Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-28

Thebes, which, here and there, are covered
with mud novels occupied by the peasants
who till the land Camels donkeys, dogs
chickens, pigeons, men, women and children
all live together in peace and happiness
and we passed by their humble habta-
tons they, the womeAs and naked children,
came out in swarms, demanding backsheesh
One we'll dressed girl carrying baby upon
her shoulder, ran along beside us chatter
ing in good English and offering strings of
beads, scarabs images of stone and clay,
of which the tombs had been plundered.
She would not leave US, but kept running
until We each purchased trif1es from her
store To emphasize her appeal. this cum
ming student of human nature told me that
she was trying to raise money to send the
little child on her shoulder to school.
AS we left the desert plain we entered
weird gorge inclosed by limestone walls
from 100 to 800 feet high, and they grew
higher as we passed along. The roadway
was perfectly smooth and in excellent con-
dition, although it was laid by one of the
Pharaohs more than 800 years before the
Christian era. 1t had been repaired, how
ever, and Shinty chips that had been blown
from the hillsides had been swept off about
year ago in honor of the Duke and Ouch
ess of Connaught, who came out here dur
ing their visit at the time of the opening of
the big dam on the Nile last year.
The sun was very hot but the air was
cool. and as long as our heads were protect
ed by pith helmets and umbrellas we did
the glare from the sand and the rock was
rather painful to the eyes. There was no
sign of life but an occasional lizard which
scampered from under the feet of the dom
Keys. Not even a green thing could be seen
in any direction; nor had single plant or
blade of grass ever grown in that desolate
region since the creation of the world. We
have many similar places in Arizona, New
Mexico, Utah and other parts of the south
west, and l reminded constantly of
their desolaton.
The Gate of the Sultan.
After a mile or two the walls of the gorge
had come together until it was quite mar
row, and in one place it was plain that
the first Pharaoh who chose his burial place
in this weird corner of the world was COM
PEELED to cut away 4 natural barrier of
rocks on either side in order to reach the
secluded amphtheater in which the tombs
were made. This pass is called Bab-el-mo-
look the gate of the sultan), and once
through it, after passing a sharp curve, the
hills suddenly grew into mountains, and we
entered upon what looks like monstrous
abandoned granite quarry shut In on all
sides by towering precipices, and behind
them, stage after stage, rise peaks that
finally reach 1000 feet above the level of
the plain. There is no other entrance to the
amphitheater. There is no other exit unless
one cares to climb what seems an impass-
able mOuntainSide.
be no more appropriate site for the tombs
of those wicked and proud old despots who
worked their subjects 10 death by thous-
ands, and whose cruelties have never been
eQualed by any other race. 1t Is the ideal
of desoation and silence. and you might
easily imagine that the fires of hell had
blazed here once, had consumed everything,
and had become extinguished by eXhaus-
ton.
Guard Always Kept.
lt11
tent upon a little mound beside it where
guard is always kept to prevent the Arabs
from robbng the tomGs. The shiek,
stately looking person, with monstrous
turban and a white sheet hanging over his
shoulders down to the thighs of his long,
bare brown legs, came forward to the gate,
raised his fingers to his brow in respect ana
received the tickets we had purchased at
the hotel before coming away Every Vlsl-
tor must pay a trifie OF toll, and 1t is an
excellent regulation because the money IS
expended in maintaining the GUARDS ana III
running twelve-nOrsc- power electlc oS-
namo which Eliminates SIX OF the Sfahdest
tombs Formerly you had to grope along
with a candle In your hand; now 1t is IKE
entering modern ball room
Could anything be more inconsruous
What genius could suggest a more stflkii's
contrast between the twentieth century pc
fore the birth of Christ and the twentieth
century after? The tombs of the Pharaohs
brilliant with electric lights!
Down in the depths of the earth, IN
beautifully decorated vault, which you
reach after passing through 400 feet of tun-
mel twenty feet wide and twenty feet high,
cut by unknown tools into the bosom OF a
granite mountain, lies King Amenhetep OF
the twenty-eighth dynasty tB. {. 1IoO) IN
carved and painted coffin, with sixteen
candle power bulb suspended within tWelVe
inches of his royal nose. a concaVe re
f1ector focuses the rays of light upon MS
face with startling effect. You can even
catch a CLEAN of his teeth between his
ebony lips, which bear the faintest sort OF
a smile.
But his majesty sleeps on Even that
flood of light upon his face does not dis
turb his peaceful slumbers. He Is never
restless. He never rolls over in his narrow
bed. but lies there in silent dignity like
Harold Haafgar the first of the Danes, in
his castle at Elsnor, who has lain so long
without stirring that his big white beard is
frozen to the floor. This Egyptian king
has his hands folded over his heart in the
all been removed from his body, and his
entire frame lis exposed, a skeleton in
ebony.
Regardless of the incongruity, which must
always be apparent, these electric lights
are an inestimable advantage to scientific
men who come here to study the paintings
and ensravings upon the walls of these
tombs. Each tomb contains the life his
tory of its occupants in close cut columns
of text with copious illustrations, book
advertisements say, and often the theolog-
zeal views of the dead are explained with
wonderful clearness
In the midst of this most fascinating and
most wonderful of wonders you cannot de-
cline to see the humor of sign boards that
hang in conspicuous places admonishing
all whom 1t may concern that, by order of
the director of antiquities, visitors are al
lowed to eat their luncheons in only one