- 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-grc2:2.29.1-2.29.7
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-04
The author describes his journey to Elephantine and provides hearsay geographical information about the upper Nile, including the navigation difficulties, Tachompso Island, and the Ethiopian capital Meroe with its religious practices.
ἄλλου δὲ οὐδενὸς οὐδὲν ἐδυνάμην πυθέσθαι. ἀλλὰ τοσόνδε μὲν ἄλλο ἐπὶ μακρότατον ἐπυθόμην, μέχρι μὲν Ἐλεφαντίνης πόλιος αὐτόπτης ἐλθών, τὸ δὲ ἀπὸ τούτου ἀκοῇ ἤδη ἱστορέων.
From no one else was I able to learn anything. But I did learn the following other matters to the furthest extent, going as an eyewitness as far as the city of Elephantine, and inquiring about the regions beyond this by hearsay.
ἀπὸ Ἐλεφαντίνης πόλιος ἄνω ἰόντι1 ἄναντες ἐστὶ χωρίον· ταύτῃ ὦν δεῖ τὸ πλοῖον διαδήσαντας2 ἀμφοτέρωθεν κατά περ βοῦν πορεύεσθαι· ἢν δὲ ἀπορραγῇ τὸ πλοῖον οἴχεται φερόμενον ὑπὸ ἰσχύος τοῦ ῥόου.
For one going upstream from the city of Elephantine, the land is steep; therefore, here one must bind the boat on both sides and proceed just as with an ox. And if the boat breaks loose, it is carried away and lost by the force of the current.
τὸ δὲ χωρίον τοῦτο ἐστὶ ἐπʼ ἡμέρας τέσσερας πλόος, σκολιὸς δὲ ταύτῃ κατά περ ὁ Μαίανδρος ἐστὶ ὁ Νεῖλος· σχοῖνοι δὲ δυώδεκα εἰσὶ οὗτοι τοὺς δεῖ τούτῳ τῷ τρόπῳ διεκπλῶσαι. καὶ ἔπειτα ἀπίξεαι ἐς πεδίον λεῖον, ἐν τῷ νῆσον περιρρέει ὁ Νεῖλος· Ταχομψὼ οὔνομα αὐτῇ ἐστι.
This region is a voyage of four days, and here the Nile is winding just like the Maeander; these are twelve schoenoi through which one must sail in this manner. And after that you will come to a level plain, in which the Nile flows around an island; its name is Tachompso.
οἰκέουσι δὲ τὰ ἀπὸ Ἐλεφαντίνης ἄνω Αἰθίοπες ἤδη καὶ τῆς νήσου τὸ ἥμισυ, τὸ δὲ ἥμισυ Αἰγύπτιοι. ἔχεται δὲ τῆς νήσου λίμνην μεγάλη,3 τὴν πέριξ νομάδες Αἰθίοπες νέμονται· τὴν διεκπλώσας ἐς τοῦ Νείλου τὸ ῥέεθρον ἥξεις, τὸ ἐς τὴν λίμνην ταύτην ἐκδιδοῖ.
The regions upstream from Elephantine are already inhabited by Ethiopians, as is half of the island, while the other half is inhabited by Egyptians. Bordering the island is a great lake, around which nomadic Ethiopians pasture their flocks; having sailed through this, you will come to the stream of the Nile, which empties into this lake.
καὶ ἔπειτα ἀποβὰς παρὰ τὸν ποταμὸν ὁδοιπορίην ποιήσεαι ἡμερέων τεσσεράκοντα· σκόπελοί τε γὰρ ἐν τῷ Νείλῳ ὀξέες ἀνέχουσι καὶ χοιράδες πολλαί εἰσι, διʼ ὧν οὐκ οἷά τε ἐστὶ πλέειν.
And then, disembarking, you will make a journey of forty days along the river; for sharp rocks stand up in the Nile, and there are many reefs, through which it is not possible to sail.
διεξελθὼν δὲ ἐν τῇσι τεσσεράκοντα ἡμέρῃσι τοῦτο τὸ χωρίον, αὖτις ἐς ἕτερον πλοῖον ἐσβὰς δυώδεκα ἡμέρας πλεύσεαι, καὶ ἔπειτα ἥξεις ἐς πόλιν μεγάλην τῇ οὔνομα ἐστὶ Μερόη· λέγεται δὲ αὕτη ἡ πόλις εἶναι μητρόπολις τῶν ἄλλων Αἰθιόπων.
Having traversed this country in those forty days, embarking again on another boat, you will sail for twelve days, and then you will come to a great city, whose name is Meroe; this city is said to be the mother-city of the other Ethiopians.
οἱ δʼ ἐν ταύτῃ Δία θεῶν καὶ Διόνυσον μούνους σέβονται, τούτους τε μεγάλως τιμῶσι, καί σφι μαντήιον Διὸς κατέστηκε· στρατεύονται δὲ ἐπεάν σφεας ὁ θεὸς οὗτος κελεύῃ διὰ θεσπισμάτων, καὶ τῇ ἂν κελεύῃ,4 ἐκεῖσε.
And those in this city worship Zeus and Dionysus alone of the gods, and they honor these greatly, and an oracle of Zeus is established for them; and they go on campaigns whenever this god commands them through oracles, and to wherever he commands.
- 2.29.2ἄνω ἰόντι
Dative of reference/relation of the present participle, expressing 'for one going upstream' or 'to one who goes up'.
- 2.29.2διαδήσαντας
Accusative plural participle. It functions as the logical subject of the infinitive πορεύεσθαι governed by the impersonal verb δεῖ, referring to the crew or travelers in general, rather than agreeing with the dative ἰόντι.
- 2.29.4ἔχεται δὲ τῆς νήσου λίμνην μεγάλη
The middle voice ἔχεται with the genitive τῆς νήσου means 'borders on' or 'is adjacent to'. Although some manuscripts transmit the subject as accusative (λίμνην μεγάλη), it functions as the subject meaning 'a great lake borders the island'.
- 2.29.7τῇ ἂν κελεύῃ
Relative adverb of place τῇ (equivalent to ᾗ) with ἄν and the subjunctive, forming a conditional relative clause expressing indefinite place ('whithersoever he may command').