The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1899-10-25
ANCIENT PILLARS COLLAPSE.
,xr COLUMNS OF THE KARNAK
TEMPLE GO DOWN.

ronts-One of the Most beautiful
o,,iidinss Left over From EARLY
Duys.
From the Chicago Chronicle.
r-,r, cairo. Egypt. last week came the
long delayed, that nine columns IN
sypostvle hall of the Temple of Kar-
had fallen and that the greater part
Tho temple was in ruins. To the lay
~, f7a announcement did not mean
,,b But it spoke volumes to the arch
..,,oai-t and 10 those patient delivers in
INST of past ages who have made
r-,.,,ologv their study II meant that the
,r,ss- architectural construction in the
.,r,d was in ruins after an existence esti-
c,ted &c from 5000 to 5000 years. Those
.,lnmns which have but now crashed
;,u-r in shapeless masses of sandstone
end dust were carved and raised into place
~, hands which were dust 1000 years be
faro Christ They were part of a struc-
,I.ra which in its very mammoth proper
,5rs has astounded visitors from every
rsrr Of the globe and which is far more
wonderful from every standpoint than its
b.t-er known neighbors, the sphinx and
The pyramids.
The Tempe of Karnak, work for the
restoration of which has been going on for
number of years under the direction of
american. English and French archaeol-
o7ists is perhaps the most interesting ruin
of Egypt 1t was and is the most enor-
nous structure in the world. It's ruins
to-dsv covers many acres. The nucleus
length All of the great rulers of Egypt
from the time of the middle empire over
200 B c.. until after the Roman occupa-
ZION added TO the work from time to time
during a period therefore of over 1000
years.
The temple was approached by three
long avenues of sphinxes. One of these
extended all the way from the Temple of
Luxor on the south, a half hours ride on
donkey, the whole way being lined on
either hand with hundreds of sphinxes
hewn from stone. Seven large temples
surrounded the main temple. The last IS
the sanctuary of Ammon, the throne of
the two lands" 1t is the greatest archi-
tectural construction ever built. You APP
uroach It from either end through a gil
gantc outer gateway Six mighty pylons,
or tower gates, extended in succession
across the shorter dimension of the build
ing The largest of these tower gates is
372 feet wide, 50 feet thick and 40 feet
high Between the first two of these pylons
are the remains of the great court. It is
so large that two considerable temples are
built within it.
From the great court you enter the col
o0uajed hall. a vast structure, the most
supendoUs of all buildings of its kind 1t
Is 3SS feet long and 10 feet wide The
entire Cathedral of Notre Dame, in Paris
might be put into this one hall alone and
leave plenty of room to spare. Its roof
is supported upon sixteen rows of cob
umns 1874 in all; the two central rows of
columns are 60 feet high, 35 feet in cir
conference and Il feet 10 inches in diam
fcr The remaining columns are 4215
feet high and 2713 feet in circumference.
They are all carved with representations
Of deities and kings, once coaored in bright
hues, no place in all the world so thrills
The traveller or makes him at the same
lime so conscious of the vanity of human
greatness.
Behind the great colonnaded hall is
central court Here are still standing two
oboasks-two solid shafts of granite. These
Two are representatives of four-thatis, Two
pairs-which originally stood here. one
ron each pair has fallen. The first pair
was the work of Thothmes I; the second
was erected by his great daughter,
Ha,shepsnut CHatasoo). The standing
obeisk of this latter pair is the largest
IN Egypt being ninety-seven and a half
ieet high, and is notable as being the work
of a woman. Back of the obelisk is the
sanctuary chamber, and behind this are
lew scattered blocks which, as the fruit
81 recent discoveries, are now known to be
the remains of a middle empire temple
Ahtedates Historical Records.
The whole temple is more or less in ruins.
Sa1 heaps Of ruins represent what We're
once beautiful columns and exquisite
sanctuary. The huge pylons are crumb-
ihs az the top and wasting away at the
'ise' Inc remains of dwelling-houses of
sun-lried brick built around the temple by
I1uVes in the Christian period, long since
we temple was deserted. have disintegrat-
20 INTO dust and half covered the outer
walls Even in the great colonnaded hall
mere yet remain immense heaps of debris
me GATE of the building of the temple is
NOT known definitely. 1t had been thought
NY aIchdeolOgists that il was begun by
oe'ee OF the nineteenth dynasty and con-
,rtued Dy his son and successor, Rameses
49, ne great nall commentaries in its
au1t ut and by its sculptures the mag
'.Ieelee aud power of those two pharoahs.
I'VE sculptures of the interior of the walls
present these monarchs making OFFERINGS
,ne gods and We're undoubtedly carved
rUINs a period shortly after their reigns.
WV. Legraln two statues in the ruins
".Iyh 90 far TO confirm the belief, first
e''a"eea by Lepsius. the great German ex.
r'et' ana agreed in by the Frenchman
1'''e ana others, that this vast temple
VAS d gradual growth, probably reaching
.A IN IT'S beginnings to the middle en-
XXX hngs OF the twelfth dynasty. over
-Nn years before Christ.
a., ulese statues one was in alabaster
n Iepresenting the great Theban god
b. ,II.Gn 'ne other, which is of the highest
I-.e sol Ical Importance, was set up by King
az essen in honor of his father in the
sisb,. % Abraham. The alabaster god is
soli5 til leet high and was made from one
,is,rJ po-N OF stone the largest alabaster
me- N The world. He was in three
one a.. Inc head and shoulders were in
feet a,,5 piece the trunk another and the
when "'.I pedestal form the third, the whole
tern.eop9 u' together constituting an eigh-
standing image of the god. /,
Whr r.