Herodotus on the Geographical Aspects of Ancient Ethiopia

This is what Herodotus narrated regarding the geography of ancient Ethiopia:

“Where south inclines westwards, the part of the world stretching farthest towards the sunset is Ethiopia; here is great plenty of gold, and abundance of elephants, and all woodland trees, and ebony; and the people are tallest and fairest and longest-lived of all men.”¹

“… the following is as much as I learned by the deepest inquiry that I could make, by my own travel and sight as far as the city of Elephantine,² and beyond that by question and hearsay: South of Elephantine, as one travels inland, the land rises. Here one must pass with the boat roped on both sides as men harness an ox, and if the rope breaks the boat is carried away by the strength of the current. This part of the river is a four days’ journey by boat, and the Nile here is winding like the Maiander.³ A distance of twelve schoinoi⁴ must be passed with the above method. After that you will come to a level plain, where there is an island in the Nile, called Tachompso.”⁵

“The land south of Elephantine⁶ now begins to be inhabited by Ethiopians: half the population of the island are Ethiopians and half Egyptians. Near to the island is a great lake, on the shores of which dwell nomad Ethiopians. Having crossed this, you will come to the stream of the Nile, which issues into this lake. Then you will disembark and journey along the river bank for forty days; for there are sharp projecting rocks in the Nile and many reefs, through which no boat can pass. Having traversed this part in forty days as I have said, you will take boat again and so travel for twelve days till you come to a great city called Meroe,⁷ which is said to be the capital of all Ethiopia. The people of the place worship no other gods but Zeus and Dionysus;⁸ these they greatly honour, and they have a place of divination sacred to Zeus; they send out armies whenever and whithersoever this god by oracle commands them.”⁹

“From this city you will make a journey by water of equal distance with that by which you came from Elephantine to the capital city of Ethiopia, and you will come to the land of the Deserters. These Deserters are called Asmach, which signifies, in our language, those who stand on the left hand of the king. These were two hundred and forty thousand Egyptians of the warrior class, who revolted and went over to the Ethiopians for the following cause:—In the reign of Psammetichos¹⁰ garrisons were set, one towards the Ethiopians at the city of Elephantine, another towards the Arabians and Assyrians at Daphnai of Pelusion, and another towards Libya at Marea: and even in my own time the garrisons of the Persians too are ordered in the same manner as these were in the reign of Psammetichos, for both at Elephantine and at Daphnai the Persians have outposts.”¹¹

“The Egyptians then of whom I speak had served as outposts for three years and no one relieved them from their guard; accordingly they took counsel together, and adopting a common plan they all in a body revolted from Psammetichos and set out for Ethiopia. Hearing this Psammetichos set forth in pursuit, and when he came up with them he entreated them much and endeavoured to persuade them not to desert the gods of their country and their children and wives: upon which it is said that one of them pointed to his privy member and said that wherever this was, there would they have both children and wives. When these came to Ethiopia they gave themselves over to the king of the Ethiopians; and he rewarded them as follows:—there were certain of the Ethiopians who had come to be at variance with him; and he bade them drive these out and dwell in their land. So since these men settled in the land of the Ethiopians, the Ethiopians have come to be of milder manners, from having learnt the customs of the Egyptians.”¹²

“… a four months’ journey by river and land: for that is the number of months which are found by reckoning to be spent in going from Elephantine to these Deserters:¹³ and the river runs from the West and the setting of the sun. But what comes after that no one can clearly say; for this land is desert by reason of the burning heat.”¹⁴

Reference Notes

1. Book III, chapter 114. ↩︎
2. Modern-day Aswan, Egypt. ↩︎
3. Today, this river is known as the Büyük Menderes River, and is located in modern-day southwestern Turkey. ↩︎
4. About 145 kilometers. ↩︎
5. Book II, chapter 29. ↩︎
6. That is, an island in the southern Nile river, today opposite of Aswan, Egypt. ↩︎
7. Meroe was located near what is now Shendi, Sudan. ↩︎
8. These are Greek equivalents to the Egyptian gods Ammon and Osiris. ↩︎
9. Book II, chapter 29. ↩︎
10. This is Pharaoh Psamtik I, who reigned from 664 to 610 BC in Egypt. ↩︎
11. Book II, chapter 30. ↩︎
12. Book II, chapter 30. ↩︎
13. Herodotus’s description best fits the land of Sennar in Sudan. So these were likely the predecessors of the Funj people of Sudan. The Funj were called the Balau in Eri-Ethiopia. ↩︎
14. Book II, chapter 31. ↩︎

Sources

Herodotus (1890) The History of Herodotus. Translated into English by G. C. Macaulay. Digitally printed by Gutenberg 2001. Volume I. MacMillan and Co.: London and New York.

Herodotus (1920-1925) The History of Herodotus. With an English translation by A. D. Godley. Volumes I and II. Harvard University Press: Cambridge, MA.