The Burlington weekly hawk-eye. [volume] (Burlington, Iowa) 1857-1858, 1857-07-22


cd their way up to the tomb, and
their dim torches glared upon these wallis,
and lighted up the features Of the embalmed
king His sanctuary was profaned, and now
strangers come from the four quarters Of
the globe, and the dim torches light up their
own features, IA they look down into the sar-
cophagus Of q man whose name is unknown
and whose monument is imperishabie
What strange history is this and.
what an illustration Of the value OF human
ambition are thoughts which press upon
YOUR heart, although they may not escape.
from YOUR lips, in the midst Of such associa-
tons.
Leaving this apartment, we descended /
gain short distance, and through a very
low passage, stopping as we went We came
to another small room, which is called
know not by what authority--the Queens
tomb. 1t was entirely empty, and the Arabs
sepulcher Of the dead They begged the
privilege Of giving me specimen of their
dancing; and rs soon as yielded to their
request, their voices and hands and feet were
all in motion. One of them. who considered
himself my special guide and friend, strain
ed every muscle Of his naked body; as he
now crOuchsd low down to the pavement,
and then raised himself to his full length
and his feet beat tinoe to the measured voices
and clapped hands OF his two companions.
1t was fearful, q ridiculous. and sometimes
almost IN Internal scene, rs their shouts
rang through the gloomy avenues, and the
pavement sent back the echoes of their feet
tra,npling on the sacred memories Of the
past But to their vacant minds there was
no past, and the present seemed entirely fill
ed with ideas Of "backshecsh,' for which
they clamored vociferously ms soon as their
dance was over And when | paid them
they besought me earnestly not to tell the
Shiek of their tribe, as he would be certain
to swallow down all their gains, (opcning
their mouths widely and most expressiycly
as they said it, and leave them without
bread for themselves or their children. We
| then returned towards the entrance Of the
pyramid, my guides watching over me with
the greatest care, and actually winning my
heart by their tender and gentle manner, in
spite Of their filth and disgusting nakedness.
| | found my friends all seated in the grateful
shadow of this great work in weary land, '
and was ready to join them in the repast,
| which was spread before US.
| After half an hour rest we went to the
sphynx The head of the spynx is distinct,
| " visible from the pyramid, and it seems in
| deed close at hand SO clear is the atmosphere
and 50 immense are the features ofthe stone
lace staring upon you from the sandhills sur,
rounding it. The first view | had Of it was
while passing around the pyramid to exam
inc its dimensions; and, though had read
so MANY descriptions oft, was fairly start
led as it glared upon me unexpectedly
There was life and fierceness in it at a dis
| lance which made me think Of it as the very
genius of the savage desert, guarding these
relies Of old mysterious Egypt Asl APP
preached it now with my friends, | found
much more of il uncovered than anticipa-
ted. 1t seems that French gentleman has
been exploring its secrets during the past
year, and has exposed It's neck and large
part of the body. 1t has been always des-
cribcd as having been carved out of one sol
| id rock; but found that the left side of the
body was constructed of solid blocks Of stone
resembling these of the pyramid. climbed
mp and walked over the back Of the huge an
imal Eetween the shoulders was a large
cavity, partly filled with the sands OF the des-
ert Here were living two hcadless dogs Of
| stone which the Arabs said had been taken
out Of this cavity The neck and breast Of
| the sphynx are much bruised and deEaced
the Arabs breaking off large pieces for visi-
tors as they did for us The nose is entirely
gone and the whole face was never anything
4 more than the rudest Egyptian carving,
which amuses. if it does not disgust you Us
| You stand before il. Yet at IL distance it is
| full of power and could the surrounding
sands be entirely cleared away, it would be
| a NEST striking ornament in the midst oEthe
] gloomy tombs
! Not far from the spavnx an Eagiis'l gen
| tleman. Mr. Nysc, has been zealousiy Dig
/ cling in the sands for some time past, employ
in- for this purposes large number of Arabs.
! Among other curiositics, lie has uncovered
Il very remar kabie tomb, containing at u
| depth Of twenty or thirty feet, several large
| sareophaei. which have not yet been renoy-
ed and YOU cannot look upon them without
| fcein. that the grand idea Of old Egypt was
not how to live but how TO be buried From
| the tomb we went to the second pyramid;
almost a fac smile OF the first, except that it
Is not quite SO large and the outer layer OF
stone has net been removed near the top =
| Perhaps fifty feet or more Of the original ex-
| terror apparently Egyptian granite, though
some say it is Stucco) is the same rs when it
| was constructed. 1t has, understand, the
| same internal passages and rooms as the 9th
err pyramids, though did not enter it my
| self A short distance further on is a COM
paratirey small pyramid, of very beautiful
| granite. Immense blocks had been torn
| down and scattered around in different at
temp;s to penetrate into the interior; and we
picked eur way among them wondering ut
tie strange ambition which had piled on
these monuments during many successive dy-
nasties Of Egypt
In RIDGE OF rocks, a little farther out i'll
the desert, is row of comparatively small
tombs, almost entirely filed with the ever
drifting sand Upon our hands and knees
we effected an entrance into them, and found
the walls covered with hierogiyphies, which
are perfectly distinct, and some of the coiors
are as bright and vivid as when put on by
the artist four thousand yeas ago. 1t Was a
strange experience to find myself lying pres
trate in an Egyptian tomb, attempting to de-
cipher the hidden neanieg of language
which Doubtless recorded the name aud
character Of the poor mortals who may nave
silent here quietly for ages and whose ashes
have lons since, been lost in these restless
sands
Mounted On our donkeys; we rode IRON
po;pt To po;nt in the vicinity, all that saw
convinced me beyond doubtthat this Shoie
rar;on was the great cemetry oil ancient
Memph.s-tle pyramids being the manso-
leums or kings, and the other structures be-
inc prepared for the people and varying in
size and splendor with the various fortunes
of the different classes.
The Per;nids Of Sokhara and Doshoor
are several lies further up the Nile and
nearer its banks They are in full view from
those have described They were proha..
bly erected for the same purposes lay an,bi-
tious and despotic kings. thought often
while looking on them If the theory adyoca-
ted bv some That the children OF Israel In
their BONDAGE built up all these great works.
Perhaps further investigation will prove its
truth. The testimony of .'osephus is direct
and explicit. and perhaps a future explorer
will find the fact recorded in some undiscos-
cred chamber of pyramid or it may be re
corded in some hieroglyphics yet to be eS-
planned
Bus the declining sun warned us To turn
our faces towards Carlo, and we lett this
scene so full If memorials past greatness