§1.33.1περιείληφε δʼ ὁ ποταμὸς καὶ νήσους ἐν αὑτῷ, κατὰ μὲν τὴν Αἰθιοπίαν ἄλλας τε πλείους καὶ μίαν εὐμεγέθη, τὴν ὀνομαζομένην Μερόην, ἐν ᾗ καὶ πόλις ἐστὶν ἀξιόλογος ὁμώνυμος τῇ νήσῳ, κτίσαντος αὐτὴν Καμβύσου καὶ θεμένου τὴν προσηγορίαν ἀπὸ τῆς μητρὸς αὐτοῦ Μερόης.
And the river also encloses islands within itself, both several others in Ethiopia and one of great size, called Meroe, in which there is also a noteworthy city of the same name as the island, Cambyses having founded it and given it its name after his mother Meroe.
§1.33.2ταύτην δὲ τῷ μὲν σχήματί φασιν ὑπάρχειν θυρεῷ παραπλησίαν, τῷ δὲ μεγέθει πολὺ προέχειν τῶν ἄλλων νήσων τῶν ἐν τούτοις τοῖς τόποις· τὸ μὲν γὰρ μῆκος αὐτῆς εἶναι λέγουσι σταδίων τρισχιλίων, τὸ δὲ πλάτος χιλίων.
They say that this island is similar in shape to a shield, and in size far exceeds the other islands in these regions; for they say its length is three thousand stades, and its width one thousand.
ἔχειν δʼ αὐτὴν καὶ πόλεις οὐκ ὀλίγας, ὧν ἐπιφανεστάτην ὑπάρχειν τὴν Μερόην.
And they say that it has not a few cities, of which the most illustrious is Meroe.
§1.33.3παρήκειν δὲ τῆς νήσου τὸν περικλυζόμενον πάντα τόπον ἀπὸ μὲν τῆς Λιβύης θῖνας ἔχοντας ἅμμου μέγεθος ἀέριον, ἀπὸ δὲ τῆς Ἀραβίας κρημνοὺς κατερρωγότας. ὑπάρχειν δʼ ἐν αὐτῇ καὶ μέταλλα χρυσοῦ τε καὶ ἀργύρου καὶ σιδήρου καὶ χαλκοῦ· πρὸς δὲ τούτοις ἔχειν πλῆθος ἐβένου, λίθων τε πολυτελῶν γένη παντοδαπά.
And they say that the entire region of the island washed by the river, on the side of Libya, has dunes of sand of an immense height, and on the side of Arabia, broken cliffs; and they say that there exist in it mines of gold, silver, iron, and copper, and in addition to these, it has an abundance of ebony and all kinds of precious stones.
§1.33.4καθόλου δὲ τοσαύτας νήσους ποιεῖν τὸν ποταμὸν ὥστε τοὺς ἀκούοντας μὴ ῥᾳδίως πιστεῦσαι· χωρὶς γὰρ τῶν περικλυζομένων τόπων ἐν τῷ καλουμένῳ Δέλτα τὰς ἄλλας εἶναι νήσους πλείους τῶν ἑπτακοσίων, ὧν τὰς μὲν ὑπὸ Αἰθιόπων ἐπαντλουμένας γεωργεῖσθαι κέγχρῳ, τὰς δὲ πλήρεις ὑπάρχειν ὄφεων καὶ κυνοκεφάλων καὶ ἄλλων θηρίων παντοδαπῶν, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἀπροσίτους εἶναι τοῖς ἀνθρώποις.
In general, they say that the river makes so many islands that those who hear of it do not easily believe it; for apart from the places washed by the water in the so-called Delta, the other islands are more than seven hundred, of which some, being irrigated by the Ethiopians, are cultivated with millet, and others are full of snakes and baboons and all kinds of other wild beasts, and because of this are inaccessible to humans.
§1.33.5ὁ δʼ οὖν Νεῖλος κατὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον εἰς πλείω μέρη σχιζόμενος ποιεῖ τὸ καλούμενον ἀπὸ τοῦ σχήματος Δέλτα.
Anyway, the Nile, being split into several parts in Egypt, makes what is called the Delta from its shape.
§1.33.6τούτου δὲ τὰς μὲν πλευρὰς καταγράφει τὰ τελευταῖα τῶν ῥευμάτων, τὴν δὲ βάσιν ἀναπληροῖ τὸ δεχόμενον πέλαγος τὰς ἐκβολὰς τοῦ ποταμοῦ.
Of this, the outermost streams trace the sides, and the base is filled out by the sea which receives the outlets of the river.
§1.33.7ἐξίησι δʼ εἰς τὴν θάλατταν ἑπτὰ στόμασιν, ὧν τὸ μὲν πρὸς ἕω κεκλιμένον καὶ πρῶτον καλεῖται Πηλουσιακόν, τὸ δὲ δεύτερον Τανιτικόν, εἶτα Μενδήσιον καὶ Φατνιτικὸν καὶ Σεβεννυτικόν, ἔτι δὲ Βολβίτινον, καὶ τελευταῖον Κανωβικόν, ὅ τινες Ἡρακλεωτικὸν ὀνομάζουσιν.
And it discharges into the sea by seven mouths, of which the one inclined toward the east and first is called the Pelusiac, the second the Tanitic, then the Mendesian and the Phatnitic and the Sebennytic, and further the Bolbitine, and last the Canopic, which some name the Heracleotic.
§1.33.8ἔστι δὲ καὶ ἕτερα στόματα χειροποίητα, περὶ ὧν οὐδὲν κατεπείγει γράφειν.
There are also other artificial mouths, about which there is no urgent need to write.
ἐφʼ ἑκάστῳ δὲ πόλις τετείχισται διαιρουμένη τῷ ποταμῷ καὶ καθʼ ἑκάτερον μέρος τῆς ἐκβολῆς ζεύγμασι καὶ φυλακαῖς εὐκαίροις διειλημμένη.
And at each mouth a fortified city has been built, which is divided by the river and partitioned on each side of the outlet by bridges and suitable guardposts.
ἀπὸ δὲ τοῦ Πηλουσιακοῦ στόματος διῶρύξ ἐστι χειροποίητος εἰς τὸν Ἀράβιον κόλπον καὶ τὴν Ἐρυθρὰν θάλατταν.
And from the Pelusiac mouth there is an artificial canal into the Arabian Gulf and the Red Sea.
§1.33.9ταύτην δʼ ἐπεβάλετο πρῶτος κατασκευάζειν Νεκῶς ὁ Ψαμμητίχου, μετὰ δὲ τοῦτον Δαρεῖος ὁ Πέρσης, καὶ προκόψας τοῖς ἔργοις ἕως τινὸς τὸ τελευταῖον εἴασεν αὐτὴν ἀσυντέλεστον· §1.33.10ἐδιδάχθη γὰρ ὑπό τινων ὅτι διορύξας τὸν ἰσθμὸν αἴτιος ἔσται τοῦ κατακλυσθῆναι τὴν Αἴγυπτον· μετεωροτέραν γὰρ ἀπεδείκνυον ὑπάρχειν τῆς Αἰγύπτου τὴν Ἐρυθρὰν θάλατταν.
This canal Necho the son of Psammetichus first undertook to construct, and after him Darius the Persian, and having advanced the works to a certain point, he finally left it unfinished; for he was informed by some that if he dug through the isthmus he would be the cause of flooding Egypt; for they demonstrated that the Red Sea was higher than Egypt.
§1.33.11ὕστερον δὲ ὁ δεύτερος Πτολεμαῖος συνετέλεσεν αὐτήν, καὶ κατὰ τὸν ἐπικαιρότατον τόπον ἐμηχανήσατό τι φιλότεχνον διάφραγμα.
And later Ptolemy II completed it, and at the most suitable spot engineered an ingenious lock.
τοῦτο δʼ ἐξήνοιγεν, ὁπότε βούλοιτο διαπλεῦσαι, καὶ ταχέως πάλιν συνέκλειεν, εὐστόχως ἐκλαμβανομένης τῆς χρείας.
This he would open whenever he wished to sail through, and quickly close again, the utility being handily secured.
§1.33.12ὁ δὲ διὰ τῆς διώρυχος ταύτης ῥέων ποταμὸς ὀνομάζεται μὲν ἀπὸ τοῦ κατασκευάσαντος Πτολεμαῖος, ἐπὶ δὲ τῆς ἐκβολῆς πόλιν ἔχει τὴν προσαγορευομένην Ἀρσινόην.
And the stream flowing through this canal is named Ptolemy after its constructor, and has at its outlet the city called Arsinoe.