The Panola weekly star. (Sardis, Miss.) 1882-18??, 1886-03-13
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The story n lho Egyptian religion
pfopof has iof NJ mlse.on.seeho ihe
Nilo from me- atsl cataract 10 The sca.
Follow u course o. II hows past the
colossal stones oi fhehes, Tho ranged
columns aud obclIska n Karnak iho
temples " Luxor In Upper Egypt aud
ihc statues " Memphis, the city u
Cairo, the pyramids ~ Gltch and the
vast l,J Jhan Metropolis In Lower Egypt
The river itself reaches M average
breadth II throc.qunricra Of q mile In
its periodical overflow II waters and
frriilikes nm nlluylnl plain nine 10 ten
miles wide. beyond This, for five or ten
miles, lies the yellow drifting sand oi
the desert, edged by rocky plateau
twenty 20 twenty-five miles wide. Upon
this ledge are ranged the pyramids, and
beneath Il is followed the millon.cayed
Metropolis of Memphis beyond are
seen the Llblnn hills, forming a pale
blue or lilac back ground. but flushed
with yellow or crimson In the rising aud
setting sun, these are the same ~ they
were In the days of Choops, or Sene-
freu, or Joseph, aud our eyes may still
look upon what they saw
Egypt has no beginning, A Caucus
inn race mot Shemto or ncgro) from
the stcppos Of Asia settled In the inn
memorial past on the fertile banks Of
the Nile. Tho caye.man became tent
man, and the tent-mnn q houso-man.
But Of these Indispensable stages,
which must have ranged over vast cy-
clcs Of time, there are no traces left In
Egypt When the caprlclous bulls
eye lantern Of history first strikes Egypt
Il falls upon an accomplished civilila.
tion, quite as refined and complex, and
under certain physical aspects even
mightier than our own. Six thousand
years ago the figure Of King Mcna
stands out, ruling over people who
knew geometry, invented an unsurpass.
ed system OF irrigation, built temples 10
the sun, pyramids to the Kings the
stepped pyramid II reckoncd to be six
thousand years old--wrotc In hero
glyphics thcs acrcd picture writings. and
possessed. at all events, the first two
chapters Of the Book Of the Dead, that
sacred ritual which was infinitely clab.
grated latec on, and formed kind Of
Egyptian mssal rule of faith, creed
and funeral service all III one.
II was only In 1893 that window was
opened In the present through which the
life Of that remote past could bo seen
with something Ike chronological dis
tinclness. This window was the famous
Rosetta Stone. NJ. lIJussard, French
engineer. discovered, lying amidst tho
ruins Of an old temple near Alexandria,
while excaynting Tor fort, a smooth
FIAT stone ltlay there ~ II lies now IN
the British Museum. II Is Of black ba-
salt, about three feet seven inches long
and two feet six wide; the side and upper
part IL broken away, but what Is left II
more priceless than any Sibyllinn book.
II contains m inscription In three Ian.
guagcs ~ the previously undecipher.
able hieroglyph; (2) the Greek and (3)
the Roman. II is n decree In honor oI
Ptolemy Epiphanos, and II was set ur
by the priests Of Memphis In the year
Is. G. 1915. The discovery Of what con
stitucd the name of ptolemy In the HE
roglyph led TO the deciphcring Of all the
rest. The key Of the unknown tongu,
was found, and the archives ~ prchis-
toric Egypt were suddenly unlocked. II
was like coming upon tho records oI
the world before the food. From thai
moment Egyft has been the new all
absorbing center Of antiquarian re
search.
Four thousand years ago Abraham
was driven by famine into Egypt. II
was In the early days Of the shepherd
Kings, hardy northern race which
ruled Egypt until finally expelled by III,
persians under Darius; but Abraham
found there the stepped pyramid. which
had been standing for. at least, tive
thousand years. lie found. too. some
Of those temples upon which we still
gaze, and, ] regret To say, scribble oul
names. Three thousand seven hundred
years ago Joseph was carried down "a
Egypt, aud met with the shepherd King
NJ their zenith. He saw the ancient pills
beneath which scncfreu (J0O0 u. CT
still sleeps undsturbcd. lie looked
upon the sphinx. which then stood ou
uncovered with temple between III
paws he saw the mighty Chcphrcn ant
Cheops pyramids shining and who'll,
Incased In white alabastcr-lIko marble
fragments " which we shuttle into oul
trayeling-bags and make Into paper
weights. Three thousand six hundred
and fifty years ago Moses floaied down
the Nile In his basket. aud grew NJ
amid the glorics Of Karnnk. Thebes and
Memphis the oppression growing un
der the two Ramcses. with whose por
traits the British Museum has made ~
familiar.
From Zoan. now buried beneath III,
sands. the lsraeliies ON an cyenlful nigh
set ont three thousand siS hundred year
ago, In the reign of Mancptha l. Tn,
last thing which impressed them a. thej
passed out Of the land Of bondage wa
probably the ncwly-erected colosaa
statue of Rameses. n monollh thef
erect, now lying prosifaie, aud weighing