- 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-grc2:2.8.1-2.8.3
- Generated
- Humanitext Reader · reader.humanitext.ai · 2026-11-03
Describes the narrow geography of Egypt upstream from Heliopolis, bordered by the Arabian mountain range on the east and the Libyan range on the west, detailing their features and the width of the narrowest passage.
ἀπὸ δὲ Ἡλίου πόλιος ἄνω ἰόντι1 στεινή ἐστι Αἴγυπτος. τῇ μὲν γὰρ τῆς Ἀραβίης ὄρος παρατέταται, φέρον ἀπʼ ἄρκτου πρὸς μεσαμβρίην τε καὶ νότον, αἰεὶ ἄνω τεῖνον ἐς τὴν Ἐρυθρὴν καλεομένην θάλασσαν· ἐν τῷ αἱ λιθοτομίαι ἔνεισι αἱ ἐς τὰς πυραμίδας κατατμηθεῖσαι τὰς ἐν Μέμφι. ταύτῃ μὲν λῆγον ἀνακάμπτει ἐς τὰ εἴρηται τὸ ὄρος· τῇ δὲ αὐτὸ ἑωυτοῦ ἐστι μακρότατον,2 ὡς ἐγὼ ἐπυνθανόμην, δύο μηνῶν αὐτὸ εἶναι τῆς ὁδοῦ ἀπὸ ἠοῦς πρὸς ἑσπέρην, τὰ δὲ πρὸς τὴν ἠῶ λιβανωτοφόρα αὐτοῦ τὰ τέρματα εἶναι.
But for one going up from Heliopolis, Egypt is narrow. For on one side, the mountain of Arabia stretches alongside, running from north to south and midday, extending ever upward toward the so-called Red Sea; in which are the stone quarries that were cut for the pyramids in Memphis. At this point, where it ends, the mountain bends back in the directions mentioned. Where it is longest in itself, as I learned by inquiry, it is a journey of two months from east to west, and its eastern borders produce frankincense.
τοῦτο μέν νυν τὸ ὄρος τοιοῦτο ἐστί, τὸ δὲ πρὸς Λιβύης τῆς Αἰγύπτου ὄρος ἄλλο πέτρινον τείνει, ἐν τῷ αἱ πυραμίδες ἔνεισι, ψάμμῳ κατειλυμένον, κατὰ τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον καὶ τοῦ Ἀραβίου τὰ πρὸς μεσαμβρίην φέροντα.
Now this mountain is such; but on the side of Libya, another rocky mountain of Egypt stretches, in which are the pyramids, covered in sand, running in the same direction as the southern-trending parts of the Arabian mountain.
τὸ ὦν δὴ ἀπὸ Ἡλίου πόλιος οὐκέτι πολλὸν χωρίον ὡς εἶναι Αἰγύπτου,3 ἀλλʼ ὅσον τε ἡμερέων τεσσέρων καὶ δέκα ἀναπλόου ἐστὶ στεινὴ Αἴγυπτος, ἐοῦσα τῶν ὀρέων τῶν εἰρημένων τὸ μεταξὺ πεδιὰς μὲν γῆ, στάδιοι δὲ μάλιστα ἐδόκεόν μοι εἶναι, τῇ στεινότατον ἐστί, διηκοσίων οὐ πλέους ἐκ τοῦ Ἀραβίου ὄρεος ἐς τὸ Λιβυκὸν καλεόμενον. τὸ δʼ ἐνθεῦτεν αὖτις εὐρέα Αἴγυπτος ἐστί. πέφυκε μέν νυν ἡ χώρη αὕτη οὕτω.
Therefore, from Heliopolis onward, it is no longer a large country for Egypt, but for about fourteen days’ journey by boat up the river, Egypt is narrow, the land between the aforementioned mountains being a plain. And where it is narrowest, it seemed to me to be not more than two hundred stadia from the Arabian mountain to the so-called Libyan mountain. From there, Egypt is wide again. Now such is the nature of this country.
- 2.8.1ἄνω ἰόντι
Dative present participle, functioning as a dative of reference or relation to indicate the point of view of a traveler in geographical descriptions ('for one going up').
- 2.8.1αὐτὸ ἑωυτοῦ ἐστι μακρότατον
The combination of the reflexive genitive with the superlative expresses the idea of 'at its own most...' or 'where it is longest in comparison with itself'.
- 2.8.3ὡς εἶναι Αἰγύπτου
A restrictive absolute infinitive construction with ὡς, meaning 'considering the scale of Egypt' or 'for being Egypt.' Αἰγύπτου is a genitive of relation/specification.