Of Min, Who First Became King Of Egypt, The Priests Said That On The
One Hand He Banked Off The Site Of Memphis From The River:
For the
whole stream of the river used to flow along by the sandy mountain-
range on the side
Of Libya, but Min formed by embankments that bend of
the river which lies to the South about a hundred furlongs above
Memphis, and thus he dried up the old stream and conducted the river
so that it flowed in the middle between the mountains: and even now
this bend of the Nile is by the Persians kept under very careful
watch, that it may flow in the channel to which it is confined, and
the bank is repaired every year; for if the river should break through
and overflow in this direction, Memphis would be in danger of being
overwhelmed by flood. When this Min, who first became king, had made
into dry land the part which was dammed off, on the one hand, I say,
he founded in it that city which is now called Memphis; for Memphis
too is in the narrow part of Egypt; and outside the city he dug round
it on the North and West a lake communicating with the river, for the
side towards the East is barred by the Nile itself. Then secondly he
established in the city the temple of Hephaistos a great work and most
worthy of mention. After this man the priests enumerated to me from a
papyrus roll the names of other kings, three hundred and thirty in
number; and in all these generations of men eighteen were Ethiopians,
one was a woman, a native Egyptian, and the rest were men and of
Egyptian race:
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