Evening Star Newspaper, February 22, 1931, Page 82

SURDAY STAR, WASHINGTON, D. €, FEBRUARY 22, 1931. Blended Colors of the Sunset and E-vening Stars. An Incident of the Trip From Gibraltar to Malta—A First VView of the Sphinx at Night—Famous Ruins Silhouctted Against the Full Mooi. BY GIDEON A. LYON. Photograplis by the Author. VERY voyage into unfamiliar regions yields some sohuvenirs of the intangi- ble charms of nature. Scarabs and silks, carvings and gems, physical pictures of treasures of art, all re- main to be “de:clared” at the custc:ms on re- turn, perhaps vexati-usly. But the ‘others, the memories of Vv 5 of the eloments, need no formula of avowal on the frontiers to become permanent proj y Several such sce have thus passed the scrutiny of the tax ctors upon my arrival in the homeland upon return from the Mediterranean, urkno: to those sharp-eyed and suspicicus gua ans of the Federal finances. Witl of exposure to reprisal from the Treasury now, I shall bring them forth to view, to share thcm with cthers. First of all is a rec tion of an early svening in the Medi errancan, between Gibraltar and Malta. The new moon was due, and had been watcked for with interest by those who date their reckonings from that advent. The sea was so pia:id trat the traditional “mill- pond” simile was appocite. The sky was per- fectly clear save f:r-a slight haze on the western horizon. As the gong rang for din- ner—which on the ship that carried us was at a grotesquely early hour—and as I responded I stepped out upon the deck on my way to the “dining room and there was met by a vision to present a considerable exransa ¢f vatcr for a reflaciing besin east of the pjyramids, and there we paused briefly to catch th~ ecric ef- fect of the three dim shapes doubled in and water. Up we spun past Mena House, through the deep cutting to the crest of the hill upon wlhich stands Cheops. Sudderly he burst upon us, the giant triangle of his northern face fcreshortened as our cars reathed his base. The moon gave him a gray aspect, the rough- ness of his surface softened. We' were for the mcment the only persons present. Then out came a solitary figure from a little house to the east of the pyramids, a policeman, who gave us greetings. We paused awhile at the northeast corner to try to vision the climb, which takes place at that point, and concluded that even if guides had been prezent to help us there would be no ascent by foot. Around to Khephren, the “second pyramid,” we drove, to note its small remaining triangle of marblie paving at the summit, dimly ob- scrvable in the half light. Then to the s>uth went cur eyes, to span the desert, so close at hand. with a dim patch of darkness in the n-ar distance, a rocky hill, at the foot of which an Arab cemetery is to be noted in daylight. In the translucence of the moor ; seemed to carry far, far to the kara with its step pyramids and its treacsures, on and on up the Nile, to Thebes and its myriad of tembs. Silence, utter and infinite! We halled for The Sphinx-portrait of King Khefren, at the foot of his tomb, the “Second Pyrae mid” at Gizeh, showing recent excavation. upon us scornfully, upon us whose figures were but tiny dark specks at the base of Cheops, the greatest of them all. I_IAD I been able to schedule my Egyptian trip precisely accordirz to the dictates of eventual experience I cculd not have gained a mcre satisfactory first view of the Sphinx than that which greeted me that night. To come upon that long familiar figure for the first time in the semi-tone of the moon is to enjoy a vivid emotion of realization. The broken face is The Pyramids of Gizeh reflected in the “overflow” near Cairo. that has in all the range of my memory no equal. The sun had just set, leaving a glow of gold and cream and pale green and blue, all blended, with a soft salmon tone reaching high. In that upper stretch of sky was the newest of new moons, the barest shred of a crescent, just faintly discernible. Immediately below it, shin- ing with greater force than Luna herself, was a planet, the “evening star,” whose name my non-astronomical mind coul® not supply. I stood transfixed with the spectacle, and cthers came, until the deck was grouped with the passengers, all silent, while the waiting stewards, standing by their tables, in the dining room, observing us there assembled, put their heads through the portholes to see what was delay- ing us. HE glow of the west faded, the moon’s shred brightened and the star intensified, until they, too, sank beneath the horizon and the spectacle ended. Never before had I seen just this combination of sunset and evening star, of newest moon and the glow of vanished sun. Perhaps only in the Mediterranean could the atmosphere have yielded such a display. It was & happy introduction to other pleasures, soon to -€ome at moontime, farther east. ‘The moon was approaching the full when, a little later. at Cairo proposal was made by friends resident in that city that we make the trip o Gizeh to see the pyramids after sun- set. We had arrived only the day before and had not yet had the chance to get to Gizeh, and the suggestion was cagerly accepted. We went out in two metor cars, driving leisurely across the city, over one of the magnificent new bridges that span the Nile, then down to the tewn of Gizeh, and beyond. A swift glimpse of the tops of the great stone tombs shining faintly in the distance greeted us. Thus we gat the “imill” of our first sight of these monwnents of the ancient Egypt. Then we reached the “overflow,” fortunately high enough minutes without motion or scund, to listen to this absolute peace. Then away cff, down in the Arab village to the east, a dog bayed, its voice evoking others, and for a little time the chorus continued and then died, and silence came again. And meanwhile the moonlight shone upon the massive mounds that man made centuries ago, and they seemed to look down softened by the mocn, its scarred form is cloaked, no sharp severe shadows reveal the ravages of the centuries. The great creature appears to be alive, waiting, poised, reflective perhaps, not sinister, but scmechow benevolent, in the role of guardian. Recent excavations have uncovered the base f the immense carving, the main body of which The collapsmi Ninth Pylon, built by King Haremheb, at Karnak. was cut from the living rock. The forepaws stretch forih at full length, with a square stele betwzen the legs near the body, telling the story of how Khephren, builder of the Second Pyramid, created this massive man-animal body in his own hcnor. So the Sphinx is not feminine after all. It was Khephren's features, and not those of a woman, that were defaced by the traditional shot frcm one of the cannon of Napoleon. East of the Sphinx's forefeet rise the broken walls of the tempie of Khephren, excavated not long since. The moonlight pcured into the cavities of this ruin, upon one edge of which we stood to get our most favorable view of the Sphinx and the pyraminds beyond. Somehow 2% we stocd there, perhaps because of the nar- towness of the ledge upon which we stood and the consequent :cwaying of our bodies, the whole scene spanned out beyond seemed to vibrate with returning life, Then the voice of cur leader calied and we descended to reality. A lovely little temple has been excavated and restored at the scuihern base of Cheops, and it shone in the moonlight like a bit of alabaster against the duller tone of the broken face of the pyramid. A fizure detached itself from the ruin and advanced to our party and there was converse in the Arabic of our friends and this guardian, who told us of the excavation and the need of the barbed wire that stretches around the ficld of the work. A piaster passed over the line and the guardian gave thanks and melted into the background of the ruins. Over on a little hill back of Khephren tents appeared, the housing of members of an exe pedition engaged in exploratory work. It was related that many tourists ccme out and sim- llarly liye in tents at the feet of the pyramids. On such a night as this of our visitation an experience of this kind must be wonderful in- deed. A few nights later we went out again to Gizeh, but by trolley, and, descending at the edge of the “overflow,” engaged a felucca for a ride in the moonlight. Again we saw the pyra= mids in the soft radiance of Luna, but from a distance, The seemingly clumsy craft, poled at first by the two boatmen, then rowed and wafted alorg by a barely perceptible breeze, slowly made its way around in a great circle, past inundated structures. Then suddenly there was a slight bump and the boat had grounded. The men poled vigorously and finally got clear. But the delay caused us to miss the last trolley car back to Gizeh. However, fortune favored us. For just as the felucca touched the little land- ing place a motor truck came rattling up from the south, laden with sacks of wheat, with balf a dozen natives in charge. We negotiated— through the Arabic of our Cairo friends—for transportation and riled aboard, nine of us, and rode into Gizeh, where we caught a trolley car for Cairo. There was some disputation over the baksheesh in payment for the ride, but it was compoundecd and we finally reached home with- out further difficulty, delighted with the moon- light ride and our farewell view, as it proved, of the pyramids. THEN we went to Luxor, and there we met Georg's Mikhail, as I have heretofore re- lated. As we were returning from our first day's visit to the Valley of the Tombs of the Kings, on a small boat crossing the Nile, Georges sug- gested that perhaps we might like to get our first view of the Tcmple of Karnak, which we were formally to inspect in the morning, by moonlight that night. We assented, and special arrangements havirg been made for the use of & motor, we left the hotel shortly after dinner and drove the short distance out to the temple. Again we stood in the midst of history in the pale light of the mocn. The ruins, spanning an immense area, stood crisply clear in the radiance of the full orb. Here and there a lizard, startled out of :leep by our footfalls, darted over the stones. Save for the watchmen, who opened successive gates for small considerations, we were alone in the labyrinth of wreckage. De= tails revealed themselves gradually, obelisks ap= beared in sharp silhouette against the sky, the giant pylons loomed massively and the hypo- style, with its group of seemingly countless Continucd on Seventeenth Page