Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-03-13
ExHunlLNG al sPHINX.
That Magnificent Memorial ofa vanish
ed RSee Beiag DisIntorred.

after city mas been disinterred almOs
within sight of the monument to th
Kingly Horus, this magnificent memoirs
Of vanished race has been permitted 9
get heaped deeper and deeper with o.
desert sand, in spite of the prayer III
Eoribed on the slab Of ThOthmes, Whic
begs the peoples that are TO come 10 keel
the statue clear OF the drift, which ever
then was threatening to 0yerWhelm d.
Some forty feet of the figure are sun
above the surface, but all save the heau
ans neck are covered, and we only KNOW
what lies beneath from the description ol
travellers like Salt and Cayiglia, VINO ex-
a2aiRed it before the sands had suomefg-
ed the body Of the figure. even theh,
nearly seventy years ago, II was OnlX by
great labor that the eXcaPatOrs cOuld
manage TO make out the details they nave
supplied, and, in spite OF thelr enOrts, the
desert drift was constantly encrOachlng
an the cleared SPACE. Since that date
nothing has been done. Every year has
added 10 the accumulati0ns, and so stead
ilv has the work OF interment been going
on that visitors after an absence OF TWEEN
" o. thirty years noticed q sensible
change in the amount OF debris piled up
around the sphinx. Indeed, II something
IS not done the chances are that before
leBg the monument which divides with
TIC I VI AAnANo hhEAHaEANEH hnE AuEIlNnb VI
every intelligent traveller will be entirely
swallowed up. This has been the fate OF
many similar architectural remains ~ its
close proximity. About twenty years
ago Mariette Bey discovered a very an
Gent temple just beyond it, which, al
though lying wholly below the surface of
the desert, has since been kept tslefably
clear OF the drifting sand. This shrine
seems TO have been of great antiquity. IL
- fuN la If col
the pillars being simply square m0ROliths,
with roofs and dOOrways of the same ma
terial, and ne signs OF inscriptions or dec
orative sculptures. In ali probability, 1t
is older than the Pyramids-so old, in
deed, that in its bare, massive simplicity
IL has been hkened 10 stOnehenge rather
than to the later architectures OF Egypt.
1t would be vain TO hope that in the com
paratiVely narrow space TO be cleared in
the vicinity OF the statue any remarkable
find viii be made. Yet the labor will be
amply repaid by the fact that the entire
proportions OF the figure will at last be
made visible, as we'll as the remarkable
temple known to exist between its fore
paws. The work OF eXhumatiOn is in
trusted TO Brugsch Bey, brother Of the dis
tinguished aFch9ologist, who will carry
out a plan formed by Sig. MasperO.
About 20, 600 cubic metres of sand must
be cleared away. To expedite this task
little tramway has been constructed
and 100 laborers are engaged for the more
mechanical portion of the toll. About
Easter the work is expected TO be COM
Rleted. Then, when the rock out of which
the statue has been hewn is laid bare, a
broad circular walk Will be constructed
around it and hlgh wall built to guard
against future enerOachments of the des-
ert sands.
IT'S PRESENT APPEARANCE.
II cannot be denied that this prosaio
fence, let 1t be built in the most Cyclic
pean manner possible, will detract from
the appearance OF the Sphinx. Buried as
1t IL Is present, with only its battered
head and part Of its back exposed, the
nrst view OF the great Egyptian mOnu-
ment is wonderfully impressive. Every
year thousands of lightheaded tourists,
thinking OF anything except Oriental
symbolism and the designs Of the Pha-
raohs or the Fourth Dynasty. drive out to
see Il. They rattle over the Nile bridge
above B0ulak to eat luncheon and be rob
bed Oy the Arab guides at the Pyramids
Of Ghizeh. The hOliday-maker is laugh
ing or quafing. or chatting, whacking a
dsnksy-boy, or more likely, paying back
sheesh, when suddenly, COUGHING in hOl-
low half GO cred with sand. he comes up
on an object that silezces the most garru-
lous. 1t is the Gr ~ sphinx. Awe-in-
spring even in its rue, the majestic face
stall remains to attest the poetry and ge-
Mus Of its fGrg0~s.sa sculptOrs. Upon
the ancient dynasties of Ethiopian and
kgyptian Kings, upon Greek and Roman,
upon Arab and Osmanli cOHqueTeFs. uDOn
Napoleon dreaming Of an Eastern En-
pire, upon AbercrOmby, thwarting him
upon battle and pestilence, upOR the I'M
ending misery of the Egyptian race, upon
keen-eyed raYelers-herodOtus yester-
day, Niiliers Stuart tO-day-upon Arab
one year, upOR Wolseley the next, upon
Burten disguised In rags as a Mecca pill
grim, upon 6orden setting out on his for.
lorn hOpe-upon all these and many more
the Sphinx has gazed with the same ear
nest eyes, and the same sad, TRANQUIL
mica. And We" writes the author of
''Eothen," I'VE shall die. aud Islam with.
er away, and the Englishman straining
far ever TO h0ld his beloved India will
plant hFm loot on the banks Of the Nile
and sit CA the seat Of the FAITHFUL; and
still that shapeless rock will be watching
and watching tAe works IL me new busy
race with those same sad, earnest eyes
ana the same tranquil mien eVerlasnnRD
" hen Mr.. kinglAke wrote these words he
little dreamed that the work OF disiuter-
ring the sphinx from the sands of ages
Wsuld be completed By a German, acting
N-se0. eAS eAuvto VI oh llhllaN, WIKI knots
: 81 British soldiers looking on. England,
r. - true. does not "sit on the seat
AZ ne Faithful" But it is. perhaps
siot 700 much TO say that had It not been
tor the encouragement OF Enghsh anti
fuarles anu the protection OF a British
garrison, this stupend0us monument of
lae far-away kings Of the Nile valley
would be still sinking deeper and deeper
inc the desert Mr.. Petrle. by his re.
cent excavation o. the site 81 the ancient
cry Of Naueratis, las done much 10 stim.
AAase renewed iRteFest In country
NRieh has alre sdy yielded 60 many treas
eies " the historian, and which. JUDGING
If91 What the last year or two has pre-
ehceas ano the almost astounding discov.
cry q Ne royal burying place near The.
PES, u destined, II intehigenty searched.
% give up records Of the past still more
remarkable,
fAk BGfIuAN RAGE FOR sPHINxrs.
II 10 dIfhcult 10 say for certain when tho
cpnihA Nas seaiptured. But II u. we be-
tieFei nov generally admitted that tbe
ices o. Shaping great rock into the sem.
biance OF Horus, surmounted with the re-
gal ..pschenL the tall conicaI ora,1n
and wide-nowiug wig over the brow al tbe
threatening basilisk, and from Inc
cain the regal beard, was carried
cut during the era Of Alta and
seBeieru, Pharaohs IN whose reige
the love OF architecture was a rutiSt
passion. The ancient Egyptians loved M
have everything on a great scale. Toev