Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-20
VISIT TO THE SPHINX
Mystery Of the Great Relic
Revealed.
GREAT ENIGMA SOLVED
COLOSSAL IMAGE OF THE CON-
oUERoR OF DARKNESS.
Pyramids in the Neighborhood of Cairo
Tho Guides, the Donkey Men
and the Beggars.
BY WILLIAM e. CURTIS.

BY WILLIAM q. CURTIS.
Special Correspondence of The Evening Star and
Chicago Record Herald.
CAIRO. December p, 1903.
The Sphinx is no longer a mystery nor
was it intended to represent woman The
inquisitiveness of modern antiquarians has
solved the greatest enigma that ever per-
picked mankind. No other relic of an
tiquity has been the object of more discus
sion or the subject of wilder theories, leg
ends and superstitions. During the last two
thousand years a whole library of books
has been written about it. and at times con-
troversies as to it's age, significance and
purpose have been very active. While its
age Is still unknown, and no facts connect
ed with its origin have come down to u.s.
yet within the last few years Psychologists
have shown that it Is nothing but a colossal
image or portrait of Ra-Harmachis. God of
the Morning, Conaueror of Darkness, and
hence it faces the rising sun.
This was recently disclosed by inscrip
tons discovered upon the walls of temple
which lies underneath and around the
Sphinx and the discovery was largely due
to Colonel Ram an American scholar who
has been engaged for several years in ex-
cavations there. He has uncovered the
foundations of the great statue and has
brought to light many interesting features
which until recently were unknown. The
temple surrounding the base was intended
for the worship OF Harmachis and several
chambers hewn in the rock were the tombs
of kings and priests devoted to his worship
In 1896 Colonel Ram discovered stone cap
with a sacred asp carved on the forehead
which once covered the head of the Sphinx
like a royal helmet. and must have added
immensely to its grandeur. particularly II
1t was gilded. as Colonel Ram believes.
The Sphinx is not an Independent struc-
ture. The body and head are actually hewn
out Of the solid rock, but much sandstone
masonry was built in TO make the outlines
perfect and cover defects in the material.
This reinforcement of the original rock Is
very apparent now to a close observer, but
originally they were concealed for Scien-
fists believe that the entire image was once
covered with enamel Indeed 1t is yet pos
sible to find fragments still adhering to the
surface which resemble the porcelain tiles
found in tombS and the ruins of the ancient
palaces Several private collectors and
some museums have large blocks of most
brilliant coloring and artistic design, and
from them we can imagine what an impos-
ing spectacle the great statue must have
been before the PersianS and the Moham-
medans destroyed its glory.
Blank Of Expression.
While 1t is still an impressive picture 1t
has no beauty whatever. The nose, the lips
and other features have been mutilated by
vandals, among whom the French soldiers
under Napoleon are said to have been the
most vicious, but the DETACHMENT began be-
fore the Christian era, when Cambyses In
yaded Egypt and made 1t province of the
Persian empire. The expression upon the
face of the great being statue Is blank
Poets and imaginative people have eXpend-
ed much eloquence in describing lines when
do not appear and are purely fancffuI. ana
we have been told again and again that the
k,,ln antni n II
ideal of mystery In stone" One writer
that 1 read the other day described 1t as
having "a comeliness not of this world
"a mold of beauty now forgotten-forgot-
ten because Greece drew forth Cythrea
from the flashing foam of the Aegean and
in her image created new forms of beauty"
While this sounds fine 1t Is preposterous
rot. There is no more expression about the
face of the Sphinx than there would be In
any sandstone image that has been hit
square in the nose by 3O0-pound shot fired
from a French cannon and had it's features
scattered over a square mile of desert
But, nevertheless, there Is a fascination
about this great statue that cannot be
avoided and one will go again and again,
and as often as possible, to look at its
shapeless face and monstrous figure. which
rises from the sand against the amber sky
The body Of the Sphinx, which resembles
that of lion, is $50 feet long: the paws and
legs, which are stretched out in front, are
so feet long: the head is 80 feet from the
neck upward the face Is IA feet wide, and
the whole figure 70 feet high. 1t Is be-
leved to have been built long before the
pyramids for inscriptions found within the
temple show that 1t was old at the time OF
Cheops who erected the big pyrmaid 3,7OO
years before Christ. He made many re-
pairs In the temple and upon the image.
and left a record of that fact. There is also
a tablet showing that 1t was repaired by
King Chephren, one of his successors. An
other tablet tells an interesting story. One
day, while he was taking his after dinner
nan, King Thophmes w (B. c. 1899, had a