Fragments on the Nile and Canopus is the modern title given to an anonymous and fragmentary Greek prose text. The work is preserved only in two brief passages, and no manuscript tradition or specific preservation history for it has been identified. The title derives from the content of the surviving fragments, which concern the Nile River and the Egyptian city of Canopus, a major port in the Nile Delta. The extant text describes the Nile's flooding, its role in fertilizing the land, and the geographical formation of the Canopic region. While the complete scope of the original work is unknown, its focus places it within the broader Greco-Roman tradition of geographical and paradoxographical writing on Egypt, reflecting a perennial fascination with the Nile's mysterious sources, its vital flooding cycle, and the notable cultural landmarks of its delta, such as the city of Canopus, which was renowned both as a religious center and a site of leisure.
| col1 | ζῴδιον, νη[ ... ]βιοτευον, ἕβδομον Αἰγ[υπτί]οις ἱεροῖς γράμμασιν, ὃ κατὰ ψῆφον ἀναπεσσευόμενον ἐπιχωρίαν τεσσαρεσκαίδεκα δύναται πήχει[ς]· ὁ γ[ὰρ] ποταμὸς αἰρόμενος οἰκουμέν[ῃ] Δήμητρα πομπεύει πολλ[ὴ]ν ἐπιλιμνάζων τῶι Κανώβῳ καὶ ἀναχεόμ̣εν̣ο̣ς̣ π̣ο̣λλὰ πεδία συνωμβρεῖτο πίδαξι καὶ πολλοῖς ἕλεσιν ἔκολλα τόν τε Κάνωβον ὄντα νησῖδα καὶ αὐτὸν Θῶνιν λεγόμενον· τριάκοντά τε σταδίοις περιγραφόμενον Αἰγυπτίοις ἐδάφεσιν ἠσπάσατο καὶ κατὰ πρόχωσιν μελαίνης ἰλύος συνύφηνεν· νῦν δ’ ἐστὶν ἀκρωτήριον ἀμφοτερίζον Ποσειδῶνι καὶ Νείλῳ. δοκεῖ δέ μοι περὶ τὸν τόπον ἀνθρώπειος π[ρῶ]τ̣ον ἀνατεῖλαι̣ τροφή· π[ολλο]ῖ̣ς γὰρ ἰκμαζομένη . [ . ]ε . [ .. ]ς̣ ἡ γῆ καὶ τὸ κ̣α̣[ῦμα] ἐντρέφει ῥίζας ἁπαλ[ὰς] καὶ γλυκὺν ἀνιείσας χ̣υμ[όν,] ὅθεν καὶ βουνόμο̣ν̣ τὸ ἔ[δα‐] φος, ἀφ’ ὧν γάλα δαψι̣λ̣[ὲς] [ ....... ]οιτη̣· ἐὰν δ̣ὲ̣ κα[] [ ...... ]ι ὑπὲρ βοταν ... [ ....... ]η̣ ταύτας ελε̣ . φο[] [ ........ ]νει συν οικο[] [ ...... ]εύσατο καὶ κρατ̣η̣[] [Break in Text (point at which text breaks off for an unknown length)] δ[] [] [] . |
| col2 | [] . [] ξατο[] ρας θυ[] τασδ[] αποτ̣ι̣[] του κα[] ἄγε γὰρ[] γατερ[] ενθα[] γ̣[] . [] . [] . [] ηφα[] λεγ̣[] νω[] |