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My judgment as to the extent of Egypt is confirmed by an oracle
delivered at the shrine of Ammon, of which I had no knowledge at all
until after I had formed my opinion. It happened that the people of
the cities Marea and Apis, who live in the part of Egypt that
borders on Libya, took a dislike to the religious usages of the
country concerning sacrificial animals, and wished no longer to be
restricted from eating the flesh of cows. So, as they believed
themselves to be Libyans and not Egyptians, they sent to the shrine
to say that, having nothing in common with the Egyptians, neither
inhabiting the Delta nor using the Egyptian tongue, they claimed to
be allowed to eat whatever they pleased. Their request, however, was
refused by the god, who declared in reply that Egypt was the entire
tract of country which the Nile overspreads and irrigates, and the
Egyptians were the people who lived below Elephantine, and drank the
waters of that river.
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