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Herodotus · Histories §4.182.1

The Salt Hill of Augila and Date Harvesting

Passage 746 of 1577 · Greek

Summary

The passage describes the region of Augila, located another ten days' journey from the Ammonians, featuring a salt hill and water, where the Nasamonians regularly visit to harvest dates.

§4.182.1μετὰ δὲ Ἀμμωνίους διὰ τῆς ὀφρύης τῆς ψάμμου διʼ ἀλλέων δέκα ἡμερέων ὁδοῦ κολωνός τε ἁλός ἐστι ὅμοιος τῷ Ἀμμωνίῳ καὶ ὕδωρ, καὶ ἄνθρωποι περὶ αὐτὸν οἰκέουσι· τῷ δὲ χώρῳ τούτῳ οὔνομα Αὔγιλα ἐστί.
After the Ammonians, along the ridge of sand, at a distance of another ten days' journey, there is a hill of salt like that of the Ammonians, and water, and men dwell around it; the name of this place is Augila.
ἐς τοῦτον τὸν χῶρον οἱ Νασαμῶνες ὀπωριεῦντες τοὺς φοίνικας φοιτῶσι.
To this place the Nasamonians come regularly to harvest the dates.

Notes

  1. §4.182.1διʼ ἀλλέων δέκα ἡμερέων ὁδοῦ — The preposition διά with the genitive case denotes distance or intervals, meaning 'after another ten days' journey.' It mirrors the phrase διὰ δέκα ἡμερέων ὁδοῦ in 4.181.2, but adds ἀλλέων ('other') to indicate a cumulative distance.
  2. §4.182.1τῷ Ἀμμωνίῳ — A dative case governed by the adjective ὅμοιος ('like'). The noun κολωνῷ ('hill') is ellipsis-omitted, meaning 'like the [hill] of the Ammonians.'
  3. §4.182.1ὀπωριεῦντες — The future active participle (masculine plural nominative) of the verb ὀπωρίζω ('to gather fruit, harvest autumn crops'). It is used with the main verb φοιτῶσι to express purpose ('in order to harvest'). It exhibits the characteristic Ionic contraction (-ευ-).

Cite this passage

Herodotus, Histories §4.182.1. Humanitext Reader, https://reader.humanitext.ai/en/text/urn:cts:greekLit:tlg0016.tlg001.humanitext-grc2:4.182.1

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