Atlanta semi-weekly journal. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1898-1920, 1910-06-07


slight eminence. 1t is made Of granite.
. Its length is % feet without the crown,
! which is I-2 feet in length, and which
! now lies on the ground near the statue.
I The accompanying picture will show my
/ friend, Col. o. c. Barton. of Paris, Tenn,
sitting down on Ramses-a thing hard
to do while he lived, though he needed
/ IL bad enough. I am glad Colonel Bar
ton finally succeeded in doing 1T. If
anybody could, he could. The statue is
/ so large that my kodak could not well
cover IL all. The second statue or
Ramses to which We come was discov-
cred in 1920. 1t is in a standing posi-
ton 1t is composed Of hard limestone,
/ and is some ~ feet in height. How do
we know that these are statues or
| Ramses II? They say so. His name is
inscribed upon them in several places,
leaving no doubt about IL. Mr.. Petrie
I is now excavating on the site Of Mem
phis. While we were. there, his work.
men were busy digging and carrying OF
/ the dirt, and the spade is likely to turn
up something Of interest to the world
at any time At present there is little
to see except these statues Of Ramses
II and beautiful palm forest.
SAKRARA, THE METROPOLIS OF
MEMPHIS.
One way, though, they determined the
site of ancient Memphis. was by the
immense cemetery found near by. 1t is
called the metropolis or Sakkara, from
Seeker, the god Of the dead Of Memphis.
Tne metropolis extends four and one
haIf miles in length from north to south,
and from one-fourtA to one mile in
width from east to west. 1t contains
tombs OF all kinds. Probably the most
interesting is the tomb of Mena, Of the
sixth dynasty. about 5000 years ago. 1t
was discovered in 1898 by Marietta Bey,
who made many very interesting discov-
cries in Egypt. 1t contains pictures and
hieroglyphics OF various kinds on the
vans. The statue Of a woman supposed
10 be his wife Is still standing In a
Siche. There is also the temple of Ty
OF the nth dynasty, still older, with
similar hieroglyphics, In the vicinity
are a number OF pyramids erecteu as
| tombs for themselves by various kings
o. Egypt, but as I shall tell about the
greatest pyramid, that OF Cheops, in my
next, 1 need not stop to speak OF these
here. Nor need I tell about the ceme-
terry of the cats. The most interesting
of all the tombs Of Sakkara is the "Sera-
peum, or Tomb of the Bulls" where
sacred bulls, worshiped by the ancient
Egyptians $500 years ago, were buried.
The serapeum consists or a subter-
ranean chamber hewn out OF the lime
stone rock some 700 feet in length.
From this long central passage small
chambers shoot Off on either SIDE, "a In
number. In these the bulls were buried.
They were embalmed and enclosed in
huge stone or granite sarcophagi. These
average 13 feet in length, in width,
IL in height, and about 65 tons In
weight The finest sarcophagus is that
OF Apis, near the end Of the passage. 1t
is made Of finely polished black gran
ite. and is covered with inscriptions and
ornaments. All but two Of these sar
cophagi had been opened when discov-
cred by Marietta Bey, and their con-
tents destroyed. They are said to have
been opened by Cambyses when he cap
tured Memphis. He thought the huge
collins contained money or other treas
ures of the old kings of Egypt. In his
disappointment at finding only the num-
mics Of bulls, he had them burned.
These tomPs of the bulls are OF espe-
cial interest as showing the worship Of
the ancient Egyptians. They did not,
however, worship the bulls as such, but
as representing the principle of life.
There are six principles men worship
those of good, OF love, of life, of light, of
pleasure or happiness, and of strength
All the various forms of worship are at
bottom only expressions in some way of
these principles. Their opposites of evil
hatred, death. darkness, woe and weak
ness are sometimes worshiped, but
more in the way Of dread than rever-
ence. Man is religious animal
Wherever you find him he worships
something. The idols of the heather are
| simply an effort to express their wor-
ship. They are feeling after the true
God, who combines in himself all Of
these attributes for worship. The pity
is that they should have to grope in the
darkness, with blinded eyes, when the
light is SO near. 1t is a sad fact also
that in their efforts to represent these
principles Of worship they should do so
/ in a material way when left to them
selves. And thus often their very wor-
! ship becomes OF a very low and sensual
character. and has a degrading instead of
an uplifting influence. This was the
case with the bull worship of the Egypt
ians in an exaggerated form.
A DONKEY RIDE IN EGYPT.
I stated that we went from Cairo to
Memphis by boat should have said
| from Cairo to the boat landing near
Memphis Leaving the boat. after eat
| ing luncn, we walked across a sandy
| island, crossed a small arm of the Nile
in a ferry boat, propelled by pole, and
there took donkeys for Memphis and SAX
/ kara. Did you ever ride on a donkey? I
don't mean on a mule, hard mouthed,
stubborn and treacherous, mean a dom
key. a real, sure enough donkey. Well,
il is fun, and a whole lot of 1t, especially
when there are about IS others-I mean
| ether peOple-riding them at the same
| time, 20 or more of them ladies, some Of
| whom had never ridden either donkey
back or horseback before. But there is
/ little danger in the performance. The
dOnkeys are gentle. They would not run
away IL they could. and they could not If
/ they would. because each one has a don
| Fey boy''-who is often a man-who fol-
/ lows behind, beats him with a stick to
make him go. when necessary. which is
most Of the time. stops him with word.
which the donkey always gladly obeys.
! and holds on the timid rider. And If you
| fall Il IL not far to fall. Your feet are
nearly touching the ground, anyhow. All
you have TO do is to follow the advice of
Uncle Rastus TO his son Nicodemus-he
called him Nickomdemus you remember
about riding a young mule. When you
find he's gwine to frow you, jes git on. !"