Evening star., 1923-08-13

ligious customs of the Mayas and the
Egyptians have been uncovered dur
ing more or less preliminary excaVa-
tions.
Built Great Pyramids.
For instance, the Mayas built great
pyramids. In the few that have been
explored at all have been discovered
the remains of ancient leaders. Be
fore burial they had been disembow-
eled and their vital organs placed IN
an urn beside the body. There they
have been found, intact through stag
gering ages of time. The pyramid
shaped tombs and the custom Of sep
arating the vital organs from the
body before burial are both similar
to the Egyptian custom.
1t was fully 1000 years before
Pharaoh built the great pyramid OF
Egypt and 5000 years before the
AsEyrians reared the great palace or
Sennacherib that Maya priests in
Mexico and middle America con-
structed the colossal pyramids that
dot that section of this continent.
according to some scientists. Mys-
stories beneath the ground. rare jade
ornaments and tho mute bones OF
9dead men are all that explorers. have
found in them thus far.
+ Modern architects. have stood before
the ancient temples of the Maya civ
ilization and marVeled at their beauti-
fully carved facades. their carefully
proportiCned chambers and the Skill
of their masonry. Engineers have
wondered at the concrete roads that
swept through the Mexican jungles,
connecting the cities of the Mayas.
They have stood dumfounded before
wells that were drilled 200 feet
through solid rock more than 1000
years before machinery was even
thought OF.
f., knew Earth Was Round.
No race yet known to'man has sur
They had divided their seasons per-
Lfectly and apparently were aware of
ithe manner in which the sun ana
moon moved through the heavens In
the earth is round Among the RUNS
of one city was found the statue of a
woman, STOPPING upon one hneS
and holding upon h.s wen afapeu
TO intrigue the Imagination sun
further. explorers discovered a huge
Htone upon which was written IN
Photographers the story of a great
flood As interpreted by experts. the
story of the stone details how
great serpent swept over the sky
and deluged the whole Maya world
Is this but newer and even more
biblical story Of the great flood?
! Scientists have not yet agreed on
that question.
! Eut whence thia strange race came
and whittier il went are the two
| questions science would like to de-
! eide first, ard their Investigations
promise to develop some of the most
| romantic chapters of archaeology. 1t
| authorities. during the first millen-
! mum before Christ. while yet our
: own forCbears of northern Europe
! were plunged in the depth of bar
barism.
! CITIES Well Laid Out.
, Its well laid out cities, each filled
with great stone temples and stone
! houses. dot the whole map of middle
! America. Experts have proclaimed
! its heroslyphlc writing worthy Of
I comparison with the earlier graphic
J systems of the old world. such as
/ those Of Egypt, Of Rabylonia and of
! China. It's people have become known
! to students the Greeks of the new
! world"
! Then. suddenly it seems. it disap-
peared completely Whether an up
! heaval of nature. some terrible cli-
matte change or an overwhelming
! barbaric horde virtually wiped 1t
! from the face of the earth no person
| can yet say. Cortez found some rem
nants of Mayas when he conquered
/ Mexico and, according to history, sue
ceeded in finishing what some other
dreadful agency had already nearly
! accomplished.
J May Require Ten Years.
! The world may know the end of
! the story within the next ten years.
] At least the Carnegie Institution will
spare no reasonable expense to write
! the final chapter. But much work
! remains to be done before explora-
| tions car actually begin on a large
, scale. Tons of tropical vegetation
| have grown over and around the ruins
! Of the Maya cities. Some are COM
! pletely buried beneath several feet of
! earth.
Chichen liza was selected as the
! starting point not only because of
its importance as the national and
{ religious capital of the Maya nation,
J but because i; .is fairly accessible to
! the outside world. Already steps are
J under way to build a narrow-gauge
railway from the coast of the gulf
TO the ruins, houses are being erected
for the comfort of the hundreds of
men who will spend the next ten
years working there. and the Mexican
government is assisting in the work
to the fullest extent OF its ability.
| Copyright. 1923. by the North American
Newspaper Alliance)