The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1906-06-17

Of all the unusual things we saw in 7
Egypt probably the tomb Of Amenhotep !
turned out to be the most interesting.
One morning we rode across the Nile /
from Luxor in a broad and buxOm sail /
boat, climbed on our dOnkeys and rode /
to the west. We followed the narrow
road through the fresh fields of wheat 4
and alfalfa until we struck the desert. /
and then we took a dusty trail which /
leads TO a winding valley, where the /
kings of the eighteenth, nineteenth and /
twentieth dynasties are being dug up. /
This narrow valley, with the steep
hills rising at either side, is sure enough /
bitterness of desolatiOn; not a tree, not |
a shrub. not a blade Of grass, not even /
q stingy little cactus. No wonder the
old kings picked out this valley for a
cemetery Life has no charm in this
, dreary region. Eternal sleep would /
seem to offer peculiar advantages. Aft
er winding through the sun-baked grav- !
eI for about q mile we came TO a set !
Element of houses and a nigh fence
thrown across the roadway Also there
was an electric light plant buzZing
away merrily. The tOmbs Of the kings
ere now strung with incandeScent
lights. Can you beat that for sacrile-
giOuS enterprise
All the important tombs clustered to-
gether here in the valley have been
ODGIGG MlLLtit LL-t last ECAAAAEr 1 IL
drifting sands and the landslides Of
rock and gravel had buried and con-
Cealed the entrances 10 these wonder
full SubteTTauean apartments. and the
work of the explorers has been to clear
away the accumulation OF centuries anG
lug out the hidden treasures. 1t is said
TO be a fascinating game. When AIr.
Davis. the American, made his rich find
in 1905 and first crawIed into a huge
- str
treasures Of mummy cases, chariOts,
gold-lncrusted furniture and rare pot
terIes II is said that he was 50 over
come that he tainted away. We could
VII believe the story, for we very near
i tainted away just from tramping
around through the various subways
TO INSPECT the endless array Of inscrip-
tiOTs.
There IRE forty-one of these royai
tombs that have been discovered and
opened TO date. The less important are
: not lighted, and are mere tunnels lead
ing hack to one OF two bare chambers.
Ifhose really worth visiting are dug far
blck into the hills The halls are SPA
EOuS and brilliantly decorated, and be-
7fpre you get through exploring one Of
tlSm YOU think that you are pretty well
down tOwGrd the center Of the earth.
Mr.. Peasley had read up on the tomb
Of AmanhCtep Third. and wnen we en-
tered it h pushed the regular guide out
Of the way and gave US one of his own
vivid lectures. The native guide lacks
Imagination. His idea Of showing the
traveller a fTOliCsOme time is to point
cut a lot Of paintings in which the de-
ceaS ed is seen travelling across the Nile
In funeral barge Mr. Peasley, on the
other hand. gave US an insight into the
character Of the willy ArnenhOtep.
Now. look at the entrance to this
ton. h - he said y he
new wooden steps. 1T looks as if some
che had been blasting for limestone.
The walls are rough and unfinished.
D Old AmenhOtep figured that If any one
o ever came across the opening TO the
: tomb he would size UP this ordinary
hole in the ground and conclude that il
3 was either cave used as q. stOrehOUSe
or the last resting-place Of some cheap
tWO-doli9r official
After descending some twenty feet we
came to a small chamber which was
rudely fresCOed about half Of the way
around.
DO YOU know why he left this job
unfinished asked Mr.. Peaslev. HE
knew that some day or other an inquis-
tive foreigner would be prOwling
around here trying to uncover ancient
treasures and he put this neaSlY 1T
lie antechamber here to throw Mr. Ar
chaeOlOgist off the scent. He wanted
1t 90 appear that the man who was
buried here had been so Door that he
couldn't complete the decorations And
now I'll show YOU something more foxy
still Come with me down this second
flight of steps to the second chamber"
He led us down another flight to a
tall chamber about the size of u freight
car stood on end.
when the French explorers opened
this place in 1908 the chamber which