Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-10-12

ono and his donkeys were young His
lNmt was Joseph. and the brute !
hcstrodo was called Gingerbread"
Gingerbread had slice Of skin
about ae big as a dollar removed from
nus rump. and Joseph prickcd this
spot irom time Co time to hurry him
onward We crossed the green fields,
winding our way in and out along
lhe canals, until we came TO the des-
crt and entered a wild gorge walled
with rocks Of yellow limestone and
with O. conglomorate mixture OF flint
ana limestone OF curious formation.
In. gorge shows evidences of having
been cut out by some mighty stream
uf thc past There are masses Of
debri, along tho sides and the way
ls rough except on tho road which
has lecn made by the explorers.
Looking az the valley from the Nile
One would suppose that % was any
thDg other thao O desert gorgc, and
o. was not until I was right in 10
thot I rcplizcd it was a cemetery.
7 here are no grave stones or moDu-
uonts. ana the kings obluCrated eve
cry sign that might indicate their
burial places. They dug out great
chambers under tho bed ~ this dried
ur river and arranged cisterns for
their nrorcr drainage but. when they
Lau finished, thoy left everything as
their tomhs remained for ages un-
touched and unknown
~ THE rOMBs
From time TO time however. one
or another was discovered uv future
generations Strlho. the Greek gee
csraphCr, who was alive when Christ
was born, speaks Of 80 of thom as ro-
Ing worthy of @ visit and others are
Do. d
,uE our generation most oft them
were again lost and it was not until
some Arab grave robbers began to sell
curious antiquities that 10 was found
lnai the t0mbs had again been dis
covered and were being rincd Iy these
fanIals Tho arCheologists thon went
t' work. and their explorations have
resulted in the opening mp of tomb
'ltef tomb, until we now have what
might Doe called "a subterrancan city
" tho dead right here ln the heart
OF the Libyau desert.
The tombs are nothing like our burial
vaults. They are large rooms cut out
OF the solid rock, with walls as straight
and US smooth as those of mason.
They are reached by many steps. going
down Inclined planes until they hiring
you far below tho surface OF the valley
aud away down under the mountains.
Each king had his own tomb. and be-
decorated 80 with sketches and paint
irgs representing the life of his time.
The ceilings are beautiful From some
OF them the figures Of gods and god
desses look down upon you. Others are
colored in geometric lines, and iu some
men and women are carved On baS-re-
liefs out of the solid rock and then
painted. Many Of the scenes are re-
ligiOus, and from them the Egyptolo-
gist Is able 10 tell Us what the people
Of that day believed. They also show
how they worked and lived when our
remotest ancestors were savagcs I'm the
wilds Of Europe and Asia.
In some OF the tombs 7 saw the mas
sive stone boxes in which the mummies
OF the dead kings lay ] measured one
which was 10 feet long six feet wide
and eight feet high. II was followed
out Of a solid block Of granite, and Il
weighs many tons. That mighty burial
casket was cut out OF the quarries Of
Assouan. far above here. on the banks
Of the Nile. II must have been brought
down the river on a barge and carried
70 this place. When IL was on the
ground II had TO be lowered down into
the vault, and that without modern
As ! went through the
tombs I saw several such caskets, and
the archeologist who guided me showed
me the holes In the stone walls OF the
entrance ways where beams had been
put across in order that ropes might
be used 10 prevent these stone masses