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and cold, and also of a pumice-like nature, that it has great and continuous cracks, and through these it takes up into itself a great quantity of moisture, and that during the winter season it holds this within itself, but when the summer solstices begin, it emits from itself everywhere certain sweats, as it were, and for this reason 7.17.22 it fills the river. Ephorus, then, is clearly not only <not> having seen Egypt, but not even having enquired carefully from those who have seen it about the things concerning this country. 7.17.23 For in the first place, if the Nile received its increase from Egypt itself, it would not be full in its upper regions, where it flows through rocky and solid land; but as it is, flowing for more than six thousand stades through Ethiopia, it has its increase before it touches Egypt. 7.17.24 Then, if the stream of the Nile were lower than the porous places in the alluvial land, it would follow that the cracks were superficial, through which it would be impossible for such a great quantity of water to pass; but if the river occupied a higher place than the porous places, it would be impossible for the confluence of the waters to happen from the lower hollows to the higher surface 7.17.25. But in general, who would think it possible that the sweats from the porous places in the earth could cause such an increase to the river that almost all of Egypt is inundated by it? For I pass over the falsehood about both the alluvial land and the waters melting in the porous places, since the refutations in 7.17.26 these matters are obvious. For the Maeander river in Asia has made much land alluvial; and yet with regard to the filling of the Nile you see nothing of the sort happening at all 7.17.27. But also in Acarnania the river called Achelous, and in Boeotia the Cephisus from Phocis have added no little land by silting, and in the case of both of them the falsehood of Ephorus is clearly refuted. 7.17.28 So much for Ephorus; but some of the philosophers in Memphis have attempted to offer this cause for the flood. They say that the earth is divided into three parts, and one is our inhabited world (for so one must call it), another is the one that has opposite seasons to these regions, and the third lies between these, and is also exceedingly uninhabitable on account of 7.17.2 the heat. If, then, the Nile made its risings during the winter season, it would have been clear that it receives its flow in our zone, because it is around these times that the winter rains mostly occur among us 7.17.30. But since, on the contrary, it becomes full around summertime, it is probable that the winters occur in the opposite regions, and that the excess of water in those regions comes to our inhabited world. And for this reason no one is able to get to the sources of the Nile, since the river flows from the opposite zone through the uninhabited one 7.17.31. And they say the excessive sweetness of the Nile's water testifies to this; for they say that as it flows through the torrid zone it is thoroughly boiled, and for this reason it is the sweetest of all rivers, since the fiery element by its nature makes all liquid sweet. 7.17.32 But we shall also speak to this. For we say it is impossible for a river to be carried from the opposite inhabited world to our land, and especially if one were to suppose that the earth is spherical 7.17.33 by nature. For how is it that the Nile alone flows from that inhabited world to the regions where we are? For it is likely that there are other rivers too, just as there are with 7.17.34 us. But also the explanation concerning the sweetness of this river has been established as entirely irrational and completely unprovable. For if the river became sweet by being boiled by the heat, it would never be life-producing, nor would it possess varied forms of fish and beasts; for all water altered by the fiery 7.17.35 substance is alien

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καὶ ψυχράν, ἔτι δὲ καὶ κισηρώδη τὴν φύσιν, ῥαγάδας τε μεγάλας καὶ διηνεκεῖς ἔχειν, καὶ διὰ τούτων εἰς ἑαυτὴν ἀναλαμβάνειν πλῆθος ὑγρότητος, καὶ κατὰ μὲν τὴν χειμερίαν ὥραν τοῦτο συνέχειν ἐν ἑαυτῇ, θερινῶν δὲ ἀπαρχομένων τροπῶν ὥσπερ ἱδρῶτάς τινας ἐξ αὐτῆς πανταχόθεν ὑπεῖναι, καὶ διὰ τοῦτο 7.17.22 πληροῦν τὸν ποταμόν. ὁ μὲν οὖν ῎Εφορος δῆλός ἐστι μὴ μόνον <οὐ> τεθεαμένος τὴν Αἴγυπτον, ἀλλὰ μηδὲ παρὰ τῶν ἰδόντων τὰ κατὰ τὴν χώραν ταύτην ἐπιμελῶς πεπυσμένος. 7.17.23 πρῶτον μὲν γάρ, εἴπερ ἐξ αὐτῆς τῆς Αἰγύπτου ὁ Νεῖλος τὴν αὔξησιν ἀπελάμβανεν, οὐκ ἂν ἐν τοῖς ἀνωτέρω μέρεσιν ἐπληροῦτο, διὰ πετρώδους καὶ στερεᾶς χώρας φερόμενος· νῦν δὲ πλείω τῶν ἑξακισχιλίων σταδίων διὰ τῆς Αἰθιοπίας διαρρέων ἔχει τὴν αὔξησιν πρὶν ἢ ψαύσῃ τῆς Αἰγύπτου. 7.17.24 ἔπειτα εἰ μὲν τὸ ῥεῦμα τοῦ Νείλου ταπεινότερον ἦν τῶν κατὰ τὴν ποταμόχωστον γῆν ἀραιωμάτων, ἐπιπολαίους ἂν εἶναι τὰς ῥαγάδας συνέβαινεν, καθ' ἃς ἀδύνατον ἦν διαβαίνειν τοσοῦτον πλῆθος ὑδάτων· εἰ δὲ ὑψηλότερον τόπον ἐπεῖχεν ὁ ποταμὸς τῶν ἀραιωμάτων, ἀδύνατον ἦν ἐκ τῶν ταπεινοτέρων κοιλωμάτων εἰς τὴν ὑψηλοτέραν ἐπιφάνειαν 7.17.25 τὴν τῶν ὑδάτων σύρρευσιν γίνεσθαι. καθόλου δὲ τίς ἂν δυνατὸν ἡγήσοιτο τοὺς ἐκ τῶν κατὰ τὴν γῆν ἀραιωμάτων ἱδρῶτας τοσαύτην αὔξησιν τῷ ποταμῷ εἰσποιεῖν, ὥστε ὑπ' αὐτοῦ σχεδὸν πᾶσαν τὴν Αἴγυπτον ἐπικλύζεσθαι; ἀφίημι γὰρ καὶ τὸ ψεῦδος τῆς τε ποταμοχώστου γῆς καὶ τῶν ἐν τοῖς ἀραιώμασι τηκομένων ὑδάτων, ἐπιφανῶν ὄντων τῶν ἐν 7.17.26 τούτοις ἐλέγχων. ὁ μὲν γὰρ Μαίανδρος ποταμὸς κατὰ τὴν ᾿Ασίαν πολλὴν χώραν πεποίηκε ποταμόχωστον· καίπερ τῶν συμβαινόντων περὶ τὴν ἀναπλήρωσιν τοῦ Νείλου τὸ σύνολον 7.17.27 οὐδὲν θεωρεῖς γινόμενον. ἀλλὰ καὶ περὶ τὴν ᾿Ακαρνανίαν ὁ καλούμενος ᾿Αχελῷος ποταμὸς περί τε τὴν Βοιωτίαν ὁ Κηφισὸς ἐκ τῶν Φωκέων οὐκ ὀλίγην χώραν προσέχωσαν, ἐφ' ὧν ἀμφοτέρων ἐλέγχεται φανερῶς τοῦ ᾿Εφόρου τὸ ψεῦδος. 7.17.28 καὶ ταῦτα μὲν πρὸς τὸν ῎Εφορον· τῶν δὲ ἐν Μέμφιδι φιλοσόφων τινὲς ἐπεχείρησαν αἰτίαν φέρειν τῆς πληρώσεως ταύτην. φασὶ διαιρεῖσθαι εἰς τρία τὴν γῆν, καὶ ἓν μὲν ὑπεῖναι τὸ κατὰ τὴν ἡμετέραν οἰκουμένην (δέον γὰρ οὕτως εἰπεῖν), ἕτερον δὲ τὸ τούτοις τοῖς τόποις ἀντιπεπονθὸς ταῖς ὥραις, τὸ δὲ τρίτον μεταξὺ κεῖσθαι τούτων, ὑπάρχειν δὲ καὶ διὰ 7.17.2 καῦμα λίαν ἀοίκητον. εἰ μὲν οὖν ὁ Νεῖλος ἐποιεῖτο τὰς ἀναβάσεις κατὰ τὸν τοῦ χειμῶνος καιρόν, δῆλον ὑπῆρχεν ὡς ἐπὶ τῆς καθ' ἡμᾶς ζώνης λαμβάνει τὴν σύρρευσιν, διὰ τὸ περὶ τούτους τοὺς καιροὺς μάλιστα γίνεσθαι παρ' ἡμῖν 7.17.30 τὰς ἐπομβρίας. ἐπεὶ δὲ τοὐναντίον περὶ τὸ θέρος πληροῦται, πιθανὸν εἶναι κατὰ τοὺς ἀντικειμένους τόπους γεννᾶσθαι τοὺς χειμῶνας, καὶ τὸ πλεονάζον τῶν κατ' ἐκείνους τοὺς τόπους ὑδάτων εἰς τὴν καθ' ἡμᾶς γίνεσθαι οἰκουμένην. διὸ καὶ πρὸς τὰς πηγὰς τοῦ Νείλου μηδένα δύνασθαι παρελθεῖν, ὡς ἂν ἐκ τῆς ἐναντίας ζώνης διὰ τῆς ἀοικήτου 7.17.31 φερομένου τοῦ ποταμοῦ. μαρτυρεῖν δὲ τούτοις καὶ τὴν ὑπερβολὴν τῆς γλυκύτητος τοῦ κατὰ τὸν Νεῖλον ὕδατος· διὰ γὰρ τῆς κεκαυμένης αὐτὸν ῥέοντά φασι λίαν καθέψεσθαι καὶ διὰ τοῦτο γλυκύτατον εἶναι πάντων τῶν ποταμῶν, ἅτε δὴ φύσει τοῦ πυρώδους ἅπαν τὸ ὑγρὸν ἀπογλυκαίνοντος. 7.17.32 ἡμεῖς δὲ καὶ πρὸς τοῦτο λέξομεν. ἀδύνατον γὰρ εἶναί φαμεν ποταμὸν ἐκ τῆς ἀντικειμένης οἰκουμένης εἰς τὴν ἡμετέραν ἀναφέρεσθαι γῆν, καὶ μάλιστα εἴ τις ὑπόθοιτο σφαιροειδῆ 7.17.33 τὴν γῆν πεφυκέναι. πῶς γὰρ μόνος ὁ Νεῖλος ἐξ ἐκείνης φέρεται τῆς οἰκουμένης πρὸς τοὺς τόπους τοὺς καθ' ἡμᾶς; εἰκὸς γὰρ εἶναι καὶ ἑτέρους ποταμούς, καθάπερ καὶ παρ' 7.17.34 ἡμῖν. ἀλλὰ καὶ ἡ περὶ τῆς τοῦ ποταμοῦ τούτου γλυκύτητος αἰτία παντελῶς ἄλογος καὶ ἀναπόδεικτος πάντῃ καθέστηκεν. εἰ γὰρ καθεψόμενος ὑπὸ τῶν καυμάτων ὁ ποταμὸς ἐγλυκαίνετο, πολύγονος οὐκ ἂν ὑπῆρχέ ποτε, οὐδὲ ποικίλας ἰχθύων καὶ θηρίων ἰδέας ἐκέκτητο· πᾶν γὰρ ὕδωρ ἀπὸ τῆς πυρώ7.17.35 δους οὐσίας ἀλλοιωθὲν ἀλλότριόν ἐστι