- Source
- Herodotus. Godley, Alfred Denis, editor. Cambridge, MA; London: Harvard University Press; William Heinemann, Ltd., 1920-1925 (printing).
- Translation
- AI-generated (gemini-3.5-flash) — machine translation; may contain errors
- Languages
- 日本語 · English · 简体中文 · 한국어
- CTS URN
- urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:2.150.1-2.150.4
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
The author reports the local belief that Lake Moeris drains underground into the Syrtis, and explains how the massive amount of excavated earth from its construction was disposed of into the Nile, comparing it to a similar tactic used by thieves in Assyrian Ninus.
ἔλεγον δὲ οἱ ἐπιχώριοι καὶ ὡς ἐς τὴν Σύρτιν τὴν ἐς Λιβύην ἐκδιδοῖ ἡ λίμνη αὕτη ὑπὸ γῆν, τετραμμένη1 τὸ πρὸς ἑσπέρην ἐς τὴν μεσόγαιαν παρὰ τὸ ὄρος τὸ ὑπὲρ Μέμφιος.
The inhabitants also said that this lake discharges underground into the Syrtis in Libya, turning westward into the interior along the mountain that is above Memphis.
ἐπείτε δὲ τοῦ ὀρύγματος τούτου οὐκ ὥρων τὸν χοῦν οὐδαμοῦ ἐόντα, ἐπιμελὲς γὰρ δή μοι ἦν, εἰρόμην τοὺς ἄγχιστα οἰκέοντας τῆς λίμνης ὅκου εἴη ὁ χοῦς ὁ ἐξορυχθείς. οἳ δὲ ἔφρασάν μοι ἵνα ἐξεφορήθη, καὶ εὐπετέως ἔπειθον·2 ᾔδεα γὰρ λόγῳ καὶ ἐν Νίνῳ τῇ Ἀσσυρίων πόλι γενόμενον ἕτερον τοιοῦτον.
Since I did not see the earth from this excavation anywhere—for indeed I was anxious to know—I asked those who lived nearest to the lake where the earth that had been dug out was. They told me where it had been carried, and they easily convinced me; for I knew by report that another similar thing had happened in Ninus, the city of the Assyrians.
τὰ γὰρ Σαρδαναπάλλου τοῦ Νίνου βασιλέος ἐόντα μεγάλα χρήματα καὶ φυλασσόμενα ἐν θησαυροῖσι καταγαίοισι ἐπενόησαν κλῶπες ἐκφορῆσαι. ἐκ δὴ ὦν τῶν σφετέρων οἰκίων ἀρξάμενοι οἱ κλῶπες ὑπὸ γῆν σταθμεόμενοι ἐς τὰ βασιλήια οἰκία ὤρυσσον, τὸν δὲ χοῦν τὸν ἐκφορεόμενον ἐκ τοῦ ὀρύγματος, ὅκως γένοιτο νύξ,3 ἐς τὸν Τίγρην ποταμὸν παραρρέοντα τὴν Νίνον ἐξεφόρεον, ἐς ὃ κατεργάσαντο ὅ τι ἐβούλοντο.
For thieves planned to carry off the great wealth of Sardanapallus, the king of Ninus, which was kept in underground treasuries. Beginning, then, from their own houses, the thieves dug underground, taking their bearings, to the royal palace, and the earth carried out from the excavation, whenever night came, they carried out into the Tigris river which flows past Ninus, until they accomplished what they wanted.
τοιοῦτον ἕτερον ἤκουσα καὶ κατὰ τὸ τῆς ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ λίμνης ὄρυγμα γενέσθαι, πλὴν οὐ νυκτὸς ἀλλὰ μετʼ ἡμέρην ποιεύμενον· ὀρύσσοντας γὰρ τὸν χοῦν τοὺς Αἰγυπτίους ἐς τὸν Νεῖλον φορέειν· ὁ δὲ ὑπολαμβάνων ἔμελλε διαχέειν.4 ἡ μέν νυν λίμνη αὕτη οὕτω λέγεται ὀρυχθῆναι·
I heard that another such thing happened also in the case of the excavation of the lake in Egypt, except that it was done not by night but by day; for the Egyptians as they dug carried the earth to the Nile, and the river, receiving it, was bound to disperse it. Thus, then, this lake is said to have been dug.
- 2.150.1τετραμμένη
Perfect middle-passive participle, nominative feminine singular of τρέπω, modifying the subject ἡ λίμνη. Accompanied by the adverbial accusative phrase τὸ πρὸς ἑσπέρην ('towards the west'), it indicates that the course of the lake is 'turned toward the west.'
- 2.150.2εὐπετέως ἔπειθον
The imperfect verb ἔπειθον (from πείθω) can be grammatically interpreted as either 1st person singular ('I was persuading') or 3rd person plural ('they were persuading'). Here, continuing the subject of the preceding clause οἳ δὲ ἔφρασάν μοι ('they told me'), it is best understood as 3rd person plural ('they easily convinced me'), which logically connects to the following explanatory clause starting with ᾔδεα γάρ... ('for I knew...').
- 2.150.3ὅκως γένοιτο νύξ
The Ionic conjunction ὅκως (Attic ὅπως) is followed by the optative γένοιτο, forming a temporal clause of past general/repeated action ('whenever night came' or 'each time it became night'). This indicates the thieves' repeated nightly activity of carrying the excavated soil to the river.
- 2.150.4ἔμελλε διαχέειν
Not an impersonal construction; its subject is the preceding ὁ δέ (referring to the Nile). The auxiliary-like verb μέλλω (here in the imperfect ἔμελλε) is followed by the infinitive διαχέειν, expressing a natural consequence or habitual tendency in the past ('the river, receiving it, was bound to disperse it').