Pausanias Analysis

Passage 7.22.4

← 7.22.3 7.22.5 →

Passage 7.22.4: The Spring of Hermes and sacred stones at Pharae

Historical Non-skeptical

Greek Text

τοιαύτη καὶ Αἰγυπτίοις ἑτέρα περὶ τοῦ Ἄπιδος τὸ ἱερὸν μαντεία καθέστηκεν· ἐν Φαραῖς δὲ καὶ ὕδωρ ἱερόν ἐστι τοῦ Ἑρμοῦ· Ἑρμοῦ νᾶμα μὲν τῇ πηγῇ τὸ ὄνομα, τοὺς δὲ ἰχθῦς οὐχ αἱροῦσιν ἐξ αὐτῆς, ἀνάθημα εἶναι τοῦ θεοῦ νομίζοντες. ἑστήκασι δὲ ἐγγύτατα τοῦ ἀγάλματος τετράγωνοι λίθοι τριάκοντα μάλιστα ἀριθμόν· τούτους σέβουσιν οἱ Φαρεῖς, ἑκάστῳ θεοῦ τινὸς ὄνομα ἐπιλέγοντες. τὰ δὲ ἔτι παλαιότερα καὶ τοῖς πᾶσιν Ἕλλησι τιμὰς θεῶν ἀντὶ ἀγαλμάτων εἶχον ἀργοὶ λίθοι.

English Translation

A similar mode of divination concerning Apis has also been established among the Egyptians. At Pharae, there is sacred water associated with Hermes; it is called the Spring of Hermes, and no one catches the fish from it, for they consider these dedicated to the god. Near the statue stand about thirty square stones; these the people of Pharae reverence, giving each one the name of a particular deity. Indeed, in older times, all Greeks originally paid their honors to the gods with simple, unworked stones instead of statues.

Proper Nouns

Apis (Ἄπις) deity
Hermes (Ἑρμῆς) deity
Egyptians (Αἰγύπτιοι) person
Hellenes (Ἕλληνες) person
Pharai (Φοραὶ) place Q1571214
← 7.22.3 7.22.5 →