The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-10-21
Tine SDhiuy DiSapppnrinS.

The marvellous way III which the
monuments of the past have been pre-
served in Egypt is due chiefly to its
rainless climate. For ages the regions
of the Lower Nile were watered sole
lv by the river, and beyond the limits
of its annual overflow the ground was
perfectly dry. The tins left ny Napole-
0n's army lay on the sand for nearly
century, bright and unrusted.
But the climate of Egypt is gradu-
! ally changing. Extensive tree plant
ing has gone on for long time past.
the irrigation works have produced
moist aud fertile land where formerly
stretched the barren desert. Thus
rain is gradually being attracted, and
while few years ago shower was
novelty. there are now considerable
falls Of rain.
The effect is seen in the crumbling
of the Great Sphinx at Gizeh, near
the Great Pyramid. This vast mon
ument is l72I 'eet in length and 5G
feet high, hewn out of projecting
spur Of the rock which rlars out OF
the sand. The head is sculptured,
and represents woman IN the old
Egyptian headdress, the body being
that of lion. formed by the natural
reef of porphyry, with additions of
masonry to complete the shape. For
more than a generation the monu-
ment has been more or less detaced
owing largely to the attention of ear
y tourists and the nose has long been
absent. But now the rain is begin
ming to assist in destroying the
Sphinx. The wet softens the surface
of the stone, and fierce sand storms
then grind the outer surface away.
The Great Sphinx is not the only
one of that kind; numerous specimens
great and small, having been found
among the remains of Egyptian, AS
syrian, and Grecian art. The older
Egyptian SphinXes were wingless,
like that of Gizeh, but there were
many others which had wings. Some
of the heads were female, others
bearded, and there were SphinXes
with the head of hawk or ram.
From the earliset times there has
beenspeculation as to the meaning OF
this curious symbolic figure. The
name "SphinX" was given to it by the
Greeks and means literally 1.-THE
Stranger" From the fact that
Sphinxes appear commonly on an
cient tombs, and are represented as
treading on or carrying away a man
or child, there seems some reason to
believe that the figure was first i'll
tended as a symbol Of death, but
other explanations have been given
which may hold good of SphinXes
made in later times. Thus the lions
body and mans head have been held
to Symbolic the combination of
strength and intellect in some divin-
ity, and the Sphinx has also been
taken as denoting the resurrection.
A chapel and altar found early in the
last century in front of the Great
Sphinx would suggest that the figure
represented an ancient deity.
The Greeks, while continuing 10
represent the Sphinx in their art, had
a story with regard to it which was
evidently only poetical fable, and
showed that the real meaning of the
figure was lost. The story was that
on rocky mountain near Thebes
dwelt a creature with the face of a
virgin, the body of a lion, the wings
of bird, and the tail of a serpent,
which had been given riddle by
the MUSES., and had power to destroy
and devOur mankind till the riddle
was solved. Every traveller failing to
solve the riddle was devoured, and
this was the riddle: "What creature
Is it that goes on four legs at day
break, on two at noon, and on three
at night?n
Finally O'Edipus solved the riddle
saying man was the creature, for as a
baby he crawled, in his prime he
walked, and in his old age he hobbled
along with a staff. On hearing the
answer the Sphinx threw herself from
her rocky mountain and was killed.
The Sphinx continued for many
centuries favorite subject of art, and
is found on coins, in relief sculptures
and decoration of arms and
furniture.