Mexico weekly ledger., 1902-04-17


Palestine. Each OF which Is repre-
sented by a circular wall enclosing its
name, beneath the upper part OF a
fettered prisoner. The curved noses,
prominent cheek bones and pointed
boards OF the captives clearly identify
them as Hebrews. The goddess which
shishak w%orsnipped appears on the
same wall, holding a club, bow and
culver and leading five rows OF cap
tives with cords. To the right is seen
Shishak himself grasping group of
covering Hebrews by the hair and
shifting them with bis club. The
names of a dozen towns OF Palestine
are on the wall.
ToMBs OF THE KINGS.
II the eastern bank OF the Nile at
Luxor is thus interesting the western
bank is even more so. For here are
the tombs OF the kings, where, in the
awful solitude of the Libyan desert
mountains the Pharaohs made for
themselves tomhs and had their mum
mics laid away. In the rocky gorge is
a sublimity unmatched elsewhere in
the Nile valley. Life seems almost
non-existent, only wild animals being
in the wilderness. These tombs date
back to 1900 B. G. and are immense
chambers cut from the solid rock,
beautifully decorated with frescoes
and carved reliefs. Figures OF gods
and other representations are crowded
upon every wall and in the final
chamber is the abiding place Of the
granite sarcophagus in which the body
of the king WA deposited. We saw
the more notable tombs, that of Seth
oSI, being especially line. The tomb
Of RameseS the Great is filled up with
rubbish. Egyptians were at work put
ting in an electric light plant so that
the tombs might be more readily in
spected and next year the tourist may
gaze by the rays of an electric chande-
lier at the s~arcophagus Of a king who
died 1900 years agu! Should he come
back from the under world, in the sa-
cred boat so often reproduced upon
the walls of his tomb, he would not
recognize his sepulcher.
Some distance away from the tombs
Of the kings are the tombs Of other
but lesser dignitaries of the same age.
These tombs are not so large but the
decorations are better preserved.
Several Of these tombs are occupied
as residences by Egyptian fellaheen or
peasants. Near these tombs are an
Gent temples while a few hundred
yards away in a fertile wheat field are
the giant statues of Memn0n-so call
ed-and the Ramesseum or Temple Of
Rameses. One Of the two statues Of
MemnOn was fablsd to sing in the
early morning. Its base is covered
with poetical inscriptions scratched
in the soft stone by visitors from the
days Of Hadraian's p~oet-laureate, who
wrote the most numerous Stanzas and
the worst
The ride homeward by sunset from
the tombs Of the kings, to the feleke
in which we crossed the Nile, was one
Of the event. Of our Egyptian visit. II
Is a eyer-to-be-forgotten sight, with
its glorious colors and the historic as
sociations OF the beautiful panorama
spread before ones eyes.
THE LAND OF GOSHEN AND THE sUIz
CANAL.
We returned to Cairo by the fast
express train and had another busy
day in that fascinating capital. The
citadel, the mosque Of Mohammend
Ali, the ancient Coptic church, now
underground in which services are
still held and where Joseph and Mary
are said to have taken refuge, were
among the sights Of this last day. The
following morning we leave for Port
Said.
The railway to Port Said runs
through the land Of Goshen where
Joseph persuaded Pharaoh TO locate
bis old father Jacob and his repentant
brethren. Much Of the land is desert
now by the change in the current Of
the Nile and the alteration of the
canals. Other portions are still Of the
fertility which the shepherds Of old
time 80 greatly desired. Oddly enough
there are said to be no Jews in Goshen
now. But the shepherds one may see
from the train windows and the
peasants met at the various stations
are dressed as in the Bible day and
one might reproduce the scenes Of
that age from the views Of to-day. The
Kodaker could illustrate a descrip-
tiOn Of Jacobs shepherd life In Goshen
with bis modern photography. Near
Ziklag where we stopped for a brief
space are the ruins Of the treasure
cities Of Pithom and Raamses, which
the Jews built under compulsiun for
a later Pharaoh who knew not Joseph.
Along this same railway line are ruins
Of Bubasbls, the ancient city to which
Ezekiel refers with its lieentiOus
worship. The road runs by the side
Of the Freshwater Canal, which was
built 10 furnish water for the lab0rers
on the Suez Canal and which occupies
the site Of another ditch constructed
In the fourteenth century before
Christ. We saw also Tel-el- Kehr,
where the British troops defeated and
overthrow the rebellion under Arab
Pasha and thereby obtained the hold
upon Egypt which they will never
voluntarily relinquish.
After leaving Ismailia the railway,
now a narrow-gause, runs along the
western bank Of the Suez Canal to
Port Said. The Suez canal, dug
through the desert by the enforced
labor Of Egyptians. is probably more
valuable TO commerce than any other
modern work Of man. The canal Is
sometimes IN plain view at the side OF
the rad and again Is partially hidden
by embankments. Suddenly from be-
hind one Of the embankments a great
British ship doomed into sight. appar. p,
traverslng the desert itself. To
iee such q ship move across the sand,
Inc canal not being 10 sight, is about
IS startling a spectacle as though one :
would meet 80 American man-of-war'
calmly aerass a meadow in
he Two-Mile Prairie. The suez