§17.1.35μετὰ δὲ Μέμφιν Ἄκανθος πόλις ὁμοίως ἐν τῇ Λιβύῃ καὶ τὸ τοῦ Ὀσίριδος ἱερὸν καὶ τὸ τῆς ἀκάνθης ἄλσος τῆς Θηβαϊκῆς ἐξ ἧς τὸ κόμμι.
After Memphis comes the city of Acanthus, likewise on the Libyan side, and the temple of Osiris, and the grove of the Theban acanthus, from which gum is obtained.
εἶθʼ ὁ Ἀφροδιτοπολίτης νομὸς καὶ ἡ ὁμώνυμος πόλις ἐν τῇ Ἀραβίᾳ, ἐν ᾗ λευκὴ βοῦς ἱερὰ τρέφεται.
Then comes the Aphroditopolite nome and the city of the same name on the Arabian side, where a sacred white cow is kept.
εἶθʼ ὁ Ἡρακλεώτης νομὸς ἐν νήσῳ μεγάλῃ, καθʼ ἣν ἡ διῶρύξ ἐστιν ἐν δεξιᾷ εἰς τὴν Λιβύην ἐπὶ τὸν Ἀρσινοΐτην νομόν, ὥστε καὶ δίστομον εἶναι τὴν διώρυγα, μεταξὺ μέρους τινὸς τῆς νήσου παρεμπίπτοντος.
Then the Heracleote nome, on a large island, near which is the canal on the right leading into Libya to the Arsinoite nome, so that the canal has two mouths, since a certain part of the island falls in between.
ἔστι δʼ ὁ νομὸς οὗτος ἀξιολογώτατος τῶν ἁπάντων κατά τε τὴν ὄψιν καὶ τὴν ἀρετὴν καὶ τὴν κατασκευήν· ἐλαιόφυτός τε γὰρ μόνος ἐστὶ μεγάλοις καὶ τελείοις δένδρεσι καὶ καλλικάρποις, εἰ δὲ συγκομίζοι καλῶς τις, καὶ εὐέλαιος· ὀλιγωροῦντες δὲ τούτου πολὺ μὲν ποιοῦσιν ἔλαιον, μοχθηρὸν δὲ κατὰ τὴν ὀδμήν·
This nome is the most noteworthy of all in terms of its appearance, fertility, and equipment; for it is the only one planted with olive trees of large, fully grown, and fine-bearing kinds, and if one harvests them properly, it also yields good oil; but if they neglect this, they make much oil, but bad in smell.
ἡ δʼ ἄλλη Αἴγυπτος ἀνέλαιός ἐστι πλὴν τῶν κατʼ Ἀλεξάνδρειαν κήπων, οἳ μέχρι τοῦ ἐλαίαν χορηγεῖν ἱκανοί εἰσιν, ἔλαιον δʼ οὐχ ὑπουργοῦσιν·
The rest of Egypt is without olive trees, except for the gardens near Alexandria, which are sufficient to supply olives, but do not produce oil.
οἶνόν τε οὐκ ὀλίγον ἐκφέρει σῖτόν τε καὶ ὄσπρια καὶ τὰ ἄλλα σπέρματα πάμπολλα.
It also yields no small amount of wine, as well as grain, legumes, and very many other kinds of seeds.
θαυμαστὴν δὲ καὶ τὴν λίμνην ἔχει τὴν Μοίριδος καλουμένην, πελαγίαν τῷ μεγέθει καὶ τῇ χρόᾳ θαλαττοειδῆ· καὶ τοὺς αἰγιαλοὺς δὲ ἔστιν ὁρᾶν ἐοικότας τοῖς θαλαττίοις, ὡς ὑπονοεῖν τὰ αὐτὰ περὶ τῶν κατὰ Ἄμμωνα τόπων καὶ τούτων (καὶ γὰρ οὐδὲ πάμπολυ ἀφεστᾶσιν ἀλλήλων καὶ τοῦ Παραιτονίου) μὴ ὥσπερ τὸ ἱερὸν ἐκεῖνο εἰκάζειν ἔστι πρότερον ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάττῃ ἱδρῦσθαι διὰ τὸ πλῆθος τῶν τεκμηρίων, καὶ ταῦθʼ ὁμοίως τὰ χωρία πρότερον ἐπὶ τῇ θαλάττῃ ὑπῆρχεν, ἡ δὲ κάτω Αἴγυπτος καὶ τὰ μέχρι τῆς λίμνης τῆς Σιρβωνίτιδος πέλαγος ἦν, σύρρουν τυχὸν ἴσως τῇ Ἐρυθρᾷ τῇ κατὰ Ἡρώων πόλιν καὶ τὸν Αἰλανίτην μυχόν. §17.1.36εἴρηται δὲ περὶ τούτων διὰ πλειόνων ἐν τῷ πρώτῳ ὑπομνήματι τῆς γεωγραφίας, καὶ νῦν δʼ ἐπὶ τοσοῦτον ὑπομνηστέον τῆς φύσεως ἅμα καὶ τὸ τῆς προνοίας ἔργον εἰς ἓν συμφέροντας·
It also has a wonderful lake, called the Lake of Moeris, like a sea in size and sea-like in its color; and its shores can be seen to resemble those of the sea, so that one suspects the same things about the regions around Ammon and these—for they are not very far apart from each other and from Paraetonium—namely, that just as that temple is conjectured, because of the abundance of evidence, to have been situated formerly on the sea, so these places likewise formerly belonged to the sea, and that Lower Egypt and the regions as far as the Lake of Sirbonis were a sea, perhaps confluent with the Red Sea at Heroönpolis and the Aelanitic gulf. These matters have been discussed at greater length in the first book of the Geography, but now we must recall them to this extent, bringing together the work of nature and that of providence into one purpose.
τὸ μὲν τῆς φύσεως, ὅτι τῶν πάντων ὑφʼ ἓν συννευόντων τὸ τοῦ ὅλου μέσον καὶ σφαιρουμένων περὶ τοῦτο, τὸ μὲν πυκνότατον καὶ μεσαίτατόν ἐστιν ἡ γῆ, τὸ δʼ ἧττον τοιοῦτον καὶ ἐφεξῆς τὸ ὕδωρ, ἑκάτερον δὲ σφαῖρα, ἡ μὲν στερεά, ἡ δὲ κοίλη ἐντὸς ἔχουσα τὴν γῆν·
That of nature is that, since all things tend toward one center, the middle of the whole, and form a sphere around it, the densest and most central is the earth, and the next, which is less dense, is water, each being a sphere, the one solid, the other hollow, containing the earth within it.
τὸ δὲ τῆς προνοίας, ὅτι βεβούληται καὶ αὐτὴ ποικίλτριά τις οὖσα καὶ μυρίων ἔργων δημιουργὸς ἐν τοῖς πρώτοις ζῷα γεννᾶν ὡς πολὺ διαφέροντα τῶν ἄλλων καὶ τούτων τὰ κράτιστα θεούς τε καὶ ἀνθρώπους, ὧν ἕνεκεν καὶ τὰ ἄλλα συνέστηκε.
That of providence is that, since she herself is a designer of variety and the creator of countless works, she willed first of all to generate living beings as far superior to the rest, and of these the most excellent, namely gods and humans, for whose sake also the rest of things were established.
τοῖς μὲν οὖν θεοῖς ἀπέδειξε τὸν οὐρανὸν τοῖς δʼ ἀνθρώποις τὴν γῆν, τὰ ἄκρα τῶν τοῦ κόσμου μερῶν· ἄκρα δὲ τῆς σφαίρας τὸ μέσον καὶ τὸ ἐξωτάτω.
To the gods, therefore, she assigned heaven, and to humans the earth, the extremities of the parts of the universe; and the extremities of the sphere are the center and the outermost part.
ἀλλʼ ἐπειδὴ τῇ γῇ περίκειται τὸ ὕδωρ, οὐκ ἔστι δʼ ἔνυδρον ζῷον ὁ ἄνθρωπος, ἀλλὰ χερσαῖον καὶ ἐναέριον καὶ πολλοῦ κοινωνικὸν φωτός, ἐποίησεν ἐξοχὰς ἐν τῇ γῇ πολλὰς καὶ εἰσοχάς, ὥστʼ ἐν αἷς μὲν ἀπολαμβάνεσθαι τὸ σύμπαν ἢ καὶ τὸ πλέον ὕδωρ ἀποκρύπτον τὴν ὑπʼ αὐτῷ γῆν, ἐν αἷς δʼ ἐξέχειν τὴν γῆν ἀποκρύπτουσαν ὑφʼ ἑαυτῇ τὸ ὕδωρ, πλὴν ὅσον χρήσιμον τῷ ἀνθρωπείῳ γένει καὶ τοῖς περὶ αὐτὸ ζῴοις καὶ φυτοῖς.
But since water surrounds the earth, and human is not an aquatic animal, but a land-dwelling and air-breathing creature, and a sharer in much light, she made many elevations and depressions in the earth, so that in some the whole or the greater part of the water is received, hiding the earth beneath it, while in others the earth stands out, hiding the water beneath itself, except for so much as is useful for the human race and the animals and plants around it.
ἐπεὶ δʼ ἐν κινήσει συνεχεῖ τὰ σύμπαντα καὶ μεταβολαῖς μεγάλαις (οὐ γὰρ οἷόν τε ἄλλως τὰ τοιαῦτα καὶ τοσαῦτα καὶ τηλικαῦτα ἐν τῷ κόσμῳ διοικεῖσθαι), ὑποληπτέον μήτε τὴν γῆν ἀεὶ συμμένειν οὕτως ὥστʼ ἀεὶ τηλικαύτην εἶναι μηδὲν προστιθεῖσαν ἑαυτῇ μηδʼ ἀφαιροῦσαν, μήτε τὸ ὕδωρ, μηδὲ τὴν ἕδραν ἔχειν τὴν αὐτὴν ἑκάτερον, καὶ ταῦτα εἰς ἄλληλα φυσικωτάτης οὔσης καὶ ἐγγυτάτω τῆς μεταπτώσεως, ἀλλὰ καὶ τῆς γῆς πολλὴν εἰς ὕδωρ μεταβάλλειν, καὶ τῶν ὑδάτων πολλὰ χερσοῦσθαι τὸν αὐτὸν τρόπον ὅνπερ καὶ ἐν τῇ γῇ, καθʼ ἣν αὐτὴν τοσαῦται διαφοραί· ἡ μὲν γὰρ εὔθρυπτος ἡ δὲ στερεὰ καὶ πετρώδης καὶ σιδηρῖτις καὶ οὕτως ἐπὶ τῶν ἄλλων.
And since all things are in continuous motion and great changes—for it is not possible otherwise for such, so many, and so great things to be administered in the universe—we must suppose that neither the earth always remains so as to be always of such a size, adding nothing to itself nor taking away, nor the water, nor that either holds the same seat, especially since the transition of these into one another is most natural and very close, but that much of the earth changes into water, and much of the water becomes dry land in the same way as on the earth itself, in which there are so many differences; for one part is easily crumbled, another solid, rocky, and iron-bearing, and so on with the rest.
ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ὑγρᾶς οὐσίας, ἡ μὲν ἁλμυρὶς ἡ δὲ γλυκεῖα καὶ πότιμος, ἡ δὲ φαρμακώδης καὶ σωτήριος καὶ ὀλέθριος καὶ ψυχρὰ καὶ θερμή.
Likewise with the wet substance, one part is salty, another sweet and potable, another medicinal and life-saving or destructive, and cold and hot.
τί οὖν θαυμαστὸν εἴ τινα μέρη τῆς γῆς ἃ νῦν οἰκεῖται θαλάττῃ πρότερον κατείχετο, τὰ δὲ νῦν πελάγη πρότερον ᾠκεῖτο;
What wonder is it, then, if some parts of the earth which are now inhabited were formerly occupied by the sea, and those which are now seas were formerly inhabited?
καθάπερ καὶ πηγὰς τὰς πρότερον ἐκλιπεῖν συνέβη, τὰς δʼ ἀνεῖσθαι, καὶ ποταμοὺς καὶ λίμνας, οὕτω δὲ καὶ ὄρη καὶ πεδία εἰς ἄλληλα μεταπίπτειν· περὶ ὧν καὶ πρότερον εἰρήκαμεν πολλὰ καὶ νῦν εἰρήσθω.
Just as it has happened that springs which formerly existed have failed, and others have been opened, and rivers and lakes likewise, so also mountains and plains change into one another; concerning which we have spoken much before, and let so much be said now.