Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1890-04-26


therefore pass on to Thebes, Karnal
and LoIqeor, whose ruins cove
twenty-seven square miles. / am
however, unable adequately TO pic
ture their splendor. The following
paragraph from the works Of Derron
i friend and companion OF Napoleon
Bonaparte, is sufficiently vivid:
aAt Q O'Clock, in making a sharT
turn around a projecting point, we dis.
covered all az once the site OF ancient
Thebes in its whole extent. This cele-
braied city, which Homer has characr
terized with the single expression Of
the 'Hundred-gated'-a boas,ing ~
poeiical phrase which has been re-
pea:ed with 80 much confidence for 50
many ceniuries-this illustrious city,
described In few pages dictated "a
Hercdotus by Egyptian priests that
have since been copied by every his
torian, celebrated by the number of IT,
kings, whose wisdom raised them to
the rank Of gods. by laws that have
been revered without being promul-
gated, by science involved in pomp-
Gus ~ enigmaiical inscriptions
the first monuments Of ancient learn
ing which are still spared by the hand
OF time; this abandoned sanctuary,
surrounded with barbarism, and
again restored TO the desert from
which il had been drawn forth, en-
veloped in the veil Of mystery and the
obscuriiy OF ages, whereby even its
own colossal monuments are magni-
fed to the Imagination, still impressed
the mind with such gigantic phAntoms
Hsa xtshnna auFaaran.- nv.r
with one accord, stood in amazemsnt
at the sight Of its scattered ruins, and
clapped their hands with delight, as il
the end and objec; Of their glorious
tolls, and the complete conquest Of
Egypt were accomplished and seen II
by taking possession Of the splendid
remains Of this ancient metropolis.
travels in upper and lower Egypt,
Vol. I, P. 81"
But lest any reader Of the NEWS
should suppose that the greatest
beauty Of LOugsoT, harnak, Medi-
netabOut and GOrnoo, the four viii
lagos which now embrace the site
II Thebes lies especially In the
description which a lively French
man makes of il, | will add the
sober words Of an English woman
Mrs. c. Lushington):
while I was leisurely travelling
along. thinking only Of our arrival al
Luxor tLougsorl, one Of our party
whs had preceded US, called TO me
from a rising ground TO turn to the
left, and having gone n few yards OF
the road I beheld Unexpectedly the
Temple OF Karnak. II was long after
/ reached my tent before / recovered
from the bewilderment into which the
view Of these stupendous ruins had
thrown me. No one who has not
seen them can understand the awe
and admiration they excite even in
unscientific beholders. When / com
pare the descriptions OF Denou aud
Hamilton l find them essentially cor
rect, Vet without giving me any ade-
quate idea OF the glorious reality.
They fail in describing what has never
been, and I think never can be de-
scribed. No words can impari a per-
cepiion Of profusion 81 pillars, stand
ing, PROSTATE, inclined against each
other, broken and whole. Stones Of
gigantic size propped mp by pillars.
and pillars again resting upon stones
which appear ready to crush the gazer
under their sudden fall; yet, on 4 sec
ond view, he is convinced that nothing
but an earthquake could move them;
all these pillars, covered with sculp-
ture perhaps three thousand year old,
though fresh rs II finished but yeSier-
day, not Of grotesque and hideous OBJ
jects, such as we are accustomed to
with ideas OF Egyptian myth
ology, but many OF the figures Of gods.
warriors and horses, much larger than
life, yet exhibiting surprising beauty
and grace"
Tentyra, or Dendera, is farther
down the river. Ii Is generally adj
mitted that IFS monuments are not
so ancient as those Of other parts Of
Egypt. To this. however, vast and
telling exceptions have been taken.
To a reader who has not seen
an Egyptian temple it might
he easiest 10 state that il is
similar TO any other; yet some
erudite travellers have discovered
in the carved figures a close resem-
blance TO those seen in India, and il
Is At this very temple Of TenIyra that
the Sepoys in British servicel
pr0trGted themselves before the
Egyptian deities. adoring them in
their accustomed way, thinking that
what was before them was theirOwn
gods; in fact, they were indignant
mat the natives should have thus
neglected their Sacred shrine. This
tends TO strengthen
the idea that ia many things, rs
well as in theology, there Is a strong
affinity between the ancient Egyp-
.ians and the modern HiudOos.
Farther alClg are other things
hardly worth describing alongside
1f m account Of the former.
The weather Is extremely hot
here now. G. U. l..