Posted inArchaeology Travelers' Tales

Pyramids of Sakkara

Two Colossal Statues of Rameses II.

History of Those Remarkable Relics of Antiquity.

Hypostyle Hall a Wonder of the World.

Other Interesting Things To Be Seen In Egypt.

Entrance gate to the temple of Khens at Karnak

Basle, Switzerland, March 25.

The Pyramids of Sakkara may easily be visited front Gizeh by donkey, but having deferred this visit for another day, we took the train for Bedrashen and from there went over the desert. This little village was formerly the centre of Old Memphis, the famous capital of ancient times, built of sun-dried bricks, made out of Nile mud, Memphis stood on the borders of the Upper and Lower Kingdoms, and was founded by Menes, the head of the First Dynasty, about four thousand years before Christ. The narrow streets of this large city were a half a day’s journey long and extended as far as Gizeh, its several quarters being known as the “South Wall,” the “White Wall,” and the “House of the Spirit of Ptah.”

But as Thebes rose Memphis declined. It was a shining mark for Cambyses, who took it by storm, and it competed for a season with Alexandria; and, at the time of Augustus, though many of its buildings were laid low, it was still a populous city. The Mohammedans appropriated a large part of its ruins when they built their mosques and dwellings on the right side of the Nile, but its vastness could not be used up in a moment and up to the 12th century it is said to have been a wonderland; finally, however, every stone was taken to make Cairo the beautiful city it is today.

Posted inTravelers' Tales

A Few Notes From Egypt

Nile at Luxor. Black and white photo showing a sailing boat on the river.
Nile at Luxor. Photo: Mohamed Amine ABASSI, https://www.flickr.com/photos/78459980@N03/14192228773

Life Is Still Gay in Luxor and the Titled Visitors Are Many

Luxor, Upper Egypt—The golden sunshine and balmy breezes prevailing, Luxor, fringed with its great ribbons of green vegetation, is just now at its heydey, even though the curtain is being slowly rung down on the Egyptian season. It forms the busy passing point for hosts of tourists who are returning from the upper Nile and those belated travelers who are hurrying up to Assouan, Wadi Halfa and Khartoum. Belgian colors are in favor everywhere for King Albert and Queen Elizabeth of the Belgians have been among the noted visitors of recent days. The queen is accompanied by Countess von der Steen and her sister. Princess Rupprecht of Bavaria, who has come down from Assouan.

Posted inArchaeology Travelers' Tales

“Antiques” Made to Order

Header for the article, featuring forged examples of a canopic jar, scarab, and figurings of a cat, dove, and fisherman in a boat.

The fabrication of forged antiquities has become one of the most profitable industries of modern Egypt. Every year more and more wealthy American and European tourists go to the sunny and salubrious land of the Pharaohs. Practically every one of these tourists wishes to take away some relic of the ancient Pharaohs as a souvenir. To supply this demand the modern Egyptians are working night and day making very attractive articles in the ancient style. The Egyptian law now requires that every person finding antiquities shall report the fact to the government, which reserves the right to purchase them. This law really favors the antiquity forgers, for they represent to their customers that they are offering them contraband goods, which offer usually has the effect of whetting the appetite to buy.

Posted inTravelers' Tales

Domestic Comedy on the Nile

"He mixed her a drink; then he brought her two balloons and a false face to play with. Later, I found her singing softly to herself."

Keeping house in Egypt is great fun, if you can keep your temper. Servants a-plenty are a certainty, but what they will do next is always uncertain. Here a noted Egyptologist tells some amusing stories of his household difficulties.

BY ARTHUR WEIGALL,

Former Inspector General of Antiquities for the
Egyptian Government.

IN ordinary, amiable conversation with people whose interests have little in common with mine, I often find that the introduction of the subject of servants supplies just that touch of nature which makes the whole world kin. When I have been talking about my life in the land of the Pharaohs, for example, I have observed that some stray remark of mine about my domestic staff has kindled the light of interest in eyes that were rolling upward with boredom; and therefore I offer no apology for making this my present theme. Like illnesses and operations, it has an almost universal appeal.

What happens in Egypt, of course, is outside the scope of everyday experience in the West; yet servants are servants wherever they be, and certain of their qualities—such as that of smashing things with a light heart—are common to the whole species.

Posted inArchaeology Mysteries & Unexplained

Carter Undaunted by Pharaoh Ghost

Howard Carter, standing holding a book.

LONDON, October 3.—Howard Carter, the American Egyptologist, left for Luxor and the Valley of the Kings today to resume his excavations at the tomb of Tutankhamen. The scientist said he had not the slightest belief that any occult influence was responsible for the death of Earl Carnarvon, who succumbed to fever after discovering the tomb, and that he had no fears for himself in that direction.

“It is rather too much to ask me to believe that some spook is keeping watch and ward over the dead Pharaoh, ready to wreak vengeance on any one who goes too near,” Carter said.

Posted inTravelers' Tales

American Tourists are Rich Harvest

Luxor Templee

Many From United States Pay Visits to Luxor

Valley of the Kings, Luxor, Egypt, March 29 (By the Associated Press)—Within the last month three big ocean liners from the United States have touched at Egypt, and swarms of American tourists have flocked down to the scene of King Tutankhamun’s terrestrial resurrection In the Valley of the Kings. American travelers who heretofore have spent their winters in the Holy Land, Algeria or other semi-tropical resorts, have this year chosen the Nile because of its nearness to the tomb of the ancient Pharaoh. The great presidential shrines a Mount Vernon and Springfield, Ill., have not attracted a greater number of American pilgrims this winter than the strange subterranean sepulchre of Egypt.

“Have you seen the new tomb?” is the first question put to every American upon setting foot In Egypt. For in the popular view, not to have visited the now famous mummy chamber is not to have been in Egypt. American visitors, instead of stopping off at Cairo, as was their habit previously, now come directly down to Luxor, making the 450-mile journey from the capital in 12 hours, or more leisurely in one of the river excursion boats. The finding of Tutankhamun’s tomb has given this little Nile municipality an Importance it has not enjoyed in 3,000 years.

Posted inArchaeology Mysteries & Unexplained

Expert Laughs at Pharaoh’s Curse

Cairo — Belief in “curses’’ attached to certain antiquities is ridiculed by Mr, R. Engelbach, keeper of the Cairo museum and one of the world’s greatest authorities on ancient Egypt.

Latest of the ‘‘accursed” remains to be returned to Egypt is a piece of bone, claimed to be part of Pharaoh’s skeleton which has been blamed for a series of accidents which have befallen Sir Alexander and Lady Seton, of Edinburgh.

Posted inArchaeology Travelers' Tales

Egypt’s Tombs and Temples

Thousands of Tourists Make the Egyptian Trip Since Howard Carter Discovered the Tomb of King Tut Ankh-Amon. Scene of the Carnarvon Expedition. Riches of the Tombs.

BY GIDEON A. LYON

Photographs by the Author.

It would be interesting,” said a fellow traveler to me at our hotel in Cairo on the evening of our arrival at the Egyptian capital, “to know how many thousands of tourists have been drawn to Egypt since 1922 as a result of the discovery of the tomb of King Tut Ankh-Amon by Howard Carter. It would be even more interesting to know how great a treasure has been brought to this country through tourist expenditures here in consequence of the finding of that tomb and its rich contents.”

Howard Carter, discoverer of the tomb of King Tut-Ankh-Amon, descending the steps of the tomb to carry on his work.

That thought recurred to me a few mornings later when I stood in front of the tomb of Tut Ankh-Amon and saw Howard Carter descend the steps leading down to the entrance. The tomb was closed to visitors, for Mr. Carter was engaged in superintending the removal of the remaining treasures. So all I got of King Tut’s last resting place was this glimpse of the back of the man who restored him to fame. Yet it was with a lively sense of the service Mr. Carter has rendered to Egypt that I saw him go down into the depths to carry on the work begun by him eight years ago.

Unquestionably many thousands of people have been attracted to Egypt by the discovery of this tomb. And practically all of them make the journey up to Luxor and across the Nile to the west bank and through the rocky defiles of the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings to the scene of the work of the Carnarvon expedition. They have, with few exceptions, seen nothing of the tomb itself. But they have had the satisfaction of glimpsing the forbidding area chosen by the monarchs of many centuries ago for the reposal of their mummies and the riches of their burial equipment.

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Sunset at Egyptian Resort Brings Greater Activity

THE TERRACE OF THE WINTER PALACE HOTEL AT TEA TIME IS THE SMARTEST RENDEZVOUS IN EGYPT

Comical illustration of westerners having tea at the Winter Palace Hotel.

By Karl K. Kitchen

You can tell how long any one has been in Luxor by the spot where he takes tea on the terrace of the Winter Palace Hotel. A new arrival invariably hugs the edge to get an unobstructed view of the Nile. The visitor who has been there several days is content to sit farther back, while the winter resident prefers to take his tea in the garden on the other side of the hotel, or if he happens to be an American, to replace tannic acid with cocktails at the bar.

The tea hour is “the” hour in Luxor. It is then, that the hotels—of which the Winter Palace is the most important—are at their liveliest. All the tourists are back from their excursions to the Valley of the Tombs the Kings, Medinet Abu, Karnak and the other glories of the past, and tea is not only an appropriate social function but a welcome stimulant after a tiring day in the broiling sun.

The Winter Palace is the rendezvous for all the foreign colony of Luxor at this hour. On its spacious terrace, which flanks the Nile for the entire length of the hotel, or in its beautiful gardens are to be found the most famous travelers, the greatest Egyptologists and archeologists and world celebrities who have come to Luxor to pay homage to King Tut.