[1] Some write “Psammitichos” with less authority.

[2] tou en Memphi: many Editors read en Memphi, “I heard at Memphis from the priests of Hephaistos,” but with less authority.

[3] ‘Eliou polin or ‘Elioupolin, cp. ‘Elioupolitai below.

[4] exo e ta ounamata auton mounon. Some understand “them” to mean “the gods”; rather perhaps the meaning is that accounts of such things will not be related in full, but only touched upon.

[5] ison peri auton epistasthai.

[6] anthropon, emphatic, for the rulers before him were gods (ch. 144).

[7] Mina: others read Mena, but the authority of the MSS. is strong for Mina both here and in ch. 99.

[8] tou Thebaikou nomou, cp. ch. 164.

[9] tautes on apo: some MSS. omit apo, “this then is the land for which the sixty schoines are reckoned.”

[10] For the measures of length cp. ch. 149. The furlong (stadion) is equal to 100 fathoms (orguiai), i.e. 606 feet 9 inches.

[11] Or “without rain”: the word anudros is altered by some Editors to enudros or euudros, “well watered.”

[12] I have followed Stein in taking es ta eiretai with legon, meaning “at the Erythraian Sea,” taute men being a repetition of te men above. The bend back would make the range double, and hence partly its great breadth. Others translate, “Here (at the quarries) the range stops, and bends round to the parts mentioned (i.e. the Erythraian Sea).”

[13] os einai Aiguptou: cp. iv. 81. Others translate, “considering that it belongs to Egypt” (a country so vast), i.e. “as measures go in Egypt.” In any case Aiguptos eousa just below seems to repeat the same meaning.

[14] Some Editors alter this to “fourteen.”

[15] pentastomou: some less good MSS. have eptastomou, “which has seven mouths.”

[16] See note on i. 203.

[17] ton erkhomai lexon: these words are by many Editors marked as spurious, and they certainly seem to be out of place here.

[18] kou ge de: “where then would not a gulf be filled up?”

[19] katarregnumenen: some Editors read katerregmenen (“broken up by cracks”) from katerregnumenen, which is given by many MSS.

[19a] Or possibly “with rock below,” in which case perhaps upopsammoteren would mean “rather sandy underneath.”

[20] We do not know whether these measurements are in the larger Egyptian cubit of 21 inches or the smaller (equal to the ordinary Hellenic cubit) of 18½ inches, cp. i. 178.

[21] kai to omoion apodido es auxesin, “and to yield the like return as regards increased extent.” (Mr. Woods); but the clause may be only a repetition of the preceding one.

[22] i.e. Zeus.

[23] i.e. of the district of Thebes, the Thebaïs.

[24] te Libue.

[25] The meaning seems to be this: “The Ionians say that Egypt is the Delta, and at the same time they divide the world into three parts, Europe, Asia, and Libya, the last two being divided from one another by the Nile. Thus they have left out Egypt altogether; and either they must add the Delta as a fourth part of the world, or they must give up the Nile as a boundary. If the name Egypt be extended, as it is by the other Hellenes, to the upper course of the Nile, it is then possible to retain the Nile as a boundary, saying that half of Egypt belongs to Asia and half to Libya, and disregarding the Delta (ch. 17). This also would be an error of reckoning, but less serious than to omit Egypt together.” The reasoning is obscure because it alludes to theories (of Hecataios and other writers) which are presumed to be already known to the reader.

[26] Katadoupon, i.e. the first cataract.

[27] “and it gives us here, etc.” (parekhomenos).

[28] logo de eipein thoumasiotere. Or perhaps, “and it is more marvellous, so to speak.”

[29] ton ta polla esti andri ke k.t.l. I take ton to refer to the nature of the country, as mentioned above; but the use of os can hardly be paralleled, and the passage probably requires correction. Some Editors read ton tekmeria polla esti k.t.l. “wherein there are many evidences to prove, etc.” Stein omits ton and alters the punctuation, so that the clauses run thus, “when it flows from the hottest parts to those which for the most part are cooler? For a man who is capable of reasoning about such matters the first and greatest evidence to prove that it is not likely to flow from snow, is afforded by the winds, etc.”

[30] ouk ekhei elegkhon, “cannot be refuted” (because we cannot argue with him), cp. Thuc. iii. 53, ta de pseude elegkhon ekhei. Some translate, “does not prove his case.”

[31] tes arkhaies diexodou, “his original (normal) course.”

[32] ouk eonton anemon psukhron: the best MSS. read kai anemon psukhron (“and there are cold winds”), which Stein retains, explaining that the cold North winds would assist evaporation.

[33] autos eoutou peei pollo upodeesteros e tou thereos.

[34] diakaion ten diexodon auto, i.e. to reri. Some Editors read autou (with inferior MSS.) or alter the word to eoutou.

[35] “set forth, so far as I understood.”

[36] epi makrotaton, “carrying the inquiry as far as possible,” cp. ch. 34.

[37] I have little doubt that this means the island of Elephantine; for at this point only would such a mixture of races be found. To this the writer here goes back parenthetically, and then resumes the account of the journey upwards from Tachompso. This view is confirmed by the fact that Strabo relates the same thing with regard to the island of Philai just above Elephantine.

[37a] Cp. i. 72, note 86.

[38] oleureon.

[39] zeias.

[40] i.e. the hieratic and the demotic characters.

[41] murias, os eipein logo.

[42] Referring apparently to iii. 28, where the marks of Apis are given. Perhaps no animal could be sacrificed which had any of these marks.

[43] kephale keine, “that head,” cp. koilien keinen in the next chapter.

[44] katharon.

[45] baris, cp. ch. 96.

[46] Or, “descended from Aigyptos.”

[46a] Or, “assuming that in those days as now, they were wont to make voyages, and that some of the Hellenes were seafaring folk.”

[47] stelai, “upright blocks.”

[48] lampontos tas nuktas megathos: some Editors alter megathos to megalos or mega phos.

[49] enagizousi.

[50] uon: some Editors read oion “sheep,” on the authority of one MS.

[51] ta ounamata, which means here rather the forms of personification than the actual names.

[52] ai pramanteis.

[53] phegon.

[54] upo phego pephukuie, i.e. the oak-tree of the legend was a real growing tree, though the dove was symbolical.

[55] panegurias.

[56] prosagogas, with the idea of bringing offerings or introducing persons.

[57] epoiethesan, “were first celebrated.”

[58] So B.R.

[59] sumphoiteousi.

[59a] i.e. 700,000.

[60] See ch. 40.

[61] tesi thusiesi, en tini nukti: some MSS. give en te nukti: hence several Editors read tes thusies en te nukti, “on the night of the sacrifice.”

[62] Or, “for what end this night is held solemn by lighting of lamps” (B.R.), making phos kai timen one idea.

[63] alexomenous: this, which is adopted by most Editors, is the reading of some less good MSS.; the rest have alexomenoi, “strike them and defend themselves.”

[63a] eousa e Aiguptos k.t.l.: the MSS. have eousa de Aiguptos: Stein reads eousa gar Aiguptos.

[64] theia pregmata katalambanei tous aielourous, which may mean only, “a marvellous thing happens to the cats.”

[65] es ‘Ermeo polin.

[66] dikhelon, oplai boos, “he is cloven-footed, and his foot is that of an ox.” The words oplai boos are marked as spurious by Stein.

[67] i.e. above the marshes, cp. ch. 92.

[68] pante, which by some is translated “taken all together,” “at most.” Perhaps there is some corruption of text, and the writer meant to say that it measured two cubits by one cubit.

[68a] The reading of the Medicean MS. is en esti, not enesti as hitherto reported.

[69] Or, “calling the song Linos.”

[70] ton Linon okothen elabon: the MSS. have to ounoma after elabon, but this is omitted by almost all Editors except Stein, who justifies it by a reference to ch. 50, and understands it to mean “the person of Linos.” No doubt the song and the person are here spoken off indiscriminately, but this explanation would require the reading tou Linou, as indeed Stein partly admits by suggesting the alteration.

[71] The words “and Bacchic (which are really Egyptian),” are omitted by several of the best MSS.

[72] epezosmenai.

[73] In connexion with death apparently, cp. ch. 132, 170. Osiris is meant.

[74] sindonos bussines.

[75] to kommi.

[76] nros.

[77] Or, “a pleasant sweet taste.”

[78] apala, “soft.”

[79] kat oligous ton kegkhron.

[80] apo ton sillikuprion tou karpou.

[81] zuga, to tie the sides and serve as a partial deck.

[82] esti de oud’ outos: a few MSS. have ouk instead of oud’, and most Editors follow them. The meaning however seems to be that even here the course in time of flood is different, and much more in the lower parts.

[83] os apergmenos ree: the MSS. mostly have os apergmenos reei, in place of which I have adopted the correction of Stein. Most other Editors read os apergmenos peei (following a few inferior MSS.), “the bend of the Nile which flows thus confined.”

[84] Not therefore in the Delta, to which in ch. 15 was assigned a later origin than this.

[85] kat’ ouden einai lamprotetos: Stein reads kai for kat’, thus making the whole chapter parenthetical, with ou gar elegon answered by parameipsamenos on, a conjecture which is ingenious but not quite convincing.

[86] stratien pollen labon: most of the MSS. have ton after pollen, which perhaps indicates that some words are lost.

[87] kai prosotata: many MSS. have kai ou prosotata, which is defended by some Editors in the sense of a comparative, “and not further.”

[88] Suroi in the better MSS.; see note in i.6.

[89] Surioi.

[90] kata tauta: the better MSS. have kai kata tauta, which might be taken with what follows, punctuating after ergazontai (as in the Medicean MS.): “they and the Egyptians alone of all nations work flax; and so likewise they resemble one another in their whole manner of living.”

[91] polon, i.e. the concave sun-dial, in shape like the vault of heaven.

[92] The gnomon would be an upright staff or an obelisk for observation of the length of the shadow.

[93] i.e. Red Clod.

[94] Turion stratopedon, i.e. “the Tyrian quarter” of the town: cp. ch. 154.

[95] ten sen, or tauten, “this land.”

[96] es o meteke auton, “until at last he dismissed it”; but the construction is very irregular, and there is probably some corruption of text. Stein reads ekon by conjecture for es o.

[97] delon de kata per epoiese: a conjectural emendation of delon de’ kata gar epoiese, which some editors retain, translating thus, “and this is clear; for according to the manner in which Homer described the wanderings of Alexander, etc., it is clear how, etc.”

[98] Il. vi. 289. The sixth book is not ordinarily included in the Diomedeos aristeia.

[99] Od. iv. 227. These references to the Odyssey are by some thought to be interpolations, because they refer only to the visit of Menelaos to Egypt after the fall of Troy; but Herodotus is arguing that Homer, while rejecting the legend of Helen’s stay in Egypt during the war, yet has traces of it left in this later visit to Egypt of Menelaos and Helen, as well as in the visit of Paris and Helen to Sidon.

[100] Od. iv. 351.

[101] kai tode to khorion: probably to khorion ought to be struck out: “this also is evident.”

[102] podeonas, being the feet of the animals whose skins they were.

[103] Cp. vii. 152.

[104] elasai, which may be intransitive, “rushed into every kind of evil.”

[105] stadioi.

[106] krossas.

[107] bomidas.

[108] i.e. the three small pyramids just to the East of the great pyramid.