king Moiris, whenever
the river reached a height of at least eight cubits it watered Egypt
below Memphis; and not yet nine hundred years had gone by since the
death of Moiris, when I heard these things from the priests: now
however, unless the river rises to sixteen cubits, or fifteen at the
least, it does not go over the land. I think too that those Egyptians
who dwell below the lake of Moiris and especially in that region which
is called the Delta, if that land continues to grow in height according
to this proportion and to increase similarly in extent, will suffer for
all remaining time, from the Nile not overflowing their land, that same
thing which they themselves said that the Hellenes would at some time
suffer: for hearing that the whole land of the Hellenes has rain and is
not watered by rivers as theirs is, they said that the Hellenes would at
some time be disappointed of a great hope and would suffer the ills of
famine. This saying means that if the god shall not send them rain, but
shall allow drought to prevail for a long time, the Hellenes will be
destroyed by hunger; for they have in fact no other supply of water
to save them except from Zeus alone. This has been rightly said by
the Egyptians with reference to the Hellenes: but now let me tell
how matters are with the Egyptians themselves in their turn. If, in
accordance with what I before said, their land below Memphis (for
this is that which is increasing) shall continue to increase in height
according to the same proportion as in the past time, assuredly those
Egyptians who dwell here will suffer famine, if their land shall not
have rain nor the river be able to go over their fields. It is certain
however that now they gather in fruit from the earth with less labour
than any other men and also with less than the other Egyptians; for they
have no labour in breaking up furrows with a plough nor in hoeing nor in
any other of those labours which other men have about a crop; but when
the river has come up of itself and watered their fields and after
watering has left them again, then each man sows his own field and turns
into it swine, and when he has trodden the seed into the ground by
means of the swine, after that he waits for the harvest, and when he has
threshed the corn by means of the swine, then he gathers it in.

If we desire to follow the opinions of the Ionians as regards Egypt, who
say that the Delta alone is Egypt, reckoning its sea-coast to be f