The New York herald., 1870-02-21

anou,u e0me 70 iaruer area with covered cIolsters
on each side; but tins al niea up win saooe nuts
forward through small lane past the mosque you
enter the Grand Assembly Hall, fourteen columns
class, being eleven feet In diameter. Further II ID
impossible TO go from the ronI 80 that steps must
DO retraced ana an entrance enected 10 the sane,
tuary and adyta from the rear. In lateral hall
the sanctuary two Cornthian pillars OF an old
Greek church stand. Side by SIDE with the gigantic
columns OF the Luxor temple these columns Of the
Greeks appear puny and insignificant and u TO the
credit OF Egyptian art to be placed IN such uxtapo
sitiOn to Its Greek rival.
From Luxor we hastened to Karnak situate q
mile and half north OF the former, along what was
once an avenue OF ram headed sphynxes. While ON
this road give rom to fancy. Imagine yourself one
among thousands proceeding IN stately procession
to the Temple OF Karnak, countless nags ana stand
ards streaming in the breeze the types OF Egyptian
dlylnilles held aloft BY strong, armed men; galy
panied inscriptions fantastically Designed wreathed
around or lowing from them; Pharaoh's ensgns
before @ eacn division Of the procession; wild music
OF harp, timbre, sackbut and psaltery, double and
single nutes, rising In mefodi0us symphony clear
and loud IN the lucent AIR OF Thebes, while The
klng-even PharaOh--is In his own chariot; may
hap, RameseS the Great returning from conquest
Oi the world, grander and lOfter than any OF his
subjects the gay chargers sucn as were only reared
LOT Phara0h's f0emen, as proudly as II they knew
they were to grace Phara0h's triumph, and the
chariot IL OF gold and silver, sparkling with pre-,
quiver, ornamentad 70 the height OF egyptian SKILL
and Pharaoh's mobiles. their robes OF state wend
after him; and the priests, Ia snowy linen Dordered
voices In the song OF victory and behind all come
the cavalry. on their chargers char from Etno, ss
Of bronze - and brass; and the infantry, with
battle axe and bow, spear and sword, with
standards waving, trumpets sounding, and the peo
pie OF Thebes, the mercenar1es and slaves by thou
sands follow on foot to zee the scenes Of that day.
while over all shines the warm sun or Thebes. Tnis
takes place the year 267O the creation and the
year 1880 before Christ Pass over TOO years. The
same sun SHINES over The0es, Its temples and its
palaces cover tue plain, the same river flows hard
by the temples OF Karnak aud Luxor, the same azure
heaven vaults the Theban PLAIN, whlch Is as green
and fertile as ever; but day Of the year 6lg B. O.
has come anu the doom Of Thebes immortaltzed IS
sealed, for the madman Cambyses with mis- army, IL
marching from Luxor TO karnak
For dleties represented BY animals; for Osiris the
the oni Xps; the godaesses isis Athor and PnsnaS
represented by hawks and cats, Cambyses. the Per.
slan has no respect. Neither knows he Aimln- Re,
who has made karnak temple his abode; he knows
not ambitious Mandu, with the inevitable hawks
head; therefore he issues the order for the demo-
tion Of the statues for the defacement Of the scup
ture for the destruction Of the matchless temple.
And thus the city Of Theses the hecatompylean
city becomes waste. After the invasion Of Cam
byses the Egyptians made an EFFORT and succeeded
for u wnile In re-establishlng their Independence
and thebes once more to ner former greatness.
Once more travellers came from afar to FEAST Their
tory DlOdOrus Siculus, Srrabo and others; but the
dat has gone forth aud there Is none TO stay it-a
worse than Campyses came whose name was
LathyruS. What renamed after LathyruS travellers
see nowadays at ThebeS.
The matchless avenue Of sphinxes, which lined
the whole distance from Luxor to Karnak $500 years
ago. may be traced 1Or about half the distance. You
may say about tue great blocks which lie crumbhng
on each side Of you, these were sphinxes once, but
leW OF them retain That figure and form now. About
nall way 10 karnaK you Will come TO square hol-
low In which there are about sixty statues OF
Phthan or black granite, many OF winch are still
upright. This hollow was tue terminus OF O tenn
pie. Proceeding short distance further on you sec
a solitary pyion and the foundations OF temple may
De traced. Fass over the other pylonR and march
ODllquey to the lett so that you may arrive at the
front OF the great Temple OF Karnak. All ! that
temple. SO many eminent writer's have described
It, 50 many travellers nave walled IN sympathy
It's fallen state, 80 many poets nave sung over 1t
what shall young American say OF Karnak?
Or your Champollion, and each OF them Will guide
Tou over the ruins. But IN spite OF this learned
;oterie you will lam nger before the temple pylon
ook up the stately hei9ht OF the propylie at the
vide embrasures IN It's front, at The colO5sI scup-
,ured thereon, at the runOus masses OF stone look
ng but freshly laen, to the vista OF columns aud
nails, and obelisks sanctuarles ana walls as you
stand mnon like In the portal. Great Ii the Par
shenon enthrOned upon the Athenian Acropolis;
great are the Sagantine ruins and Gothic Avllla,
but greater, grander, statiier by Tar stands
Karnak temple. You pass under the pylon ana you
come to spacious area which measures 275 feet by
$40 feet, another pylOn and veStlbulum terminates
this which Is about lty feet In DEPTH and you are
In the famous hall Of Karnak with I4O pillars awe
struck by their gigantic size and its aspect. 1hs
NAH measures ITO by 1923 feet You could put the
whole OF Trinity church within 1t. and have clean
walls OF the hall. Another hail succeeds this with
an obellsk stair standing, one Of pair which stood
before the pyon OF another hall beyond this, where
there is taller Obellsk and measuring eight feet
square. This latter hall Is surrounded by Osiride
pillars, all Of which, however are mutiated. Be-
yond this is the sanctuary OF sanctuares constructed
Of exqulstely polished red graaitc, with host OF
ady and lateral ases aud passages surrounding IT,
Beyond this s another hall and still another until you
The length OF ,lSo feet temple l,1S0 feet long by
,29 feet wide What is ST. Peters at Rome 10 this
But you VIII not be induced TO rush SO hurriedly
through the temple ~ all this The great hall Of
( larnak VIII hold you spell bound. You VIII wonder
its length, at its breadth, al its height at the
mite ana colossal tracery Of cnisel over 1t, at It's
Itupend0us columns, rising sixty-twO feet from the
iOor and eleven feet In diameter at the patches OF
brilliant and exquisite coOrlng you will see here
when 1t was new Then the ooellsks with their
tops spring into the clear air and pointing to the
heaven Of Thebes, will demand your atten
tlOn and the massive OSrides, thirty feet IN height
each composed Of single block; the beautiful orna-
ture OF the sanctuary and Its surroundings; the lin
tel stones forty eet IN length; each ana all these are
subjects OF wonder. Yet these are but tithe OF
what Is to be found ut Karnak. Mount the circuit
walls, the lofty pylon facing the Nile, or the still
loftler propylae, Or the summit OF gigantic col
umn in tue hall. Look around below, above and al.
miratlon succeeds 70 admiration, wonder to wonder.
As for the sculptures ON the walls they are too
varied for detail. Could one but read them
much OF the history OF Egypt mlght be read,
both sacred and profane. Doing Into thts temple
to look at the sculptures Is just like gong to the
France may be read IN the latter; why not Egyptian
history in the fOrmerf The Loulses and the Napo-
Icons seen at the front OF Babec pictures The
walls Of the Louvre; the great Raeses some other
Pharaoh may be seen on the temples Of Plo5opOlIs,
Magma, or modern karnak.
The second day we crossed tie river TO visit the
colossi or Menpon and the tombs and temples OF
the western bank. The modern name Oh the Kings
tombs is Bah ell Molook. signiiying the gates or
the klngs.' The gate Of the klngs What 3 ilt
slgnincatI0Ql For none but kings entered therein,
aud 1t opened to death!
The Libyan range Is at Thebes Just two miles from
the Nile, at point opposite Koorneh. At Ibis point
ravIne opens In the range Of hills to the wdtn OF
about two hundred feet When you enter II you are
III the most desoate, dreary, forbidding, barren,
stony region In the world Not Dade OF grass, no,
not one, nor shrub. nor any green thing Ii visible;
1t is brown limestone rising in strata from the bottom
OF the ravlne to the summit Of the hill on either slde
while the base Ii covered with debris, great
rocks crumblng or crumDled over which the sun
pours his nercest every day throughout the year.
You follow this ravlne, winding and deviatlng from
point to point, for u mile and a half until you are
matted by cross hill, which bars all further pro-
cedure. Here are the tomos OF the kings, so far
opened to the number OF twenty-one each one of
winch Is palace cut ana cnlselled out OF the solid
rock succoed and painted all over There are forty
seven of them TINS valley, but twenty.six OF them
remain undiscovered, where 1t may be supposed