For the latter were distinguished for their
knowledge
of the
heavenly bodies, but were mysterious and uncommunicative, yet after a
time were prevailed upon by courtesy to acquaint them with some of the
principles of their science, but the barbarians concealed the greater
part of them.
heavenly bodies, but were mysterious and uncommunicative, yet after a
time were prevailed upon by courtesy to acquaint them with some of the
principles of their science, but the barbarians concealed the greater
part of them.
Strabo
There are
also three bodies of cavalry distributed in convenient posts.
Of the native magistrates in the cities, the first is the expounder of
the law, who is dressed in scarlet; he receives the customary honours of
the country, and has the care of providing what is necessary for the
city. The second is the writer of records, the third is the chief judge.
The fourth is the commander of the night guard. These magistrates
existed in the time of the kings, but in consequence of the bad
administration of affairs by the latter, the prosperity of the city was
ruined by [CAS. 797] licentiousness. Polybius expresses his indignation
at the state of things when he was there: he describes the inhabitants
of the city to be composed of three classes; the (first) Egyptians and
natives, acute but indifferent citizens, and meddling with civil
affairs. The second, the mercenaries, a numerous and undisciplined body;
for it was an ancient custom to maintain foreign soldiers, who, from the
worthlessness of their sovereigns, knew better how to govern than to
obey. The third were the Alexandrines, who, for the same reason, were
not orderly citizens;[817] but still they were better than the
mercenaries, for although they were a mixed race, yet being of Greek
origin, they retained the customs common to the Greeks. But this class
was extinct nearly about the time of Euergetes Physcon, in whose reign
Polybius came to Alexandreia. For Physcon, being distressed by factions,
frequently exposed the multitude to the attacks of the soldiery, and
thus destroyed them. By such a state of things in the city the words of
the poet (says Polybius) were verified:
“The way to Egypt is long and vexatious. ”[818]
13. Such then, if not worse, was the condition of the city under the
last kings. The Romans, as far as they were able, corrected, as I have
said, many abuses, and established an orderly government, by appointing
vice-governors, nomarchs, and ethnarchs, whose business it was to
superintend affairs of minor importance.
The greatest advantage which the city possesses arises from its being
the only place in all Egypt well situated by nature for communication
with the sea by its excellent harbour, and with the land by the river,
by means of which everything is easily transported and collected
together into this city, which is the greatest mart in the habitable
world.
These may be said to be the superior excellencies of the city. Cicero,
in one of his orations,[819] in speaking of the revenues of Egypt,
states that an annual tribute of 12,500 talents was paid to (Ptolemy)
Auletes, the father of Cleopatra. If then a king, who administered his
government in the worst possible manner, and with the greatest
negligence, obtained so large a revenue, what must we suppose it to be
at present, when affairs are administered with great care, and when the
commerce with India and with Troglodytica has been so greatly increased?
For formerly not even twenty vessels ventured to navigate the Arabian
Gulf, or advance to the smallest distance beyond the straits at its
mouth; but now large fleets are despatched as far as India and the
extremities of Ethiopia, from which places the most valuable freights
are brought to Egypt, and are thence exported to other parts, so that a
double amount of custom is collected, arising from imports on the one
hand, and from exports on the other. The most expensive description of
goods is charged with the heaviest impost; for in fact Alexandreia has a
monopoly of trade, and is almost the only receptacle for this kind of
merchandise and place of supply for foreigners. The natural convenience
of the situation is still more apparent to persons travelling through
the country, and particularly along the coast which commences at the
Catabathmus; for to this place Egypt extends.
Next to it is Cyrenæa, and the neighbouring barbarians, the Marmaridæ.
14. From the Catabathmus[820] to Parætonium is a run of 900 stadia for a
vessel in a direct course. There is a city and a large harbour of about
40 stadia in extent, by some called the city Parætonium,[821] by others,
Ammonia. Between these is the village of the Egyptians, and the
promontory Ænesisphyra, and the Tyndareian rocks, four small islands,
with a harbour; then Drepanum a promontory, and Ænesippeia an island
with a harbour, and Apis a village, from which to Parætonium are 100
stadia; [from thence] to the temple of Ammon is a journey of five days.
From Parætonium to Alexandreia are about 1300 stadia. Between these are,
first, a promontory of white earth, called Leuce-Acte, then Phœnicus a
harbour, and Pnigeus a village; after these the island Sidonia
(Pedonia? ) with a harbour; then a little further off from the sea,
Antiphræ. The whole of this country produces no wine of a good quality,
and the earthen jars contain more sea-water than wine, which is called
Libyan;[822] this and beer are the [CAS. 799] principal beverage of the
common people of Alexandria. Antiphræ in particular was a subject of
ridicule (on account of its bad wine).
Next is the harbour Derrhis,[823] which has its name from an adjacent
black rock, resembling δέῤῥις, a hide. The neighbouring place is called
Zephyrium. Then follows another harbour, Leucaspis (the white shield),
and many others; then the Cynossema (or dog’s monument); then
Taposeiris, not that situated upon the sea; here is held a great public
festival. There is another Taposeiris,[824] situated at a considerable
distance beyond the city (Alexandreia). Near this, and close to the sea,
is a rocky spot, which is the resort of great numbers of people at all
seasons of the year, for the purpose of feasting and amusement. Next is
Plinthine,[825] and the village of Nicium, and Cherronesus a fortress,
distant from Alexandreia and the Necropolis about 70 stadia.
The lake Mareia, which extends as far as this place, is more than 150
stadia in breadth, and in length less than 300 stadia. It contains eight
islands. The whole country about it is well inhabited. Good wine also is
produced here, and in such quantity that the Mareotic wine is racked in
order that it may be kept to be old. [826]
15. The byblus[827] and the Egyptian bean grow in the marshes and lakes;
from the latter the ciborium is made. [828] The stalks of the bean are
nearly of equal height, and grow to the length of ten feet. The byblus
is a bare stem, with a tuft on the top. But the bean puts out leaves and
flowers in many parts, and bears a fruit similar to our bean, differing
only in size and taste. The bean-grounds present an agreeable sight, and
afford amusement to those who are disposed to recreate themselves with
convivial feasts. These entertainments take place in boats with cabins;
they enter the thickest part of the plantation, where they are
overshadowed with the leaves, which are very large, and serve for
drinking-cups and dishes, having a hollow which fits them for the
purpose. They are found in great abundance in the shops in Alexandreia,
where they are used as vessels. One of the sources of land revenue is
the sale of these leaves. Such then is the nature of this bean.
The byblus does not grow here in great abundance, for it is not
cultivated. But it abounds in the lower parts of the Delta. There is one
sort inferior to the other. [829] The best is the hieratica. Some persons
intending to augment the revenue, employed in this case a method which
the Jews practised with the palm, especially the caryotic, and with the
balsamum. [830] In many places it is not allowed to be cultivated, and
the price is enhanced by its rarity: the revenue is indeed thus
increased, but the general consumption [of the article] is injured.
16. On passing through the Canobic gate of the city, on the right hand
is the canal leading to Canobus, close to the lake. They sail by this
canal to Schedia, to the great river, and to Canobus, but the first
place at which they arrive is Eleusis. This is a settlement near
Alexandreia and Nicopolis, and situated on the Canobic canal. It has
houses of entertainment which command beautiful views, and hither [CAS.
800] resort men and women who are inclined to indulge in noisy revelry,
a prelude to Canobic life, and the dissolute manners of the people of
Canobus.
At a little distance from Eleusis, on the right hand, is the canal
leading towards Schedia. Schedia is distant four schœni from
Alexandreia. It is a suburb of the city, and has a station for the
vessels with cabins, which convey the governors when they visit the
upper parts of the country. Here is collected the duty on merchandise,
as it is transported up or down the river. For this purpose a bridge of
boats is laid across the river, and from this kind of bridge the place
has the name of Schedia.
Next after the canal leading to Schedia, the navigation thence to
Canobus is parallel to the sea-coast, extending from Pharos to the
Canobic mouth. For between the sea and the canal, is a narrow band of
ground, on which is situated the smaller Taposeiris, which lies next
after Nicopolis, and Zephyrium a promontory, on which is a small temple
dedicated to Venus Arsinoë.
Anciently, it is said, a city called Thonis stood there, which bears the
name of the king, who entertained as his guests Menelaus and Helen. The
poet thus speaks of the drugs which were given to Helen,
“the potent drugs, which Polydamna, the wife of Thon, gave
to Helen. ”
17. Canobus is a city, distant by land from Alexandreia 120 stadia. It
has its name from Canobus, the pilot of Menelaus, who died there. It
contains the temple of Sarapis, held in great veneration, and celebrated
for the cure of diseases; persons even of the highest rank confide in
them, and sleep there themselves on their own account, or others for
them. Some persons record the cures, and others the veracity of the
oracles which are delivered there. But remarkable above everything else
is the multitude of persons who resort to the public festivals, and come
from Alexandreia by the canal. For day and night there are crowds of men
and women in boats, singing and dancing, without restraint, and with the
utmost licentiousness. Others, at Canobus itself, keep hostelries
situated on the banks of the canal, which are well adapted for such kind
of diversion and revelry.
18. Next to Canobus is Heracleium, in which is a temple of Hercules;
then follows the Canobic mouth,[832] and the commencement of the Delta.
On the right of the Canobic canal is the Menelaïte Nome, so called from
the brother of the first Ptolemy, but certainly not from the hero
(Menelaus), as some writers assert, among whom is Artemidorus.
Next to the Canobic mouth is the Bolbitine, then the Sebennytic, and the
Phatnitic, which is the third in magnitude compared with the first two,
which form the boundaries of the Delta. For it branches off into the
interior, not far from the vertex of the Delta. The Mendesian is very
near the Phatnitic mouth; next is the Tanitic, and lastly the Pelusiac
mouth. There are others, which are of little consequence, between these,
since they are as it were false mouths.
The mouths have entrances which are not capable of admitting large
vessels, but lighters only, on account of the shallows and marshes. The
Canobic mart is principally used as a mart for merchandise, the harbours
at Alexandreia being closed, as I have said before.
After the Bolbitine mouth there runs out to a great distance a low and
sandy promontory. It is called Agnu-ceras (or Willow Point). Then
follows the watch-tower of Perseus,[833] and the fortress of the
Milesians. For in the time of Psammitichus, and when Cyaxares was king
of the Medes, some Milesians with 30 vessels steered into the Bolbitine
mouth, disembarked there, and built the above-mentioned fortress. Some
time afterwards they sailed up to the Saïtic Nome, and having conquered
Inarus in an engagement at sea, founded the city Naucratis, not far
above Schedia.
Next after the fortress of the Milesians, in proceeding towards the
Sebennytic mouth, are lakes, one of which is called Butice, from the
city Butus; then the city Sebennytice and Sais, the capital of the lower
country; here Minerva is worshipped. In the temple there of this
goddess, is the tomb of Psammitichus. Near Butus is Hermopolis, situated
in an island, and at Butus is an oracle of Latona.
[CAS. 802] 19. In the interior above the Sebennytic and Phatnitic mouths
is Xoïs, both an island and a city in the Sebennytic Nome. There are
also Hermopolis, Lycopolis, and Mendes, where Pan[834] is worshipped,
and of animals a goat. Here, according to Pindar, goats have intercourse
with women.
Near Mendes are Diospolis, and the lakes about it, and Leontopolis; then
further on, the city Busiris,[835] in the Busirite Nome, and Cynospolis.
Eratosthenes says, “That to repel strangers is a practice common to all
barbarians, but that this charge against the Egyptians is derived from
fabulous stories related of (one) Busiris and his people in the Busirite
Nome, as some persons in later times were disposed to charge the
inhabitants of this place with inhospitality, although in truth there
was neither king nor tyrant of the name of Busiris: that besides there
was a common saying,
‘The way to Egypt is long and vexatious,’[836]
which originated in the want of harbours, and in the state of the
harbour at Pharos, which was not of free access, but watched and guarded
by herdsmen, who were robbers, and attacked those who attempted to sail
into it. The Carthaginians drown [he says] any strangers who sail past,
on their voyage to Sardinia or to the Pillars. Hence much of what is
related of the parts towards the west is discredited. The Persians also
were treacherous guides, and conducted the ambassadors along circuitous
and difficult ways. ”
20. Contiguous to the Busirite Nome are the Athribite Nome and the city
Athribis; next the Prosopite Nome, in which latter is Aphroditopolis
(the city of Venus). Above the Mendesian and the Tanitic mouths are a
large lake, and the Mendesian and Leontopolite Nomes, and a city of
Aphrodite (or Venus) and the Pharbetite Nome. Then follows the Tanitic,
which some call the Saïtic mouth, and the Tanite Nome,[837] and in it
Tanis a large city.
21. Between the Tanitic and the Pelusiac mouths are lakes and large and
continuous marshes, among which are numerous villages. Pelusium itself
has many marshes lying around it, which some call Barathra (or water
holes), and swamps. It is situated at a distance of more than 20 stadia
from the sea. The circumference of the wall is 20 stadia. It has its
name from the mud (πηλοῦ) of the swamps. [838] On this quarter Egypt is
difficult of access, i. e. from the eastern side towards Phœnicia and
Judæa, and on the side of Arabia Nabatæa, which is contiguous; through
which countries the road to Egypt lies.
The country between the Nile and the Arabian Gulf is Arabia, and at its
extremity is situated Pelusium. But the whole is desert, and not
passable by an army. The isthmus between Pelusium and the recess of the
Arabian Gulf near Heroopolis is 1000 stadia; but, according to
Poseidonius, less than 1500 stadia in extent. Besides its being sandy
and without water, it abounds with reptiles, which burrow in the sand.
22. In sailing up the river from Schedia to Memphis,[839] on the right
hand, are a great many villages extending as far as the lake Mareia,
among which is that called the village of Chabrias. Upon the river is
Hermopolis, then Gynæcopolis, and the Gynæcopolite Nome; next Momemphis
and the Momemphite Nome. Between these places are many canals, which
empty themselves into the lake Mareotis. The Momemphitæ worship Venus,
and a sacred cow is kept there, as Apis is maintained at Memphis, and
Mneyis[840] at Heliopolis. [CAS. 803] These animals are regarded as
gods, but there are other places, and these are numerous, both in the
Delta and beyond it, in which a bull or a cow is maintained, which are
not regarded as gods, but only as sacred.
23. Above Momemphis are two nitre mines, which furnish nitre in large
quantities, and the Nitriote Nome. Here Sarapis is worshipped, and they
are the only people in Egypt who sacrifice a sheep. In this nome and
near this place is a city called Menelaus. On the left hand in the
Delta, upon the river, is Naucratis. At the distance of two schœni from
the river is Saïs,[841] and a little above it the asylum of Osiris, in
which it is said Osiris is buried. This, however, is questioned by many
persons, and particularly by the inhabitants of Philæ, which is situated
above Syene and Elephantina. These people tell this tale, that Isis
placed coffins of Osiris in various places, but that one only contained
the body of Osiris, so that no one knew which of them it was; and that
she did this with the intention of concealing it from Typhon,[842] who
might come and cast the body out of its place of deposit.
24. This is the description of the country from Alexandreia to the
vertex of the Delta.
Artemidorus says, that the navigation up the river is 28 schœni, which
amount to 840 stadia, reckoning the schœnus at 30 stadia. When we
ourselves sailed up the river, schœni of different measures were used at
different places in giving the distances, so that sometimes the received
schœnus was a measure of 40 stadia and even more. That the measure of
the schœnus was unsettled among the Egyptians, Artemidorus himself shows
in a subsequent place. In reckoning the distance from Memphis to
Thebaïs, he says that each schœnus consists of 120 stadia, and from the
Thebaïs to Syene of 60 stadia. In sailing up from Pelusium to the same
vertex of the Delta, is a distance, he says, of 25 schœni, or 750
stadia, and he employs the same measure.
On setting out from Pelusium, the first canal met with is that which
fills the lakes, “near the marshes,” as they are called. There are two
of these lakes, situated upon the left hand of the great stream above
Pelusium in Arabia. He mentions other lakes also, and canals in the same
parts beyond the Delta.
The Sethroïte Nome extends along one of the two lakes. He reckons this
as one of the ten nomes in the Delta. There are two other canals, which
discharge themselves into the same lakes.
25. There is another canal also, which empties itself into the Red Sea,
or Arabian Gulf, near the city Arsinoë, which some call Cleopatris. [843]
It flows through the Bitter Lakes, as [CAS. 804] they are called, which
were bitter formerly, but when the above-mentioned canal was cut, the
bitter quality was altered by their junction with the river, and at
present they contain excellent fish, and abound with aquatic birds.
The canal was first cut by Sesostris before the Trojan times, but
according to other writers, by the son of[844] Psammitichus, who only
began the work, and afterwards died; lastly, Darius the First succeeded
to the completion of the undertaking, but he desisted from continuing
the work, when it was nearly finished, influenced by an erroneous
opinion that the level of the Red Sea was higher than Egypt, and that if
the whole of the intervening isthmus were cut through, the country would
be overflowed by the sea. The Ptolemaïc kings however did cut through
it, and placed locks upon the canal,[845] so that they sailed, when they
pleased, without obstruction into the outer sea, and back again [into
the canal].
We have spoken of the surfaces of bodies of water in the first part of
this work. [846]
26. Near Arsinoë are situated in the recess of the Arabian Gulf towards
Egypt, Heroopolis and Cleopatris; harbours, suburbs, many canals, and
lakes are also near. There also is the Phagroriopolite Nome, and the
city Phagroriopolis. The canal, which empties itself into the Red Sea,
begins at the village Phaccusa, to which the village of Philon is
contiguous. The canal is 100 cubits broad, and its depth sufficient to
float a vessel of large burden. These places are near the apex of the
Delta.
27. There also are the city Bubastus[847] and the Bubastite Nome, and
above it the Heliopolite Nome. There too is Heliopolis, situated upon a
large mound. It contains a temple of the sun, and the ox Mneyis, which
is kept in a sanctuary, and is regarded by the inhabitants as a god, as
Apis is regarded by the people of Memphis. In front of the mound are
lakes, into which the neighbouring canal discharges itself. At present
the city is entirely deserted. It has an ancient temple constructed
after the Egyptian manner, bearing many proofs of the madness and
sacrilegious acts of Cambyses, who did very great injury to the temples,
partly by fire, partly by violence, mutilating [in some] cases, and
applying fire [in others]. In this manner he injured the obelisks, two
of which, that were not entirely spoilt, were transported to Rome. [848]
There are others both here and at Thebes, the present Diospolis, some of
which are standing, much corroded by fire, and others lying on the
ground.
28. The plan of the temples is as follows.
At the entrance into the temenus is a paved floor, in breadth about a
plethrum, or even less; its length is three or four times as great, and
in some instances even more. This part is called Dromos, and is
mentioned by Callimachus,
“this is the Dromos, sacred to Anubis. ”
Throughout the whole length on each side are placed stone sphinxes, at
the distance of 20 cubits or a little more from each other, so that
there is one row of sphinxes on the right hand, and another on the left.
Next after the sphinxes is a large propylon, then on proceeding further,
another propylon, and then another. Neither the number of the propyla
nor of the sphinxes is determined by any rule. They are different in
different temples, as well as the length and breadth of the Dromi.
[CAS. 805] Next to the propyla is the naos, which has a large and
considerable pronaos; the sanctuary in proportion; there is no statue,
at least not in human shape, but a representation of some of the brute
animals. On each side of the pronaos project what are called the wings.
These are two walls of equal height with the naos. At first the distance
between them is a little more than the breadth of the foundation of the
naos. [849] As you proceed onwards, the [base] lines incline towards one
another till they approach within 50 or 60 cubits. These walls have
large sculptured figures, very much like the Tyrrhenian (Etruscan) and
very ancient works among the Greeks.
There is also a building with a great number of pillars, as at Memphis,
in the barbaric style; for, except the magnitude and number and rows of
pillars, there is nothing pleasing nor easily described,[850] but rather
a display of labour wasted.
29. At Heliopolis we saw large buildings in which the priests lived. For
it is said that anciently this was the principal residence of the
priests, who studied philosophy and astronomy. But there are no longer
either such a body of persons or such pursuits. No one was pointed out
to us on the spot, as presiding over these studies, but only persons who
performed sacred rites, and who explained to strangers [the
peculiarities of] the temples.
A person of the name of Chæremon accompanied the governor, Ælius Gallus,
in his journey from Alexandreia into Egypt, and pretended to some
knowledge of this kind, but he was generally ridiculed for his boasting
and ignorance. The houses of the priests, and the residences of Plato
and of Eudoxus, were shown to us. Eudoxus came here with Plato, and,
according to some writers, lived thirteen years in the society of the
priests.
For the latter were distinguished for their knowledge of the
heavenly bodies, but were mysterious and uncommunicative, yet after a
time were prevailed upon by courtesy to acquaint them with some of the
principles of their science, but the barbarians concealed the greater
part of them. They had, however, communicated the knowledge of the
additional portions of the day and night, in the space of 365 days,
necessary to complete the annual period; and, at that time, the length
of the year was unknown to the Greeks, as were many other things, until
later astronomers received them from the persons who translated the
records of the priests into the Greek language, and even now derive
knowledge from their writings and from those of the Chaldeans. [851]
30. After Heliopolis is the “Nile above the Delta. ” The country on the
right hand, as you go up the Nile, is called Libya, as well as that near
Alexandreia and the lake Mareotis; the country on the left hand is
called Arabia. The territory belonging to Heliopolis is in Arabia, but
the city Cercesura is in Libya, and situated opposite to the observatory
of Eudoxus. For there is shown an observing station in front of
Heliopolis, as there is in front of Cnidus, where Eudoxus marked certain
motions of the heavenly bodies. This is the Letopolite Nome.
In sailing up the river we meet with Babylon, a strong fortress, built
by some Babylonians who had taken refuge there, and had obtained
permission from the kings to establish a settlement in that place. At
present it is an encampment for one of the three legions which garrison
Egypt. There is a mountainous ridge, which extends from the encampment
as far as the Nile. At this ridge are wheels and screws, by which water
is raised from the river, and one hundred and fifty prisoners are [thus]
employed.
The pyramids on the other side [of the river] at Memphis may be clearly
discerned from this place, for they are not far off.
31. Memphis itself also, the residence of the kings of Egypt, is near,
being only three schœni distant from the Delta. It contains temples,
among which is that of Apis, who is the same as Osiris. Here the ox Apis
is kept in a sort of sanctuary, and is held, as I have said, to be a
god. The forehead and some other small parts of its body are white; the
other parts are black. By these marks the fitness of the successor
[CAS. 807] is always determined, when the animal to which they pay these
honours dies. In front of the sanctuary is a court, in which there is
another sanctuary for the dam of Apis. Into this court the Apis is let
loose at times, particularly for the purpose of exhibiting him to
strangers. He is seen through a door in the sanctuary, and he is
permitted to be seen also out of it. After he has frisked about a little
in the court, he is taken back to his own stall.
The temple of Apis is near the Hephæsteium (or temple of Vulcan); the
Hephæsteium[852] itself is very sumptuously constructed, both as regards
the size of the naos and in other respects. In front of the Dromos is a
colossal figure consisting of a single stone. It is usual to celebrate
bull-fights in this Dromos; the bulls are bred expressly for this
purpose, like horses. They are let loose, and fight with one another,
the conqueror receiving a prize.
At Memphis also there is a temple of Venus, who is accounted a Grecian
deity. But some say that it is a temple dedicated to Selene, or the
moon. [853]
32. There is also a temple of Sarapis, situated in a very sandy spot,
where the sand is accumulated in masses by the wind. Some of the
sphinxes which we saw were buried in this sand up to the head, and one
half only of others was visible. Hence we may conceive the danger,
should any one, in his way to the temple, be surprised by a [sand]
storm.
The city is large and populous; it ranks next to Alexandreia, and, like
that place, is inhabited by mixed races of people. There are lakes in
front of the city and of the palaces, which at present are in ruins and
deserted. They are situated upon an eminence, and extend as far as the
lower part of the city.
Close to this place are a grove and a lake.
33. At the distance of 40 stadia from Memphis is a brow of a hill, on
which are many pyramids, the tombs of the kings. [854] Three of them are
considerable. Two of these are reckoned among the seven wonders [of the
world]. They are a stadium in height, and of a quadrangular shape. Their
height somewhat exceeds the length of each of the sides. [855] One
pyramid is a little larger than the other. At a moderate height in one
of the sides[856] is a stone, which may be taken out; when that is
removed, there is an oblique passage [leading] to the tomb. They are
near each other, and upon the same level. Farther on, at a greater
height of the mountain, is the third pyramid, which is much less than
the two others, but constructed at much greater expense; for from the
foundation [CAS. 808] nearly as far as the middle, it is built of black
stone. Mortars are made of this stone, which is brought from a great
distance; for it comes from the mountains of Ethiopia, and being hard
and difficult to be worked, the labour is attended with great expense.
It is said to be the tomb of a courtesan, built by her lovers, and whose
name, according to Sappho the poetess, was Doriche. She was the mistress
of her brother Charaxus, who traded to the port of Naucratis with wine
of Lesbos. Others call her Rhodopis. [857]
A story is told of her, that, when she was bathing, an eagle snatched
one of her sandals from the hands of her female attendant and carried it
to Memphis; the eagle soaring over the head of the king, who was
administering justice at the time, let the sandal fall into his lap. The
king, struck with the shape of the sandal, and the singularity of the
accident, [CAS. 808] sent over the country to discover the woman to
whom it belonged. She was found in the city of Naucratis, and brought to
the king, who made her his wife. At her death she was honoured with the
above-mentioned tomb.
34. One extraordinary thing which I saw at the pyramids must not be
omitted. Heaps of stones from the quarries lie in front of the pyramids.
Among these are found pieces which in shape and size resemble
lentils. [858] Some contain substances like grains half peeled. These, it
is said, are the remnants of the workmen’s food converted into stone;
which is not probable. [859] For at home in our country (Amasia), there
is a long hill in a plain, which abounds with pebbles of a porus
stone,[860] resembling lentils. The pebbles of the sea-shore and of
rivers suggest somewhat of the same difficulty [respecting their
origin]; some explanation may indeed be found in the motion [to which
these are subject] in flowing waters, but the investigation of the above
fact presents more difficulty. I have said elsewhere,[861] that in sight
of the pyramids, on the other side in Arabia, and near the stone
quarries from which they are built, is a very rocky mountain, called the
Trojan mountain; beneath it there are caves, and near the caves and the
river a village called Troy, an ancient settlement of the captive
Trojans who had accompanied Menelaus and settled there. [862]
35. 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. [863] 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 Mœris, 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 Parætonium; 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 [CAS. 809] with
the Red Sea at Heroopolis, and the Ælanitic recess of the gulf.
36. 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,[864] and now let this be said:
37. The lake Mœris, by its magnitude and depth, is able to sustain the
super-abundance 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. [865]
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 aulæ, surrounded by pillars, and contiguous to one
another, all in one line and forming one building, like a long wall
having the aulæ in front of it. The entrances into the aulæ 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 aulæ 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 [CAS. 811] consists only of a single story,—there may be
seen a stone-field, thus composed of stones. Descending again and
looking[866] into the aulæ, 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. [867] They built, it is said, this number of aulæ,
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.
38. 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.
39. 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 Mœris
is full of these animals; for they venerate them, and are careful to do
them no harm: but the Heracleotæ 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.
40. 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,[868] 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. [869] 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
Saïtæ and Thebaïtæ, a sheep; the Latopolitæ, the latus, a fish
inhabiting the Nile; the people of Lycopolis, a wolf; those of
Hermopolis,[870] the cynocephalus; those of Babylon,[871] 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 Leontopolitæ, a lion; the Mendesians, a
male and female goat; the Athribitæ, a shrew-mouse; different people
worshipping different animals. They do not, however, assign the same
reasons for this difference of worship.
[CAS. 813] 41. 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 schœni 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.
42. Then follows Ptolemaïs,[872] the largest city in the Thebaïs, not
inferior to Memphis, with a form of government after the Grecian mode.
Above this city is Abydos, where is the palace of Memnon, constructed in
a singular manner, entirely of stone,[873] and after the plan of the
Labyrinth, which we have described, but not composed of many parts. It
has a fountain situated at a great depth. There is a descent to it
through an arched passage built with single stones, of remarkable size
and workmanship.
There is a canal which leads to this place from the great river. About
the canal is a grove of Egyptian acanthus, dedicated to Apollo. Abydos
seems once to have been a large city, second to Thebes. At present it is
a small town. But if, as they say, Memnon is called Ismandes by the
Egyptians, the Labyrinth might be a Memnonium, and the work of the same
person who constructed those at Abydos and at Thebes; for in those
places, it is said, are some Memnonia. In the latitude of Abydos is the
first Auasis (Oasis) of the three which are said to be in Africa. It is
distant from Abydos a journey of seven days through a desert. It is an
inhabited place, well supplied with good water and wine, and
sufficiently provided with other articles. The second is that near the
lake Mœris. The third is that at the oracle of Ammon: these are
considerable settlements.
43. Having before spoken at length of the temple of Ammon, we wish to
add this only, that in ancient times divination in general and oracles
were held in greater esteem than at present. Now they are greatly
neglected; for the Romans are satisfied with the oracles of the Sibyl,
and with Tyrrhenian divination by the entrails of animals, the flight of
birds, and portentous appearances. Hence the oracle of Ammon, which was
formerly held in great esteem, is now nearly deserted. This appears
chiefly from the historians who have recorded the actions of Alexander,
adding, indeed, much that has the appearance of flattery, but yet
relating what is worthy of credit. Callisthenes, for instance, says that
Alexander was ambitious of the glory of visiting the oracle, because he
knew that Perseus and Hercules had before performed the journey thither.
He set out from Parætonium, although the south winds were blowing, and
succeeded in his undertaking by vigour and perseverance. When out of his
way on the road, he escaped being overwhelmed in a sand-storm by a fall
of rain, and by the guidance of two crows, which directed his course.
These things are stated by way of flattery, as also what follows: that
the priest permitted the king alone to pass into the temple in his usual
dress, whereas the others changed theirs; that all heard the oracles on
the outside of the temple, except Alexander, who was in the interior of
the building; that the answers were not given, as at Delphi and at
Branchidæ, in words, but chiefly by nods and signs, as in Homer;
“the son of Saturn nodded with his sable brows,”[874]
the prophet imitating Jupiter. This, however, the man told the king, in
express terms, that he was the son of Jupiter. Callisthenes adds, (after
the exaggerating style of tragedy,) that when Apollo had deserted the
oracle among the Branchidæ, on the temple being plundered by the
Branchidæ (who espoused the party of the Persians in the time of
Xerxes,) and the spring had failed, it then reappeared (on the arrival
of Alexander); that the ambassadors also of the Milesians carried back
to Memphis numerous answers of the oracle respecting the descent of
Alexander from Jupiter, and the future victory which he should obtain at
Arbela, the death of Darius, and the political changes at Lacedæmon. He
says also that the Erythræan Athenais, who resembled the ancient
Erythræan Sibyl, had declared the high descent of Alexander. Such are
the accounts of historians.
44. At Abydos Osiris is worshipped; but in the temple of Osiris no
singer, nor player on the pipe, nor on the cithara, is permitted to
perform at the commencement of the ceremonies celebrated in honour of
the god, as is usual in rites celebrated in honour of the other gods.
Next to Abydos is [CAS. 814] the lesser Diospolis,[875] then the city
Tentyra,[876] where the crocodile is held in peculiar abhorrence, and is
regarded as the most odious of all animals. For the other Egyptians,
although acquainted with its mischievous disposition, and hostility
towards the human race, yet worship it, and abstain from doing it harm.
But the people of Tentyra track and destroy it in every way. Some
however, as they say of the Psyllians of Cyrenæa, possess a certain
natural antipathy to snakes, and the people of Tentyra have the same
dislike to crocodiles, yet they suffer no injury from them, but dive and
cross the river when no other person ventures to do so. When crocodiles
were brought to Rome to be exhibited, they were attended by some of the
Tentyritæ. A reservoir was made for them with a sort of stage on one of
the sides, to form a basking-place for them on coming out of the water,
and these persons went into the water, drew them in a net to the place,
where they might sun themselves and be exhibited, and then dragged them
back again to the reservoir. The people of Tentyra worship Venus. At the
back of the fane of Venus is a temple of Isis; then follow what are
called the Typhoneia, and the canal leading to Coptos,[877] a city
common both to the Egyptians and Arabians.
45. Then follows the isthmus, extending to the Red Sea near
Berenice,[878] which has no harbour, but good landing-places, because
the isthmus is conveniently situated. Philadelphus is said to be the
first person that opened, by means of his army, this road, which had no
supply of water, and to have provided stations. [879] This he did because
the navigation of the Red Sea was difficult, particularly to those who
set out from the recess of the bay. Experience showed the great utility
of this plan, and at present all the Indian, Arabian, and such Ethiopian
merchandise as is imported by the Arabian Gulf is carried to Coptos,
which is the mart for such commodities. Not far from Berenice is Myos
Hormus,[880] a city with a naval station for vessels which navigate
this sea; at no great distance from Coptos is the city of Apollo, so
that two cities are the boundaries of the isthmus, one on each side. But
at present Coptos and Myos Hormus are in repute, and they are
frequented.
Formerly, the camel-merchants travelled in the night, directing their
course by observing the stars, and, like mariners, carried with them a
supply of water. But now watering-places are provided: water is also
obtained by digging to a great depth, and rain-water is found, although
rain rarely falls, which is also collected in reservoirs. It is a
journey of six or seven days.
On this isthmus are mines, in which the emeralds and other precious
stones are found by the Arabians, who dig deep subterraneous passages.
46. Next to the city of Apollo is Thebes, now called Diospolis,
“with her hundred gates, through each of which issue two
hundred men, with horses and chariots,”[881]
according to Homer, who mentions also its wealth;
“not all the wealth the palaces of Egyptian Thebes
contain. ”[882]
Other writers use the same language, and consider Thebes as the
metropolis of Egypt. Vestiges of its magnitude still exist, which extend
80 stadia in length. There are a great number of temples, many of which
Cambyses mutilated. The spot is at present occupied by villages. One
part of it, in which is the city, lies in Arabia; another is in the
country on the other side of the river, where is the Memnonium. Here are
two colossal figures near one another, each consisting of a single
stone. One is entire; the upper parts of the other, from the chair, are
fallen down, the effect, it is said, of an earthquake.
also three bodies of cavalry distributed in convenient posts.
Of the native magistrates in the cities, the first is the expounder of
the law, who is dressed in scarlet; he receives the customary honours of
the country, and has the care of providing what is necessary for the
city. The second is the writer of records, the third is the chief judge.
The fourth is the commander of the night guard. These magistrates
existed in the time of the kings, but in consequence of the bad
administration of affairs by the latter, the prosperity of the city was
ruined by [CAS. 797] licentiousness. Polybius expresses his indignation
at the state of things when he was there: he describes the inhabitants
of the city to be composed of three classes; the (first) Egyptians and
natives, acute but indifferent citizens, and meddling with civil
affairs. The second, the mercenaries, a numerous and undisciplined body;
for it was an ancient custom to maintain foreign soldiers, who, from the
worthlessness of their sovereigns, knew better how to govern than to
obey. The third were the Alexandrines, who, for the same reason, were
not orderly citizens;[817] but still they were better than the
mercenaries, for although they were a mixed race, yet being of Greek
origin, they retained the customs common to the Greeks. But this class
was extinct nearly about the time of Euergetes Physcon, in whose reign
Polybius came to Alexandreia. For Physcon, being distressed by factions,
frequently exposed the multitude to the attacks of the soldiery, and
thus destroyed them. By such a state of things in the city the words of
the poet (says Polybius) were verified:
“The way to Egypt is long and vexatious. ”[818]
13. Such then, if not worse, was the condition of the city under the
last kings. The Romans, as far as they were able, corrected, as I have
said, many abuses, and established an orderly government, by appointing
vice-governors, nomarchs, and ethnarchs, whose business it was to
superintend affairs of minor importance.
The greatest advantage which the city possesses arises from its being
the only place in all Egypt well situated by nature for communication
with the sea by its excellent harbour, and with the land by the river,
by means of which everything is easily transported and collected
together into this city, which is the greatest mart in the habitable
world.
These may be said to be the superior excellencies of the city. Cicero,
in one of his orations,[819] in speaking of the revenues of Egypt,
states that an annual tribute of 12,500 talents was paid to (Ptolemy)
Auletes, the father of Cleopatra. If then a king, who administered his
government in the worst possible manner, and with the greatest
negligence, obtained so large a revenue, what must we suppose it to be
at present, when affairs are administered with great care, and when the
commerce with India and with Troglodytica has been so greatly increased?
For formerly not even twenty vessels ventured to navigate the Arabian
Gulf, or advance to the smallest distance beyond the straits at its
mouth; but now large fleets are despatched as far as India and the
extremities of Ethiopia, from which places the most valuable freights
are brought to Egypt, and are thence exported to other parts, so that a
double amount of custom is collected, arising from imports on the one
hand, and from exports on the other. The most expensive description of
goods is charged with the heaviest impost; for in fact Alexandreia has a
monopoly of trade, and is almost the only receptacle for this kind of
merchandise and place of supply for foreigners. The natural convenience
of the situation is still more apparent to persons travelling through
the country, and particularly along the coast which commences at the
Catabathmus; for to this place Egypt extends.
Next to it is Cyrenæa, and the neighbouring barbarians, the Marmaridæ.
14. From the Catabathmus[820] to Parætonium is a run of 900 stadia for a
vessel in a direct course. There is a city and a large harbour of about
40 stadia in extent, by some called the city Parætonium,[821] by others,
Ammonia. Between these is the village of the Egyptians, and the
promontory Ænesisphyra, and the Tyndareian rocks, four small islands,
with a harbour; then Drepanum a promontory, and Ænesippeia an island
with a harbour, and Apis a village, from which to Parætonium are 100
stadia; [from thence] to the temple of Ammon is a journey of five days.
From Parætonium to Alexandreia are about 1300 stadia. Between these are,
first, a promontory of white earth, called Leuce-Acte, then Phœnicus a
harbour, and Pnigeus a village; after these the island Sidonia
(Pedonia? ) with a harbour; then a little further off from the sea,
Antiphræ. The whole of this country produces no wine of a good quality,
and the earthen jars contain more sea-water than wine, which is called
Libyan;[822] this and beer are the [CAS. 799] principal beverage of the
common people of Alexandria. Antiphræ in particular was a subject of
ridicule (on account of its bad wine).
Next is the harbour Derrhis,[823] which has its name from an adjacent
black rock, resembling δέῤῥις, a hide. The neighbouring place is called
Zephyrium. Then follows another harbour, Leucaspis (the white shield),
and many others; then the Cynossema (or dog’s monument); then
Taposeiris, not that situated upon the sea; here is held a great public
festival. There is another Taposeiris,[824] situated at a considerable
distance beyond the city (Alexandreia). Near this, and close to the sea,
is a rocky spot, which is the resort of great numbers of people at all
seasons of the year, for the purpose of feasting and amusement. Next is
Plinthine,[825] and the village of Nicium, and Cherronesus a fortress,
distant from Alexandreia and the Necropolis about 70 stadia.
The lake Mareia, which extends as far as this place, is more than 150
stadia in breadth, and in length less than 300 stadia. It contains eight
islands. The whole country about it is well inhabited. Good wine also is
produced here, and in such quantity that the Mareotic wine is racked in
order that it may be kept to be old. [826]
15. The byblus[827] and the Egyptian bean grow in the marshes and lakes;
from the latter the ciborium is made. [828] The stalks of the bean are
nearly of equal height, and grow to the length of ten feet. The byblus
is a bare stem, with a tuft on the top. But the bean puts out leaves and
flowers in many parts, and bears a fruit similar to our bean, differing
only in size and taste. The bean-grounds present an agreeable sight, and
afford amusement to those who are disposed to recreate themselves with
convivial feasts. These entertainments take place in boats with cabins;
they enter the thickest part of the plantation, where they are
overshadowed with the leaves, which are very large, and serve for
drinking-cups and dishes, having a hollow which fits them for the
purpose. They are found in great abundance in the shops in Alexandreia,
where they are used as vessels. One of the sources of land revenue is
the sale of these leaves. Such then is the nature of this bean.
The byblus does not grow here in great abundance, for it is not
cultivated. But it abounds in the lower parts of the Delta. There is one
sort inferior to the other. [829] The best is the hieratica. Some persons
intending to augment the revenue, employed in this case a method which
the Jews practised with the palm, especially the caryotic, and with the
balsamum. [830] In many places it is not allowed to be cultivated, and
the price is enhanced by its rarity: the revenue is indeed thus
increased, but the general consumption [of the article] is injured.
16. On passing through the Canobic gate of the city, on the right hand
is the canal leading to Canobus, close to the lake. They sail by this
canal to Schedia, to the great river, and to Canobus, but the first
place at which they arrive is Eleusis. This is a settlement near
Alexandreia and Nicopolis, and situated on the Canobic canal. It has
houses of entertainment which command beautiful views, and hither [CAS.
800] resort men and women who are inclined to indulge in noisy revelry,
a prelude to Canobic life, and the dissolute manners of the people of
Canobus.
At a little distance from Eleusis, on the right hand, is the canal
leading towards Schedia. Schedia is distant four schœni from
Alexandreia. It is a suburb of the city, and has a station for the
vessels with cabins, which convey the governors when they visit the
upper parts of the country. Here is collected the duty on merchandise,
as it is transported up or down the river. For this purpose a bridge of
boats is laid across the river, and from this kind of bridge the place
has the name of Schedia.
Next after the canal leading to Schedia, the navigation thence to
Canobus is parallel to the sea-coast, extending from Pharos to the
Canobic mouth. For between the sea and the canal, is a narrow band of
ground, on which is situated the smaller Taposeiris, which lies next
after Nicopolis, and Zephyrium a promontory, on which is a small temple
dedicated to Venus Arsinoë.
Anciently, it is said, a city called Thonis stood there, which bears the
name of the king, who entertained as his guests Menelaus and Helen. The
poet thus speaks of the drugs which were given to Helen,
“the potent drugs, which Polydamna, the wife of Thon, gave
to Helen. ”
17. Canobus is a city, distant by land from Alexandreia 120 stadia. It
has its name from Canobus, the pilot of Menelaus, who died there. It
contains the temple of Sarapis, held in great veneration, and celebrated
for the cure of diseases; persons even of the highest rank confide in
them, and sleep there themselves on their own account, or others for
them. Some persons record the cures, and others the veracity of the
oracles which are delivered there. But remarkable above everything else
is the multitude of persons who resort to the public festivals, and come
from Alexandreia by the canal. For day and night there are crowds of men
and women in boats, singing and dancing, without restraint, and with the
utmost licentiousness. Others, at Canobus itself, keep hostelries
situated on the banks of the canal, which are well adapted for such kind
of diversion and revelry.
18. Next to Canobus is Heracleium, in which is a temple of Hercules;
then follows the Canobic mouth,[832] and the commencement of the Delta.
On the right of the Canobic canal is the Menelaïte Nome, so called from
the brother of the first Ptolemy, but certainly not from the hero
(Menelaus), as some writers assert, among whom is Artemidorus.
Next to the Canobic mouth is the Bolbitine, then the Sebennytic, and the
Phatnitic, which is the third in magnitude compared with the first two,
which form the boundaries of the Delta. For it branches off into the
interior, not far from the vertex of the Delta. The Mendesian is very
near the Phatnitic mouth; next is the Tanitic, and lastly the Pelusiac
mouth. There are others, which are of little consequence, between these,
since they are as it were false mouths.
The mouths have entrances which are not capable of admitting large
vessels, but lighters only, on account of the shallows and marshes. The
Canobic mart is principally used as a mart for merchandise, the harbours
at Alexandreia being closed, as I have said before.
After the Bolbitine mouth there runs out to a great distance a low and
sandy promontory. It is called Agnu-ceras (or Willow Point). Then
follows the watch-tower of Perseus,[833] and the fortress of the
Milesians. For in the time of Psammitichus, and when Cyaxares was king
of the Medes, some Milesians with 30 vessels steered into the Bolbitine
mouth, disembarked there, and built the above-mentioned fortress. Some
time afterwards they sailed up to the Saïtic Nome, and having conquered
Inarus in an engagement at sea, founded the city Naucratis, not far
above Schedia.
Next after the fortress of the Milesians, in proceeding towards the
Sebennytic mouth, are lakes, one of which is called Butice, from the
city Butus; then the city Sebennytice and Sais, the capital of the lower
country; here Minerva is worshipped. In the temple there of this
goddess, is the tomb of Psammitichus. Near Butus is Hermopolis, situated
in an island, and at Butus is an oracle of Latona.
[CAS. 802] 19. In the interior above the Sebennytic and Phatnitic mouths
is Xoïs, both an island and a city in the Sebennytic Nome. There are
also Hermopolis, Lycopolis, and Mendes, where Pan[834] is worshipped,
and of animals a goat. Here, according to Pindar, goats have intercourse
with women.
Near Mendes are Diospolis, and the lakes about it, and Leontopolis; then
further on, the city Busiris,[835] in the Busirite Nome, and Cynospolis.
Eratosthenes says, “That to repel strangers is a practice common to all
barbarians, but that this charge against the Egyptians is derived from
fabulous stories related of (one) Busiris and his people in the Busirite
Nome, as some persons in later times were disposed to charge the
inhabitants of this place with inhospitality, although in truth there
was neither king nor tyrant of the name of Busiris: that besides there
was a common saying,
‘The way to Egypt is long and vexatious,’[836]
which originated in the want of harbours, and in the state of the
harbour at Pharos, which was not of free access, but watched and guarded
by herdsmen, who were robbers, and attacked those who attempted to sail
into it. The Carthaginians drown [he says] any strangers who sail past,
on their voyage to Sardinia or to the Pillars. Hence much of what is
related of the parts towards the west is discredited. The Persians also
were treacherous guides, and conducted the ambassadors along circuitous
and difficult ways. ”
20. Contiguous to the Busirite Nome are the Athribite Nome and the city
Athribis; next the Prosopite Nome, in which latter is Aphroditopolis
(the city of Venus). Above the Mendesian and the Tanitic mouths are a
large lake, and the Mendesian and Leontopolite Nomes, and a city of
Aphrodite (or Venus) and the Pharbetite Nome. Then follows the Tanitic,
which some call the Saïtic mouth, and the Tanite Nome,[837] and in it
Tanis a large city.
21. Between the Tanitic and the Pelusiac mouths are lakes and large and
continuous marshes, among which are numerous villages. Pelusium itself
has many marshes lying around it, which some call Barathra (or water
holes), and swamps. It is situated at a distance of more than 20 stadia
from the sea. The circumference of the wall is 20 stadia. It has its
name from the mud (πηλοῦ) of the swamps. [838] On this quarter Egypt is
difficult of access, i. e. from the eastern side towards Phœnicia and
Judæa, and on the side of Arabia Nabatæa, which is contiguous; through
which countries the road to Egypt lies.
The country between the Nile and the Arabian Gulf is Arabia, and at its
extremity is situated Pelusium. But the whole is desert, and not
passable by an army. The isthmus between Pelusium and the recess of the
Arabian Gulf near Heroopolis is 1000 stadia; but, according to
Poseidonius, less than 1500 stadia in extent. Besides its being sandy
and without water, it abounds with reptiles, which burrow in the sand.
22. In sailing up the river from Schedia to Memphis,[839] on the right
hand, are a great many villages extending as far as the lake Mareia,
among which is that called the village of Chabrias. Upon the river is
Hermopolis, then Gynæcopolis, and the Gynæcopolite Nome; next Momemphis
and the Momemphite Nome. Between these places are many canals, which
empty themselves into the lake Mareotis. The Momemphitæ worship Venus,
and a sacred cow is kept there, as Apis is maintained at Memphis, and
Mneyis[840] at Heliopolis. [CAS. 803] These animals are regarded as
gods, but there are other places, and these are numerous, both in the
Delta and beyond it, in which a bull or a cow is maintained, which are
not regarded as gods, but only as sacred.
23. Above Momemphis are two nitre mines, which furnish nitre in large
quantities, and the Nitriote Nome. Here Sarapis is worshipped, and they
are the only people in Egypt who sacrifice a sheep. In this nome and
near this place is a city called Menelaus. On the left hand in the
Delta, upon the river, is Naucratis. At the distance of two schœni from
the river is Saïs,[841] and a little above it the asylum of Osiris, in
which it is said Osiris is buried. This, however, is questioned by many
persons, and particularly by the inhabitants of Philæ, which is situated
above Syene and Elephantina. These people tell this tale, that Isis
placed coffins of Osiris in various places, but that one only contained
the body of Osiris, so that no one knew which of them it was; and that
she did this with the intention of concealing it from Typhon,[842] who
might come and cast the body out of its place of deposit.
24. This is the description of the country from Alexandreia to the
vertex of the Delta.
Artemidorus says, that the navigation up the river is 28 schœni, which
amount to 840 stadia, reckoning the schœnus at 30 stadia. When we
ourselves sailed up the river, schœni of different measures were used at
different places in giving the distances, so that sometimes the received
schœnus was a measure of 40 stadia and even more. That the measure of
the schœnus was unsettled among the Egyptians, Artemidorus himself shows
in a subsequent place. In reckoning the distance from Memphis to
Thebaïs, he says that each schœnus consists of 120 stadia, and from the
Thebaïs to Syene of 60 stadia. In sailing up from Pelusium to the same
vertex of the Delta, is a distance, he says, of 25 schœni, or 750
stadia, and he employs the same measure.
On setting out from Pelusium, the first canal met with is that which
fills the lakes, “near the marshes,” as they are called. There are two
of these lakes, situated upon the left hand of the great stream above
Pelusium in Arabia. He mentions other lakes also, and canals in the same
parts beyond the Delta.
The Sethroïte Nome extends along one of the two lakes. He reckons this
as one of the ten nomes in the Delta. There are two other canals, which
discharge themselves into the same lakes.
25. There is another canal also, which empties itself into the Red Sea,
or Arabian Gulf, near the city Arsinoë, which some call Cleopatris. [843]
It flows through the Bitter Lakes, as [CAS. 804] they are called, which
were bitter formerly, but when the above-mentioned canal was cut, the
bitter quality was altered by their junction with the river, and at
present they contain excellent fish, and abound with aquatic birds.
The canal was first cut by Sesostris before the Trojan times, but
according to other writers, by the son of[844] Psammitichus, who only
began the work, and afterwards died; lastly, Darius the First succeeded
to the completion of the undertaking, but he desisted from continuing
the work, when it was nearly finished, influenced by an erroneous
opinion that the level of the Red Sea was higher than Egypt, and that if
the whole of the intervening isthmus were cut through, the country would
be overflowed by the sea. The Ptolemaïc kings however did cut through
it, and placed locks upon the canal,[845] so that they sailed, when they
pleased, without obstruction into the outer sea, and back again [into
the canal].
We have spoken of the surfaces of bodies of water in the first part of
this work. [846]
26. Near Arsinoë are situated in the recess of the Arabian Gulf towards
Egypt, Heroopolis and Cleopatris; harbours, suburbs, many canals, and
lakes are also near. There also is the Phagroriopolite Nome, and the
city Phagroriopolis. The canal, which empties itself into the Red Sea,
begins at the village Phaccusa, to which the village of Philon is
contiguous. The canal is 100 cubits broad, and its depth sufficient to
float a vessel of large burden. These places are near the apex of the
Delta.
27. There also are the city Bubastus[847] and the Bubastite Nome, and
above it the Heliopolite Nome. There too is Heliopolis, situated upon a
large mound. It contains a temple of the sun, and the ox Mneyis, which
is kept in a sanctuary, and is regarded by the inhabitants as a god, as
Apis is regarded by the people of Memphis. In front of the mound are
lakes, into which the neighbouring canal discharges itself. At present
the city is entirely deserted. It has an ancient temple constructed
after the Egyptian manner, bearing many proofs of the madness and
sacrilegious acts of Cambyses, who did very great injury to the temples,
partly by fire, partly by violence, mutilating [in some] cases, and
applying fire [in others]. In this manner he injured the obelisks, two
of which, that were not entirely spoilt, were transported to Rome. [848]
There are others both here and at Thebes, the present Diospolis, some of
which are standing, much corroded by fire, and others lying on the
ground.
28. The plan of the temples is as follows.
At the entrance into the temenus is a paved floor, in breadth about a
plethrum, or even less; its length is three or four times as great, and
in some instances even more. This part is called Dromos, and is
mentioned by Callimachus,
“this is the Dromos, sacred to Anubis. ”
Throughout the whole length on each side are placed stone sphinxes, at
the distance of 20 cubits or a little more from each other, so that
there is one row of sphinxes on the right hand, and another on the left.
Next after the sphinxes is a large propylon, then on proceeding further,
another propylon, and then another. Neither the number of the propyla
nor of the sphinxes is determined by any rule. They are different in
different temples, as well as the length and breadth of the Dromi.
[CAS. 805] Next to the propyla is the naos, which has a large and
considerable pronaos; the sanctuary in proportion; there is no statue,
at least not in human shape, but a representation of some of the brute
animals. On each side of the pronaos project what are called the wings.
These are two walls of equal height with the naos. At first the distance
between them is a little more than the breadth of the foundation of the
naos. [849] As you proceed onwards, the [base] lines incline towards one
another till they approach within 50 or 60 cubits. These walls have
large sculptured figures, very much like the Tyrrhenian (Etruscan) and
very ancient works among the Greeks.
There is also a building with a great number of pillars, as at Memphis,
in the barbaric style; for, except the magnitude and number and rows of
pillars, there is nothing pleasing nor easily described,[850] but rather
a display of labour wasted.
29. At Heliopolis we saw large buildings in which the priests lived. For
it is said that anciently this was the principal residence of the
priests, who studied philosophy and astronomy. But there are no longer
either such a body of persons or such pursuits. No one was pointed out
to us on the spot, as presiding over these studies, but only persons who
performed sacred rites, and who explained to strangers [the
peculiarities of] the temples.
A person of the name of Chæremon accompanied the governor, Ælius Gallus,
in his journey from Alexandreia into Egypt, and pretended to some
knowledge of this kind, but he was generally ridiculed for his boasting
and ignorance. The houses of the priests, and the residences of Plato
and of Eudoxus, were shown to us. Eudoxus came here with Plato, and,
according to some writers, lived thirteen years in the society of the
priests.
For the latter were distinguished for their knowledge of the
heavenly bodies, but were mysterious and uncommunicative, yet after a
time were prevailed upon by courtesy to acquaint them with some of the
principles of their science, but the barbarians concealed the greater
part of them. They had, however, communicated the knowledge of the
additional portions of the day and night, in the space of 365 days,
necessary to complete the annual period; and, at that time, the length
of the year was unknown to the Greeks, as were many other things, until
later astronomers received them from the persons who translated the
records of the priests into the Greek language, and even now derive
knowledge from their writings and from those of the Chaldeans. [851]
30. After Heliopolis is the “Nile above the Delta. ” The country on the
right hand, as you go up the Nile, is called Libya, as well as that near
Alexandreia and the lake Mareotis; the country on the left hand is
called Arabia. The territory belonging to Heliopolis is in Arabia, but
the city Cercesura is in Libya, and situated opposite to the observatory
of Eudoxus. For there is shown an observing station in front of
Heliopolis, as there is in front of Cnidus, where Eudoxus marked certain
motions of the heavenly bodies. This is the Letopolite Nome.
In sailing up the river we meet with Babylon, a strong fortress, built
by some Babylonians who had taken refuge there, and had obtained
permission from the kings to establish a settlement in that place. At
present it is an encampment for one of the three legions which garrison
Egypt. There is a mountainous ridge, which extends from the encampment
as far as the Nile. At this ridge are wheels and screws, by which water
is raised from the river, and one hundred and fifty prisoners are [thus]
employed.
The pyramids on the other side [of the river] at Memphis may be clearly
discerned from this place, for they are not far off.
31. Memphis itself also, the residence of the kings of Egypt, is near,
being only three schœni distant from the Delta. It contains temples,
among which is that of Apis, who is the same as Osiris. Here the ox Apis
is kept in a sort of sanctuary, and is held, as I have said, to be a
god. The forehead and some other small parts of its body are white; the
other parts are black. By these marks the fitness of the successor
[CAS. 807] is always determined, when the animal to which they pay these
honours dies. In front of the sanctuary is a court, in which there is
another sanctuary for the dam of Apis. Into this court the Apis is let
loose at times, particularly for the purpose of exhibiting him to
strangers. He is seen through a door in the sanctuary, and he is
permitted to be seen also out of it. After he has frisked about a little
in the court, he is taken back to his own stall.
The temple of Apis is near the Hephæsteium (or temple of Vulcan); the
Hephæsteium[852] itself is very sumptuously constructed, both as regards
the size of the naos and in other respects. In front of the Dromos is a
colossal figure consisting of a single stone. It is usual to celebrate
bull-fights in this Dromos; the bulls are bred expressly for this
purpose, like horses. They are let loose, and fight with one another,
the conqueror receiving a prize.
At Memphis also there is a temple of Venus, who is accounted a Grecian
deity. But some say that it is a temple dedicated to Selene, or the
moon. [853]
32. There is also a temple of Sarapis, situated in a very sandy spot,
where the sand is accumulated in masses by the wind. Some of the
sphinxes which we saw were buried in this sand up to the head, and one
half only of others was visible. Hence we may conceive the danger,
should any one, in his way to the temple, be surprised by a [sand]
storm.
The city is large and populous; it ranks next to Alexandreia, and, like
that place, is inhabited by mixed races of people. There are lakes in
front of the city and of the palaces, which at present are in ruins and
deserted. They are situated upon an eminence, and extend as far as the
lower part of the city.
Close to this place are a grove and a lake.
33. At the distance of 40 stadia from Memphis is a brow of a hill, on
which are many pyramids, the tombs of the kings. [854] Three of them are
considerable. Two of these are reckoned among the seven wonders [of the
world]. They are a stadium in height, and of a quadrangular shape. Their
height somewhat exceeds the length of each of the sides. [855] One
pyramid is a little larger than the other. At a moderate height in one
of the sides[856] is a stone, which may be taken out; when that is
removed, there is an oblique passage [leading] to the tomb. They are
near each other, and upon the same level. Farther on, at a greater
height of the mountain, is the third pyramid, which is much less than
the two others, but constructed at much greater expense; for from the
foundation [CAS. 808] nearly as far as the middle, it is built of black
stone. Mortars are made of this stone, which is brought from a great
distance; for it comes from the mountains of Ethiopia, and being hard
and difficult to be worked, the labour is attended with great expense.
It is said to be the tomb of a courtesan, built by her lovers, and whose
name, according to Sappho the poetess, was Doriche. She was the mistress
of her brother Charaxus, who traded to the port of Naucratis with wine
of Lesbos. Others call her Rhodopis. [857]
A story is told of her, that, when she was bathing, an eagle snatched
one of her sandals from the hands of her female attendant and carried it
to Memphis; the eagle soaring over the head of the king, who was
administering justice at the time, let the sandal fall into his lap. The
king, struck with the shape of the sandal, and the singularity of the
accident, [CAS. 808] sent over the country to discover the woman to
whom it belonged. She was found in the city of Naucratis, and brought to
the king, who made her his wife. At her death she was honoured with the
above-mentioned tomb.
34. One extraordinary thing which I saw at the pyramids must not be
omitted. Heaps of stones from the quarries lie in front of the pyramids.
Among these are found pieces which in shape and size resemble
lentils. [858] Some contain substances like grains half peeled. These, it
is said, are the remnants of the workmen’s food converted into stone;
which is not probable. [859] For at home in our country (Amasia), there
is a long hill in a plain, which abounds with pebbles of a porus
stone,[860] resembling lentils. The pebbles of the sea-shore and of
rivers suggest somewhat of the same difficulty [respecting their
origin]; some explanation may indeed be found in the motion [to which
these are subject] in flowing waters, but the investigation of the above
fact presents more difficulty. I have said elsewhere,[861] that in sight
of the pyramids, on the other side in Arabia, and near the stone
quarries from which they are built, is a very rocky mountain, called the
Trojan mountain; beneath it there are caves, and near the caves and the
river a village called Troy, an ancient settlement of the captive
Trojans who had accompanied Menelaus and settled there. [862]
35. 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. [863] 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 Mœris, 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 Parætonium; 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 [CAS. 809] with
the Red Sea at Heroopolis, and the Ælanitic recess of the gulf.
36. 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,[864] and now let this be said:
37. The lake Mœris, by its magnitude and depth, is able to sustain the
super-abundance 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. [865]
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 aulæ, surrounded by pillars, and contiguous to one
another, all in one line and forming one building, like a long wall
having the aulæ in front of it. The entrances into the aulæ 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 aulæ 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 [CAS. 811] consists only of a single story,—there may be
seen a stone-field, thus composed of stones. Descending again and
looking[866] into the aulæ, 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. [867] They built, it is said, this number of aulæ,
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.
38. 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.
39. 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 Mœris
is full of these animals; for they venerate them, and are careful to do
them no harm: but the Heracleotæ 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.
40. 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,[868] 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. [869] 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
Saïtæ and Thebaïtæ, a sheep; the Latopolitæ, the latus, a fish
inhabiting the Nile; the people of Lycopolis, a wolf; those of
Hermopolis,[870] the cynocephalus; those of Babylon,[871] 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 Leontopolitæ, a lion; the Mendesians, a
male and female goat; the Athribitæ, a shrew-mouse; different people
worshipping different animals. They do not, however, assign the same
reasons for this difference of worship.
[CAS. 813] 41. 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 schœni 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.
42. Then follows Ptolemaïs,[872] the largest city in the Thebaïs, not
inferior to Memphis, with a form of government after the Grecian mode.
Above this city is Abydos, where is the palace of Memnon, constructed in
a singular manner, entirely of stone,[873] and after the plan of the
Labyrinth, which we have described, but not composed of many parts. It
has a fountain situated at a great depth. There is a descent to it
through an arched passage built with single stones, of remarkable size
and workmanship.
There is a canal which leads to this place from the great river. About
the canal is a grove of Egyptian acanthus, dedicated to Apollo. Abydos
seems once to have been a large city, second to Thebes. At present it is
a small town. But if, as they say, Memnon is called Ismandes by the
Egyptians, the Labyrinth might be a Memnonium, and the work of the same
person who constructed those at Abydos and at Thebes; for in those
places, it is said, are some Memnonia. In the latitude of Abydos is the
first Auasis (Oasis) of the three which are said to be in Africa. It is
distant from Abydos a journey of seven days through a desert. It is an
inhabited place, well supplied with good water and wine, and
sufficiently provided with other articles. The second is that near the
lake Mœris. The third is that at the oracle of Ammon: these are
considerable settlements.
43. Having before spoken at length of the temple of Ammon, we wish to
add this only, that in ancient times divination in general and oracles
were held in greater esteem than at present. Now they are greatly
neglected; for the Romans are satisfied with the oracles of the Sibyl,
and with Tyrrhenian divination by the entrails of animals, the flight of
birds, and portentous appearances. Hence the oracle of Ammon, which was
formerly held in great esteem, is now nearly deserted. This appears
chiefly from the historians who have recorded the actions of Alexander,
adding, indeed, much that has the appearance of flattery, but yet
relating what is worthy of credit. Callisthenes, for instance, says that
Alexander was ambitious of the glory of visiting the oracle, because he
knew that Perseus and Hercules had before performed the journey thither.
He set out from Parætonium, although the south winds were blowing, and
succeeded in his undertaking by vigour and perseverance. When out of his
way on the road, he escaped being overwhelmed in a sand-storm by a fall
of rain, and by the guidance of two crows, which directed his course.
These things are stated by way of flattery, as also what follows: that
the priest permitted the king alone to pass into the temple in his usual
dress, whereas the others changed theirs; that all heard the oracles on
the outside of the temple, except Alexander, who was in the interior of
the building; that the answers were not given, as at Delphi and at
Branchidæ, in words, but chiefly by nods and signs, as in Homer;
“the son of Saturn nodded with his sable brows,”[874]
the prophet imitating Jupiter. This, however, the man told the king, in
express terms, that he was the son of Jupiter. Callisthenes adds, (after
the exaggerating style of tragedy,) that when Apollo had deserted the
oracle among the Branchidæ, on the temple being plundered by the
Branchidæ (who espoused the party of the Persians in the time of
Xerxes,) and the spring had failed, it then reappeared (on the arrival
of Alexander); that the ambassadors also of the Milesians carried back
to Memphis numerous answers of the oracle respecting the descent of
Alexander from Jupiter, and the future victory which he should obtain at
Arbela, the death of Darius, and the political changes at Lacedæmon. He
says also that the Erythræan Athenais, who resembled the ancient
Erythræan Sibyl, had declared the high descent of Alexander. Such are
the accounts of historians.
44. At Abydos Osiris is worshipped; but in the temple of Osiris no
singer, nor player on the pipe, nor on the cithara, is permitted to
perform at the commencement of the ceremonies celebrated in honour of
the god, as is usual in rites celebrated in honour of the other gods.
Next to Abydos is [CAS. 814] the lesser Diospolis,[875] then the city
Tentyra,[876] where the crocodile is held in peculiar abhorrence, and is
regarded as the most odious of all animals. For the other Egyptians,
although acquainted with its mischievous disposition, and hostility
towards the human race, yet worship it, and abstain from doing it harm.
But the people of Tentyra track and destroy it in every way. Some
however, as they say of the Psyllians of Cyrenæa, possess a certain
natural antipathy to snakes, and the people of Tentyra have the same
dislike to crocodiles, yet they suffer no injury from them, but dive and
cross the river when no other person ventures to do so. When crocodiles
were brought to Rome to be exhibited, they were attended by some of the
Tentyritæ. A reservoir was made for them with a sort of stage on one of
the sides, to form a basking-place for them on coming out of the water,
and these persons went into the water, drew them in a net to the place,
where they might sun themselves and be exhibited, and then dragged them
back again to the reservoir. The people of Tentyra worship Venus. At the
back of the fane of Venus is a temple of Isis; then follow what are
called the Typhoneia, and the canal leading to Coptos,[877] a city
common both to the Egyptians and Arabians.
45. Then follows the isthmus, extending to the Red Sea near
Berenice,[878] which has no harbour, but good landing-places, because
the isthmus is conveniently situated. Philadelphus is said to be the
first person that opened, by means of his army, this road, which had no
supply of water, and to have provided stations. [879] This he did because
the navigation of the Red Sea was difficult, particularly to those who
set out from the recess of the bay. Experience showed the great utility
of this plan, and at present all the Indian, Arabian, and such Ethiopian
merchandise as is imported by the Arabian Gulf is carried to Coptos,
which is the mart for such commodities. Not far from Berenice is Myos
Hormus,[880] a city with a naval station for vessels which navigate
this sea; at no great distance from Coptos is the city of Apollo, so
that two cities are the boundaries of the isthmus, one on each side. But
at present Coptos and Myos Hormus are in repute, and they are
frequented.
Formerly, the camel-merchants travelled in the night, directing their
course by observing the stars, and, like mariners, carried with them a
supply of water. But now watering-places are provided: water is also
obtained by digging to a great depth, and rain-water is found, although
rain rarely falls, which is also collected in reservoirs. It is a
journey of six or seven days.
On this isthmus are mines, in which the emeralds and other precious
stones are found by the Arabians, who dig deep subterraneous passages.
46. Next to the city of Apollo is Thebes, now called Diospolis,
“with her hundred gates, through each of which issue two
hundred men, with horses and chariots,”[881]
according to Homer, who mentions also its wealth;
“not all the wealth the palaces of Egyptian Thebes
contain. ”[882]
Other writers use the same language, and consider Thebes as the
metropolis of Egypt. Vestiges of its magnitude still exist, which extend
80 stadia in length. There are a great number of temples, many of which
Cambyses mutilated. The spot is at present occupied by villages. One
part of it, in which is the city, lies in Arabia; another is in the
country on the other side of the river, where is the Memnonium. Here are
two colossal figures near one another, each consisting of a single
stone. One is entire; the upper parts of the other, from the chair, are
fallen down, the effect, it is said, of an earthquake.
