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

Carol have spoken Of the two king
doms Of ancient Egypt. upper and lower.
Memphis. as 1 have mentioned. was the
capital OF lower Egypt for many years.
The capital of upper Egypt was Thebes.
which was afterwards the capital of the
United Kingdom.
From Cairo 20 Thebes is a distance Of
about so miles. The old way of commu-
.seation between the two places was. OF
course, BY river. Steamers now ply the
river, but when we were there the water
was most too low for navigation and
they had stopped running. The principal
method OF communication now is by the
railroad which runs along the river bank
all the way. We went at night. to save
time. II was rather surprising TO find an
elegantly furnished sleeping car, with
an excellent dining car on the train. the
distance OF $50 miles between the two
places was covered in about II hours.
arose early the next morning 10 see
something OF the country. II Is pretty
much the same i'm upper in lower
Egypt-the river in the midst of an oasis
between two deserts. AS far as the
waters Of the Nile can be carried on
either side there are pfc. fertility. grass
clover wheat barley. palm trees, VII
lagos. men. women. boys. girls, donkeys,
camels. sheep and goats Beyond. on
both sides stretching out into mnnlty
Is the desert with its death and desola-
ton. These scenes continue for the
whole distance from Cairo 10 Thebes-
and. in fact extend both below Cairo
and above Thebes until a distance OF
loo miles is covered. While there Is
much. Sameness in the scenes. yet there
fs a fascination about them which Is IT.
resistfble and which kept my eyes glued
10 the window Of the car until Theoes
vas reached. On the way We passed
a number OF interesting places, such as
Benz Suef, n miles above Cairo. where
ruins show the Doric Column dating from
a period 100 years before the GREEKS en-
tered Egypt; Tel-el-Amarns, where the
famous tablets were discovered, which
show an intimate relation between
Es,-pt and Palestine and also Egypt ana
Rahvlon. Assiout with nearly 5000 in
habItanfs and the seat Of a nourisning
scboo4 conducted by the United Pres
hxtertans. Abydos. the Holy city OF
the ancient Egyptians. and said to De
the ,rst place in Egypt which was set
t,ed. Denderah. with its temple deoica-
ted 10 Hather OF Aphrodite. as the
Greeks called her. and containing an ms
seriptfon mentioning Cleopatra and also
her portrait II would have oeeh very IN
fR~nE11nE 10 SIOp at NAAC1N
ana tell about them. But II was lmprae-
ticabIe in my limited time.
THEBEs.
Ny destination was Theoes' aho ul.s
article must deal with that city, the most
interesting OF all L..
The ancient Thebes was situated JUST
above a big bend in the Nile. where me
river divided. forming several Islands
Here the old Egyptians located a city
which afterwards became the most I'M
portant city in the country, and one Oh
. the most important in all the worlo. IheE
called IL Weset the city" but the Greeks
afterwards gave il THE name. Thebes, by
which il came TO be generally known
During the middle ages Thebes rose TO
commanding position. II was adorned
with temples During the new empire,
though. II attained its highest prosperity.
For centuries II was the favorite seat OF
the Pharaohs, and into it flowed untold
treasures OF conquered nations as booty ,
o. as tribute. A large share OF TINS
wealth was bestowed upon the god Am
mon. chief god OF the Egyptians, TO whom
the gigantic temple which we shall see
was erected The grandees Of the king
dom esteemed IL an honor to become MS
priests Schools beside IL flourished. and
kings offered their richest gifts TO him.
sec I, Rameses II and Ramesis III all
WOrellpe0 TINS eOu- II - saiN NAot NAAA
fourths OF the gifts Of Rsmeses III TO the
gods Of Egypt were given to Ammon. and
that g. sss slaves were presented by him
TO this god. Finally these priests of Am
mon succeeded in usurping the throne it.
self and united the royal with the priest
IL Once But the transference Of the
royal residence under the 2lst dynasty
from Thebes to the Delta caused the
city TO decline. In the seventh century
b. c. the Assyrians plundered ii. Candy
ses In IS B. C. penetrated as far as
Thebes. but strange to say did little dam
age Alexander the Great and the Ptoie-
mics embelished IL, but rebelling against
the Macedonian domination under Epi-
phanes II was conquered and reduced to
the rank OF a provincial town, becoming
a mere series OF villages. II was finally
destroyed BY the Roman project, Cor
nelius GaIlus- Strabo in "A B. c. found
only scattered villages Afterwards II
became only goal for travellers. The
overflow OF the Nile buried most Of the
city beneath a sea OF mud. The Bible
several times speaks Of Thebes under the
name OF No or No Ammon. as fol-
lows: The Lord Of hosts. the God If
Israel. saith; Behold. / will punish the
multitude OF No. and Pharaoh. and Egypt,
with their gods and their kings; even
Pharaoh and al them that trust in him"
Jeremiah SIS And I will make Pathros
desoIate. and will set fire in Zoan. aud
viii execute judgments in No" Ezekiel
N.14 art thou better than populOus No.
that was situate among the rivers, that
had the waters round about IL. whose
rampant was the sea, and her wall was
nom the sea-" Nahum 3:s- These proph.