Γεωγραφικα 15.1.16: Rains, rivers, fertility, animals and plants

15.1.16

Νέαρχος δὲ περὶ τῆς ἐκ τῶν ποταμῶν ἐπιχοῆς παραδείγματα φέρει τὰ τοιαῦτα, ὅτι καὶ τὸ Ἕρμου καὶ Καΰστρου πεδίον καὶ Μαιάνδρου καὶ Καΐκου παραπλησίως εἴρηται διὰ τὴν ἐπιφορουμένην τοῖς πεδίοις χοῦν αὔξειν αὐτά, μᾶλλον δὲ γεννᾶν, ἐκ τῶν ὀρῶν καταφερομένην, ὅση εὔγεως καὶ μαλακή· καταφέρειν δὲ τοὺς ποταμούς, ὥστε τούτων ὡς ἂν γεννήματα ὑπάρχειν τὰ πεδία· καὶ εὖ λέγεσθαι ὅτι τούτων ἐστι τὰ πεδία. τοῦτο δὲ ταὐτόν ἐστι τῷ ὑπὸ τοῦ Ἡροδότου λεχθέντι ἐπὶ τοῦ Νείλου καὶ τῆς ἐπʼ αὐτῷ γῆς ὅτι ἐκείνου δῶρόν ἐστι· διὰ τοῦτο δʼ ὀρθῶς καὶ ὁμώνυμον τῇ Αἰγύπτῳ φησὶ λεχθῆναι τὸν Νεῖλον ὁ Νέαρχος.

Nearchus, speaking of the accretion of earth formed by the rivers, adduces these instances. The plains of Hermes, Caÿster, Maeander, and Caïcus have these names, because they have been formed by the soil which has been carried over the plains by the rivers; or rather they were produced by the fine and soft soil brought down from the mountains; whence the plains are, as it were, the offspring of the rivers, and it is rightly said, that the plains belong to the rivers. What is said by Herodotus of the Nile, and of the land about it, may be applied to this country, namely, that it is the gift of the Nile. Hence Nearchus thinks that the Nile had properly the synonym of Egypt.