Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1904-01-29
D38T
PAVILION FOUR THOUSAND YEARS OLD

bogus antiquities prosecuting you on every
side. AHMED drove them away with
furious charge, but the brown and hungry
locking Arab grave robbers squatted calmly
down on the sand a little way off with
their strings of beads. tissue paper rolls of
scarabs, and cigar boxes filled with gods,
masks. lamps, coins and other relics.
There is no occa sion for them to manu-
facture antiquities here, because the ruins
of Thebes are an inexhaustible mine. Hun
dreds of families live rent free among tine
ancient walls and spend their days search
ing for treasures and lying in wait Tor
tourists They can see them far away
across the sands and bring their stock in
trade to meet them. Some are grave-nJed,
digniied men. with stately strides, whose
appearance is made more impressive by
their long, white robes and ample turDahs.
But the most of them hali-naked
wretches hungry and hollow-eyed, who
barely live upon this uncertain sort OF
business. And their persistence is worthy
of commentator. You remember the Ola
lady whose kindness OF heart gave her a
reputation of always speaking well OF
everybody, and when her son remarked that
Mother would find something goo1 IN
Sa tan himself replied:
YES we ought to admire and lmita-a
his perseverance,.
when 1 came out of the hotel the other
day / was lmmeQldleiy SuTTOuHucu NY q
group of Arabs who rendered their services
as guides and interpreters, and offered all
sorts of curios from the ancient tombs
which they drew from mysterious deposit
them as clearly as could that had mere
ly come out for walk and only wanted TO
be let alone, but when / started down the
street five of them escorted me. First to
the donkey market, then to the new build
ing which is being erected by the United
Presbyterian Mission for girls school,
and finally to the house OF Mr. Murch, an
American missionary. l must have remain
ed there for more than an hour, but when
1 came out my escort We're still squatting
silently in the sun and followed me back
to the hotel, where they demanded back
sheesh as compensation for acting as my
guides about the city.
Temple of Hat-Su.
The Temple of Hat-su is one of the most
remarkable and the best preserved In all
Egypt. 1t is called Der el-bahari, and was
built about 1900 B. C. by the greatest of all
the Egyptian queens as private chapel for
the worship of herself and her father,
Thothmes I. 1t occupies wide, open space,
with a background of cliffs which divide it
from the gorge that leads to the tonbs of
the kings. 1 described that to you yester-
day. The temple is built in terraces. and
was once surrounded by a wall, which has
disappeared, and was approached through
a long avenue, with rows of sphinxes on
either side. The approach was ], 500 feet
long and ~ feet wide. The temple was dis
covered as long ago as 1885, but was net
cleared of rubbish and sand until 1858. The
pillars and columns are almost perfect, and
are among the most curious of all the ar
chitecturai varieties in Egypt. The walls are
covered with historical decorations, accord
ing to the usual custom, which relate the
achievements and proclaim the virtues of
this great queen. whose energy, ability and
H. 40 hos ro<t
the Great of Russia. But wherever her pic
ture or her name appeared upon the walls
they were erased by Thotbmes III, her half
brother, ward and successor upon the
throne, the meanest in Egyptian history,
who was mean enough to be guilty of this
vandalism to spite a dead woman of whom
he was jealous. Her grandson, Amen-he-
tep II, tried to repair the mischief as far
as he could, but was not very successful,
and added his own name wherever possible.
This wonderful woman deserves a little
notice. She was the daughter of Thothmes
l, who reigned from 1853 to 1900 B. c., and
OF his half-sister Aahmes Her father had
two other wives. one of whom a woman of
low rank, bore him a son. who became
Thothmes III. While he was child his
stepsister was made his guardian. From
the records the walls we learn that she
married Thothmes II. another half-brother,
and succeeded her husband on the throne
at early age, and that she always
dressed in masculine attire and wore q
false beard, SO that many of her subjects
were deceived into supposing that she was
a man. She reigned for sixteen eventful
years and gained great glory for Egypt.
She extended the boundaries of the en-
pire, carried on foreign wars, improved the
irrigation system, encouraged commerce,
erected temples and other buidings-amoug
them the two great obelisks at Karnak, 3S
and 1O5 feet in height, which were hewn
out OF the granite quarry at Ass0uan, ard
covered with FURNISHED copper so that they
dazzled the eyes of the people at great
distance. They were I'm honor of her father.
Hat-su is not so well known as Cleo
patra VII, but from all we know of her she
was a much better woman.
After the death of Trothmes IL, her hus-
band, Hat-su. continued in power much to
the disappointment and chagrin of Thoth-
mes III, her half-brother, his natural and
lawful successor. She had no sons, and
when he finally succeeded her to the throne
after her death he gratified the spite of
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