Stephanos of Byzantium - Ethnika
Chaldaioi: Chaldaioi, formerly the Kephenes, from Kepheus the father of Andromeda, from whom and from Perseus, the son of Danae and Zeus, Perses, from whom the Kephenes and Chaldaioi were formerly called, as has been said in the entry on Kephenia. And Hellanicus says in the first book of the Persika thus: "when Kepheus was no longer living, they marched out of Babylon, drove out of the country and held the land.... the country is no longer called Kephenia, nor the people who dwell in it Kephenes, but Chaldaioi". And this whole country is now called Chaldaike. They were named from a certain Chaldaios, as Dicaearchus in the first book of the Life of Greece: "and that the one called Ninos, who was outstanding in intelligence and power, founded the city of the same name as himself. And that the fourteenth king after him, whose name they say was Chaldaios, who they say also built Babylon, the most famous city, on the river Euphrates, gathered together into one place all those called Chaldaioi". The country is also called 'Chaldaia'. There are also Chaldaioi, a nation near Colchis. Sophocles in the Tympanistai: "Colchian and Chaldaean and the nation of Syrians". The more refined authorities, however, say that they dwell around Babylon, as has been shown, and that they have an oracle among the barbarians, as Delphi among the Greeks.
External translation supplied by Brady Kiesling; reported Claude Fable 5.5 translation. Credit: Brady Kiesling and the Stephanos project (Greg Baker, Gabriel Jower, Greta Hawes, Brady Kiesling). Not individually verified; exact Greek input not supplied.
Stephanos excerpt (left) is aligned with matched Herodian passages (right). Colors indicate corresponding overlap spans.
…λέα γενόμενον, ᾧ τοὔνομα Χαλδαῖον εἶναι λέγουσιν, ὅν φασι καὶ Βαβυλῶνα τὴν ὀνομαστοτάτην πόλιν περὶ τὸν Εὐφράτην ποταμὸν κατασκευάσαι, ἅπαντας εἰς ταὐτὸ συναγαγόντα τοὺς καλουμένους Χαλδαίους”. λέγεται καὶ Χαλδαία χώρα. εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ Χαλδαῖοι ἔθνος πλησίον τῆς Κολχίδος. Σοφοκλῆς Τυμπανισταῖς “Κόλχος τε Χαλδαῖός τε καὶ Σύρων ἔθνος”. οἱ μέντοι χαριέστεροι περὶ Βαβυλῶνα λέγουσιν οἰκεῖν αὐτούς, ὡς δέδεικται, μαντεῖον δ´ ἔχειν αὐτοὺς παρὰ βαρβάροις, ὡς Δελφοὶ παρ´ Ἕλλησιν.
…ηφῆνες. Ἑλλάνικος ἐν πρώτῳ Περσικῶν «Κηφέως οὐκέτι ζῶντος στρατευσάμενοι ἐκ Βαβυλῶνος ἀνέστησαν ἐκ τῆς χώρας καὶ τὴν γῆν ἔσχον.... οὐκέτι ἡ χώρη Κηφηνίη καλέεται, οὐδὲ οἱ ἄνθρωποι οἱ ἐνοικέοντες Κηφῆνες, ἀλλὰ Χαλδαῖοι». εἰσὶ δὲ καὶ Χαλδαῖοι ἔθνος πλησίον τῆς Κολχίδος. Σοφοκλῆς Τυμπανισταῖς «Κόλχος τε Χαλδαῖός τε καὶ Σύρων ἔθνος». σπουδαῖος, ῥαγδαῖος, σταδαῖος, Ἀριδαῖος,
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