύῃ καὶ τὸ τοῦ Ὀσίριδος ἱερὸν καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀκάνθης ἄλσος τῆς Θηβαϊκῆς ἐξ ἧς τὸ κόμμι. εἶθʼ ὁ Ἀφροδιτοπολίτης νομὸς καὶ ἡ ὁμώνυμος πόλις ἐν τῇ Ἀραβίᾳ, ἐν ᾗ λευκὴ βοῦς ἱερὰ τρέφεται. εἶθʼ ὁ Ἡρακλεώτης νομὸς ἐν νήσῳ μεγάλῃ, καθʼ ἣν ἡ διῶρύξ ἐστιν ἐν δεξιᾷ εἰς τὴν Λιβύην ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀρσινοΐτην νομόν, ὥστε καὶ δίστομον εἶναι τὴν διώρυγα, μεταξὺ μέρους τινὸς τῆς νήσου παρεμπίπτοντος. ἔστι δʼ ὁ νομὸς οὗτος ἀξιολογώτατος τῶν ἁπάντων κατά τε τὴν ὄψιν καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ τὴν κατασκευήν· ἐλαιόφυτός τε γὰρ μόνος ἐστὶ μεγάλοις καὶ τελείοις δένδρεσι καὶ καλλικάρποις, εἰ δὲ συγκομίζοι καλῶς τις, καὶ εὐέλαιος· ὀλιγωροῦντες δὲ τούτου πολὺ μὲν ποιοῦσιν ἔλαιον, μοχθηρὸν δὲ κατὰ τὴν ὀδμήν· ἡ δʼ ἄλλη Αἴγυπτος ἀνέλαιός ἐστι πλὴν τῶν κατʼ Ἀλεξάνδρειαν κήπων, οἳ μέχρι τοῦ ἐλαίαν χορηγεῖν ἱκανοί εἰσιν, ἔλαιον δʼ οὐχ ὑπουργοῦσιν· οἶνόν τε οὐκ ὀλίγον ἐκφέρει σῖτόν τε καὶ ὄσπρια καὶ τὰ ἄλλα σπέρματα πάμπολλα. θαυμαστὴν δὲ καὶ τὴν λίμνην ἔχει τὴν Μοίριδος καλουμένην, πελαγίαν τῷ μεγέθει καὶ τῇ χρόᾳ θαλαττοειδῆ· καὶ τοὺς αἰγιαλοὺς δὲ ἔστιν ὁρᾶν ἐοικότας τοῖς θαλαττίοις, ὡς ὑπονοεῖν τὰ αὐτὰ περὶ τῶν κατὰ Ἄμμωνα τόπων καὶ τούτων (καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ πάμπολυ ἀφεστᾶσιν ἀλλήλων καὶ τοῦ Παραιτονίου) μὴ ὥσπερ τὸ ἱερὸν ἐκεῖνο εἰκάζειν ἔστι πρότερον ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάττῃ ἱδρῦσθαι διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν τεκμηρίων, καὶ ταῦθʼ ὁμοίως τὰ χωρία πρότερον ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάττῃ ὑπῆρχεν, ἡ δὲ κάτω Αἴγυπτος καὶ τὰ μέχρι τῆς λίμνης τῆς Σιρβωνίτιδος πέλαγος ἦν, σύρρουν τυχὸν ἴσως τῇ Ἐρυθρᾷ τῇ κατὰ Ἡρώων πόλιν καὶ τὸν Αἰλανίτην μυχόν.
Next to Memphis is the city Acanthus, situated also in Libya, and the temple of Osiris, and the grove of the Thebaïc acantha, from which gum is procured. Next is the Aphroditopolite Nome, and the city in Arabia of the same name, where is kept a white cow, considered sacred. Then follows the Heracleote Nome, in a large island, near which is the canal on the right hand, which leads into Libya, in the direction of the Arsinoïte Nome; so that the canal has two entrances, a part of the island on one side being interposed between them. This nome is the most considerable of all in appearance, natural properties, and embellishment. It is the only nome planted with large, full-grown olive trees, which bear fine fruit. If the produce were carefully collected, good oil might be obtained; but this care is neglected, and although a large quantity of oil is obtained, yet it has a disagreeable smell. (The rest of Egypt is without the olive tree, except the gardens near Alexandreia, which are planted with olive trees, but do not furnish any oil.) It produces wine in abundance, corn, pulse, and a great variety of other grains. It has also the remarkable lake Moeris, which in extent is a sea, and the colour of its waters resembles that of the sea. Its borders also are like the sea-shore, so that we may make the same suppositions respecting these as about the country near Ammon. For they are not very far distant from one another and from Paraetonium; and we may conjecture from a multitude of proofs, that as the temple of Ammon was once situated upon the sea, so this tract of country also bordered on the sea at some former period. But Lower Egypt and the country as far as the Lake Sirbonis were sea, and confluent perhaps with the Red Sea at Heroopolis, and the Aelanitic recess of the gulf.
εἴρηται δὲ περὶ τούτων διὰ πλειόνων ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ ὑπομνήματι τῆς γεωγραφίας, καὶ νῦν δʼ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ὑπομνηστέον τῆς φύσεως ἅμα καὶ τὸ τῆς προνοίας ἔργον εἰς ἓν συμφέροντας· τὸ μὲν τῆς φύσεως, ὅτι τῶν πάντων ὑφʼ ἓν συννευόντων τὸ τοῦ ὅλου μέσον καὶ σφαιρουμένων περὶ τοῦτο, τὸ μὲν πυκνότατον καὶ μεσαίτατόν ἐστιν ἡ γῆ, τὸ δʼ ἧττον τοιοῦτον καὶ ἐφεξῆς τὸ ὕδωρ, ἑκάτερον δὲ σφαῖρα, ἡ μὲν στερεά, ἡ δὲ κοίλη ἐντὸς ἔχουσα τὴν γῆν· τὸ δὲ τῆς προνοίας, ὅτι βεβούληται καὶ αὐτὴ ποικίλτριά τις οὖσα καὶ μυρίων ἔργων δημιουργὸς ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις ζῷα γεννᾶν ὡς πολὺ διαφέροντα τῶν ἄλλων καὶ τούτων τὰ κράτιστα θεούς τε καὶ ἀνθρώπους, ὧν ἕνεκεν καὶ τὰ ἄλλα συνέστηκε. τοῖς μὲν οὖν θεοῖς ἀπέδειξε τὸν οὐρανὸν τοῖς δʼ ἀνθρώποις τὴν γῆν, τὰ ἄκρα τῶν τοῦ κόσμου μερῶν· ἄκρα δὲ τῆς σφαίρας τὸ μέσον καὶ τὸ ἐξωτάτω. ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ τῇ γῇ περίκειται τὸ ὕδωρ, οὐκ ἔστι δʼ ἔνυδρον ζῷον ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλὰ χερσαῖον καὶ ἐναέριον καὶ πολλοῦ κοινωνικὸν φωτός, ἐποίησεν ἐξοχὰς ἐν τῇ γῇ πολλὰς καὶ εἰσοχάς, ὥστʼ ἐν αἷς μὲν ἀπολαμβάνεσθαι τὸ σύμπαν ἢ καὶ τὸ πλέον ὕδωρ ἀποκρύπτον τὴν ὑπʼ αὐτῷ γῆν, ἐν αἷς δʼ ἐξέχειν τὴν γῆν ἀποκρύπτουσαν ὑφʼ ἑαυτῇ τὸ ὕδωρ, πλὴν ὅσον χρήσιμον τῷ ἀνθρωπείῳ γένει καὶ τοῖς περὶ αὐτὸ ζῴοις καὶ φυτοῖς. ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐν κινήσει συνεχεῖ τὰ σύμπαντα καὶ μεταβολαῖς μεγάλαις (οὐ γὰρ οἷόν τε ἄλλως τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ τοσαῦτα καὶ τηλικαῦτα ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ διοικεῖσθαι), ὑποληπτέον μήτε τὴν γῆν ἀεὶ συμμένειν οὕτως ὥστʼ ἀεὶ τηλικαύτην εἶναι μηδὲν προστιθεῖσαν ἑαυτῇ μηδʼ ἀφαιροῦσαν, μήτε τὸ ὕδωρ, μηδὲ τὴν ἕδραν ἔχειν τὴν αὐτὴν ἑκάτερον, καὶ ταῦτα εἰς ἄλληλα φυσικωτάτης οὔσης καὶ ἐγγυτάτω τῆς μεταπτώσεως, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς γῆς πολλὴν εἰς ὕδωρ μεταβάλλειν, καὶ τῶν ὑδάτων πολλὰ χερσοῦσθαι τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ὅνπερ καὶ ἐν τῇ γῇ, καθʼ ἣν αὐτὴν τοσαῦται διαφοραί· ἡ μὲν γὰρ εὔθρυπτος ἡ δὲ στερεὰ καὶ πετρώδης καὶ σιδηρῖτις καὶ οὕτως ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων. ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ὑγρᾶς οὐσίας, ἡ μὲν ἁλμυρὶς ἡ δὲ γλυκεῖα καὶ πότιμος, ἡ δὲ φαρμακώδης καὶ σωτήριος καὶ ὀλέθριος καὶ ψυχρὰ καὶ θερμή. τί οὖν θαυμαστὸν εἴ τινα μέρη τῆς γῆς ἃ νῦν οἰκεῖται θαλάττῃ πρότερον κατείχετο, τὰ δὲ νῦν πελάγη πρότερον ᾠκεῖτο; καθάπερ καὶ πηγὰς τὰς πρότερον ἐκλιπεῖν συνέβη, τὰς δʼ ἀνεῖσθαι, καὶ ποταμοὺς καὶ λίμνας, οὕτω δὲ καὶ ὄρη καὶ πεδία εἰς ἄλληλα μεταπίπτειν· περὶ ὧν καὶ πρότερον εἰρήκαμεν πολλὰ καὶ νῦν εἰρήσθω.
We have treated these subjects at length in the First Book of the Geography. At present we shall make a few remarks on the operations of nature and of Providence conjointly.—On the operations of nature, that all things converge to a point, namely, the centre of the whole, and assume a spherical shape around it. The earth is the densest body, and nearer the centre than all others: the less dense and next to it is water; but both land and water are spheres, the first solid, the second hollow, containing the earth within it.—On the operations of Providence, that it has exercised a will, is disposed to variety, and is the artificer of innumerable works. In the first rank, as greatly surpassing all the rest, is the generation of animals, of which the most excellent are gods and men, for whose sake the rest were formed. To the gods Providence assigned heaven; and the earth to men, the extreme parts of the world; for the extreme parts of the sphere are the centre and the circumference. But since water encompasses the earth, and man is not an aquatic, but a land-animal, living in the air, and requiring much light, Providence formed many eminences and cavities in the earth, so that these cavities should receive the whole or a great part of the water which covers the land beneath it; and that the eminences should rise and conceal the water beneath them, except so much as was necessary for the use of the human race, the animals and plants about it.
But as all things are in constant motion, and undergo great changes, (for it is not possible that things of such a nature, so numerous and vast, could be otherwise regulated in the world,) we must not suppose the earth or the water always to continue in this state, so as to retain perpetually the same bulk, without increase or diminution, or that each preserves the same fixed place, particularly as the reciprocal change of one into the other is most consonant to nature from their proximity; but that much of the land is changed into water, and a great portion of water becomes land, just as we observe great differences in the earth itself. For one kind of earth crumbles easily, another is solid and rocky, and contains iron; and so of others. There is also a variety in the quality of water; for some waters are saline, others sweet and potable, others medicinal, and either salutary or noxious, others cold or hot Is it therefore surprising that some parts of the earth which are now inhabited should formerly have been occupied by sea, and that what are now seas should formerly have been inhabited land ? so also fountains once existing have failed, and others have burst forth; and similarly in the case of rivers and lakes: again, mountains and plains have been converted reciprocally one into the other. On this subject I have spoken before at length, and now let this be said:
̔η δʼ οὖν Μοίριδος λίμνη διὰ τὸ μέγεθος καὶ τὸ βάθος ἱκανή ἐστι κατὰ τὰς ἀναβάσεις τὴν πλημμυρίδα φέρειν καὶ μὴ ὑπερπολάζειν εἰς τὰ οἰκούμενα καὶ πεφυτευμένα, εἶτα ἐν τῇ ἀποβάσει τὸ πλεονάζον ἀποδοῦσα τῇ αὐτῇ διώρυγι κατὰ θάτερον τῶν στομάτων ἔχειν ὑπολειπόμενον τὸ χρήσιμον πρὸς τὰς ἐποχετείας καὶ αὐτὴ καὶ ἡ διῶρυξ. ταῦτα μὲν φυσικά, ἐπίκειται δὲ τοῖς στόμασιν ἀμφοτέροις τῆς διώρυγος κλεῖθρα οἷς ταμιεύουσιν οἱ ἀρχιτέκτονες τό τε εἰσρέον ὕδωρ καὶ τὸ ἐκρέον. πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἡ τοῦ λαβυρίνθου κατασκευὴ πάρισον ταῖς πυραμίσιν ἐστὶν ἔργον καὶ ὁ παρακείμενος τάφος τοῦ κατασκευάσαντος βασιλέως τὸν λαβύρινθον. ἔστι δὲ κατὰ τὸν πρῶτον εἴσπλουν τὸν εἰς τὴν διώρυγα προελθόντι ὅσον τριάκοντα ἢ τετταράκοντα σταδίους ἐπίπεδόν τι τραπεζῶδες χωρίον, ἔχον κώμην τε καὶ βασίλειον μέγα ἐκ πολλῶν βασιλείων, ὅσοι πρότερον ἦσαν νομοί· τοσαῦται γάρ εἰσιν αὐλαὶ περίστυλοι συνεχεῖς ἀλλήλαις ἐφʼ ἕνα στίχον πᾶσαι καὶ ἐφʼ ἑνὸς τοίχου ὡς ἂν τείχους μακροῦ προκειμένας ἔχοντος τὰς αὐλάς· αἱ δʼ εἰς αὐτὰς ὁδοὶ καταντικρὺ τοῦ τείχους εἰσί· πρόκεινται δὲ τῶν εἰσόδων κρυπταί τινες μακραὶ καὶ πολλαί, διʼ ἀλλήλων ἔχουσαι σκολιὰς τὰς ὁδοὺς ὥστε χωρὶς ἡγεμόνος μηδενὶ τῶν ξένων εἶναι δυνατὴν τὴν εἰς ἑκάστην αὐλὴν πάροδόν τε καὶ ἔξοδον. τὸ δὲ θαυμαστόν, ὅτι αἱ στέγαι τῶν οἴκων ἑκάστου μονόλιθοι, καὶ τῶν κρυπτῶν τὰ πλάτη μονολίθοις ὡσαύτως ἐστέγασται πλαξὶν ὑπερβαλλούσαις τὸ μέγεθος, ξύλων οὐδαμοῦ καταμεμιγμένων οὐδʼ ἄλλης ὕλης οὐδεμιᾶς· ἀναβάντα τε ἐπὶ τὸ στέγος οὐ μεγάλῳ ὕψει ἅτε μονοστέγῳ ἔστιν ἰδεῖν πεδίον λίθινον ἐκ τηλικούτων λίθων, ἐντεῦθεν δὲ πάλιν εἰς τὰς αὐλὰς ἐκπίπτοντα ἑξῆς ὁρᾶν κειμένας ὑπὸ μονολίθων κιόνων ὑπηρεισμένας ἑπτὰ καὶ εἴκοσι· καὶ οἱ τοῖχοι δὲ οὐκ ἐξ ἐλαττόνων τῷ μεγέθει λίθων σύγκεινται. ἐπὶ τέλει δὲ τῆς οἰκοδομίας ταύτης πλέον ἢ στάδιον ἐπεχούσης ὁ τάφος ἐστί, πυραμὶς τετράγωνος, ἑκάστην τετράπλεθρον πως ἔχουσα τὴν πλευρὰν καὶ τὸ ἴσον ὕψος· Ἰμάνδης δʼ ὄνομα ὁ ταφείς. πεποιῆσθαι δέ φασι τὰς αὐλὰς τοσαύτας, ὅτι τοὺς νομοὺς ἔθος ἦν ἐκεῖσε συνέρχεσθαι πάντας ἀριστίνδην μετὰ τῶν οἰκείων ἱερέων καὶ ἱερειῶν, θυσίας τε καὶ δικαιοδοσίας περὶ τῶν μεγίστων χάριν· κατήγετο δὲ τῶν νομῶν ἕκαστος εἰς τὴν ἀποδειχθεῖσαν αὐλὴν αὐτῷ.
The lake Moeris, by its magnitude and depth, is able to sustain the superabundance of water which flows into it at the time of the rise of the river, without overflowing the inhabited and cultivated parts of the country. On the decrease of the water of the river, it distributes the excess by the same canal at each of the mouths; and both the lake and the canal preserve a remainder, which is used for irrigation. These are the natural and independent properties of the lake, but in addition, on both mouths of the canal are placed locks, by which the engineers store up and distribute the water which enters or issues from the canal.
We have here also the Labyrinth, a work equal to the Pyramids, and adjoining to it the tomb of the king who constructed the Labyrinth. After proceeding beyond the first entrance of the canal about 30 or 40 stadia, there is a table-shaped plain, with a village and a large palace composed of as many palaces as there were formerly nomes. There are an equal number of aulae, surrounded by pillars, and contiguous to one another, all in one line and forming one building, like a long wall having the aulae in front of it. The entrances into the aulae are opposite to the wall. In front of the entrances there are long and numerous covered ways, with winding passages communicating with each other, so that no stranger could find his way into the aulae or out of them without a guide. The (most) surprising circumstance is that the roofs of these dwellings consist of a single stone each, and that the covered ways through their whole range were roofed in the same manner with single slabs of stone of extraordinary size, without the intermixture of timber or of any other material. On ascending the roof,—which is not of great height for it consists only of a single story,—there may be seen a stone-field, thus composed of stones. Descending again and looking into the aulae, these may be seen in a line supported by twenty-seven pillars, each consisting of a single stone. The walls also are constructed of stones not inferior in size to these.
At the end of this building, which occupies more than a stadium, is the tomb, which is a quadrangular pyramid, each side of which is about four plethra in length, and of equal height. The name of the person buried there is Imandes. They built, it is said, this number of aulae, because it was the custom for all the nomes to assemble there together according to their rank, with their own priests and priestesses, for the purpose of performing sacrifices and making offerings to the gods, and of administering justice in matters of great importance. Each of the nomes was conducted to the aula appointed for it.
Cite This Text