The Black Hills union. [volume] (Rapid City, Pennington County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1889-1904, 1899-03-31
direction of Geor-

ges Legrain, a restoration which Is this
moment in progress CA word as to the
scene of these magnificent operations.)
1t is the site of Thebes, the city Of
100 gates, the great metropolis Of an
cient Egypt, the home OF kings. On
the left bank Of the Nile rise the ruins
of Karnak and Luxor, on the right
those of Goumah and Medinet-Abon.
Around them, stretching into the des-
ert, are monuments of less Importance
which make the vast plain where this
wonderful ancient city stood a Gem
etery Of granite colossi. Laid waste
by the Persans under Cambyses, by
fanatical Arabs and by the equally
fanatical Christians Of Egypt, racked
and torn by earthquakes and floods,
the Sphinx, the gigantic columns and
the obelisks, still raise their proud
fronts to the sun silent witnesses Of
the strength and grandeur of a lost
civilization.
The great temple Of Karnak was
raised in honor Of Anon, the Egyptian
god Of generation. Twenty-four thou
sane years before Christ the first
sanctuary to the god was built by
Osirtaser l. Like the Delphic temple
in Greece this temple became imme-
diately the national monument Of
Egypt and every sovereign; Of each sue
ceeding dynasty had but n great aim
to mark his reign by identifying the
temples which had been erected by his
predecessors or by constructing new
buildings, whose size and dignity
should eclipse all those which had
been raised by countless toiling slaves
OF former kings.
It was this ambition which drove
Thoutmes II. to raise the obelisks, mar
wells Of airy grace, one Of which stands
today in New York, one in London
and one in Paris. 1t was this which
impelled his son, Thoutmes Ill, to
build the famous palace, to rebuild in
granite the more modern sanctuary of
Osirtaser and to construct the massive
promenade" with which his name is
associated by Psychologists and which
Ill 10TH As Nv PAA1oA uA1u ll1ICl plO.
totype Of the galleries or side aisles of
the stately cathedrals Of early Gothic
architecture.
Under the various Rameses came
the apotheosis Of Egyptian archi-
lecture. The temple, with it's roof
supported by a forest of pillars, was
their achievement, and the construc-
ton OF the pyramids seems no less the
work Of Titanic beings than these be-
wildering commands dimly lit by win
dows in the roof simply made by omit
ting columns and their supporting
slabs Of stone here and there in the
vast sanctuary. Never has this work,
completed by Rameses III, 1900 years
before Christ, surpassed. Three CEN
turtles later the last Of the Pharaohs
endeavorsd in vain to surpass this
truly inimitable chef d'oeuvre. Their
work, the new hypostyle, as this grand
style or architecture is termed. re-
manned unfinished. Eight columns
alone rise In gloomy majesty, witnesses
Of the attempt to achieve the impos-
sible.
Until 1895 the temple was three
quarters buried under a mountain Of
the accumulated debris OF centuries.
Marietta. the archaeological genius,
did not think It could be removed
Without . collapse Of the structure up
on Itself. S
But Jyegrain took charge and by the
lfmpIe means Of inclined planes and
'n4e derricks ot wood worked by the
eaahs without the aid$ot steam pow
has done the proclaimed impos-