The New York herald., 1878-03-04

these pinths and entablalurcs these mighty bending
walls, upon which ch' 'os has put its SEAL were tho
shrlnes OF nations faith and sovereignty Yet this
Is ali tod IN stone
AND SOLEMN RUIN
Ind myself IN whirl IN writing about Karnak,
anu the truth Is nave put OF again and again
writing about II In the hono that some inspiration
might come to maze u all plain. What or any OF
us, any hurried traveller from another world, may
do or think Is OF htilc value. and If were TO give
you simply our personal experiepces-bow We came
and strol'd, how c.mpcd over masses OF rub
bish, how We clustered about Brusseh anu heard
him uuravei the Inscriptions the walls, how We
had our photographs taken, how We had BIT Of
luncheoa quenchcd in grateful waters, It would 10
page out OF General Grants experiences
in Egypt, but It would tell nothing of
kariak What tried TO do, at least,
as rode around It's walls, wnai, Ia fact
have tried 10 do always in Egypt is to bring back
the temples as they were and picture them their
spendor and then look ut them IN their ruin. ian.
cied did something OF this at Dcndcrah and Abvdos
and Et Foo-thn could resiy what those temples
must have been In their day-but KnrnaK sweeps be-
yond tho Imagination, SO and solemn IS the ruin
TEMPLE
Let me take refuge ior a moment IN some figures
which condcuse from the cooks and from whit
Brugsch tells me In conversation. Karnak, which
was not only temple but Que In The OF temples
which constituted rhebcs, is about half mile from
the river, mile or two from tho Temple Of Luxor.
The 'front.' wall or propylon Is $40 eet broad so feet
deep, and the standing tower lao feet high Leading
upto this main entrance Is an avenue lined with
Statues ana spbnxes, 200 icet long When you enter
,his gate you enter open courtyard. 275 feet by
500 There Is corridor coistcr either side; In
the middle u double line OF columns, OF which
only remains You now come to another wall, or
propylon large tic entrance and the greut
hal'-'ho most magn lcent ruin IN Es,p; The steps
OF the door are 40 feet by TO- The Is 100 feet by
32o, and the roof was supported by 1874 columns.
These columns ars all or nearly all stnnung, but the
root has gone. Twelve are 62 feet high without tho
pnth, and IL feet inches in diameter. One hundred
and twenty two arc ~ feet inches In height 2S
feet IN circumference. They wcrc ali brilliantly col
orcd aud some OF them retain tho colors still; and
you can well imagine what must have been the blaze
OF light aud color when tao kings and priests passt
through In solemn procession. Wc pass through an
other gate iaio open court. Here Is an obcsk In
granite seventy five feet high, and the fragments Of
another, Its companion Tho Inscriptions tn IN
are IS clear ms though they had been cut yesterday
so gentle is this climate IN ITS dealings with Tmc
They celebrate tho victories and OF tue kings
who reignci 100 y.ars before Christ, and promise
the kings In tho Of tho immortal gods
thni their .lory shull 1.-Two for agcs We pass
into another chamber very mucn In runs and
other obcsk ninety two ieet nigh and eight square
the iarg st in the world This monument commein-
crates The virtues OF the kings daughter, womanly
and queenIy virtues which mot their reward lot us
hope, thirty.Gv centuries ago You may form some
idea OF what the Egyptians could 90 Ia The way Of
mechanics and engineering whom you know that thus
obclisk Is single block OF granite, that II was
brought IRON tho quarry miles and miles away
erected and inscribed months The next room
was tho sanctuary. tho holy OF holes md Is now
u mass OF rubbish requiring nmble feet to climb You
scramble over stones and sand until you come what
the I'm where King Tho,hmes H., who lived
sixteen centuries before Christ, vas represented as
giving offerings 10 h'ysx OF hrs royal cdcccssors.
Tue hail Is ruin aod some French Vandas carried OF
the table,--onc OF tho most valuable IN Esyptto Pars
Altogether the building alone Was los oct long and
about 500 wide, tho circuit around the outside nc
cording 10 Roman historian who saw 1t IN IT'S glory
being about mile and Il halt
rnE DEATH.
This is tho temple. bnt the temple was only q part.
There three leading from it TO the other
temples. These avenues were hncd with statues
large and small, generally Of tho SPHINX slw mum.
bers o them sitting In their aucient places slowly
crumbing RUN. There were two colos sal statues
OF granite. One OF them was almost buried In tho
sund, tho beng exposed. You fancy how
large II must have been when you kno" this was
u foot long least Near tho obelisk, some distance
from tho temple, pool Of water, ON
the banks OF which black children scamper-
ing and shouting ''Baxsnecsh, howadj." This was
the Sacred Lake. THIS lake had an important once
in tho religion OF the old Egyptians Whom IN
Egyptian dicd aud WAS embalmed his body was
brought 10 the lake. Tho procession was "a solemn
one-mourncrs Throwing dust their heads, priest
sprnKiing water ir,m brush dipped IN vase, very
much Catholic priests sprinkle holy water; at,eud-
ants throwing palms ou tho ground, others carrying
fruits and meats. incense and ostrich feathers Tho
coiL borne u slcdge unu u camo To this luke.
Here iorty-two Judges men who had known tue
deceased. Here was the boat, the sLcrcd boat that
carry tho body to the oihor shore. II 1t could
Dc shown these judges that the deceased been
M ungody man, that his lie had b on a scandal,
,hen hc deniod aepui,ure. II 1t was
shown that he had lived worthily aud tho
judges decided then all weeping ceased culopics
were pronounced upon his memory. the body was
carried to the other shore aud from thence removed
The catacomhs 10 honor peace IN peace,
at least, uuui Arab peasants lgcd their graves
and made merchandise Of tncir collins anu grava
clothes their ornaments and tokens. Their very bones
just as these greasy Arabs VINO swarm about our dou
Keys are aoing at this very hour.
THE LEGESDs WALLS.
Wherever We mud walls we have inscrIptious. Tha
Inscriptions uro IN hicrogiyphic l,nauagc-a language
as clear to scholars as thc Lliln Sanscrt.
Brugsch re,ds them oil 30 US as glbly as though ho
were reading Signs IRON n Broadway stoic. Tho
stories Will hardly be.r rcpctition Tor they
sa,c that NO saw AZ Dendcran, at Abydos, ali through
Egypt. They tell OF battles and tae glory ol the
King. Ramcscs. who Is supposed 10 BE- tho seso
tie Greeks. We have him leading his to attack
fortified place. Again VIC tim leading loot soldiers
und putting enemy 10 the sword We have him
lending captivcs Offering to the gods--and Of
fsrns only prisoners, but booty OF great value
The groups OF prisoners nrc ruiely done, hut you
see tho type OF race clearly outlined. We know the
Hebrew by the unnis;akaDlo cast OF icatuics--as
marked tho faco oil Lord Baconsfcld We trace the
phanician, the Etruscau, us well the nero tyres