Watauga Democrat. [volume] (Boone, Watauga County, N.C.) 1888-current, 1923-03-29
American Tourists Are
Rich Harvest in Egypt

Associated press dispatch from VAL
ley of the kings, Luxor Egypt.
Within the last month three big
ocean liners from the United States
have touched at Egypt and swarms
of Americans have focked down to
the scene of King Tut's terrestrial re-
surrection in the valley Of the kings
American travellers who HERETOFORE
have spent their winters i nthe Holy
Lands Algeria or other semi-tropical
resorts have this winter chosen the
Nile because of its nearness TO the
tomb of the ancient Pharoah. The
great presidential shrines at Mount
Vernon and Springfield, Ill. have not
attracted greater number of Am
erican pilgrims this winter than the
strange subterranean sepulchre Of
Egypt.
"Have you seen the new tomb ?"
is the first question put to every Am
erican upon setting foot in Egypt.
For in the ppular view not to have
visited the now popular mummy cham
Der is not to have been in Egypt.
American visitors instead of stopping
off at Cairo as was previously their
custom now come directly down to
Luxor making the 450 mile journey
from the capitol in twelve hours. or
more leisurely in one Of the river ex-
cursion boats. The finding of the
tomb has given this little Nile mu-
nicipality importance it has not
enjoyed in 5000 years.
Luxor is snugly situated on the east
bank of the Nile opposite ancient
Thebes and has population Of 10000
Its chief attraction apart from the
new royal tomb is the temple of Lux
or, built by the sovereigns of a for
gotten age, and until 1890 buried
in the accumulated mud and rubbish
of centuries. A Mohammedan mosque
built In the heart of the ruins of the
Temple strikes an incongruous note.
The principal industry t Luxor be-
sides turist hotels is souvenir making
The busy and igenius Arabs Of the
town bring quantities Of elephant
tusks rhinoceros hide a ID arb er from
the Sudan and convert them deftly
into thousand and one novelties and
to attract the tourist. The latest pro-
duct Of their ingenuity. is an ivory
figure of Tutankhamen which lis sold
for a dollar.
The men Of Luxor 60 about in
long cotton cloaks and white Turban
while the women wear sombre dress
.es and shawls Of deep black that COW
.er even their faces. The children Of
both sexes ramble about the streets
naked a custom dictated both by &C.
onomy and the excessive heat. The
only school in the town is an Ameri-
can missionary school for girls. Like
the modern Greeks the Egyptians of
today take little interest in the his
tory and achievements Of their an
cient forebears and seem quite indif-
ferent to the temple and tomb exca-
waiting being carried on by the Am
erican Brit -, and French archeoio-
gists. They are .LtercSted only in tie
amount of gold the new tombs may
produce and htey indulge in the sus-
picion that large quantity of this
is taken secretly out of Egypt by for
eigners.
A pleasant Is minute sail across
the Nile in catboats rowed by Arabs
brings the visitor to the site of an
cient Thebes in it's day the largest
and most sumptuous capital in the
world. The metropolis of antiquity
is now a vast expanse of sand, mar
shes, sugar fields and struggling farm
The city of New York might be pla.
ced on the present plain of Thebes
but part of it would overflow on
the Nile.
When the west bank of the Nile
is reached the visitor usually mounts
a donkey or camel for a two hours
ride to the valley of the kings. He
passes on the way the great Colossi
of Memmon one of which according
to tradition emits sound when the
suns rays fall upon it. The Emperor
Hadrian came here when the dawn Of
Roman history and scratched his in
itials upon the pediment of the vocal
Hemnon just as tourists do today.
The Royal Metropolis which en-
tombs the dead of forty centuries lies
six miles from the river bank. The
narrow footpath that led to the in
the days when Tutankhamen's sane
tuary was uninvaded by prowling ar
icheologists has become expanded into
the width of good American road.
It winds through poverty stricken vii
lagos Of the native farmers past the
temple of Ramases the third and be-
yond the mountain shrine Of Queen
Hatshesput, the Cleopatra of the Dy-
nasty, and thence past the deathlike
Valley Of the Queens.
After getting a glimpse Of the en-
trance OF Tutankhamen's rock hewn
portal-for no one is permitted to
go into the tomb itself-visitors US
ually seek the cool shades of one Of
the many tombs that are quarried in
the side of the mountain. Here they
discuss the merits Of the sepulchre
and eat their luncheon, while the mu