Stephanos of Byzantium - Ethnika
Delta: a city near Syria, and an island in Egypt, as per Ephoros, called 'Ptimyris' by the Egyptians because of the similarity of its shape. The ethnonym for the island is 'Deltites', and for the city 'Deltenos', according to the local pattern; for we have not encountered the latter.
AI translation — gpt-6-sol; Gabe v3
Stephanos excerpt (left) is aligned with matched Herodian passages (right). Colors indicate corresponding overlap spans.
Δέλτα, πόλις πρὸς τῇ Συρίᾳ, καὶ νῆσος Αἰγύπτου, ὡς Ἔφορος, κατ´ Αἰγυπτίους καλουμένη Πτίμυρις ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ σχήματος ὁμοιότητος. ἐθνικὸν τῆς νήσου Δελτίτης, τῆς δὲ πόλεως Δελτηνός τῷ ἐγχωρίῳ τύπῳ· οὐ γὰρ ἐνετύχομεν.
…τοῦ 'α' οὐκ ἔχει τὸ 'μ' διὰ τὸ μὴ εἶναι μονογενές, ἀπὸ γὰρ τοῦ μέγας. τὸ γὰρ Πάσχα βάρβαρον, διὸ ὃ καὶ ἄκλιτον. τὸ φάβα καὶ αὐτὸ βάρβαρον, εἰ καὶ κλίνοιτο. καὶ τὰ τῶν στοιχείων ὀνόματα, ἄλφα, βῆτα, γάμμα, δέλτα—ἔστι καὶ Δέλτα πόλις πρὸς τῇ Συρίᾳ καὶ νῆσος Αἰγύπτου, ὡς Ἔφορος, κατ´ Αἰγυπτίους καλουμένη Πυραμίς ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ σχήματος ὁμοιότητος—βάρβαρα καὶ ἄκλιτά εἰσιν. τὸ δὲ ἄλειφα ἐγένετο ἐκ τοῦ ἄλειφαρ ἢ ἄλειφας ὑποστολῇ τοῦ 'ρ' ἢ τοῦ 'ς', τὸ δὲ λίπα ἐκ τοῦ