Evening star., 1926-02-21
BY LUCRETIA e. REMINGTON.
. HERE reigned in Egypt some
80 centuries ago a great mon.
arch and a mighty builder,
L RameSeS IL who left more

GlSl dlu d lHlRUIN
L Rameses II. who left more
architectural marvels along
that mystic stream, that is, the Nile,
than perhaps all the other pharaohs
taken together. At Abu-Simbel, just
at the head of the great dam, at the
very entrance to Nubia, stands the
tar-bamed rock-hewn temple to this
builder of many monuments.
a series Of steps leads from the
Nfe-sustaining river up to one of the
most StupendouS structures ever built
in any land. It's whole facade con-
s1sts of four giant seated figures Of
Rameses II, two on each side of the
entrance. They are 65 feet in height
and their weight is enormous. The
Egyptians had found that $40 tons
was the limit of the load which their
engineers could transport from one
place to another, but this rule was
ineffective in these giant figures, for
they are carved out of the solid rock
with perfection of detail and a real
ism that are astounding.
They We're built for all time SO far
as this world is concerned, and
. 'iicir perpetual imperturbability has,
through all the passing centuries,
l'"en reflected in Elusive beauty In the
min cring pool that is the Nile. They
;;iard the entrance to the chambers
O. The temple that are cut out Of the
living rock. Within the shrine are
other statues and lofty pillars that
rise to u height of 80 feet, and they
/a@e Ill an integral part of the sand
stone cliff from which they draw their
lie.
rhe centuries come and the CEN
t'U""s so while the everlasting hills Of
s;tndstone hold their rock -hewn temple
IN the perfection of an eternal youth.
Not even the desert sands that have
moved with the irresistible force Of
granite tide have dismayed their Sc
1enity, for when that leveler of monu-
mental greatness was removed by
modern engineers, the untouched
temple smiled once more into the
sunny Nile.
That majestic temple along that
famous river is to find a duplicate in
kind. after the passing of 80 centuries,
in the shrine to memory that is to be
built near the base of Stone Mountain,
near Atlanta, Ga, and this modern
structure will surpass in measure
Jnents the amazing dimensions of that
ancient, eternal marvel in stone. 1t
will possess the overwhelming quality
OF the everlasting as does its counter
part, for every section of 1t will be
componently Of the living tissue Of the
granite that is the mountain. No
Srieze, or column, or altar, or statue
will be severed from the original rock;
they will be carved out of the mass
and the superfluous granite removed.
The plans for the temple, the i'm
posing plaza, the rejecting pool, and
the esplanadeS were made by Angus
tuS Lukeman, the sculptor Of Stone
Mountain, and presented by him as
gift to the Memorial Association, an
act expressive of his deep interest in
the whole tremendous project that
Il have undertaken.
X x
Il LMOST universally temples are
given a spacious outlook of dis
tant hills, flowing streams, wide ave-
nueS through wider lawns, but this
unique memorial Is TO have, as it
Were, a background of mountain
granite rising 900 feet above the earth
from which it springs. with a carved
trieZe, midway down its curving side,
Of nine mounted men riding spiritedly
on beneath wind-swept banners Of the
tonfederacy, an epic grandeur in
1heir gallant courage whose depicting
from hoof TO crown Of hat will run
10 the enormous measurement of $50
feet. With the cavalier and Christian
gentleman that was Robert E. Lee at
their head, the intrepid horsenlen
move forward in brave array, for
ward into the field Of memory SYM
bolized by the temple that is cut into
fhe living rock beneath their chival-
Tous feet.
BY dressing down the surface Of the
mountain beneath the riders, the front
1T the temple will be made to appear
10 stand out from the rock back
ground in the manner Of a bas-relief.
\ wide entablature, bearing an in
scription in five different languages,
giving 1t in a sense a universal appeal,
will be supported by six monoliths,
Doric columns, cut out of the solid
Y-Snlr hn{y hoe
growing out of and into the granite of
which they are a parts They will sur
pass in size all other columned mono
siths in the world, for they will meas
are IL feet in height, 71a feet In dt-
:tmeter, and they will stand 13 feet
apart. Those at Abu-Simbel reach
upward for 80 feet, a giant loft1nesS
when all Is said and done.
Behind these altitudinous columns
will be cut back into the rock semi
circular chamber, whose dedication
will be to memory, for in the center
of the shrine will be fashioned a huge
figure from the granite of the noun
tain, undetached and an integral part
Of the whole, a figure whose SYM
bolism will be caught in the word
Memories"
Although this statue will possess a
height of 20 feet. 1t will be so related
10 the whole that its size will seem
TO the beholder to be normal and nat
llral, as does that of the seated fig
ure of Lincoln in its temple along the
Potomac.
The seated female figure that is
"Memories" will commemorate the
sacrifices and the sufferings Of the
women Of the South, q lasting tribute
to their gentle endurance and their
unshaken devotion to the cause they
had espoused. 1t will be touched with
q plangent pathos, for 1t will reach out
through all the centuries with fine
fare Of loyalty, of tragic self-denials
for a lost cause, cause that in the in
herent scheme Of things was doomed
TO failure.