Peninsula enterprise. [volume] (Accomac, Va.) 1881-1965, 1894-07-14
. esgAY EGYPTIAN TEMPLE:
An Account OF tho Excavations That AaS
teen Mnde ct Dcir ell Bahart.

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An Account OF tho Excavations That AaSe
taeet Nude ct Dcir ell Bahart.
Butlt for the worship Of o dead man,
like oil the great fanes on the lett pank
of the Nile ct Thebes, the temple at
DER 81 Bahari has no progressive pS
tional characees. Successive dynasties
have not altered nor enlarged It 1s re-
mains an expression Of single per1oo'
tho zenith Of Egyptian greatness It's
histoz. as building Is comprised III the
additions that the queen hersen mace
to her own paan and the mutilation OF
her names and titles by order OF her
yenseful nephew. The hereto Ameno"
phis hacked out here. as everywhere,
the figures and names of Amen Ra; here
as everywhere the inevitable Rameses
II restored them In style unworthy OF
the first hand In neglectful times the
mountain was allowed to slip and break
in roofs and ill up courts a Coptdo
convent built over part Of the highest
terrace, added its rubbish to the mounds
formed already over the lower levels
Hardly o third of the whole temple was
visible two years ago. and the rest
seemed doomed to lie forever under 80
feet Of earth and stone
The Egypt exploration fund. howey.
or, came to the rescue In the early part
Of last year, and with zoo men and o
Decauville tramway succeeded in clear-
ing the greater part Of the highest ter
race before the hot season began. The
finds made In the process We're ns re-
markable as unexpected The buried
north end, instead OF being symmetrical
with the south, as Marietta he'd sup
posed, upheld the general character Ct
Egyptian buildings by being utterly M
symmetrical and abnormal. To balance
the small chambers OF offerings" ON
the south there was found on the north
q large hall, in the inner part Of which
rose q high altar dedicated to Rarmachis
BY the queen The displaced stones have
been built In again now, and the great
platform Of brilliant white limestone,
with Its frieze OF hieroglyphics and Its
graduated ascent, stands almost as COM
plete as Ii ever did, the only such altar
extant IN all Egypt Beside 1t little
Itinerary chapel runs into the rock, Its
walls q marvel of brilliant coloring.
During the present season operations
have been carried on with larger staff,
including two artists, 10 reproduce the
SCULPTURES for publication. Two hun
dred and fifty men have been set 70 work
ON the great mounds under which the
northern half of the central terrace was
buried, and bit by bit they nre being
carried away IN the Decapville cars to
deep Dit o quarter OF a-snile away Pillar
by pillar the graceful colonnade which
ran round the north side and northwest
corner Of the terrace Is emerging from
the esrth, Until this year not one per
son IN 8 hundred who visited DER Ell
Bahari knew that it existed. and still
Tower suspected that 1t ended n one OF
the finest painted halls In Egypt soon
TO be opened to light and or.
II is always interesting to watch On
excavation IN Egypt at any stage OF Its
progress, for 50 mnny treasures OF SO
many kinds he everywhere in the pre-,
serving sands Here at Detr Ell Bahari
the Hggers, drawn from Theban Wiz
lagks, have been tomb robbers 10 man
and have lynx eyes for small antiquities
Pecking away ct the lower layers of the
mounds, they let hardly minute pass
without picking up scarabs, emulets-
beads on bits Of that wonderful blue
glazed ware which ranks among the
finest products Of the ancient world
Here fragment Of potsherd, inscribed
with Coptio writing slides down the
earth slope; there rolls limestone chip
covered with Demotio characters, These
are the archives and, 1t seems, also the
library catalogue Of the monastery built
here In the early days Of Christianity,
Now and then refuse heap Is reached
and bits of papyrus, Greek. Demotic
end Coptic. ore taken out in handfuls,
together with broken objects Of every
sort and kind and many precious frag-
ments of scuiptured walls London
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