The northern tribune. [volume] (Bath, Me.) 1847-1855, 1848-01-21
The Ruins of Karnac.

In the evening, by the rays of the beautiful
moon, after looking again upon the dark por-
tai of Luxor, and its gloomy sentries, we
started for Karnac. There was formerly a
broad road leading from the portal of Luxor
to the great gate of Karnac. We passed
through fields of long, bent grass, and in half
an hour reached a village with its mud walls
and struggling palms. The dogs turned out,
snarlng and bowling as usual. At first we
could see nothing, neither temples nor ruins.
Everything seemed low and indistinct.
Turning round bank, we arrived at the ia
nous avenue of sphinxes, and here the first
poppylon of the great temple was before us,
with the moon streaming upon it, and its long
deep shadow sleeping upon the plain. AS we
came nearer, it seemed by degrees to grow up
on us but not till we stood under it were its
colossal dimensions evident. The guides and
horses seemed like dwarfs. .a
SO matchless are the proportions, and 50
simple and so grand the form, that no idea
can be formed of the size until it overwhelms
one. Passing through it, we entered small
temple, from the neigborhood of which the
view which presents itself is extraordinary
Mass upon mass of stones, fragments of pill
lars, blocks of granite heaped in endless con-
fusion, meet the eye every where, looking as
though shaken down by some superhuman
power Wonderful must have been their ele-
walton, but more wonderful still their fall.
can give no accurate measurement of the
size of some OF these fragments, but a horse
and rider would disappear behind many Of
the single pieces. Beside the portal are two
sitting statues OF granite, facing each other
The great hall of the temple then appeared in
all its sublimity. We felt that to behold these
magnificent remains, more than repaid US for
what we had endured. The sight surpassed
both all l had heard or I had anticipated
Who can describe such majestic desolation.
How came such enormous masses to be shaken
to their foundation. No human power, one
would suppose, could have worked such ruin.
Dread indeed must have been the scene and
the hour of the downfall of Karnac for COL
umn upon column, tower, walls, roofs, and
even foundations, broken up and cast down,
lies on every side HHta.
1t was not with the tramp of war steeds,
the noise of chariots or the march of legions
thas the earth shook and the temples reeled
but it would seem that the Judgment of hea-
ven descended upon the land, and left an aw-
full lesson to future ages, to be read and pom
dered on amid the silent halls of this greatest
of all earthly temples.
The decay of great nations may arise from
various causes. as from disagreement, from
internal strife, from conquest, or from failure
of national virtue. But it is not possible thus
to account for the changed aspect of the face
of Egypt ard Syria. Vast districts which are
now seas of shifting sand, must at one time
have been the most fruitful plains in the world.
1t is impossible to reconcile what we know to
have boon the former state of Egypt its unri-
vailed fertility, numerous cities and immense
population, to its present state, without sup
posing that some great physical change has
taken place. The very ruins of mighty and
populous cities of the ancient world are now
buried beneath accumulated sands, so that not
trace remains of them.