PLINY THE ELDER

Pliny the Elder: translation

Pliny'sHistoria Naturalisprovides a less important study of Egypt's geography than the account given by *Strabo, but he supplies some useful and interesting information.

His extensive collection of facts is compiled from the works of earlier authors; he refers not only to human inventions but also to all material objects that had not been manufactured by man and, with regard to Egypt, he comments on the monuments within the country but also on those—such as obelisks—which had been brought out of Egypt, at the Roman emperor's decree, and transported to Rome. He also gives an account of the process of mummification, thus providing a third commentary on this subject by a Classical writer, the others being given by *Herodotus and *Diodorus Siculus,