The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1899-10-22
A|NE FALLEN COLUMNS
Ofthe Great Temple of Kar-
max Recall the Times
WHEN THE HUGEST PILE
That Ever Was in the World
Was Erected.
WHEN THE HUGEST PILE

Ldb4S Di4IlSS US tuS news l+idI A44.'1 % '4-S
massive columns il the Hypostyle Hal
Of the Te.ople If Karnak fell 10 the
ground. To most of US this announce
ment bears little significance, for we
don't know anything about Karnak, and
much less about its columns.
The fact is that the Temple of Karnak
was the grandest of all the temples in
ancient Egypt, that land of magnificent
buildings. With all Of our boasted ad-
vancement in science and art, there is no
building in the World to compare with
this temple, standing in ruins as it does.
i is considered by experts 1.-The noblest
effort Of architectural magnifcance ever
PRODUCED by the hand Of man" The his
tory Of the greatest period Of Egypt is
woven into and through this great build
ing, upon which the Pharaohs of one
thousand years lavished their wealth and
devotion.
1t was founded by Usertsen /, 200 B. c,
but we have not any of the remains Of
this magnificent building; only an in
scription found in Thebes proves that
there ever was such a temple at this
spot When Thothmes l. came into power
lie built a magnificent temple around the
old sanctuary. Thothmes III. contribut-
ed his share towards the extension OF
the temple and its walls; but it was in
that nineteenth dynasty, when Egypt
flourished as never before, that Seti 1.
completed the magnificent hall whose as
bar
been the wonder of all succeeding ages.
The constant additions and enlarge
nents made the Temple of Karnak fin
ally the greatest in the land-370 feet
wide and 1900 feet deep, covering an area
twice that Of st. Peters at Rome, and
more than four times that of any me-
diaeval cathedral The circumference Of
the temple was one mile and three-quar-
tiers, the walls were eighty feet high and
twenty-five feet thick at the base.
The great temple is entered by the
western portal. through an immense gate
way, with its thanking pyIons. This
propylon is $40 feet in breadth, with one
tower standing 40 feet high. Passing
through the pyIons of these towers a
large open court is entered, 275x329 feet,
with a covered corridor on either side
and a double line of columns down the
centre. One hundred and thirty-four col
ossaI columns once supported the roof
which al the centre was seventy-six feet
high.
In this central portion twelve pillars, of
larger. proportions than the others, form
the avenue. These columns are II feet
IL srcbas IN diapoa+ar ap6 mara rhoy, %
feet in circumference. Six men with ex-
tended arms coulI hardly reach around
one Of them. No building in the world
has such massive pillars as these. Each
one is 70 feet high. The French authori-
ties state that the Cathedral of Nortre
Dame as Paris could be placed within
this hall without touching the walls.
It IS nine of these tremendous pillars
which the cabde reports have fallen from
their bases. The cause is not given, but
g. is probably a combination of causes
Much of the Temple Of Karnak has hIth-
erto been destroyed by the action of wind
and weather. together with the annual
overflow of the Nile, for it stood not far
from the bank Of that river. There is an
additional cause. however-one distinct
lively Of the nineteenth century-for in the
little town of Karnak. near the temple,
are some gunpowder factories, and it is
more than probable that through numer-
Gus explosions, unavoidable IN such es
Adjustments, these great relics Of four
thousand years ago have been laid in The
sand.
The interest which centres in so grand
q monument as the Temple of Karnak Is
not merely that Of scholars and Of arch
biologists. No doubt many wonder how
IL is that such great men as Petrie. Ma
Vile and De Morgan can devote their
lives to the digging and delving amid the
ruins Of bygone generations. What can
they see in those old hieroglyphics and
broken jars. in the leaning pillars and
endless sculptures upon the walls Of the
temHs and temples Of old Egypt2
1t is a fact that during the present cen
fury more has been done TO ascertain the
secrets Of the distant past than in al the
centuries that preceded it. In the eifht-
zenith century. it Is true men travelled in
Egypt. marve}Ied at the Sphinx and Py--
ramids. and TtIhaps wondered ct the
great cteEsks that lowered heaveawa' {.
them rude pictures and inscriptions on
wall and monument. but passed them by
a inexplicable and undressing.
It is due 10 Napoleon and the corps OF
French savans who accompanied him on
his expedition to Egypt that the riddle
was al last solved. and ii was found that
the inscriptions were Of tremendous val
lie as records Of the deeds and lives OF
the kings and people of ancient times.
The copying Of the inscriptions was PLAY
compared with their explanation, and It
vas largely due to the Ingenuity Of the
French sch Ia Crsnpoinon that T.. al
EXPLANATION OF the hieroglypni,s was az
last discovs~sd 1t was then found mt
s0any o. The cta' acters stood for wtlle
words. while others were sylIables only.
and while this made the deciphe-aent Sc
tae inscriptions difficult. II neve- thel2>s
made tx possible. Today there are humid
r5Es OF thousands of men all over the
world who can read Egyptian inscriptions
with ease, Is not facility
But what Is the use % reading these old
writings? Would Won like 70 nn1w what
sort OF men there were that could erect
such building as this Temple of Kar1ak2
How dld the kings rule their subjects:
Who were the gods that We e wor-
shipped here? What vas the life Of the
mass of the people? When was al tbs?
All TO everyone Of these quest 2ns ESP
ran archaeology has more or less con1-
r7,.re replies. During the last one hundred
wears the volumes that have been witt
Ten about the discoveries in Egypt -ise
2, .hl numbers Of Thousands md lens Of