§2.108.1νοστήσας δὲ ὁ Σέσωστρις ἐς τὴν Αἴγυπτον καὶ τισάμενος τὸν ἀδελφεόν, τῷ μὲν ὁμίλῳ τὸν ἐπηγάγετο τῶν τὰς χώρας κατεστρέψατο, τούτῳ μὲν τάδε ἐχρήσατο·
When Sesostris had returned to Egypt and taken vengeance on his brother, he employed the crowd of people whom he had brought with him from the nations whose lands he had conquered in the following manner.
§2.108.2τούς τέ οἱ λίθους τοὺς ἐπὶ τούτου τοῦ βασιλέος κομισθέντας ἐς τοῦ Ἡφαίστου τὸ ἱρόν, ἐόντας μεγάθεϊ περιμήκεας, οὗτοι ἦσαν οἱ ἑλκύσαντες, καὶ τὰς διώρυχας τὰς νῦν ἐούσας ἐν Αἰγύπτῳ πάσας οὗτοι ἀναγκαζόμενοι ὤρυσσον, ἐποίευν τε οὐκ ἑκόντες Αἴγυπτον, τὸ πρὶν ἐοῦσαν ἱππασίμην καὶ ἁμαξευομένην πᾶσαν, ἐνδεᾶ τούτων.
It was they who dragged the stones, which were of extraordinary size, brought during the reign of this king to the temple of Hephaestus; and they were forced to dig all the canals that are now in Egypt, and thus, against their will, they made Egypt—which before had been entirely passable for horses and carriages—devoid of these.
§2.108.3ἀπὸ γὰρ τούτου τοῦ χρόνου Αἴγυπτος ἐοῦσα πεδιὰς πᾶσα ἄνιππος καὶ ἀναμάξευτος γέγονε· αἴτιαι δὲ τούτων αἱ διώρυχες γεγόνασι ἐοῦσαι πολλαὶ καὶ παντοίους τρόπους ἔχουσαί.
For from that time on, Egypt, though being entirely a flat plain, became impassable for horses and carriages; and the cause of this was the canals, which were numerous and ran in all directions.
§2.108.4κατέταμνε δὲ τοῦδε εἵνεκα τὴν χώρην ὁ βασιλεύς· ὅσοι τῶν Αἰγυπτίων μὴ ἐπὶ τῷ ποταμῷ ἔκτηντο τὰς πόλις ἀλλʼ ἀναμέσους, οὗτοι, ὅκως τε ἀπίοι ὁ ποταμός, σπανίζοντες ὑδάτων πλατυτέροισι ἐχρέωντο τοῖσι πόμασι, ἐκ φρεάτων χρεώμενοι.
The king cut up the land for the following reason: all those Egyptians who did not have their cities on the river but in the interior, whenever the river receded, suffered from a lack of water and had to use more brackish water for drinking, which they drew from wells.