View:
By Section
[1]
Now if we agree with the opinion of the Ionians, who say that only the Delta is Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt , and that its seaboard reaches from the so-called Watchtower of Perseus forty schoeni to the Salters' at Pelusium (deserted settlement), Shamal Sina', Desert, Egypt, Africa Pelusium , while inland it stretches as far as the city of Cercasorus, 1 where the Nahr an- Nil [31.1,30.166] (river), Africa Nile divides and flows to Pelusium (deserted settlement), Shamal Sina', Desert, Egypt, Africa Pelusium and Canopus [30.5,31.316] (deserted settlement), Al-Iskandariyah, Urban, Egypt, Africa Canobus , and that all the rest of Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt is partly Libya [17,25] (nation), Africa Libya and partly Arabian Peninsula [45,25] (region (general)), Asia Arabia —if we follow this account, we can show that there was once no land for the Egyptians;
Now if we agree with the opinion of the Ionians, who say that only the Delta is Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt , and that its seaboard reaches from the so-called Watchtower of Perseus forty schoeni to the Salters' at Pelusium (deserted settlement), Shamal Sina', Desert, Egypt, Africa Pelusium , while inland it stretches as far as the city of Cercasorus, 1 where the Nahr an- Nil [31.1,30.166] (river), Africa Nile divides and flows to Pelusium (deserted settlement), Shamal Sina', Desert, Egypt, Africa Pelusium and Canopus [30.5,31.316] (deserted settlement), Al-Iskandariyah, Urban, Egypt, Africa Canobus , and that all the rest of Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt is partly Libya [17,25] (nation), Africa Libya and partly Arabian Peninsula [45,25] (region (general)), Asia Arabia —if we follow this account, we can show that there was once no land for the Egyptians;
[2] for we have seen that (as the
Egyptians themselves say, and as I myself judge) the Delta is alluvial land and but lately (so to speak) came into being. Then if there was once no land for them, it was an idle notion that they were the oldest nation on earth, and they need not have made that trial to see what language the children would first speak.
[3] I maintain, rather, that the
Egyptians did not come into existence together with what the
Ionians call the Delta, but have existed since the human race came into being; and as the land grew in extent, there were many of them who stayed behind, and many who spread down over it. Be that as it may, the
Theban district, a land of seven hundred and sixty-five miles in circumference, was in the past called
Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa
Egypt
.
Histories. Herodotus. ed. A.D. Godley. Cambridge. 1920-1925.
Sponsored by Perseus Project, Tufts University.
Funding provided by The Annenberg CPB/Project.