- 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-grc2:2.158.1-2.158.5
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-08
Necos, son and successor of Psammetichus, began the construction of a canal leading to the Red Sea, but eventually abandoned the project due to heavy loss of life and an oracle warning that he was working for foreigners.
Ψαμμητίχου δὲ Νεκῶς παῖς ἐγένετο καὶ ἐβασίλευσε Αἰγύπτου, ὃς τῇ διώρυχι ἐπεχείρησε πρῶτος τῇ ἐς τὴν Ἐρυθρὴν θάλασσαν φερούσῃ, τὴν Δαρεῖος ὁ Πέρσης δεύτερα διώρυξε· τῆς1 μῆκος ἐστὶ πλόος ἡμέραι τέσσερες, εὖρος δὲ ὠρύχθη ὥστε τριήρεας δύο πλέειν ὁμοῦ ἐλαστρευμένας.
And Psammetichus’ son Necos became king and ruled Egypt, who was the first to attempt the canal leading to the Red Sea, which Darius the Persian dug second. Its length is a voyage of four days, and its width was dug so that two triremes could row abreast.
ἦκται δὲ ἀπὸ τοῦ Νείλου τὸ ὕδωρ ἐς αὐτήν· ἦκται δὲ κατύπερθε ὀλίγον Βουβάστιος πόλιος παρὰ Πάτουμον τὴν Ἀραβίην πόλιν, ἐσέχει δὲ ἐς τὴν Ἐρυθρὴν θάλασσαν. ὀρώρυκται δὲ πρῶτον μὲν τοῦ πεδίου τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου2 τὰ πρὸς Ἀραβίην ἔχοντα· ἔχεται δὲ κατύπερθε τοῦ πεδίου τὸ κατὰ Μέμφιν τεῖνον ὄρος, ἐν τῷ αἱ λιθοτομίαι ἔνεισι·
The water is brought into it from the Nile; and it is brought from a little above the city of Bubastis, past the Arabian city of Patumus, and issues into the Red Sea. First, then, it is dug through that part of the Egyptian plain which lies towards Arabia; and above this plain lies the mountain which stretches towards Memphis, in which are the stone-quarries;
τοῦ ὦν δὴ ὄρεος τούτου παρὰ τὴν ὑπώρεαν ἦκται ἡ διῶρυξ ἀπʼ ἑσπέρης μακρὴ πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ, καὶ ἔπειτα τείνει ἐς διασφάγας, φέρουσα ἀπὸ τοῦ ὄρεος πρὸς μεσαμβρίην τε καὶ νότον ἄνεμον ἐς τὸν κόλπον τὸν Ἀράβιον.
so along the foot of this mountain the canal is led from west to east for a long way, and then it stretches towards the gorges, leading from the mountain towards the south and the south wind into the Arabian Gulf.
τῇ δὲ ἐλάχιστον ἐστὶ καὶ συντομώτατον ἐκ τῆς βορηίης θαλάσσης ὑπερβῆναι ἐς τὴν νοτίην καὶ Ἐρυθρὴν τὴν αὐτὴν ταύτην καλεομένην, ἀπὸ τοῦ Κασίου ὄρεος τοῦ οὐρίζοντος Αἴγυπτόν τε καὶ Συρίην, ἀπὸ τούτου εἰσὶ στάδιοι ἀπαρτὶ χίλιοι ἐς τὸν Ἀράβιον κόλπον.
Where the distance is shortest and quickest to cross from the northern sea to the southern, which is the same as that called the Red Sea, from Mount Casius, which bounds Egypt and Syria, from this there are exactly a thousand stades to the Arabian Gulf.
τοῦτο μὲν τὸ συντομώτατον, ἡ δὲ διῶρυξ πολλῷ μακροτέρη, ὅσῳ σκολιωτέρη ἐστί· τὴν ἐπὶ Νεκῶ βασιλέος ὀρύσσοντες Αἰγυπτίων ἀπώλοντο δυώδεκα μυριάδες. Νεκῶς μέν νυν μεταξὺ ὀρύσσων ἐπαύσατο μαντηίου ἐμποδίου γενομένου τοιοῦδε, τῷ βαρβάρῳ αὐτὸν προεργάζεσθαι.3 βαρβάρους δὲ πάντας οἱ Αἰγύπτιοι καλέουσι τοὺς μὴ σφίσι ὁμογλώσσους.
This is the quickest way, but the canal is much longer, inasmuch as it is more winding; in digging which under king Necos, twelve myriads of Egyptians perished. Now Necos stopped in the middle of his digging, because of an obstacle from an oracle to this effect: that he was laboring beforehand for the barbarian. The Egyptians call all those “barbarians” who are not of their own speech.
- 2.158.1τῆς
Genitive of the relative pronoun referring to the canal (τῇ διώρυχι), functioning as a possessive genitive ("the length of which") introducing the relative clause.
- 2.158.2τοῦ πεδίου τοῦ Αἰγυπτίου
Partitive genitive ("of the Egyptian plain"), modifying the neuter plural phrase functioning as the subject, τὰ πρὸς Ἀραβίην ἔχοντα ("the parts facing towards Arabia").
- 2.158.5τῷ βαρβάρῳ αὐτὸν προεργάζεσθαι
An infinitive clause explaining the content of the oracle (μαντηίου). αὐτόν (Necos) is the subject accusative of the infinitive προεργάζεσθαι (to work beforehand), and τῷ βαρβάρῳ is the dative of advantage ("for the barbarian").