§17.1.39μετὰ δὲ τὸν Ἀρσινοΐτην καὶ τὸν Ἡρακλεωτικὸν νομὸν Ἡρακλέους πόλις, ἐν ᾗ ὁ ἰχνεύμων τιμᾶται ὑπεναντίως τοῖς Ἀρσινοΐταις· οἱ μὲν γὰρ τοὺς κροκοδείλους τιμῶσι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο ἥ τε διῶρυξ αὐτῶν ἐστι μεστὴ τῶν κροκοδείλων καὶ ἡ τοῦ Μοίριδος λίμνη· σέβονται γὰρ καὶ ἀπέχονται αὐτῶν· οἱ δὲ τοὺς ἰχνεύμονας τοὺς ὀλεθριωτάτους τοῖς κροκοδείλοις, καθάπερ καὶ ταῖς ἀσπίσι·
After the Arsinoïte and the Heracleotic nome comes the city of Heracles, where the ichneumon is held in honor in a manner opposite to that of the Arsinoïtes; for the latter honor the crocodiles, and for this reason both their canal is full of crocodiles and so is the Lake of Moeris, because they revere them and refrain from harming them; but the former honor the ichneumons, which are most destructive to the crocodiles, just as they are to the asps.
καὶ γὰρ τὰ ὠὰ διαφθείρουσιν αὐτῶν καὶ αὐτὰ τὰ θηρία, τῷ πηλῷ θωρακισθέντες· κυλισθέντες γὰρ ἐν αὐτῷ ξηραίνονται πρὸς τὸν ἥλιον, εἶτα τὰς ἀσπίδας μὲν ἢ τῆς κεφαλῆς ἢ τῆς οὐρᾶς λαβόμενοι κατασπῶσιν εἰς τὸν ποταμὸν καὶ διαφθείρουσι· τοὺς δὲ κροκοδείλους ἐνεδρεύσαντες, ἡνίκʼ ἂν ἡλιάζωνται κεχηνότες, ἐμπίπτουσιν εἰς τὰ χάσματα καὶ διαφαγόντες τὰ σπλάγχνα καὶ τὰς γαστέρας ἐκδύνουσιν ἐκ νεκρῶν τῶν σωμάτων.
For indeed they destroy both their eggs and the beasts themselves, having protected themselves with armor of mud; for having rolled themselves in it, they dry themselves in the sun, and then as for the asps, they seize them either by the head or the tail, drag them into the river and destroy them; and as for the crocodiles, they lie in wait for them, and when the crocodiles lie basking in the sun with their mouths open, they plunge into their gapes and, having eaten through their entrails and bellies, crawl out of their dead bodies.
§17.1.40̔εξῆς δʼ ἐστὶν ὁ Κυνοπολίτης νομὸς καὶ Κυνῶν πόλις, ἐν ᾗ ὁ Ἄνουβις τιμᾶται καὶ τοῖς κυσὶ τιμὴ καὶ σίτισις τέτακταί τις ἱερά.
Next is the Cynopolite nome and Cynon Polis, in which Anubis is held in honor and a certain honor and sacred feeding are appointed for the dogs.
ἐν δὲ τῇ περαίᾳ Ὀξύρυγχος πόλις καὶ νομὸς ὁμώνυμος· τιμῶσι δὲ τὸν ὀξύρυγχον καὶ ἔστιν αὐτοῖς ἱερὸν ὀξυρύγχου, καίτοι καὶ τῶν ἄλλων Αἰγυπτίων κοινῇ τιμώντων τὸν ὀξύρυγχον.
On the opposite bank is the city of Oxyrhynchus and the nome of the same name; they honor the oxyrhynchus, and they have a temple of the oxyrhynchus, although the other Egyptians also in common honor the oxyrhynchus.
τινὰ μὲν γὰρ τῶν ζῴων ἅπαντες κοινῇ τιμῶσιν Αἰγύπτιοι, καθάπερ τῶν μὲν πεζῶν τρία, βοῦν κύνα αἴλουρον, τῶν δὲ πτηνῶν δύο, ἱέρακα καὶ ἶβιν, τῶν δʼ ἐνύδρων δύο, λεπιδωτὸν ἰχθὺν καὶ ὀξύρυγχον·
For indeed, some of the animals all Egyptians in common honor, as for instance three of the land animals, the ox, the dog, and the cat; and two of the birds, the hawk and the ibis; and two of the water creatures, the lepidotus fish and the oxyrhynchus.
ἄλλα δʼ ἐστὶν ἃ τιμῶσι καθʼ ἑαυτοὺς ἕκαστοι, καθάπερ Σα̈ῖται πρόβατον καὶ Θηβα̈ῖται, λάτον δὲ τῶν ἐν τῷ Νείλῳ τινὰ ἰχθὺν Λατοπολῖται, λύκον τε Λυκοπολῖται, κυνοκέφαλον δὲ Ἑρμοπολῖται, κῆβον δὲ Βαβυλώνιοι οἱ κατὰ Μέμφιν·
But there are other animals which each people honors by themselves, as for example the Saïtes and the Thebaites honor the sheep; the Latopolites, the latus, a certain fish in the Nile; the Lycopolites, the wolf; the Hermopolites, the dog-headed baboon; the Babylonians near Memphis, the cebus.
ἔστι δʼ ὁ κῆβος τὸ μὲν πρόσωπον ἐοικὼς σατύρῳ, τἆλλα δὲ κυνὸς καὶ ἄρκτου μεταξύ, γεννᾶται δʼ ἐν Αἰθιοπίᾳ·
The cebus is in face like a satyr, and in other respects between a dog and a bear; it is produced in Ethiopia.
ἀετὸν δὲ Θηβαῖοι, λέοντα δὲ Λεοντοπολῖται, αἶγα δὲ καὶ τράγον Μενδήσιοι, μυγαλῆν δὲ Ἀθριβῖται, ἄλλοι δʼ ἄλλο τι· τὰς δʼ αἰτίας οὐχ ὁμολογουμένας λέγουσιν.
The Thebans honor the eagle; the Leontopolites, the lion; the Mendesians, the female and male goat; the Athribites, the shrew-mouse; and others honor other things; and they give reasons for this which are not agreed upon.
§17.1.41ἑξῆς δʼ ἐστὶν Ἑρμοπολιτικὴ φυλακή, τελώνιόν τι τῶν ἐκ τῆς Θηβαΐδος καταφερομένων· ἐντεῦθεν ἀρχὴ τῶν ἑξηκοντασταδίων σχοίνων ἕως Συήνης καὶ Ἐλεφαντίνης· εἶτα ἡ Θηβαϊκὴ φυλακὴ καὶ διῶρυξ φέρουσα ἐπὶ Τάνιν· εἶτα Λύκων πόλις καὶ Ἀφροδίτης καὶ Πανῶν πόλις, λινουργῶν καὶ λιθουργῶν κατοικία παλαιά.
Next is the Hermopolite Guard, a sort of custom-house for goods brought down from the Thebaïs; from here begins the reckoning of the sixty-stadium schoinos as far as Syene and Elephantine; then the Thebaic Guard and a canal leading to Tanis; then Lycon Polis and Aphrodites Polis and Panon Polis, an ancient settlement of linen-weavers and stone-cutters.
§17.1.42ἔπειτα Πτολεμαϊκὴ πόλις, μεγίστη τῶν ἐν τῇ Θηβαΐδι καὶ οὐκ ἐλάττων Μέμφεως, ἔχουσα καὶ σύστημα πολιτικὸν ἐν τῷ ἑλληνικῷ τρόπῳ.
Then comes the Ptolemaic city, the largest of those in the Thebaïs, and not smaller than Memphis, having also a political constitution in the Greek manner.
ὑπὲρ δὲ ταύτης ἡ Ἄβυδος, ἐν ᾗ τὸ Μεμνόνιον βασίλειον θαυμαστῶς κατεσκευασμένον ὁλόλιθον τῇ αὐτῇ κατασκευῇ ᾗπερ τὸν λαβύρινθον ἔφαμεν, οὐ πολλαπλοῦν δέ· καὶ κρήνη ἐν βάθει κειμένη ὥστε καταβαίνειν εἰς αὐτὴν * κατακαμφθεισῶν ψαλίδων διὰ μονολίθων ὑπερβαλλόντων τῷ μεγέθει καὶ τῇ κατασκευῇ.
Above this is Abydos, in which is the Memnonium, a palace wonderfully constructed of solid stone in the same manner of construction as we said the Labyrinth was built, but not complex; and there is a spring situated at a great depth, so that one goes down to it * through vaulted passages made of single stones of extraordinary size and workmanship.
ἔστι δὲ διῶρυξ ἄγουσα ἐπὶ τὸν τόπον ἀπὸ τοῦ μεγάλου ποταμοῦ.
There is a canal leading to the place from the great river.
περὶ δὲ τὴν διώρυγα ἀκανθῶν τῶν Αἰγυπτίων ἄλσος ἐστὶν ἱερὸν τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος.
Around the canal is a sacred grove of Apollo consisting of Egyptian acacias.
ἔοικε δὲ ὑπάρξαι ποτὲ ἡ Ἄβυδος πόλις μεγάλη, δευτερεύουσα μετὰ τὰς Θήβας, νυνὶ δʼ ἐστὶ κατοικία μικρά· εἰ δʼ ὥς φασιν ὁ Μέμνων ὑπὸ τῶν Αἰγυπτίων Ἰσμάνδης λέγεται, καὶ ὁ λαβύρινθος Μεμνόνιον ἂν εἴη καὶ τοῦ αὐτοῦ ἔργον οὗπερ καὶ τὰ ἐν Ἀβύδῳ καὶ τὰ ἐν Θήβαις· καὶ γὰρ ἐκεῖ λέγεταί τινα Μεμνόνια.
It seems that Abydos was once a great city, second after Thebes, but now it is a small settlement; and if, as they say, Memnon is called Ismandes by the Egyptians, the Labyrinth also would be a Memnonium and the work of the same man who built the things in Abydos and those in Thebes; for there too certain buildings are called Memnonia.
κατὰ δὲ τὴν Ἄβυδον ἔστιν ἡ πρώτη αὔασις ἐκ τῶν λεχθεισῶν τριῶν ἐν τῇ Λιβύῃ, διέχουσα ὁδὸν ἡμερῶν ἑπτὰ ἐνθένδε διʼ ἐρημίας, εὔυδρός τε κατοικία καὶ εὔοινος καὶ τοῖς ἄλλοις ἱκανή, δευτέρα δʼ ἡ κατὰ τὴν Μοίριδος λίμνην, τρίτη δὲ ἡ κατὰ τὸ μαντεῖον τὸ ἐν Ἄμμωνι· καὶ αὗται δὲ κατοικίαι εἰσὶν ἀξιόλογοι.
Opposite Abydos is the first oasis of the three mentioned in Libya, at a distance of seven days' journey from here through the desert, a well-watered settlement, rich in wine and sufficient in other things; the second is that near the Lake of Moeris, and the third is that near the oracle in Ammon; and these, too, are noteworthy settlements.