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The customs hitherto described are those of the Egyptians who live
above the marsh-country. The inhabitants of the marshes have the same
customs as the rest, as well in those matters which have been mentioned
above as in respect of marriage, each Egyptian taking to himself,
like the Greeks, a single wife; but for greater cheapness of living
the marsh-men practise certain peculiar customs, such as these
following. They gather the blossoms of a certain water-lily, which
grows in great abundance all over the flat country at the time when the
Nile rises and floods the regions along its banks - the Egyptians
call it lotus - they gather, I say, the blossoms of this plant and
dry them in the sun, after which they extract from the centre of each
blossom a substance like the head of a poppy, which they crush and make
into bread. The root of the lotus is likewise eatable, and has a
pleasant sweet taste: it is round, and about the size of an apple.
There is also another species of the lily in Egypt, which grows,
like the lotus, in the river, and resembles the rose. The fruit
springs up side by side with the blossom, on a separate stalk, and has
almost exactly the look of the comb made by wasps. It contains a
number of seeds, about the size of an olive-stone, which are good to
eat: and these are eaten both green and dried. The byblus
(papyrus), which grows year after year in the marshes, they pull
up, and, cutting the plant in two, reserve the upper portion for
other purposes, but take the lower, which is about a cubit long, and
either eat it or else sell it. Such as wish to enjoy the byblus in
full perfection bake it first in a closed vessel, heated to a glow.
Some of these folk, however, live entirely on fish, which are gutted
as soon as caught, and then hung up in the sun: when dry, they are
used as food.
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