San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1923-02-28
lust SHORT OF GREATNESS

JUST SHORT OF GREATNESS
ArchacologistS and many laymen con-
| tinuc to marvel at the civilization OF
5000 years ago as vt is revealed by
objects found in King Tut-Ankh-Amen' s
! tomb. Those objects, undoubtedly, must
be admirable to all who have behold
them. and to all who have sufficient
imagination to visualize them from the
descriptions that have been published
throughout the world admirable in that
they are not only intrinsically bcauti-
full, but also represent so much ma
tcrial wealth in small compass.
But do such objects, after all, consti-
tute the best test of the character and
intelligence of those who made and used
them! They attest that their makers
and users had aesthetic wants like those
of modern men. They show, too, that
the human mind of that period was
sufficiently developed to strive for some
thing besides vital necessities and to
attain measure of that.
But how about the philosophy Of that
age? In the philosophic sense did the
Egyptians of Pharaoh Tut-Ankh-Amen's
time have a wonderful civilization, one
that merits the admiration of the pres
ent day?
Not necessarily; the marvellous hand
wrought objects taken from Tut-Ankh-
Amen's tomb would not, at a glance,
prove or even indicate it. Of course
no being of low order of mentality
could carve artistic designs in wood
make beautiful inlays of ivory, beat
gold into sheets of gossamer thinness or
cut and set precious and semi-precious
stones. As craftsmen the ancient Egyp-
tians were highly skilled-and theirs
was a skill such as only intelligent
beings could attain. But do the products
of their skill bear expressions of their
thoughts on other things-say, for ex-
ample, the conduct of life?
As yet the hieroglyphics on objects
taken from the Pharaoh's tomb have
not been translated. Doubtless they
will be, and possibly in the deciphering
there will be unfolded stories at which,
men of today, from the vantage point
of modernity, will marvel more greatly
than they have marveled at the crafts,
manship and good taste of Tut-Ankh'
Amen's subjects.
However, no message that the opened
tomb may yield could justify the phil
osophv represented by figures which ap
pear conspicuously on some of the ar
ticlcs that cmbellished the Pharaoh:
resting placc-figurcs that carry thci
own Interpretation. OF two walking
sticks found in the tomb, one was EN-
broidercd with gold and ivory of "as
founding dclicacy.' and the other i
described as being notable for the eN
quisitc figure of all Asiatic captive"
The significance OF this figure, Egyp
tologists say, is that King Tut-Ankh
Amen had slaves "in the hollow of hi
hand"
Ii the disappearance of the ancicn
Egyptian civilization represented by tn
wonderful things found in this Pharaoh
tomb has been puzzle, it ought to b
easy for modern man to explain now. i
the light OF what is indicated by tn
presence OF slaves figures on the king
rich ornaments. For slavery is not 4
institution Of civilization, in the best c
Dhilosophic, sense OF the term, and
brings degeneration upon those VIII
; persist in maintaining it. The ancicr
Egyptians were not wise enough to rca
+ the laws Of Nature. Therefore the
civilization, with all its wonderful m;
: tcrial products, was not worthy OF moC
crn man. unqualified admiration.