LUXOR AND KARNAK.
The Nile party No. 2, consisting of forty-two persons, left Cairo on
Friday morning, March thirteenth, in sleeping cars. The cars were
painted white outside, finished in cherry inside, and divided into
rooms, each room having two comfortable berths and a washstand, and a
passageway along the side of the car. We ate our dinner that evening and
breakfast the following morning in a modern dining car attached to the
train.
At nine o'clock on Saturday morning the train arrived at our
destination, the town of Luxor, about four hundred miles south of Cairo.
The Hotel de Luxor, at which we stayed, was situated in the midst of a
large irrigated garden where palms cast a grateful shade and roses and
lilies bloomed among tropical plants. Within this hotel, built with
thick stone walls and floored with flagstones, the tourists found a
pleasant refuge from the heat when they returned from excursions into
the desert. In its cool dining room, decorated in the old Egyptian style
with figures of gods and goddesses, with lotus blossoms and papyrus
flowers, with hieroglyphics and symbols, painted on frieze, walls, and
window sash, the tourists were waited on by white-robed, white-turbaned,
red-sashed, red-slippered natives.
[Illustration: THE HUGE PROPYLON OR OUTER GATEWAY AT KARNAK.]
The flies were a great pest. They were numerous and annoying, although
we found that they did not bite so hard nor tickle the skin so much as
do the flies in our country. Among the first purchases made by the
tourists in Luxor were fly brushes made of palm fiber or of white
horsehair with wooden handles and loops to attach them to the wrist. It
was amusing to see English, German, and American tourists switching at
the flies with their horsetail brushes while the natives passively
endured the crawling insects. Egyptian mothers in the village permitted
the flies to creep over the babies' faces and settle in clusters around
their eyes without attempting to drive the tormentors away, either too
lazy to do so or desirous that the babies should become hardened to the
annoyance. We pitied the infants, however, and some of the ladies of our
party became very indignant over the indifference--cruelty they called
it--of the mothers. We saw many older children afterwards whose skin
appeared to be insensible to the tickling feet; for they made no attempt
to brush away the flies which covered their faces.
[Illustration: I. WALKED ALONG THE AVENUE OF SPHINXES.]
[Illustration: II. THE LITTLE MOSQUE COULD NOT BE PURCHASED.]
Our party was joined during the morning by another party of tourists.
After luncheon we all proceeded to the end of the shaded garden, where,
at the gateway, we found Mahmoud, the dragoman who had been selected to
take charge of the expedition. His assistants were assembled there and
with them were eighty donkey boys, each with his donkey, a number of
jinrikisha men with carts, and chair men with chairs. The donkey boys
were of all ages from lads scarcely in their teens to veterans of
three-score years. The donkeys were of various sizes but the largest
were not over four feet high. The jinrikishas had each two attendants,
one man to pull in the shafts of the cart and one to push. The chairs
borne on poles on the shoulders of men had each six carriers, four to
carry and two as a relay. Chairs or jinrikishas were chosen by the
tourists whose bodies required careful treatment and by those who
preferred to travel in luxury. The donkeys, however, were selected by
the majority, who considered it a far greater pleasure to ride.
[Illustration: THEY BROUGHT WATER IN GOATSKINS FROM THE NILE.]
"This way! this way! ladies and gentlemen, if you please!" exclaimed
Mahmoud, and the merry cavalcade of eighty tourists and one hundred
attendants started off through the village, donkey boys chattering,
donkeys braying, and riders gaily chaffing one another on their
appearance in the saddle; the long-legged professor holding up his feet
to prevent them from scraping the ground and the jolly stout parson
mounted on the smallest donkey. Each donkey was followed by a donkey boy
who whipped the patient beast, jabbed him with a sharp pointed stick,
twisted the animal's tail, or talked to him in Arabic, when it was
necessary to urge him to greater speed. When urged, the donkeys were
fast walkers. But whether the donkeys were walking, trotting, or
galloping, the boys with little exertion managed to keep close to their
heels, and the jinrikisha men and chair men could keep up such a rapid
speed with their loads that it was difficult to leave them in the rear.
[Illustration: BUILT OVER FORTY CENTURIES AGO.]
My donkey boy, aged about sixteen, told me that his name was Abda
Mohammed and that the medium sized white donkey on which I rode was
known as Alice Lovell. With broad smiles which showed a perfect set of
white teeth, he repeated over and over again, at intervals during the
short ride, "Alice Lovell, nice donkey, good donkey. Abda, nice boy,
good donkey boy," doubtless thinking that if I could fully realize that
fact the backsheesh at parting would be larger.
A half hour's ride on an embanked road across fields and desert sands
brought us to the ruins of a great arch, formerly one of the gateways
into the magnificent ancient temples of Karnak, but now an entrance way
to the famous ruins. There, the Egyptian guards ordered us to show our
government permits, or monument tickets, as our dragoman called them,
without which we could not inspect the ruins.
[Illustration: HAVE ENDURED THROUGH MANY AGES.]
"Oh! I have forgotten my ticket!" said one of the tourists. "I left it
with my satchel. What shall I do?"
At luncheon before starting Mahmoud had cautioned the tourists to be
careful not to forget their permits, and his cautionary words, "Monument
tickets are very much wanted," were familiar and often repeated. A
hurried consultation was held and the difficulty overcome, but the
forgetful one and others were warned that it must not occur again.
In order to provide a fund to be used in excavating, preserving, and
caring for the ancient temples and tombs, the Egyptian government
requires a permit costing six dollars to be taken out by each person
desiring to visit these places, and without such a permit he cannot
enter. At Cairo the managers of the tour had obtained from the
government for each member of the Nile party a little cloth bound
"Service des Antiquites L'Egypte" made out in the name of the holder.
This open-sesame for the iron gates was given to each person with the
warning that it must not be forgotten.
We stopped to view and kodak one of the huge Propylons or outer gate
ways and found there some visitors who had driven to Karnak in modern
carriages instead of using the Oriental way of conveyance that we had
taken. An avenue of Sphinxes with rams' heads was also stowed away in
the kodak to be brought to light at some future time.
"These stupendous ruins of Karnak," said the dragoman, "were once a
group of magnificent temples covering an area of many acres. The most
ancient of the structures was built over forty centuries ago. Other
temples were added and alterations and improvements made during the ages
following when the city of Thebes was a prosperous capital; but for over
two thousand years these places of worship have been abandoned and the
sand of the desert has collected around them, almost burying them out of
sight. The Egyptian government for a number of years has had many
natives excavating, and also has been raising some of the fallen
columns."
As we passed through the temple grounds we saw a number of men and boys
at work, as the dragoman had stated. These excavators scooped the sand
and debris into small baskets, while a taskmaster stood over them, whip
in hand. Then placing the filled baskets on their heads they started off
in long lines, singing as they marched to the deposit heap. The men, we
were informed, earned twenty-five cents a day at this labor, and the
boys ten to fifteen cents a day.
"One thing noticeable about these most magnificent ruins in the world,"
continued the guide, as we halted in the great court, "is that the
architecture, the sculpture, the inscriptions, of the earlier temples is
equal, if not superior, to the workmanship of a later date. The
construction work done under the great kings Ramses I, Seti I, Ramses
II, and Amenophis III, who ruled over Egypt thirteen centuries before
the Christian era, has never been surpassed. Stones of immense size were
handled by their architects in some manner unknown at the present day,
and walls and columns were erected of such solidity and strength that
they have endured through these many ages. The First Pylon or gigantic
portal to the Temple of Ammon, which was dedicated to Ammon-Re, the King
of the Gods, is three hundred and seventy-two feet wide, with walls
sixteen feet thick and one hundred and forty-two feet high. The
wonderful Hypostyle Hall, or Hall of Columns, is three hundred and
thirty-eight feet long by one hundred and seventy feet broad."
"Before we enter, let me read you what the noted Egyptologist Rawlinson
says with reference to this Hall of Columns," said the professor,
drawing out his note book. "He writes: 'The greatest of all Seti's work
was his pillared hall at Karnak, the most splendid single chamber that
has ever been built by any architect, and even in its ruins one of the
grandest sights that the world contains."
The huge columns, some in place, some leaning, and others prostrate,
were an impressive sight. The guide called our attention to the
inscriptions that covered all the columns and to the traces of coloring
that might still be seen on the protected parts. In order that we might
more fully realize their size, he suggested that we measure the
circumference of one with our arms. It required six of us with
outstretched arms to span one of the larger columns.
As we passed through the various halls, Mahmoud interpreted and
explained many of the historical inscriptions and reliefs with which the
ancient Egyptian kings had covered the walls, commemorating the
victories they had gained over their enemies. One wall pictured the
triumph of Shishak over Rehoboam, the son of Solomon. The captured
cities were represented by circles each enclosing the name of the city;
the captives, by rows of Hebrews bound with cords. King Shishak stood
over the captives grasping a group of them by the hair and smiting them
with a club, and slaves carried the golden treasures that had been
stripped from the temple at Jerusalem, and the plunder taken from
Rehoboam's palace.
[Illustration: WITHIN THE TEMPLE OF AMMON AT KARNAK.]
On our return to Luxor my donkey boy Abda and I had a disagreement. I
gave him, as backsheesh, a tip equal to a man's wages for a full day's
work in Egypt; but he pleaded with tears in his eyes for "more
backsheesh," and departed apparently in great anger.
After resting awhile in the cool halls of our hotel, we walked to the
ruins of the great Temple in the village of Luxor, close by the river
bank and not far from the hotel.
"In the year 1884," said Mahmoud, as we assembled around him in the
ruins where the gigantic columns rose forty feet above our heads, "I was
living in a house that stood just over where we are now standing and I
did not know that a part of the temple was buried in the earth
underneath. The government officials, after much haggling and
complaining about the prices my neighbors and I demanded, bought the
houses and lands of us, about thirty properties in all, and gave us
other lands, so that the excavations could be continued. That year this
part of the temple was uncovered. The little white mosque at the corner
could not be purchased, as that ground is sacred and must not be
disturbed to uncover ruins underneath it."
[Illustration: PLACED THE FILLED BASKETS ON THEIR HEADS.]
[Illustration: EMBELLISHED THE TEMPLE WITH STATUES OF HIMSELF.]
"This edifice, dedicated to the worship of Ammon," continued the guide,
"was erected by King Amenophis III thirty-three hundred years ago; but
King Ramses II, one hundred years later, added to the structure and
made it a memorial of his reign by embellishing the temple with statues
of himself and covering the exterior walls with reliefs and inscriptions
picturing and describing his triumphs."
We saw two colossal sitting statues of Ramses forty-five feet in height,
one of which was completely excavated, the other buried breast high in
rubbish, and in a court of the temple were many gigantic standing
figures of Ramses placed between the pillars. Beside one of these was a
small figure, representing the queen Nefertari, which just reached to
the height of the knees of Ramses.
"The king desired to indicate by the size of the statues that he was a
great conqueror," said the dragoman. "His wife was the daughter of
Pharoah who, while bathing in the Nile, found the Hebrew babe hidden
among the papyri plants."
"If Nefertari was the princess who rescued Moses, she deserved a larger
statue," responded one of the tourists.
"This series of scenes represents the victory at Kadesh in Syria,"
explained the guide as we stood before a wall covered with pictorial
representations of conflict cut in the stone. "Here is the King in his
chariot charging with fury on his foes amid flying arrows. Notice the
dead and wounded scattered over the field of battle and the Hittites
flying in confusion. At one side you see the Egyptian camp, and on the
other side the fortress of Kadesh and the Syrian king amazed at the
sight of his army in wild flight. The hieroglyphics that cover the side
of the tower give a detailed account of the battle and of the glorious
deeds of valor performed by King Ramses. There were originally two large
obelisks here in front of the temple, but one of them was taken to Paris
a number of years ago."
"Yes, I saw it there," remarked one of the party, "but the inscriptions
on the one at Paris looked worn and weather-beaten; while those on this
obelisk are almost as distinct as when they were cut in the pink granite
three thousand years ago."
On the morning of March fifteenth, after an early breakfast, we started
at seven o'clock to visit the Tombs of the Kings and the temples on the
west side of the Nile,--the village of Luxor and the temples of Luxor
and Karnak being on the east side. Crossing the river in ferry boats
propelled by sails and oars, the tourists found donkeys, boys,
chair-men, lunch carriers, guides, and extra men crowding the western
shore. We had hardly landed when the donkey boys surrounded us,
gesticulating, shouting the merits of themselves and their beasts, and
pleading that their donkeys might be selected. Much to my surprise,
Abda, the offended and angry boy of the Karnak ride, pushed his way to
my side with Alice Lovell and smilingly claimed me as his friend and
benefactor, with the familiar tale: "Alice Lovell a good donkey; Abda a
good donkey boy," so our relations were renewed.
The ladies decided that the men's saddles would be more comfortable for
a long ride, and that there would be less danger of the saddle turning;
so side saddles were generally dispensed with and most of the women
mounted astride. From the landing we rode slowly over a long stretch
of loose sand, tiresome to the donkeys, and then along a good path on
the embankment of an irrigating ditch. The sun was sending down hot rays
by the time we reached our first halting place, the Temple of Kurna, and
we were glad to dismount and seek shelter and rest in the shade of the
great walls while we examined the beautifully executed reliefs and
inscriptions.
[Illustration: BESIDE ONE OF THESE IS A SMALL FIGURE OF THE QUEEN.]
In the treasure chamber of the temple, Mahmoud related the story of the
architect who built the chamber for King Seti. "This rascal of an
architect," said Mahmoud, "left one stone loose so that he could
secretly remove it and enter the chamber to steal. The robber was caught
in the act of carrying off the treasure and fittingly punished as you
may see represented in the reliefs on the walls. This man pictured here
in disgrace and chains as a warning to ill-doers was the first thief in
Egypt, but I am sorry to say he was not the last."
After leaving the Temple of Kurna, which is situated near the cliffs
that bound the Nile valley, our procession entered a narrow ravine
through which the path leads to the Tombs of the Kings. Here we met
another large party of Americans and we all rode together for some
distance, one of the tourists meeting a friend whom she had not seen for
seven years. We passed two Englishmen with their guide, who moved off
the path and gazed through their eye-glasses in mild astonishment at our
animated cavalcade in varied costumes; while we in turn looked at their
immaculate sporting outfits and thought how lonely the couple must be,
traveling through these dismal solitudes. Our party had not thought it
worth while to purchase special riding outfits for the few days in the
desert, but had utilized what they had. For protection from the sun some
used white helmets or cloth neck protectors, some covered their heads
and necks with veils or tied down their soft hats, others wore straw
hats or caps regardless of sunburn.
[Illustration: RESTED IN THE SHADE OF THE TEMPLE OF KURNA.]
[Illustration: WE ENTERED THE RAMESSEUM.]
Overhead was an unclouded sky; at each side rose yellow limestone cliffs
glaring in the noonday sun, and underneath white sand and limestone
chips reflected the burning rays. Not a sign of vegetation relieved the
eye in this waterless gorge during our one hour's ride from Kurna to the
Tombs.
"Backsheesh! backsheesh!" demanded the donkey boys, as we dismounted.
"Why do you want backsheesh now?"
"Boy don't want backsheesh, donkey want backsheesh, donkey eat hay while
man in tombs."
In order that the Tombs may be satisfactorily examined by visitors, the
government has built an electric light plant in the gorge and the
thirty-five tombs are illuminated by electricity. Our party entered and
examined the six of these tombs which are considered the most
interesting. At each of these an Egyptian guard politely scrutinized the
"Services des Antiquites," although it was printed in French that he
could not read, and then permitted the holder to enter.
[Illustration: STOOD IN THE COLONNADE AT MEDINET HABU.]
In Tomb No. 17, we descended a passage hewn in the limestone cliff,
about ten feet wide, ten feet in height, and three hundred and thirty
feet in length, which leads inward and downward by inclines and steps to
the resting-place of King Seti, a tomb prepared during his life to be
the receptacle for his mummified remains after death. The smooth
polished walls and ceilings of the corridors and chambers were
sculptured by the best artists of Seti's time with reliefs of great
beauty, representing scenes of a sacred character. The praising of the
great God Ammon-Re, the offering of incense and gifts to various
deities, the passage of the boat of the sun, the punishments in the
underworld, the sacred sun-disk, animal-headed gods, patron goddesses,
fierce demons, sacred animals, winged serpents, flying spirits, evil
genii, coiled snakes, and creeping scarabs are portrayed repeatedly.
[Illustration: AT THE TOMBS OF THE KING.]
Mahmoud explained the pictures and inscriptions as we slowly went
forward, stopping frequently to inspect more closely those of greater
interest.
"After Seti's death," said Mahmoud, as we stood in the chamber of the
tomb, brilliantly lighted by the electric bulbs, "his body was embalmed
and with great pomp and ceremony the mummy was carried from the palace
in the great city of Thebes through the dismal gorge and deposited in a
magnificent alabaster sarcophagus that had been prepared for its
reception in this chamber in the limestone rock ninety feet below the
surface of the ground. Then the tomb was closed and sealed so that the
body of the king might remain in peace until it should be called forth
at the end of time to undergo trial before the god Osiris.
"For hundreds of years, the mummy lay tranquilly in its sealed tomb;
then the seals were rudely broken and the tomb was despoiled by robbers
who wished to obtain the valuables deposited with the body. When this
despoliation was discovered, the rulers of the Empire removed Seti's
mummy and the mummies of other kings to a tomb near the Temple of
Der-el-bahri which could be more closely guarded. There the mummies
remained until the year 1881, when they were taken away to the Museum at
Cairo."
"And now," said one of the visitors, as the guide concluded, "after
thirty centuries of repose, the proud features of this oppressor of the
Israelites, little the worse for the lapse of time, are exposed in the
great hall of the National Museum in Cairo to the gaze of the rude
multitude from whom he desired to be hidden, and his alabaster
sarcophagus is admired by visitors in the Soane Museum of London."
Almost all the articles of value in the Tombs that the robbers did not
succeed in carrying away, as well as the mummies and sarcophagi, have
been removed to museums in the large cities, the most valuable being
retained for the Museum in Cairo. In the tomb of Amenophis II, however,
the mummy of the king in a decorated coffin remains for the inspection
of visitors. Above the head of this ruler of the ancient empire, a
modern electric bulb hangs, illuminating the rugged features and showing
every detail of high nose, sunken cheeks, and straggling hair on the
head and chin. The tombs of Ramses III, Ramses IV, and Ramses IX were
interesting each in its own way. That of Ramses III had, in addition to
the sacred scenes, pictures of agricultural and family life; plowing,
sowing, reaping, baking, slaughtering, and cooking.
"Shall we return through the gorge or take the shorter path over the
cliffs and obtain a view of the Nile valley?" inquired the dragoman.
[Illustration: USED CHISELS ON LASTING STONE INSTEAD OF BRUSHES ON
PERISHABLE CANVAS.]
Some, dreading the exertion under a broiling sun, chose the level road
on a donkey's back. Others, intent on obtaining the view, started to
climb the zigzag path regardless of the glare of the sun, the donkey
boys following with the donkeys. The view from the summit amply repaid
us for the climb. On one side we looked down into the desolate valley of
the Tombs. On the other we saw the rich green valley of the Nile, with
groups of palms, villages, and temples. Directly below at the foot of
the yellow cliff, and in strong contrast to it, was the white marble
temple of Der-al-bahri. And not far from the temple was a cottage, which
at once became interesting to the tired party when the guide, pointing
to it, said: "That is the rest-house. A good luncheon will be ready on
the tables when you arrive there."
[Illustration: POSED TO BE KODAKED.]
We had been riding on a very narrow trail along the edge of a precipice,
but now we dismounted and descended, on foot, a winding path, too steep
and dangerous for riding, that led us to the rest-house in the valley
below. Here, at the Chalet Hatasu, as it was named, the servants had
unpacked the hampers which they had brought from the hotel at Luxor, and
the hungry travelers were soon seated around well-spread tables. During
the meal a throng of scantily clad men, boys, and small children
assembled outside the Chalet. These bare-footed Arabs offered for sale
scarabs, stone mummy images, mummified feet, skulls, beads, and trinkets
so clamorously and persistently that our dragoman had to use his long
lashed whip to clear the way. After leaving the chalet, naked boys,
apparently from four to ten years of age, followed us with outstretched
hands, begging for backsheesh. Some of these boys earned money by posing
to be kodaked.
[Illustration: I. COLOSSUS OF RAMSES LAY BROKEN.]
[Illustration: II. MOSLEMS HAD MUTILATED THE STATUES.]
[Illustration: TWO WEATHER-WORN FIGURES OF PRODIGIOUS SIZE]
The walls and columns of the Ramesseum, the magnificent temple built by
Ramses II, and those of Medinet Habu, the great temple built by Ramses
III, were covered with pictures in relief, made in the golden days of
Theban prosperity.
"The ancient artists, to perpetuate their work, used chisels on lasting
stone instead of brushes on perishable canvas," remarked the professor
as we examined the reliefs, "and their pictures carved on the stone
walls have endured through centuries."
We saw battle scenes with the king leading in the fray, archers
discharging arrows, charioteers riding down the foe, and enemies fleeing
in dismay; triumphal marches with the king borne aloft on a canopied
litter, fan-bearers waving fans, musicians blowing trumpets and beating
drums, courtiers bearing standards, and captives led in chains; festal
processions with the king marching in front, the sacred white bull
festooned with wreaths, maidens carrying flowers, and priests bearing
images; and nations paying tribute to the king upon his throne, Nubians
bringing leopard skins, giraffes, and grinning apes, and princes
presenting gems, costly vases, and golden shields. One picture at
Medinet Habu represented the soldiers cutting off the right hands of
their enemies who had been slain in battle and bringing these gruesome
emblems of the dead to the secretaries to be counted and recorded. The
secretaries had counted and recorded twelve thousand five hundred and
thirty-five hands. To enumerate the many interesting scenes sculptured
on the temple walls would be like cataloguing a picture gallery.
At the Ramesseum, the enormous Colossus of Ramses lay broken on the
ground, overthrown by some mighty force.
"This huge granite figure," said Mahmoud, "was, before its fall, the
largest statue ever carved out of one block of stone. Its height was
nearly sixty feet, the fingers three feet long, and its weight has been
estimated at one thousand tons."
The Colossi of Memnon, the two enormous seated figures in the midst of
level cultivated fields, were passed and photographed as we returned to
Luxor. Their hugeness may be judged by comparing their size with the
height of the tourists alongside in the illustration.
"During the weeks of inundation each year," said Mahmoud, after he had
told us the dimensions of the statues and the mythical stories
associated with them, "these grain fields as far as the vegetation
extends are covered with water to a depth of from ten to fifteen feet.
When the Nile is at its height the heads of the great Colossi,
surrounded by water, rise forty feet above the flood."
A bath and a thorough brushing of clothes at the hotel removed the
desert sand. We sipped our afternoon tea in the shaded garden and then
the party of forty-two persons boarded the Nile steamer Amasis in time
for an evening dinner on the boat. Suit cases and satchels were unpacked
and the staterooms made cozy, for the Amasis was to be the tourists'
home for a number of days during the trip down the Nile.