In This We Have A Portion Of The Water Of
The River Which Is Not The Smallest Nor The Least Famous, And It Is
Called The Sebennytic Mouth.
There are also two other mouths which
part off from the Sebennytic and go to the sea, and these are called,
one the Saitic, the other the Mendesian mouth.
The Bolbitinitic, and
Bucolic mouths, on the other hand, are not natural but made by
digging. Moreover also the answer given by the Oracle of Ammon bears
witness in support of my opinion that Egypt is of the extent which I
declare it to be in my account; and of this answer I heard after I had
formed my own opinion about Egypt. For those of the city of Marea and
of Apis, dwelling in the parts of Egypt which border on Libya, being
of opinion themselves that they were Libyans and not Egyptians, and
also being burdened by the rules of religious service, because they
desired not to be debarred from the use of cows' flesh, sent to Ammon
saying that they had nought in common with the Egyptians, for they
dwelt outside the Delta and agreed with them in nothing; and they said
they desired that it might be lawful for them to eat everything
without distinction. The god however did not permit them to do so, but
said that that land was Egypt where the Nile came over and watered,
and that those were Egyptians who dwelling below the city of
Elephantine drank of that river. Thus was it answered to them by the
Oracle about this: and the Nile, when it is in flood, goes over not
only the Delta but also of the land which is called Libyan and of that
which is called Arabian sometimes as much as two days' journey on each
side, and at times even more than this or at times less.
As regards the nature of the river, neither from the priests nor yet
from any other man was I able to obtain any knowledge: and I was
desirous especially to learn from them about these matters, namely why
the Nile comes down increasing in volume from the summer solstice
onwards for a hundred days, and then, when it has reached the number
of these days, turns and goes back, failing in its stream, so that
through the whole winter season it continues to be low, and until the
summer solstice returns. Of none of these things was I able to receive
any account from the Egyptians, when I inquired of them what power the
Nile has whereby it is of a nature opposite to that of all other
rivers. And I made inquiry, desiring to know both this which I say and
also why, unlike all other rivers, it does not give rise to any
breezes blowing from it. However some of the Hellenes who desired to
gain distinction for cleverness have given an account of this water in
three different ways: two of these I do not think it worth while even
to speak of except only to indicate their nature; of which the one
says that the Etesian Winds are the cause that makes the river rise,
by preventing the Nile from flowing out into the sea. But often the
Etesian Winds fail and yet the Nile does the same work as it is wont
to do; and moreover, if these were the cause, all the other rivers
also which flow in a direction opposed to the Etesian Winds ought to
have been affected in the same way as the Nile, and even more, in as
much as they are smaller and present to them a feebler flow of
streams: but there are many of these rivers in Syria and many also in
Libya, and they are affected in no such manner as the Nile. The second
way shows more ignorance than that which has been mentioned, and it is
more marvellous to tell; for it says that the river produces these
effects because it flows from the Ocean, and that the Ocean flows
round the whole earth. The third of the ways is much the most
specious, but nevertheless it is the most mistaken of all: for indeed
this way has no more truth in it than the rest, alleging as it does
that the Nile flows from melting snow; whereas it flows out of Libya
through the midst of the Ethiopians, and so comes out into Egypt. How
then should it flow from snow, when it flows from the hottest parts to
those which are cooler? And indeed most of the facts are such as to
convince a man (one at least who is capable of reasoning about such
matters), that it is not at all likely that it flows from snow. The
first and greatest evidence is afforded by the winds, which blow hot
from these regions; the second is that the land is rainless always and
without frost, whereas after snow has fallen rain must necessarily
come within five days, so that if it snowed in those parts rain would
fall there; the third evidence is afforded by the people dwelling
there, who are of a black colour by reason of the burning heat.
Moreover kites and swallows remain there through the year and do not
leave the land; and cranes flying from the cold weather which comes on
in the region of Scythia come regularly to these parts for wintering:
if then it snowed ever so little in that land through which the Nile
flows and in which it has its rise, none of these things would take
place, as necessity compels us to admit. As for him who talked about
the Ocean, he carried his tale into the region of the unknown, and so
he need not be refuted; since I for my part know of no river Ocean
existing, but I think that Homer or one of the poets who were before
him invented the name and introduced it into his verse.
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