A Trip to the Orient Part 18

A half hour's ride on an embanked road across fields and desert sands brought us to the ruins of a great arch, formerly one of the gateways into the magnificent ancient temples of Karnak, but now an entrance way to the famous ruins. There, the Egyptian guards ordered us to show our government permits, or monument tickets, as our dragoman called them, without which we could not inspect the ruins.

[Ill.u.s.tration: HAVE ENDURED THROUGH MANY AGES.]

"Oh! I have forgotten my ticket!" said one of the tourists. "I left it with my satchel. What shall I do?"

At luncheon before starting Mahmoud had cautioned the tourists to be careful not to forget their permits, and his cautionary words, "Monument tickets are very much wanted," were familiar and often repeated. A hurried consultation was held and the difficulty overcome, but the forgetful one and others were warned that it must not occur again.

In order to provide a fund to be used in excavating, preserving, and caring for the ancient temples and tombs, the Egyptian government requires a permit costing six dollars to be taken out by each person desiring to visit these places, and without such a permit he cannot enter. At Cairo the managers of the tour had obtained from the government for each member of the Nile party a little cloth bound "Service des Antiquites L'Egypte" made out in the name of the holder.

This open-sesame for the iron gates was given to each person with the warning that it must not be forgotten.

We stopped to view and kodak one of the huge Propylons or outer gate ways and found there some visitors who had driven to Karnak in modern carriages instead of using the Oriental way of conveyance that we had taken. An avenue of Sphinxes with rams' heads was also stowed away in the kodak to be brought to light at some future time.

"These stupendous ruins of Karnak," said the dragoman, "were once a group of magnificent temples covering an area of many acres. The most ancient of the structures was built over forty centuries ago. Other temples were added and alterations and improvements made during the ages following when the city of Thebes was a prosperous capital; but for over two thousand years these places of worship have been abandoned and the sand of the desert has collected around them, almost burying them out of sight. The Egyptian government for a number of years has had many natives excavating, and also has been raising some of the fallen columns."

As we pa.s.sed through the temple grounds we saw a number of men and boys at work, as the dragoman had stated. These excavators scooped the sand and debris into small baskets, while a taskmaster stood over them, whip in hand. Then placing the filled baskets on their heads they started off in long lines, singing as they marched to the deposit heap. The men, we were informed, earned twenty-five cents a day at this labor, and the boys ten to fifteen cents a day.

"One thing noticeable about these most magnificent ruins in the world,"

continued the guide, as we halted in the great court, "is that the architecture, the sculpture, the inscriptions, of the earlier temples is equal, if not superior, to the workmanship of a later date. The construction work done under the great kings Ramses I, Seti I, Ramses II, and Amenophis III, who ruled over Egypt thirteen centuries before the Christian era, has never been surpa.s.sed. Stones of immense size were handled by their architects in some manner unknown at the present day, and walls and columns were erected of such solidity and strength that they have endured through these many ages. The First Pylon or gigantic portal to the Temple of Ammon, which was dedicated to Ammon-Re, the King of the G.o.ds, is three hundred and seventy-two feet wide, with walls sixteen feet thick and one hundred and forty-two feet high. The wonderful Hypostyle Hall, or Hall of Columns, is three hundred and thirty-eight feet long by one hundred and seventy feet broad."

"Before we enter, let me read you what the noted Egyptologist Rawlinson says with reference to this Hall of Columns," said the professor, drawing out his note book. "He writes: 'The greatest of all Seti's work was his pillared hall at Karnak, the most splendid single chamber that has ever been built by any architect, and even in its ruins one of the grandest sights that the world contains."

The huge columns, some in place, some leaning, and others prostrate, were an impressive sight. The guide called our attention to the inscriptions that covered all the columns and to the traces of coloring that might still be seen on the protected parts. In order that we might more fully realize their size, he suggested that we measure the circ.u.mference of one with our arms. It required six of us with outstretched arms to span one of the larger columns.

As we pa.s.sed through the various halls, Mahmoud interpreted and explained many of the historical inscriptions and reliefs with which the ancient Egyptian kings had covered the walls, commemorating the victories they had gained over their enemies. One wall pictured the triumph of Shishak over Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. The captured cities were represented by circles each enclosing the name of the city; the captives, by rows of Hebrews bound with cords. King Shishak stood over the captives grasping a group of them by the hair and smiting them with a club, and slaves carried the golden treasures that had been stripped from the temple at Jerusalem, and the plunder taken from Rehoboam's palace.

[Ill.u.s.tration: WITHIN THE TEMPLE OF AMMON AT KARNAK.]

On our return to Luxor my donkey boy Abda and I had a disagreement. I gave him, as backsheesh, a tip equal to a man's wages for a full day's work in Egypt; but he pleaded with tears in his eyes for "more backsheesh," and departed apparently in great anger.

After resting awhile in the cool halls of our hotel, we walked to the ruins of the great Temple in the village of Luxor, close by the river bank and not far from the hotel.

"In the year 1884," said Mahmoud, as we a.s.sembled around him in the ruins where the gigantic columns rose forty feet above our heads, "I was living in a house that stood just over where we are now standing and I did not know that a part of the temple was buried in the earth underneath. The government officials, after much haggling and complaining about the prices my neighbors and I demanded, bought the houses and lands of us, about thirty properties in all, and gave us other lands, so that the excavations could be continued. That year this part of the temple was uncovered. The little white mosque at the corner could not be purchased, as that ground is sacred and must not be disturbed to uncover ruins underneath it."

[Ill.u.s.tration: PLACED THE FILLED BASKETS ON THEIR HEADS.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: EMBELLISHED THE TEMPLE WITH STATUES OF HIMSELF.]

"This edifice, dedicated to the worship of Ammon," continued the guide, "was erected by King Amenophis III thirty-three hundred years ago; but King Ramses II, one hundred years later, added to the structure and made it a memorial of his reign by embellishing the temple with statues of himself and covering the exterior walls with reliefs and inscriptions picturing and describing his triumphs."

We saw two colossal sitting statues of Ramses forty-five feet in height, one of which was completely excavated, the other buried breast high in rubbish, and in a court of the temple were many gigantic standing figures of Ramses placed between the pillars. Beside one of these was a small figure, representing the queen Nefertari, which just reached to the height of the knees of Ramses.

"The king desired to indicate by the size of the statues that he was a great conqueror," said the dragoman. "His wife was the daughter of Pharoah who, while bathing in the Nile, found the Hebrew babe hidden among the papyri plants."

"If Nefertari was the princess who rescued Moses, she deserved a larger statue," responded one of the tourists.

"This series of scenes represents the victory at Kadesh in Syria,"

explained the guide as we stood before a wall covered with pictorial representations of conflict cut in the stone. "Here is the King in his chariot charging with fury on his foes amid flying arrows. Notice the dead and wounded scattered over the field of battle and the Hitt.i.tes flying in confusion. At one side you see the Egyptian camp, and on the other side the fortress of Kadesh and the Syrian king amazed at the sight of his army in wild flight. The hieroglyphics that cover the side of the tower give a detailed account of the battle and of the glorious deeds of valor performed by King Ramses. There were originally two large obelisks here in front of the temple, but one of them was taken to Paris a number of years ago."

"Yes, I saw it there," remarked one of the party, "but the inscriptions on the one at Paris looked worn and weather-beaten; while those on this obelisk are almost as distinct as when they were cut in the pink granite three thousand years ago."

On the morning of March fifteenth, after an early breakfast, we started at seven o'clock to visit the Tombs of the Kings and the temples on the west side of the Nile,--the village of Luxor and the temples of Luxor and Karnak being on the east side. Crossing the river in ferry boats propelled by sails and oars, the tourists found donkeys, boys, chair-men, lunch carriers, guides, and extra men crowding the western sh.o.r.e. We had hardly landed when the donkey boys surrounded us, gesticulating, shouting the merits of themselves and their beasts, and pleading that their donkeys might be selected. Much to my surprise, Abda, the offended and angry boy of the Karnak ride, pushed his way to my side with Alice Lovell and smilingly claimed me as his friend and benefactor, with the familiar tale: "Alice Lovell a good donkey; Abda a good donkey boy," so our relations were renewed.

The ladies decided that the men's saddles would be more comfortable for a long ride, and that there would be less danger of the saddle turning; so side saddles were generally dispensed with and most of the women mounted astride. From the landing we rode slowly over a long stretch of loose sand, tiresome to the donkeys, and then along a good path on the embankment of an irrigating ditch. The sun was sending down hot rays by the time we reached our first halting place, the Temple of Kurna, and we were glad to dismount and seek shelter and rest in the shade of the great walls while we examined the beautifully executed reliefs and inscriptions.

[Ill.u.s.tration: BESIDE ONE OF THESE IS A SMALL FIGURE OF THE QUEEN.]

In the treasure chamber of the temple, Mahmoud related the story of the architect who built the chamber for King Seti. "This rascal of an architect," said Mahmoud, "left one stone loose so that he could secretly remove it and enter the chamber to steal. The robber was caught in the act of carrying off the treasure and fittingly punished as you may see represented in the reliefs on the walls. This man pictured here in disgrace and chains as a warning to ill-doers was the first thief in Egypt, but I am sorry to say he was not the last."

After leaving the Temple of Kurna, which is situated near the cliffs that bound the Nile valley, our procession entered a narrow ravine through which the path leads to the Tombs of the Kings. Here we met another large party of Americans and we all rode together for some distance, one of the tourists meeting a friend whom she had not seen for seven years. We pa.s.sed two Englishmen with their guide, who moved off the path and gazed through their eye-gla.s.ses in mild astonishment at our animated cavalcade in varied costumes; while we in turn looked at their immaculate sporting outfits and thought how lonely the couple must be, traveling through these dismal solitudes. Our party had not thought it worth while to purchase special riding outfits for the few days in the desert, but had utilized what they had. For protection from the sun some used white helmets or cloth neck protectors, some covered their heads and necks with veils or tied down their soft hats, others wore straw hats or caps regardless of sunburn.

[Ill.u.s.tration: RESTED IN THE SHADE OF THE TEMPLE OF KURNA.]

[Ill.u.s.tration: WE ENTERED THE RAMESSEUM.]

Overhead was an unclouded sky; at each side rose yellow limestone cliffs glaring in the noonday sun, and underneath white sand and limestone chips reflected the burning rays. Not a sign of vegetation relieved the eye in this waterless gorge during our one hour's ride from Kurna to the Tombs.

"Backsheesh! backsheesh!" demanded the donkey boys, as we dismounted.

"Why do you want backsheesh now?"

"Boy don't want backsheesh, donkey want backsheesh, donkey eat hay while man in tombs."

In order that the Tombs may be satisfactorily examined by visitors, the government has built an electric light plant in the gorge and the thirty-five tombs are illuminated by electricity. Our party entered and examined the six of these tombs which are considered the most interesting. At each of these an Egyptian guard politely scrutinized the "Services des Antiquites," although it was printed in French that he could not read, and then permitted the holder to enter.

[Ill.u.s.tration: STOOD IN THE COLONNADE AT MEDINET HABU.]

In Tomb No. 17, we descended a pa.s.sage hewn in the limestone cliff, about ten feet wide, ten feet in height, and three hundred and thirty feet in length, which leads inward and downward by inclines and steps to the resting-place of King Seti, a tomb prepared during his life to be the receptacle for his mummified remains after death. The smooth polished walls and ceilings of the corridors and chambers were sculptured by the best artists of Seti's time with reliefs of great beauty, representing scenes of a sacred character. The praising of the great G.o.d Ammon-Re, the offering of incense and gifts to various deities, the pa.s.sage of the boat of the sun, the punishments in the underworld, the sacred sun-disk, animal-headed G.o.ds, patron G.o.ddesses, fierce demons, sacred animals, winged serpents, flying spirits, evil genii, coiled snakes, and creeping scarabs are portrayed repeatedly.

[Ill.u.s.tration: AT THE TOMBS OF THE KING.]

Mahmoud explained the pictures and inscriptions as we slowly went forward, stopping frequently to inspect more closely those of greater interest.

"After Seti's death," said Mahmoud, as we stood in the chamber of the tomb, brilliantly lighted by the electric bulbs, "his body was embalmed and with great pomp and ceremony the mummy was carried from the palace in the great city of Thebes through the dismal gorge and deposited in a magnificent alabaster sarcophagus that had been prepared for its reception in this chamber in the limestone rock ninety feet below the surface of the ground. Then the tomb was closed and sealed so that the body of the king might remain in peace until it should be called forth at the end of time to undergo trial before the G.o.d Osiris.

"For hundreds of years, the mummy lay tranquilly in its sealed tomb; then the seals were rudely broken and the tomb was despoiled by robbers who wished to obtain the valuables deposited with the body. When this despoliation was discovered, the rulers of the Empire removed Seti's mummy and the mummies of other kings to a tomb near the Temple of Der-el-bahri which could be more closely guarded. There the mummies remained until the year 1881, when they were taken away to the Museum at Cairo."

"And now," said one of the visitors, as the guide concluded, "after thirty centuries of repose, the proud features of this oppressor of the Israelites, little the worse for the lapse of time, are exposed in the great hall of the National Museum in Cairo to the gaze of the rude mult.i.tude from whom he desired to be hidden, and his alabaster sarcophagus is admired by visitors in the Soane Museum of London."

Almost all the articles of value in the Tombs that the robbers did not succeed in carrying away, as well as the mummies and sarcophagi, have been removed to museums in the large cities, the most valuable being retained for the Museum in Cairo. In the tomb of Amenophis II, however, the mummy of the king in a decorated coffin remains for the inspection of visitors. Above the head of this ruler of the ancient empire, a modern electric bulb hangs, illuminating the rugged features and showing every detail of high nose, sunken cheeks, and straggling hair on the head and chin. The tombs of Ramses III, Ramses IV, and Ramses IX were interesting each in its own way. That of Ramses III had, in addition to the sacred scenes, pictures of agricultural and family life; plowing, sowing, reaping, baking, slaughtering, and cooking.

"Shall we return through the gorge or take the shorter path over the cliffs and obtain a view of the Nile valley?" inquired the dragoman.

[Ill.u.s.tration: USED CHISELS ON LASTING STONE INSTEAD OF BRUSHES ON PERISHABLE CANVAS.]

Some, dreading the exertion under a broiling sun, chose the level road on a donkey's back. Others, intent on obtaining the view, started to climb the zigzag path regardless of the glare of the sun, the donkey boys following with the donkeys. The view from the summit amply repaid us for the climb. On one side we looked down into the desolate valley of the Tombs. On the other we saw the rich green valley of the Nile, with groups of palms, villages, and temples. Directly below at the foot of the yellow cliff, and in strong contrast to it, was the white marble temple of Der-al-bahri. And not far from the temple was a cottage, which at once became interesting to the tired party when the guide, pointing to it, said: "That is the rest-house. A good luncheon will be ready on the tables when you arrive there."

[Ill.u.s.tration: POSED TO BE KODAKED.]