The times dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1903-1914, 1907-10-13
Copyright, 1907 by Frank G. Car
penter.)

UtutslsJ f
Luxor.
a LII day long have been wander
IN ing through the tombs OF tue
IL kings who ruled Egypt three or
J. 1our thousand years ago. have gone
z down into the subterranean chambers
which the plaraohs who oppressed the
1sraeiites dug out of the solid rocks
FOR their burial vaults aud have WIS.,
itea the tornbs of other kings even old
or than they. The last resting places
of more than fifty of these monarchs
OF early Egypt have already been dis
covered: and the work is still going on.
with new finds of historical value
every year
Yankee Explorers In Egypt.
some of the best excavation Is being
done by Americans. This is the case
ali along the Nile valley. While at
cairo i found the money of Harvard
College and tho Boston: Museum I'M
covering the cemeteries of the nabops
and paupers who We're buried under
tho shadow of the Great Pyramid sof
Gizeh at the time of King Cheops. me
Egyptian exploration fund WHICH is
supported by Great Britain Canada
and the United states. has small
army operating near Luxor. ana
large part of the valley in which these
royal tombs lie is now III the hands OF
Theodore NJ. Davis, wealthy Ameri-
can. who has his lnborers busy AL WIN
ter long, year after year, digging UP
the debris and looking for these wond-
crful evidences of Egypts past. Dur
ing my trip of to-day / met a young
archcoiogist who is in charge of the
paws excavations, ana it was he whoi
.,1n ftrpttp-li fpruhS of the |
kings and explained the symbols and
pictures on the walls. 1 went to that
part of the valley where the eXcava-
lion is now gong on and took pictures
of n gang of $50 Egyptian men and
boys now working there.
The Valley OF the I<inss.
But first let ME tell you something
about the place which these ancient
Egyptian monarchs selected for their
burials. They wanted TO hide their re-
mains in such a way that posterity
could never find them, and to cover
them so that future generations would
pot imagine that they had their treas
ures lay beneath. Our cemeteries are /
rhosen for the beauty of their sur
We like to turn up gu, |
toes to the daisies and to have the |
green trees whisper q requiem over 1
our heads. The old Egyptian kings 1
wanted the dry. thirsty desert. and /
Trey chose this region. about as far mp /
the Nile valley as cleveland IS inland I
from the Atlantic and fully six miles |
back from the green strip on which +
their people lived. I can imagine no I
place more dreary. At this point the /
Nile is walled on the west by thirsty
limestone mountains. AS far az the /
waters reach the valley is the greenest
of green; but beyond them lies desert /
as drear as any part of the Sahara. I
There is not a blade of grass; not a
hprig OF vegetation of any Kind. There
Is nothing but sand and dry mountains,
tie latter almost as ragged as the |
widest parts Of the Rockies Some
of the stones are built up in great
precipices; in other places there are
tort-llke bluffs and other commissions
OF nature.
Near Old Thebes.
To visit this valley one first comes
10 Luxor, which is at just about on the
site of old Thebes, the capital of
lsgypt in the. days of it's most brilliant
past The city lay on both sides of the
Nile, but Luxor is on the east bank,
and had TO cross the, river in ferry
boat and ride for an hour or so through
The desert before / came into the VAL
ley OF the kings. However, my donkey
boy was a good one and his donkeys
Were young. His name was Joseph,
and the brute / bestrode was called
"Gtnserbread.'
Gingerbread had a slice of skin about
as big as dollar removed from his
rump, and Joseph pricked this spot
from time to time to hurry him on
ward We crossed the green fields.
winding our way in and out along the
canals, until we came to the desert
and entered wild gorge walled with
rocks of yellow limestone and with AL
conglomerate mixture of flint and lime
stone of curious formation. The
gorge shows evidences of having been
cut out by some mighty stream of the
past. There are masses of debris along
the sides%and the way is rough except
on theTroad which has been made by
the explorers.
Looking at the valley from the Nile