passing in his course by the upper parts of Libya, does thus, that is to
say, since at all times the air in those parts is clear and the country
is warm, because there are no cold winds, 32 in passing through it the
Sun does just as he was wont to do in the summer, when going through the
midst of the heaven, that is he draws to himself the water, and having
drawn it he drives it away to the upper parts of the country, and the
winds take it up and scattering it abroad melt it into rain; so it is
natural that the winds which blow from this region, namely the South
and South-west Winds, should be much the most rainy of all the winds. I
think however that the Sun does not send away from himself all the water
of the Nile of each year, but that he also lets some remain behind with
himself. Then when the winter becomes milder, the Sun returns back again
to the midst of the heaven, and from that time onwards he draws equally
from all rivers; but in the meanwhile they flow in large volume, since
water of rain mingles with them in great quantity, because their country
receives rain then and is filled with torrent streams. In summer however
they are weak, since not only the showers of rain fail then, but also
they are drawn by the Sun. The Nile however, alone of all rivers, not
having rain and being drawn by the Sun, naturally flows during this time
of winter in much less than its proper volume, that is much less than in
summer; 33 for then it is drawn equally with all the other waters, but
in winter it bears the burden alone. Thus I suppose the Sun to be the
cause of these things.
26. He is also the cause in my opinion that the air in these parts is
dry, since he makes it so by scorching up his path through the heaven:
34 thus summer prevails always in the upper parts of Libya. If however
the station of the seasons had been changed, and where now in the heaven
are placed the North Wind and winter, there was the station of the South
Wind and of the midday, and where now is placed the South Wind, there
was the North, if this had been so, the Sun being driven from the midst
of the heaven by the winter and the North Wind would go to the upper
parts of Europe, just as now he comes to the upper parts of Libya, and
passing in his course throughout the whole of Europe I suppose that he
would do to the Ister that which he now works upon the Nile.
27. As to the breeze, why none blows from the river, my opinion is that
from very hot places it is not natural that anything should blow, and
that a breeze is wont to blow from something cold.
28. Let these matters then be as they are and as they were at the first:
but as to the sources of the Nile, not one either of the Egyptians or of
the Libyans or of the Hellenes, who came to speech with me, professed to
know anything, except the scribe of the sacred treasury of Athene at the
city of Saïs in Egypt. To me however this man seemed not to be speaking
seriously when he said that he had certain knowledge of it; and he said
as follows, namely that there were two mountains of which the tops ran
up to a sharp point, situated between the city of Syene, which is in
the district of Thebes, and Elephantine, and the names of the mountains
were, of the one Crophi and of the other Mophi. From the middle between
these two mountains flowed (he said) the sources of the Nile, which were
fathomless in depth, and half of the water flowed to Egypt and towards
the North Wind, the other half to Ethiopia and the South Wind. As for
the fathomless depth of the source, he said that Psammetichos king of
Egypt came to a trial of this matter; for he had a rope twisted of many
thousands of fathoms and let it down in this place, and it found no
bottom. By this the scribe (if this which he told me was really as he
said) gave me to understand 35 that there were certain strong eddies
there and a backward flow, and that since the water dashed against the
mountains, therefore the sounding-line could not come to any bottom when
it was let down.
29. From no other person was I able to learn anything about this matter;
but for the rest I learnt so much as here follows by the most diligent
inquiry; 36 for I went myself as an eye-witness as far as the city of
Elephantine and from that point onwards I gathered knowledge by report.
From the city of Elephantine as one goes up the river there is country
which slopes steeply; so that here one must attach ropes to the vessel
on both sides, as one fastens an ox, and so make one's way onward;
and if the rope break, the vessel is gone at once, carried away by the
violence of the stream. Through this country it is a voyage of about
four days in length, and in this part the Nile is winding like the river
Maiander, and the distance amounts to twelve schoines, which one must
traverse in this manner. Then you will come to a level plain, in which
the Nile flows round an island named Tachompso. (Now in the regions
above Elephantine there dwell Ethiopians at once succeeding, who also
occupy half of the island, 37 and Egyptians the other half.) Adjoining
this island there is a great lake, round which dwell Ethiopian nomad
tribes; and when you have sailed through this you will come to the
stream of the Nile again, which flows into this lake. After this you
will disembark and make a journey by land of forty days; for in the Nile
sharp rocks stand forth out of the water, and there are many reefs, by
which it is not possible for a vessel to pass. Then after having passed
through this country in the forty days which I have said, you will
embark again in another vessel and sail for twelve days; and after this
you will come to a great city called Meroe. This city is said to be
the mother-city of all the other Ethiopians: and they who dwell in it
reverence of the gods Zeus and Dionysos alone, and these they greatly
honour; and they have an Oracle of Zeus established, and make warlike
marches whensoever this god commands them by prophesyings and to
whatsoever place he commands.
30. Sailing from this city you will come to the "Deserters" in another
period of time equal to that in which you came from Elephantine to the
mother-city of the Ethiopians. Now the name of these "Deserters" is
Asmach, and this word signifies, when translated into the tongue of the
Hellenes, "those who stand on the left hand of the king." These were two
hundred and forty thousand Egyptians of the warrior class, who revolted
and went over to the Ethiopians for the following cause:—In the reign of
Psammetichos garrisons were set, one towards the Ethiopians at the city
of Elephantine, another towards the Arabians and Assyrians at Daphnai
of Pelusion, and another towards Libya at Marea: and even in my own
time the garrisons of the Persians too are ordered in the same manner as
these were in the reign of Psammetichos, for both at Elephantine and at
Daphnai the Persians have outposts. The Egyptians then of whom I speak
had served as outposts for three years and no one relieved them from
their guard; accordingly they took counsel together, and adopting a
common plan they all in a body revolted from Psammetichos and set out
for Ethiopia. Hearing this Psammetichos set forth in pursuit, and when
he came up with them he entreated them much and endeavoured to persuade
them not to desert the gods of their country and their children and
wives: upon which it is said that one of them pointed to his privy
member and said that wherever this was, there would they have both
children and wives. When these came to Ethiopia they gave themselves
over to the king of the Ethiopians; and he rewarded them as
follows:—there were certain of the Ethiopians who had come to be at
variance with him; and he bade them drive these out and dwell in their
land. So since these men settled in the land of the Ethiopians, the
Ethiopians have come to be of milder manners, from having learnt the
customs of the Egyptians.
31. The Nile then, besides that part of its course which is in Egypt,
is known as far as a four months' journey by river and land: for that is
the number of months which are found by reckoning to be spent in going
from Elephantine to these "Deserters": and the river runs from the West
and the setting of the sun. But what comes after that no one can clearly
say; for this land is desert by reason of the burning heat.
32. Thus much however I heard from men of Kyrene, who told me that they
had been to the Oracle of Ammon, and had come to speech with Etearchos
king of the Ammonians: and it happened that after speaking of other
matters they fell to discourse about the Nile and how no one knew the
sources of it; and Etearchos said that once there had come to him men of
the Nasamonians (this is a Libyan race which dwells in the Syrtis,
and also in the land to the East of the Syrtis reaching to no great
distance), and when the Nasamonians came and were asked by him whether
they were able to tell him anything more than he knew about the desert
parts of Libya, they said that there had been among them certain sons of
chief men, who were of unruly disposition; and these when they grew up
to be men had devised various other extravagant things and also they
had told off by lot five of themselves to go to see the desert parts
of Libya and to try whether they could discover more than those who had
previously explored furthest: for in those parts of Libya which are by
the Northern Sea, beginning from Egypt and going as far as the headland
of Soloeis, which is the extreme point of Libya, Libyans (and of them
many races) extend along the whole coast, except so much as the Hellenes
and Phenicians hold; but in the upper parts, which lie above the
sea-coast and above those people whose land comes down to the sea, Libya
is full of wild beasts; and in the parts above the land of wild beasts
it is full of sand, terribly waterless and utterly desert. These young
men then (said they), being sent out by their companions well furnished
with supplies of water and provisions, went first through the inhabited
country, and after they had passed through this they came to the country
of wild beasts, and after this they passed through the desert, making
their journey towards the West Wind; and having passed through a great
tract of sand in many days, they saw at last trees growing in a level
place; and having come up to them, they were beginning to pluck the
fruit which was upon the trees: but as they began to pluck it, there
came upon them small men, of less stature than men of the common size,
and these seized them and carried them away; and neither could the
Nasamonians understand anything of their speech nor could those who were
carrying them off understand anything of the speech of the Nasamonians:
and they led them (so it was said) through very great swamps, and after
passing through these they came to a city in which all the men were in
size like those who carried them off and in colour of skin black; and
by the city ran a great river, which ran from the West towards the
sunrising, and in it were seen crocodiles.
33. Of the account given by Etearchos the Ammonian let so much suffice
as is here said, except that, as the men of Kyrene told me, he alleged
that the Nasamonians returned safe home, and that the people to whom
they had come were all wizards. Now this river which ran by the city,
Etearchos conjectured to be the Nile, and moreover reason compels us to
think so; for the Nile flows from Libya and cuts Libya through in the
midst, and as I conjecture, judging of what is not known by that which
is evident to the view, it starts at a distance from its mouth equal to
that of the Ister: for the river Ister begins from the Keltoi and the
city of Pyrene and so runs that it divides Europe in the midst (now
the Keltoi are outside the Pillars of Heracles and border upon the
Kynesians, who dwell furthest towards the sunset of all those who have
their dwelling in Europe); and the Ister ends, having its course through
the whole of Europe, by flowing into the Euxine Sea at the place where
the Milesians have their settlement of Istria.
34. Now the Ister, since it flows through land which is inhabited, is
known by the reports of many; but of the sources of the Nile no one
can give an account, for the part of Libya through which it flows is
uninhabited and desert. About its course however so much as it was
possible to learn by the most diligent inquiry has been told; and it
runs out into Egypt. Now Egypt lies nearly opposite to the mountain
districts of Kilikia; and from thence to Sinope, which lies upon the
Euxine Sea, is a journey in the same straight line of five days for
a man without encumbrance; 3701 and Sinope lies opposite to the place
where the Ister runs out into the sea: thus I think that the Nile passes
through the whole of Libya and is of equal measure with the Ister.
Of the Nile then let so much suffice as has been said.
35. Of Egypt however I shall make my report at length, because it has
wonders more in number than any other land, and works too it has to show
as much as any land, which are beyond expression great: for this reason
then more shall be said concerning it.
The Egyptians in agreement with their climate, which is unlike any
other, and with the river, which shows a nature different from all other
rivers, established for themselves manners and customs in a way opposite
to other men in almost all matters: for among them the women frequent
the market and carry on trade, while the men remain at home and weave;
and whereas others weave pushing the woof upwards, the Egyptians push
it downwards: the men carry their burdens upon their heads and the
women upon their shoulders: the women make water standing up and the
men crouching down: they ease themselves in their houses and they eat
without in the streets, alleging as reason for this that it is right
to do secretly the things that are unseemly though necessary, but those
which are not unseemly, in public: no woman is a minister either of male
or female divinity, but men of all, both male and female: to support
their parents the sons are in no way compelled, if they do not desire
to do so, but the daughters are forced to do so, be they never so
unwilling.
36. The priests of the gods in other lands wear long hair, but in Egypt
they shave their heads: among other men the custom is that in mourning
those whom the matter concerns most nearly have their hair cut short,
but the Egyptians, when deaths occur, let their hair grow long, both
that on the head and that on the chin, having before been close shaven:
other men have their daily living separated from beasts, but the
Egyptians have theirs together with beasts: other men live on wheat and
barley, but to any one of the Egyptians who makes his living on these it
is a great reproach; they make their bread of maize, 38 which some call
spelt; 39 they knead dough with their feet and clay with their hands,
with which also they gather up dung: and whereas other men, except
such as have learnt otherwise from the Egyptians, have their members as
nature made them, the Egyptians practise circumcision: as to garments,
the men wear two each and the women but one: and whereas others make
fast the rings and ropes of the sails outside the ship, the Egyptians
do this inside: finally in the writing of characters and reckoning with
pebbles, while the Hellenes carry the hand from the left to the right,
the Egyptians do this from the right to the left; and doing so they say
that they do it themselves rightwise and the Hellenes leftwise: and they
use two kinds of characters for writing, of which the one kind is called
sacred and the other common. 40
37. They are religious excessively beyond all other men, and with regard
to this they have customs as follows:—they drink from cups of bronze and
rinse them out every day, and not some only do this but all: they wear
garments of linen always newly washed, and this they make a special
point of practice: they circumcise themselves for the sake of
cleanliness, preferring to be clean rather than comely. The priests
shave themselves all over their body every other day, so that no lice or
any other foul thing may come to be upon them when they minister to
the gods; and the priests wear garments of linen only and sandals of
papyrus, and any other garment they may not take nor other sandals;
these wash themselves in cold water twice in the day and twice again
in the night; and other religious services they perform (one may almost
say) of infinite number. 41 They enjoy also good things not a few, for
they do not consume or spend anything of their own substance, but there
is sacred bread baked for them and they have each great quantity of
flesh of oxen and geese coming in to them each day, and also wine of
grapes is given to them; but it is not permitted to them to taste of
fish: beans moreover the Egyptians do not at all sow in their land, and
those which grow they neither eat raw nor boil for food; nay the priests
do not endure even to look upon them, thinking this to be an unclean
kind of pulse: and there is not one priest only for each of the gods but
many, and of them one is chief-priest, and whenever a priest dies his
son is appointed to his place.
38. The males of the ox kind they consider to belong to Epaphos, and
on account of him they test them in the following manner:—If the priest
sees one single black hair upon the beast he counts it not clean for
sacrifice; and one of the priests who is appointed for the purpose makes
investigation of these matters, both when the beast is standing upright
and when it is lying on its back, drawing out its tongue moreover, to
see if it is clean in respect of the appointed signs, which I shall tell
of in another part of the history: 42 he looks also at the hairs of the
tail to see if it has them growing in the natural manner: and if it
be clean in respect of all these things, he marks it with a piece of
papyrus, rolling this round the horns, and then when he has plastered
sealing-earth over it he sets upon it the seal of his signet-ring, and
after that they take the animal away. But for one who sacrifices a beast
not sealed the penalty appointed is death.
39. In this way then the beast is tested; and their appointed manner of
sacrifice is as follows:—they lead the sealed beast to the altar where
they happen to be sacrificing and then kindle a fire: after that, having
poured libations of wine over the altar so that it runs down upon the
victim and having called upon the god, they cut its throat, and having
cut its throat they sever the head from the body. The body then of the
beast they flay, but upon the head 43 they make many imprecations first,
and then they who have a market and Hellenes sojourning among them for
trade, these carry it to the market-place and sell it, while they who
have no Hellenes among them cast it away into the river: and this is the
form of imprecation which they utter upon the heads, praying that if any
evil be about to befall either themselves who are offering sacrifice or
the land of Egypt in general, it may come rather upon this head. Now
as regards the heads of the beasts which are sacrificed and the pouring
over them of the wine, all the Egyptians have the same customs equally
for all their sacrifices; and by reason of this custom none of the
Egyptians eat of the head either of this or of any other kind of animal:
40, but the manner of disembowelling the victims and of burning them is
appointed among them differently for different sacrifices; I shall
speak however of the sacrifices to that goddess whom they regard as the
greatest of all, and to whom they celebrate the greatest feast.—When
they have flayed the bullock and made imprecation, they take out the
whole of its lower entrails but leave in the body the upper entrails and
the fat; and they sever from it the legs and the end of the loin and the
shoulders and the neck: and this done, they fill the rest of the body of
the animal with consecrated 44 loaves and honey and raisins and figs and
frankincense and myrrh and every other kind of spices, and having filled
it with these they offer it, pouring over it great abundance of oil.
They make their sacrifice after fasting, and while the offerings are
being burnt, they all beat themselves for mourning, and when they have
finished beating themselves they set forth as a feast that which they
left unburnt of the sacrifice.
41. The clean males then of the ox kind, both full-grown animals and
calves, are sacrificed by all the Egyptians; the females however they
may not sacrifice, but these are sacred to Isis; for the figure of Isis
is in the form of a woman with cow's horns, just as the Hellenes present
Io in pictures, and all the Egyptians without distinction reverence cows
far more than any other kind of cattle; for which reason neither man nor
woman of Egyptian race would kiss a man who is a Hellene on the mouth,
nor will they use a knife or roasting-spits or a caldron belonging to
a Hellene, nor taste of the flesh even of a clean animal if it has been
cut with the knife of a Hellene. And the cattle of this kind which die
they bury in the following manner:—the females they cast into the river,
but the males they bury, each people in the suburb of their town, with
one of the horns, or sometimes both, protruding to mark the place; and
when the bodies have rotted away and the appointed time comes on, then
to each city comes a boat 45 from that which is called the island of
Prosopitis (this is in the Delta, and the extent of its circuit is nine
schoines). In this island of Prosopitis is situated, besides many other
cities, that one from which the boats come to take up the bones of the
oxen, and the name of the city is Atarbechis, and in it there is set
up a holy temple of Aphrodite. From this city many go abroad in various
directions, some to one city and others to another, and when they have
dug up the bones of the oxen they carry them off, and coming together
they bury them in one single place. In the same manner as they bury the
oxen they bury also their other cattle when they die; for about them
also they have the same law laid down, and these also they abstain from
killing.
42. Now all who have a temple set up to the Theban Zeus or who are of
the district of Thebes, these, I say, all sacrifice goats and abstain
from sheep: for not all the Egyptians equally reverence the same gods,
except only Isis and Osiris (who they say is Dionysos), these they all
reverence alike: but they who have a temple of Mendes or belong to the
Mendesian district, these abstain from goats and sacrifice sheep. Now
the men of Thebes and those who after their example abstain from sheep,
say that this custom was established among them for the cause which
follows:—Heracles (they say) had an earnest desire to see Zeus, and Zeus
did not desire to be seen of him; and at last when Heracles was urgent
in entreaty Zeus contrived this device, that is to say, he flayed a ram
and held in front of him the head of the ram which he had cut off, and
he put on over him the fleece and then showed himself to him. Hence
the Egyptians make the image of Zeus into the face of a ram; and the
Ammonians do so also after their example, being settlers both from
the Egyptians and from the Ethiopians, and using a language which is a
medley of both tongues: and in my opinion it is from this god that the
Ammonians took the name which they have, for the Egyptians call Zeus
Amun. The Thebans then do not sacrifice rams but hold them sacred for
this reason; on one day however in the year, on the feast of Zeus, they
cut up in the same manner and flay one single ram and cover with its
skin the image of Zeus, and then they bring up to it another image
of Heracles. This done, all who are in the temple beat themselves in
lamentation for the ram, and then they bury it in a sacred tomb.