New-York daily tribune. [volume] (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, 1847-05-15
VOL. VIZ. NO. 81.

the heat. and few brown Arab tents, not far from
the Pyramid For few miles 20 the South of US
and close round about us, were clustered a crowd
OF Pyramids-sOme larger, some smaller-but none
20 compare with the one we stood on. OF these,
the most interesting were those Of Sahara which
we had visited the day before. They stand amid
the Necropolis-the great boryinggruund Of the
mighty old city ofMemphi which nothing now
remains but a statue here and there and some scat
tered blocks Of seal pUred stone nothing else but
the tornbs, which enough 20 show that this vas
great city indeed.
Here, in these tombs, which are chambers cut
ont Of the rock, and adorned with columns and pic
tured walls in these tombs and others were men
busy sculpturing and painting AZ a time when We
have been apt 20 suppose the earliest generations
were learning how % live the rude earth. These
pictures on the walls, however, show the way Of
life Of tse Egyptians TO be not very far behind our
own have seen what the possessions Of men
were in those days, from these memorials in the
chambers of their graves. have seen their fiOcks
of cattle their poutry.yards their fields in seed
time and harvest, their fisheries their hunting and
shooting parties their boats with many oars and
gay chequered sails; their beautiful furniture
touches, easy chairs, lamps and vases, very Ike
the handsomest of ours at the present day their
kitchens with the slaughtering OF cattle, and the
cooking OF the joints Of beef; their winepresses,
and their wardrobes of rich clothes and handsome
necklaces; their arms and war chariOts, and the
bridges and fortified towns they passed over or
stOnned. ] have seen the weaving OF gay cloth.
and the sleeping and spinning OF fax rope ma
king; glass blowing just such as may be seen at
Newcastle any day; the building Of houses, the
carving of statues games at ball and gymnastics
dancing wrestling and playing the harp.
What is Of far more consequence, as occurring
long before any clear tdngs that we have else
where of mems condition OF mind and llte-there
are solemn pictures and ulptures about death
and burial and the state Of the soul have seen
the body laid out and embalmed, carried on bier
10 the boat; and borne in the boat 10 the lake or
river which usually lay between the cities and the
burial places. have seen the ierryman, the dog
which waited on the further shore, and the Judges
who were 10 assess the deeds OF the deceased.
have seen the weighing of his deeds and his ad-
mission into the presence OF the approving gods
by means of his ntegrity-the symbol of which be
carried in his right hand. Thus early did the peo-
pe of this country believe that the soul lived after
the body was dead and that its integrity was the
means of its blessedness.
These tombs had been prepared for their owners
occupied by the embamed bodies, and closed up
for far future age TO open; the mighty fyramlds
had been built, and their appearance had grown
familiar 10 generations; and their bulders-tens OF
thousands in number-had long slept IN their
graves. when q rich Arab entered the country,
with his hOcks and servants and family TO seek sub
sistence for them all in the fertile vaeyO the ME-,
as the people on his own plains were more than
could be fed This rich Arab and his train traversed
the Delta doubt to arrive at the great city Of the
great monarch of Lower Egypt; and he must, it is
thought have seen the obeiisk now standing at
HehOpolis which all travellers admire, and have
looked with amazement like ours at the Great Tyr
amid. This visitor was received with favor and
pomp by the mighty king, and made much OF for n
time This was ABRAHAM As ! stood, the other
dav. looking at the way he came and wondering
at my lot in seeing the very things he saw, and
considering how refined and advanced were the
people whom he visited, the history of the world
did appear to stretch itself out as TO coniound our
early notions, and made us humble as to the rapid.
ity OF human progress.
In those DAYS. women reigned and were obeyed
without question Not only were there long and
regular reigns but the supremacy was unques,
toned when in the hands OF a woman token OF
high civilization as was the function OF the priest
hood with whom was lodged a science and phios
ophy which we have reason to believe has since
commanded the veneration OF the world whes de
lvered by Greeks, and might do so still II we could
fully recover them
A few generations after this young slave was
brought into the country. and placed in the house
of nm officer of State We all know the story OF
.Joseph-how he became the Minister OF this great
country in its rising greatness and how he changed
the whole political condition OF Egypt by buying up
oI the land for the Monarch From the time of that
-
possessors of the whole land and river-as the
present Ruler is at this day and. as at tins day,
the provision for an unmitgated despotism was
complete as also, for great improvements, under
the sway of a wise Sovereign; an object which
Joseph NAV have had in view much as the in
terests of the King.
In various buildings of this early time, have
seen the unbaked brick-crude brick, 1t is called
which cannot be made without large admiXture
of straw to bind it, The soil of the Nile valley is
moistened, worked up with cut straw, moulded
and laid in the hot sun of this country to dry.
Some such bricks bear the name and mark OF very
early kings To make these bricks was the WORK
assigned TO the Israetes, In which they were so
cruellv oppressed. | could see them with my
minds eve as if it were bat in the last century as
| looked down from the Pyramid ON the brick re
mains below us and the dwellings oil the plain and
over toward Goshen, which was given to the lsra-
elites while they We're in favor and again over
the Eastern hills, through which Moses led his PEG
pie when the oppression became too bitter TO be
borne Nearer than these hills and close by Cairo,
lies the Island of Roda where tradition says Moses
was found by the kings daughter But this Is OF
course a very doubtful point and one which cared
little about while gazing on the same leading fea
lures of natural scenery as were before him all the
days of his youth.
One impression has taken me by surprise.
used 10 wonderland always did till n0w-at that
leader-their pinng after Egypt, after finding 1t
impossible to live there. 1t was iucOnceNable how
they could long to go back to place OF such cruel
oppression for the sake Of anything it could give
now wonder no longer. having seen and felt the
desert and knowing the charms OF the valley oithe
Nile One evening lately. just at sunset, the scene
struck upon my heart depressing 1t with the sense
of beauty A village was beside an extensive
grove of palms which sprsng from out OF the thick
est and richest clover to the height OF eighty feet
Their tops waved gently in the soft breeze which
rufned the surface Of a blue pond lying among
grassy shores There were golden lights and sharp
shadows among the banks where stream had
lately made its way. The yellow sandhills OF the
desert lust showed themselves between the stems
of the more scattered palms. Within view were
some carefully titled fields, with strong wheat lu'
pins and purple bean blossoms and some melon
and cucumber patches were not far of. Cattle
were tethered beside the houses; and on bank
near sat an old woman and boy and girl, bask-
ing in the last rays of the sun with evident enjoy
ment though the magical coioring given by EgyP-
tian atmosphere could not be so striking as to Eng
lsh ewes. But what must it have been in the me-
mory OF the Isreaites, wandering in the desert
where there is no color except at sunrise and sun
set. but only glare-psrched rocks and choking
dust or sand | will not attempt now, for no one
has ever succeeded in such an attempt, to convey
any impression OF the appalling dresriness OF the