National Republican. (Washington City (D.C.)) 1872-1888, 1884-08-30

canals seems to have been sort of ancient
Venice. The remains of two huge tenn
pies comprise all that now remains OF the
city, which take their names from two
local villages, karnak and Luxor. The
exposition building at New Orleans covers
II is said, all area of nearly thirty acres
and is u temporary building Of glass and
iron; but tho great temple Of Jupiter
Ammon at Karnak had covered area
of forty acres; the temple Enclosure was
ninety acres in extont, and of all the thou
sands of columns that enter into the struc-
ture no two are alike. There were many
halls in this temple $50 feot long by half
that in breadth, and the entire odifice, in
extent and grandeur, it is believed, sur
passed any other creation OF man. 1t il
especially to he remembered that this
triumph Of architecture was erected in
tho days of Joseph, and was the center of
q system of smaller temples which sur
rounded it for several miles in every
direction. The frontier city of ancient
Egypt was Assouam, tho present city Of
this name being built on its predecessor,
which lies many feet beneath the sand.
The old Assouan is specially famous in
its inscriptions, many important records
having been recovered here. Near the
city is the Island Of Philao, the last re-
sort OF idolatry in Egypt and in the Roman
empire Here Isis and Osiris were wor-
SHIPPED for over hundred years after
the imperial dccrees abolishing the old
religions and substituting Christianity in
their stead. The most wonderful thing
about all tho Egyptian ruins is the APP
parent ease with which the ancient
architects and engineers handled tho
huge blocks of granite, as If these were
no heavier than so many bricks. The
utter worthlessness of human lifo and
effort i'll those days is shown by tho OK
cessivo labor bestowed on the statues,
columns, and other monumental works,
the cost of which to-day, at our present
rates, would exhaust the treasury of all
the powers of Europe.
The Rocky Arabia was, until compare
lively recent times, believed to be a
desert even moro uninhabitablc than the
sandy districts, but the investigations of
the present century have shown that it
once supported q vast population and had
great number of strongly fortified and
peculiarly built cities. About four years
ago Capt. Burton was sent out to explore
tho region east of the Red sea aud found
the lost citios of tho Midianites, men
toned in Scripture. and near them very
extensive gold mines, which bore evidence
of great antiquity, aud less than two years
ago, he took out colony to reoccupy
these cities and work these mines which
he considers to be the veritable Ophir OF
Solomon's time. Petra was first nhab ted
by cave jewellers, who gradually improved
upon their excavations until the ruins
OF that district are now among the
most remarkable relics of tho past
Temples, tombs, palaces, Notifications
and private dwellings arc all
without exception, excavated from
the sides of high cliffs. and thus form
unique structures, the like of which is
not elsewhere known. The peculiar
architecture is suggested by the character
OF tho country, which is rent in vast
chasms, 200 or 300 feet broad, and having
perpendicular sides of sandstone and
Limestone. Tho great cities of this region
are always in these chasms, and the ruins
of the rock-hcwn editiccs extend often
for many miles. Passing through Arabia
and entering Palestine the most notab lie
lis of buried cities is found in the capital.
The heights Of Jerusalem were first held
by the Jebusites. who had a fortified city
there; then taken by David, who de.
stroycd the city and built another on its
ruins. Since then tho city has passed
through many siegcs, and has been time
after time destroyed, another rising on
Its ashes, until the original Jerusalem o.
David Is now many feet underground
The city has been held in turn by tn,
Jews. Assyrians. Persans, Egyptians
Greeks, Romans, Saracens, Crusaders
and Turks, and each change of govern
ment was attended with more or les.
violence and destruction OF property. No
less that six Jerusalems. one above an
other, have been counted by those who
sank their shafts for the purpose of max.
ing scientific examinations of the ruins
The workmanship of tho Jerusalem Of
! Soiomon's time bears favorable compare
son with that of Greece, Rome, or Egypt
In the temple platform there are found
blocks of solid granite forty feet long, ter
feet broad, and six feet thick, laid upon
each other. and fitted so nicely that it i,
sometimes almost impossible to discover
the joint, increasing our amazement at tn,
engineering skill that could accomplish
such wonders. 1t is impossible to dig
vol in any part of the city without hav
ing to pass through broken columns, walls
streets, and ruins of every kind for nearly
200 feet before coming to the original sol
Palestine is almost as much country
of buried cities as Egypt. Some of tn,
most notable of these are the remains o
cities rebuilt by Herod the Great, who
was an indeiatigatle architect and levied
the most mercileSs taxes on his people il
order to build palaces and monuments t,
his own vanity. Among the most notable
Of the small but magnificent cities h
built were the Horodium, fortified
country seat, and Machacrus, beyond TIN
Jordan, a palace with surrounding houses
infamous under later Herod as the seen
OF the murder John the Baptist. Hebron
the city of Abraham, is now identified
chiefly by the cave in which, according t.
tradition, lay the bGnes of the patriarch
aud his family. Quite as interesting ar
the long buried aud forgotten, but re
Gently recovered, cities of the Philistines
which. though occupying . territory Onl,
about half that of st. Louis county. al
more pages in Biblical history than man,
numerously populated capitals. TIL
Philistino cities are remarkable for til
massiveness of their ruins. tho door
ways being constructed usually of tire
huge stones, two perpendicular and tn
third laid across them. Acre. in all age
celebrated for its strength was the poin
whore Napoleon received his first chez
in his Egyptian expedition, and the ruin
of half Il dozen cities here lie ono abov
another. while Cnsarna, in the time G
Paul the capital of Judea, was lost 70
ages and recovered only through the fac
Of the name being retained in the loca
traditions of the Bedouins. Jericho. s
famous for the concert performances @
the trumpets, was lost from that day, an
to the present cannot certainly be located
but is not alone in this respect, since ther
arc hundreds of other cities in Palestin
whose history We know better than thei
geographical position, The most notabl
of all however, arc the Cities of tho Plair
which were destroyed by volcanic cruz
ton when the Dead sea was formed
Deep down beneath the Dead sea rui
OF great extent may still be seen, suggos,
ing that these cities were not only larg
but densely populated also, while tn
character of tho surrounding country u
goes to show that tho Biblical account Q
the catastrophe was substantially correc
America is not alone in having ruins whic