The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1897-11-21
MYSTERY NO MORE
GREAT EGYPTIAN SECRET Is A
SECRET New no LONGER.

the Deserts. IL Unearthed Showing the
Exact Process by Which the People of
the Hoary Past Moved the Gigantic
ObeIisks Into Piace-Great FIotiIla Of
Boats Called Into Use-Their Pictur-
ssque Passage Up the Nile-Story of the
Great Feat.
Where did the ancient Egyptians get the
rgeat masses of stone for their colossal
obeIisks? Ard after they had succeeded in
cutting them from the living rock, how
did they move the great monoliths from
the far off quarries 10 the temples whose
entrances they were to adorn?
For thousands of years this has been
one of the worlds greatest mysteries.
Some of these obeEsks weigh countless hun
dreds of tons-the one standing in Central
Park alone weighing no less than 900
| pounds. How could these ancient people,
| without the use of machinery, have trans
| ported such monument?
The mystery has been revealed. Profess
| sor E,douard Naville, the famous excava-
tor of the Egyptian Exploration Fund has
| unearthed temple wall at the ancient site
of De;r-el-Bahari wflereon the whole meth
| cd is pictured out in the most minute de-
| tail II is picture of stone. glance at
| which clears the mystery Of three thou5-
| and years. The accuracy of the following
| account is vouched for by the secretary
of the Egyptian Exploration Fund OF Bos-
ton. 1t is as follows:
| In excavating alone the crumbing walls
of the buried temple Of Deir-el-Behari we
| came to a SECRETION of the wal wherein
appeared the faint outlines of whaV loked
| to be a great carved picture. Clearing
| away the debris we were surprised 20 find
| that it was picture Of some great nation
al undertaking, for here and there could
be seen the indistinct outlines of men in
| royal attire.
As We gradually brought the surface Of
the wall to view the gigantic carving be-
came more wonderful, until finally 1t stood
out before US a picture destined TO add
now page to the long list Of wonderful
achievements of these remarkable people.
I. was a picture showing the transporting
| of one of their greatest obelisks from the
| place of its quarrying to the temple be-
io,e whose portal it was to stand. Al
! though a number of the blocks that had
cnce formed a part Of The gre1t picture
| had long since fallen from their places,
1
was We secured many of these missir
stores, and putting them together had be-
| fore US the main portion of the original
picture, now badly mutilaate with age, but
! otherwise the same as il undoubtedly ex-
| iste2 when Egypt was IN the zenith of her
| imperial glory.
PICTURED ON STONE.
! II showed an immense barge or vessel
| being towed down the sacre1 Nile by three
! parallel groups of tee boats each. These
! beats were connected by cables, which
were in turn attached to the bows Of the
| great barge behind A large portion of
| these cables in the picv:ure we're lost. but
| enough was left to give r clear Idea Of
| the arrangement. AL The noats in the
/ three groups were exactly alike. They
were of the same size aid Kind snd Joined
| together in the same mcnner. Each CT
| them had thirty-two oarsmen, sixteen to
| a side, and they were all shown bending
their oars in perfect unison. The entire
crew of the fleet, including officers and
| sreersmen, could not have beeen less tnan
one thousand men.
| In the center of the great barge lay the
| obelsk. 1t was moothed off and polished
| all ready 10 be placed in position before
the temple entrance, when the destina-
| ton was reached. Around the picture was
| a broad border, and beneath it line upon
line of inscriptions recording the events
of the great expedition and telling Of the
pomp and pride with which the mighty
fotila glided maiestically down the Nile.
They also described the rejoicing of the
! people when the huge monoEth was land
ed and told of the importance of the I'M
dertaking.
Pcdrt RI oen1NQv IL
Illuminated with descriptions of the gor-
geous splendor in which the fleet probably
moved down the Nile, as suggested by
scenes in the picture, here is the story they
tell:
STORY OF CARVINGS.
The royal house Of Egypt one day three
thousand years ago was thrilled with Joy
through the issuance of an imperial decree
by Queen Hatshepau ordeHng the hewing
out of solid rock Of great obelisk 20 be
Set up before the grand temple at Thebes.
The mighty stone was quarried at Aswan,
and while it was being finished a great
barge was constructed by the Queens
chief builder to float il down the Nile. The
vessel was one hundred and twenty subits
long and forty cubits wide and was of the
nature of raft as well as boat, oeing
ia: bottomed, so that II would better sus-
tain the great weight that was TO be put
upon 1t.
II was rather huge and unwieldly az
foir, but tremendously strong, and was
Quilt of the stoutest beams that could be
procured in all that ancient lond, for its
burden was TO be a most precious one.
Owing TO immense size two sets of stern
rudders were used, to guard against any
possible difficulty when the currents surg
! Io--- <,.I n,a 90
est advantages of the large boat was its
small 1raught OF water. avoiding the dan
ger. only too we'll known 10 those ancient
| travellers on the Nile. of running aground
upon the numerous submerged sand banks
III the course
For this great enterprise the season OF
the inundation was chosen, for then the
Nile was high and the great monument
could be fioated much nearer 10 the temple
door. After the obel.sk was finished the
barge was moored 10 the bank and the
huge stone carefully loaded on IL. Il was
placed lengthwise in the center Of the
barge and upfer a big awning supported
! by four poles. The barge was towed into
the center Of the stream, where the three
groups OF boats lay in waiting, and the
cables were made fast Slowly the groups
! began TO stretch out in line. and soon the
cables were drawn taut. Then al signal
from the pilots the thousand oars pierced
the water, the great barge trembied Ike
| a thing alive and the huge feet began its
journey down the Nile
FLoTILLA OF MoNoLITH.
And what a scene II must have pre-
sented-the water tapping mus:cally in n;-
tie ripples against the polished ssies of
the boats and keeping time 20 the dipping
OF the oars as they rose and fell IN tune
10 the sweet strains that ioate5 ont upon
the air from the royal barge in the rear.
FIrse came three boats They were alone.