Egypt and its monuments . ittle faces, but not bad-looking. One cannot pitythe king. Nor does one pity them. For these werenot Les desenchantees, the restless, sad-heartedwomen of an Eastern world that knows too longings surely cannot have been very world was probably bounded by the calf ofRamesess leg. That was the far horizon of thelittle plump-faced wives. The happy dancers and the humble wives, they al-ways come before me with the temple of Luxor—joyand discretion side by side. And with them, to myears, the two voices seem to come, muezzin and angelusbell, mingling n
Egypt and its monuments . ittle faces, but not bad-looking. One cannot pitythe king. Nor does one pity them. For these werenot Les desenchantees, the restless, sad-heartedwomen of an Eastern world that knows too longings surely cannot have been very world was probably bounded by the calf ofRamesess leg. That was the far horizon of thelittle plump-faced wives. The happy dancers and the humble wives, they al-ways come before me with the temple of Luxor—joyand discretion side by side. And with them, to myears, the two voices seem to come, muezzin and angelusbell, mingling not in war, but peace. When I think ofthis temple, I think of its joy and peace far less than ofits majesty. And yet it is majestic. Look at it, as I have oftendone, toward sunset from the western bank of the Nile,or climb the mound beyond its northern end, wherestands the grand entrance, and you realize at once itsnobility and solemn splendor. From the Loiilias deckit was a procession of great columns; that was all. lOO. LUXOR But the decorative effect of these columns, soaringabove the river and its vivid Hfe, is fine. By day all is turmoil on the river-bank. Barges areunloading, steamers are arriving, and throngs of donkey-boys and dragomans go down in haste to meet run to and fro on errands from the manydahabiyehs. Bathers leap into the brown waters. Thenative craft pass by with their enormous sails out-spread to catch the wind, bearing serried mobs of men,and black-robed women, and laughing, singing boatmen of the hotels sing monotonously as theylounge in the big, white boats waiting for travelers toMedinet-Abu, to the Ramesseum, to Kurna, and thetombs. And just above them rise the long lines of col-umns, ancient, tranquil, and remote—infinitely remote,for all their nearness, casting down upon the sunlitgaiety the long shadow of the past. From the edge of the mound where stands the nativevillage the effect of the temple is much less decora-tiv
Size: 1467px × 1702px
Photo credit: © The Reading Room / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookauthorhichensrobertsmythe18, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900
