§1.3.4μάλιστα δέ φησι ζήτησιν παρασχεῖν πῶς ἐν δισχιλίοις καὶ τρισχιλίοις ἀπὸ θαλάττης σταδίοις κατὰ τὴν μεσόγαιαν ὁρᾶται πολλαχοῦ κόγχων καὶ ὀστρέων καὶ χηραμύδων πλῆθος καὶ λιμνοθάλατται, καθάπερ φησὶ περὶ τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ Ἄμμωνος καὶ τὴν ἐπʼ αὐτῷ ὁδὸν τρισχιλίων σταδίων οὖσαν· πολλὴν γὰρ εἶναι χύσιν ὀστρέων, ἅλας τε καὶ νῦν ἔτι εὑρίσκεσθαι πολλούς, ἀναφυσήματά τε θαλάττης εἰς ὕψος ἀναβάλλειν· πρὸς ᾧ καὶ ναυάγια θαλαττίων πλοίων δείκνυσθαι, ἃ ἔφασαν διὰ τοῦ χάσματος ἐκβεβράσθαι, καὶ ἐπὶ στυλιδίων ἀνακεῖσθαι δελφῖνας ἐπιγραφὴν ἔχοντας Κυρηναίων θεωρῶν.
He says especially that it causes a question how it is that at a distance of two thousand or three thousand stadia from the sea, in the interior, there is seen in many places a multitude of shells, bivalves, and mussel shells, and salt lakes, just as he says concerning the temple of Ammon and the road to it, which is three thousand stadia long; for there is a great accumulation of shells, and many salts are still found even now, and blasts of sea-water are thrown up to a height; in addition to which, also, wrecks of sea-vessels are shown, which they said were cast up through the chasm, and on little pillars are dedicated dolphins having an inscription of Cyrenian sacred ambassadors.
ταῦτα δʼ εἰπὼν τὴν Στράτωνος ἐπαινεῖ δόξαν τοῦ φυσικοῦ, καὶ ἔτι Ξάνθου τοῦ Λυδοῦ· τοῦ μὲν Ξάνθου λέγοντος ἐπὶ Ἀρταξέρξου γενέσθαι μέγαν αὐχμὸν ὥστʼ ἐκλιπεῖν ποταμοὺς καὶ λίμνας καὶ φρέατα· αὐτόν τε εἰδέναι πολλαχῆ πρόσω ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάττης λίθον τε κογχυλιώδη καὶ τὰ κτενώδεα καὶ χηραμύδων τυπώματα καὶ λιμνοθάλατταν ἐν Ἀρμενίοις καὶ Ματιηνοῖς καὶ ἐν Φρυγίᾳ τῇ κάτω, ὧν ἕνεκα πείθεσθαι τὰ πεδία ποτὲ θάλατταν γενέσθαι.
After saying these things, he praises the opinion of Strato the physicist, and also of Xanthus the Lydian; Xanthus saying that in the time of Artaxerxes there was a great drought, so that rivers, lakes, and wells failed; and that he himself knew in many places far from the sea both shell-bearing stone and scallop-shaped and mussel-shaped impressions, and a salt lake among the Armenians, Matienians, and in Lower Phrygia, on account of which he was persuaded that the plains were once sea.
τοῦ δὲ Στράτωνος ἔτι μᾶλλον ἁπτομένου τῆς αἰτιολογίας, ὅτι φησὶν οἴεσθαι τὸν Εὔξεινον μὴ ἔχειν πρότερον τὸ κατὰ Βυζάντιον στόμα, τοὺς δὲ ποταμοὺς βιάσασθαι καὶ ἀνοῖξαι τοὺς εἰς αὐτὸν ἐμβάλλοντας, εἶτʼ ἐκπεσεῖν τὸ ὕδωρ εἰς τὴν Προποντίδα καὶ τὸν Ἑλλήσποντον.
And Strato, touching still more upon the etiology, says that he thinks the Euxine did not formerly have the outlet at Byzantium, but that the rivers which empty into it forced and opened it, and then the water rushed out into the Propontis and the Hellespont.
τὸ δʼ αὐτὸ συμβῆναι καὶ περὶ τὴν καθʼ ἡμᾶς θάλατταν· καὶ γὰρ ἐνταῦθα τὸν κατὰ στήλας ἐκραγῆναι πόρον, πληρωθείσης ὑπὸ τῶν ποταμῶν τῆς θαλάττης, κατὰ δὲ τὴν ἔκρυσιν ἀνακαλυφθῆναι τὰ τεναγώδη πρότερον.
And the same thing happened also concerning our sea; for here too the passage at the Pillars was broken through, the sea having been filled by the rivers, and during the outflow, what was formerly marshy was laid bare.
φέρει δʼ αἰτίαν πρῶτον μὲν ὅτι τῆς ἔξω θαλάττης καὶ τῆς ἐντὸς τοὔδαφος ἕτερόν ἐστιν, ἔπειθʼ ὅτι καὶ νῦν ἔτι ταινία τις ὕφαλος διατέτακεν ἀπὸ τῆς Εὐρώπης ἐπὶ τὴν Λιβύην, ὡς ἂν μιᾶς οὔσης πρότερον τῆς τε ἐντὸς καὶ τῆς ἐκτός.
And he brings forward as a cause, first, that the bed of the outer sea and that of the inner sea are different, and secondly, that even now a certain sunken ridge extends from Europe to Libya, as if the inner and outer sea had formerly been one.
καὶ βραχύτατα μὲν εἶναι τὰ περὶ τὸν Πόντον, τὸ δὲ Κρητικὸν καὶ Σικελικὸν καὶ Σαρδῷον πέλαγος σφόδρα βαθέα· τῶν γὰρ ποταμῶν πλείστων καὶ μεγίστων ῥεόντων ἀπὸ τῆς ἄρκτου καὶ τῆς ἀνατολῆς, ἐκεῖνα μὲν ἰλύος πληροῦσθαι, τὰ ἄλλα δὲ μένειν βαθέα.
And the parts around the Pontus are very shallow, but the Cretan, Sicilian, and Sardinian seas are exceedingly deep; for since the most and largest rivers flow from the north and the east, the former is filled with mud, while the others remain deep.
διὸ καὶ γλυκυτάτην εἶναι τὴν Ποντικὴν θάλατταν τάς τʼ ἐκρύσεις γίνεσθαι εἰς οὓς ἐγκέκλιται τόπους τὰ ἐδάφη.
For this reason also the Pontic sea is most sweet, and the outflows happen towards those places where the beds are inclined.
δοκεῖν δὲ κἂν χωσθῆναι τὸν Πόντον ὅλον εἰς ὕστερον, ἂν μένωσιν αἱ ἐπιρρύσεις τοιαῦται· καὶ γὰρ νῦν ἤδη τεναγίζειν τὰ ἐν ἀριστερᾷ τοῦ Πόντου, τόν τε Σαλμυδησσὸν καὶ τὰ καλούμενα στήθη ὑπὸ τῶν ναυτικῶν τὰ περὶ τὸν Ἴστρον καὶ τὴν Σκυθῶν ἐρημίαν.
And it seems that the whole Pontus might even be filled up hereafter, if the inflows remain of such a kind; for indeed even now the parts on the left of the Pontus are already becoming marshy, namely Salmydessus and what are called 'breasts' by sailors around the Ister and the wilderness of the Scythians.
τάχα δὴ καὶ τὸ τοῦ Ἄμμωνος ἱερὸν πρότερον ἐπὶ τῆς θαλάττης ὂν ἐκρύσεως γενομένης νῦν ἐν τῇ μεσογαίᾳ κεῖσθαι.
Perhaps indeed also the temple of Ammon, which was formerly on the sea, now lies in the interior because an outflow occurred.
εἰκάζει τε τὸ μαντεῖον εὐλόγως ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον γενέσθαι ἐπιφανές τε καὶ γνώριμον ἐπὶ θαλάττῃ ὄν, τόν τε ἐπὶ πολὺ οὕτως ἐκτοπισμὸν ἀπὸ τῆς θαλάττης οὐκ εὔλογον ποιεῖν τὴν νῦν οὖσαν ἐπιφάνειαν καὶ δόξαν· τήν τε Αἴγυπτον τὸ παλαιὸν θαλάττῃ κλύζεσθαι μέχρι τῶν ἑλῶν τῶν περὶ τὸ Πηλούσιον καὶ τὸ Κάσιον ὄρος καὶ τὴν Σιρβωνίδα λίμνην· ἔτι γοῦν καὶ νῦν κατὰ τὴν Αἴγυπτον τῆς ἁλμυρίδος ὀρυττομένης ὑφάμμους καὶ κογχυλιώδεις εὑρίσκεσθαι τοὺς βόθρους, ὡς ἂν τεθαλαττωμένης τῆς χώρας καὶ τοῦ τόπου παντὸς τοῦ περὶ τὸ Κάσιον καὶ τὰ Γέρρα καλούμενα τεναγίζοντος, ὥστε συνάπτειν τῷ τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς κόλπῳ· ἐνδούσης δὲ τῆς θαλάττης ἀνακαλυφθῆναι, μεῖναι δὲ τὴν Σιρβωνίδα λίμνην, εἶτʼ ἐκραγῆναι καὶ ταύτην ὥστε ἑλώδη γενέσθαι.
And he conjectures with good reason that the oracle became so famous and well-known when it was on the sea, and that its being so far out of place from the sea does not make its present fame and reputation reasonable; and that Egypt in ancient times was washed by the sea as far as the marshes around Pelusium, Mount Casius, and the Sirbonian Lake; at any rate, even now when salt-beds are dug in Egypt, the pits are found to be sandy and full of shells, as if the country had been sea and all the place around Casius and what is called Gerra was marshy, so as to connect with the Arabian Gulf; but when the sea gave way it was laid bare, and the Sirbonian Lake remained, and then this too broke through so as to become marshy.
ὡς δʼ αὕτως καὶ τῆς Μοίριδος λίμνης τοὺς αἰγιαλοὺς θαλάττης μᾶλλον ἢ ποταμοῦ προσεοικέναι.
In the same way also, the shores of Lake Moeris resemble those of a sea rather than of a river.
τὸ μὲν οὖν ἐπικλύζεσθαί ποτε πολὺ μέρος τῶν ἠπείρων ἐπὶ καιρούς τινας καὶ πάλιν ἀνακαλύπτεσθαι δοίη τις ἄν· ὡς δʼ αὕτως καὶ τὸ τοῖς ἐδάφεσιν ἀνώμαλον εἶναι τὴν γῆν ἅπασαν τὴν νῦν ὕφαλον, καθάπερ γε νὴ Δία καὶ τὴν ἔξαλον, ἐν ᾗ οἰκοῦμεν, τοσαύτας δεχομένην ὅσας αὐτὸς Ἐρατοσθένης εἴρηκε μεταβολάς· ὥστε πρός γε τὸν Ξάνθου λόγον οὐδὲν ἂν ἔχοι τις προσφέρειν ἄτοπον.
Now, that a great part of the continents was once flooded at certain times and again laid bare, anyone would admit; and likewise that all the earth which is now under water has an uneven bed, just as, by Zeus, the dry land on which we dwell, which receives as many changes as Eratosthenes himself has mentioned; so that one would have nothing absurd to bring against the account of Xanthus.