Histories

At present, of course, there are no people, either in the rest of Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt or in the whole world, who live from the soil with so little labor; they do not have to break the land up with the plough, or hoe, or do any other work that other men do to get a crop; the river rises of itself, waters the fields, and then sinks back again; then each man sows his field and sends swine into it to tread down the seed, and waits for the harvest; then he has the swine thresh his grain, and so garners it.

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, AfricaPelusium, while inland it stretches as far as the city of Cercasorus,[*](At the southern point of the Delta, where the two main channels of the Nahr an- Nil [31.1,30.166] (river), AfricaNile divide, not far below Cairo [31.25,30.5] (inhabited place), Cairo, Urban, Egypt, Africa Cairo.) where the Nahr an- Nil [31.1,30.166] (river), AfricaNile 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, AfricaCanobus, and that all the rest of Egypt [30,27] (nation), Africa Egypt is partly Libya [17,25] (nation), AfricaLibya and partly Arabian Peninsula [45,25] (region (general)), AsiaArabia—if we follow this account, we can show that there was once no land for the Egyptians;