The Cheyenne daily leader. [volume] (Cheyenne, Wyo.) 1870-1884, 1878-06-22
II OF EGYPT.
WHO HOLDS THE NECK OF THE oouN-
TRY HOLDS ALL.

WHO HOLDS THE NECK OF THE oouN-
TRY HOLDS ALL.
In q country which has been compared
for its length without breadth to . serpent,
the government which holds the neck con-
trolls 1t all. When all tho world except
Egypt was sum In barbarian, the throat Of
the Nile valley was at the southern end;
the savages OF Ethiopia were nearer and
more dangerous than the sayages Of Syria,
or Greece, or Italy. In days so far gone by
that their exact date Ia q matter Of conjec-
ture, or at best Of approximation only, to
secure the peace Of the country it was
needful to garrison Nubia- In less remote
times the other end of the vast length must
be guarded and protected Accordingly, |
we find that when the st~rong-minded lady |
who raised the great obelisk of karnac to |
tho memory OF her father Thothmes sought
to hold the whole valley in subsection, she
mado her fortress beyond the First Cata- |
ract. When Candy, es, or one Of his sue
cessors. held the Delta. he placed his garri-
son at Fostat. between Memphis md its |
sources OF supply. When the Cesars ruled
Egypt from beyond the Mediterranean, |
they fortified their camp on the highest
ground within reach Of Alexandria. Tho
chains OF Greece were said by the last
Philip TO be Corinth and Chnlcis and Demo |
tr.us; but the chains Of Egypt were Nico-
polls and Babloun and Dakkeh; yet Of the
three only the Oldest Is loft. Babloun WINS
replaced under the Romans by q building
Of great antiquarian interest, though COM |
paIAlivcly 30 modern /; and Of tho camp at
hamleh IL may bo said, as Of a camp nearer
homo which bore the Same name, thu
within a very few years Il has disappeared |
The wallis had seen, in all probability, the
defeat OF A~nthony's last army. Augustus
Liinsclf had encainpcd on the spot and
here, Just seventy seven years ago, Sir
RALPH Abercromby fell In the arms of
victory"
AN ACE OF LATH AND PLASTER.
In order to build one of bis numerous
and ephemoial palaces the present viceroy,
Ia spite OF many appeals and Ia contempt
Of many promises, pulled away almost. all
that remained of the old walls, and suffered
{ tcsselated pavement TO fall To pieces mt
disappear through. mere careleSsness and
neglect Tho present dynasty, In an age of
lath and plaster, will have left some great
public works complete and moro begun but
Iihas not failed TO mark itspower BY . largo
number OF ~dcruolitions, Of which this 10
only n specimen. Under Mehemet Ali the
hall erected by Saladin in the citadel was
removed. with it's two-and-thirty columns
Of rose granite. In 1899 tho temple Of
Eephantine was destroyed In order to build
q palace for the Governor Of Assouan with
The materials. II need hardly be said that
the palace was never built but Of the
left. In Cairo itself, while u vast and
hideous mosque Of modern Greek design u
gradually creeping up on one sido Of tho
street, on the other the beautiful mosque
o. Sultan Hassan-a building contemporary
with our Westminster Abbey, and in mnn
respects comparable with it's falling into
iHeparable decay. 1t must DO allowed
that, under the present ruler, the antiqui-
ties Of Egypt have been made subjects Of
government solicitude; and the researches
Of n. Mariettc and his follow-laborers have
become possible. But, comparatively mod
em as the Roman and Arab remains ap-
pear. they are sometimes quite rs interest
ing to the student as the older works,
though 30 far they have excited little In
forest, and some Of them are but seldom
visited.
A PICTURESQUE RIDE.
The ride to Kas rel Shama takes tho
dghtseer through q labyrinth Of small
strccts to tho southern gate Of Cairo.
named after Indy Zeynah, a granddaughter
OF the prophet, and thence over immense
heaps Of rubbish, the ashes of Fostat, burnt
In 1166, until the open country Is reached.
The heaps extend for miles In this dfrec-
ton, and may mark the site Of cities older
By far than the tabernacles which Amer
pitched on the spot in 63S, and which d4b-
ply q meaning for the Arabic name. This
was Babylon, not indeed Babylon tho
great, but the Town which Cambyses II said
TO have founded, and whence, according to
some, the Epistle Of st. Peter was written.
whether Strabo, when he speaks Of n
babyionian colony here, refers to the EXTRA
diton OF q number Of families by the Pefzfah
King, or whether, Us his words seem 10 I'm
ply, n much older settlement Il described.
cannot now be decided. It a curious. how,
ever to note Tint other authors lave spbkcn |
In very similar terms, and that 1t Is Come.
times ascribed to "Sesostris or RarnoSes
H., who Ia here said to nave plnoed his dan.
hvos from Babylon, and sometimes to Sem.
iramis. The most recent writer who Ms |
touched on he subject Ia Mr.. Rol6nd
Michel. and In his volume on tho Egypti{n
Calender a conjecture Is mentioned.
which would account for the modern name
OF tho Roman fortress at least. Kas rcl
shama-or. as 1t Is pronounced, "csh
shemmah is in English the Castle of tbe
Flame OF Light, and may mark the site Of
temple OF fire wo~rshippcrs. Be this a. IL
may-and no more plausible derivation Ina
oeen suggested-there are no Persian rJ-
mains now TO be seen ut Babloun. and the
unobservant traveller might yefv endiv
pass by tho Roman walls half bnried n
gray mounds. though they would well m.
pay. what they have never yet received. n
careful survey.
OLD MONUMENTS.
Tho vveatarp f.co |
wall Oh large stone blocks, under which a
low entrance has been burrowed, leading I
into very warren Of misernble dwell.
fngs. CoPtao churches, Moslem mosauea
monAsteries, synagogues and bazaan. uni
form only in dirt and vermin. To the &c.
cie.fasdcal antiquary there is much worth
seeing among the strange piles Of mud and
brick But, passing by the entrance and
continuing along the outer wall, two vell. |
defined semi-circular bastions, once pierced
With arched windows or embrasures, reSaii
similar buildines ct York, In London, al
Treves-anywhere, In fsct, whore the mini.
tary engineen Of old Rome buflt their for
tresses- There b no mistake about the |
banded masonry, the thin bricks, the hard
mortar, or any other Of many MARKS 81
which Roman work may be identined: |
though high up. With the wall for . foun6ss
ton, . tail whitewashed dwelling Iooks ovor.
ND seems lettering 70 . tall This vest6rk
froat Y perhaps 200 yards long, ana ~
wfh smother ssmi-circulax tower fnclnr
sootn. tower = very perfect 10 4
nsAgns OF perhaps twenty feet and 4 -
senos OF three, each some ft$ -
- ssctns vnacn range along the same 3de-