Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-06-24

! estes have all been literally fulfilled.
Read them over and you will understand
something Of the condition of Thebes to-
day.
| LUXOR.
! have spoken of Thebes as II 1t still
were in existence. AS a matter of fact.
/ nothing remains of the ancient city ex-
I cept some ruins. The name OF the pres
I ent city is Luxor. 1t is situated on the
eastern bank of the Nile and contains
. population of about 1900 1t is kept
iup largely by winter tourists and con-
! tains some of the finest hotels in all
; Egypt. chief among which is the Winter
I Palace. where our party stopped, ana
which is finely situated on the banks
OF the Nile, overlooking the river in
front and with beautiful gardens in the
rear with serpentine walks-Mrs. Part
ington, you remember, called them tur-
pentine walks-trees, shrubbery, grass.
flowers.
But the special points OF interest
about Thebes or Luxor, are the ruins
showing its ancient glory. or these
there are a number, among the most in
teresting of which are the temples of
Luxor and of Karnak. Let us first visit
the
TEMPLE OF LUXOR.
which is situated in the center of the
city. near the hotel 1t is only a short
walk to IT. 1t was founded by Amend
phis III, and dedicated to Ammon, the
chief god of Thebes. to his wife, Nut,
and their son Khons. the moon god.
The whole structure is $50 feet long
and $50 feet wide. IL included original
ly. like all Egyptian temples, the sane
tuaries with their adjoining rooms and
nnte-chambers, a large hypostyle hall,
and an open peristyle court. Different
Pharaohs added to il. Rameses IL. then
added a large colonnaded court in front
of the completed temple. He replaced
the old reliefs in the sanctuary %
Thotmes III with new ones. and erecteI
a massive pylon, with obelisks and
colossal statues. There were six or
these statues. two sitting and four
standing. Only two of the sitting
statues and one OF the standing remain
in position. The sitting figures are
about As feet in height. In front or
these sitting figures were two obelisKs
in pink granite. One OF them was car
ried to Paris in 1885, and is now in the
Place de la Concorde there. The other
is still standing in its original position.
The inscriptions state that Rameses
II. ''the Pharaoh with many other pre-
tentious titles, founded this gorgeous
The exterior walls of the pylon are
adorned with scenes representing the
battle of Kadesh. which Rameses fought
against the Hittites. The scenes repre-
sent Rameses as gaining a great vic
tory The truth is that he was COM
pletely outgeneraled by the willy and
valorous Hittites, and his army came
or Rameses III and wife. which were
near being anninilated, and was only
saved by the timely arrival of a Butcher
on the field of battle. Rameses was
very fortunate to escape alive, and re-
turned to Egypt as soon as possible. AS
soon as he got back, though, he proceed
ed TO write the history fthe battle,
both here and in the Ramesseum. as we
shall see later, completely falsifying
history. and indulging in the most
bombastic Standardization. This he
did to save his face" as the Chinese
say, with his subjects, and with the
hope that his account of the battle
might be accepted as history by the
world. ue was not alone, Enough. in
this attempt to change history. And
this was the rascal who compelled the
children of Israel to make bricks with
out straw. He is known as the Pha-
raoh of the Oppression. l shall have
more to say about his in the next
article or two. / may aud now that in
this temple Of Luxor there is what is
called the Gerat Court OF Rameses II.
this Pharaoh, which besides numerous
reliefs and inscriptions contains stand
ing colossal figures of Rameses II.
wrought in red granite, except one in
black granite, and averaging % feet in
height The finest is II IL feet high.
On each side of the doorway leading to
the colonnade is a colossal figure of
Rameses in black granite Thus he
meant to perpetuate his memory and
to impress himself on future genera
lions. But he has only succeeded IN
impressing the world with his inordi-
nate vanity, his utter folly, his supreme
selfishness, and his gross cruelty. In
the temple OF Luxor there is also a
sanctuary Of Alexander the Great, SINH
lar in character TO Rameses, but more
successful in war. 1t is curious that,
with nearly 1900 years between them,
these two should have met in the same
temple. After his conquest Of Egypt,
about 332 B. c., Alexander, when he
visited Thebes, and saw this temple
and these monuments TO Rameses, felt
that he ought to figure in the temple,
too and so he rebuilt one OF the cham
bers of the temple and replaced the
original four supporting columns In the
center by a chapel in which the sacred
boat Of Ammon was preserved Inc re-
liefs on the walls, both outside and
inside, represent Alexander before Am
mon and his fellow gods. 1 suppose his
purpose was to gain the favor of the
Egyptians by accommodating himself
to their worship. OF course. he cared
nothing for worship of any kind. 1 am
a little surprised. though. that he did
not erase the name of Rameses on the
statues and walls and substitute his
own name instead That would have
been like him and in accord with the
spirit of the times.
After the introduction OF christianity
The temple Of Luxor was converted into
a church, which, of course, disappeared
with the Mohammedan conquest. A
mosque now stands in one corner of the
temple looking strangely out of place.
but illustrating the truth which we saw
demonstrated again and again on our
trip. that in the east a place once sacred
is sacred under all forms of religion.
Temple church. mosque, all on the same
site, We saw 1t over and over.
THE TEMPLE OF KARNAK.
But the most extensive ruins in what
was old Thebes. now Luxor. and in fact
the most extensive ruins to be found
anywhere in the world. are those Of the
temple of Rarnak. about a mile from
Luxor To attempt any detailed descrip-
tion Of these ruins would not only exceed