The Washington times., 1923-02-11
BY VIRGINIA KINDoN.


ping subject Is the history Of the
) country watered by the famed
Nile! A people rich beyond even
modern ideas Of wealth, 80 wise
that mathematician today are
puzzled at their keen knowledge
Of geometry or astronomy. A
people separated from the rest
Of the world by traclkless deserts,
30 that. they developed their own
1estinies. their religion, their art,
with no influence from without.
Pyramids were erected. deities
honored in huge carved stone
images. tombs planned, decorated
and sealed from the eyes OF the
destructive public. and year after
year the life-giving Nile over
flowed its banks and another
mark was placed on the wall
With intricate-at least to the
OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES recount
ing the deeds Of the ruling mon
arch.
RUT what has all this to do
with the fashions of the hour?
What care the American, de- ].
signers of the religion Of the
Egyptians? How does the fact
that Egypt was a segregated
country interest the textile folk
IN United States?
What significance can be at
tached to the fact that the Nile
overflowed with yearly regu-
.arity?
Because the Egyptians believed
In an after life, went to untold
trouble to take all their personal
possessions with them. and had
their bodies so carefully en-
balmed, the modern world is able
to look to the past with accurate
vision and to copy the designs
On the mummy cases and in the
tombs.
OF religious origin are the In
teresting designs and ideas taken
and inspired from the winged
symbol Of their sun god. or the
snake, and the oddly conceived
attributes that belonged to the
gods Of race that was old 5000
years ago.
A peculiar architecture, a dis
tinctive art, was developed and
adhered to by the oppressed sub
jects Of the Pharaohs. So today,
when we see a certain design, a
known frieze or motif. at once we
claim IL as a part of Egypt. No
other country had an art that in
any way duplicated it..
Living in a land where the eli
mate affected the daily life of the
people, and where dread that the
Nile might not overflow was a
national cause for alarm, nature
and her trees, flowers, river and
hills were worshiped, and given
honor by weaving and interview
ing their idealized forms into the
fabrics, into the wall decorations
of the temples and tombs.
NOR was there ever any lack of
color inspiration. The cloudIess
skies. either during the day or
when the tropical moon gave a
luster of silver to all below. were
a gorgeous blue. Blue was the
Nile except during the spring
season. Green was supplied in
the palms, in the stems of the
sacred lotus. The same flower
gave a wonderful blue and red
and pink to the color scale.
Other tropical flowers. the red
cliff that rose abruptly at the
west bank of the Nile, and all the
effects of sun and shadow on the
desert sands, observed by a ma.
ture loving and worshiping race,
formed the foundation and inspi-
ration for more colors.
School children for many years
past have used the lotus as a ba.
sis for designs. The lovely flower
has been used in numberless de-
signs. So with the scarab and
the sun-god. But not since the
time when the gayly dressed
kings and dark-eyed princesses
walked along the shores of the
Nile have people so generally
worn the designs Of the Egyptians
on their frocks. on their sweaters,
their hats. parasols and capes.