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LUXOR (AL-UKSUR) AND THEBES.

Luxor, 450 miles from Cairo, on the east bank of the river, is a small town with 12,000 inhabitants (in 1897), and owes its importance to the fact that it is situated close to the ruins of the temples of the ancient city of Thebes. The name Luxor is a corruption of the Arabic name of the place, Al-Uķṣur, which means "the palaces." About twenty-five years ago Luxor was nothing more than a cluster of poorly built mud-houses which stood close to the edge of the river bank, and inside the various courts of the Temple of Luxor. The village, as we may call it, was ill-kept and ill-scavenged, its alleys were unlit at nights, and it was not in a prosperous condition. In 1886 a great change came over the place, for owing to the enterprise of Messrs. Thos. Cook and Son, British tourists began to come to Upper Egypt in comparatively large numbers, and prosperity for the town followed in their train. In December of that year Messrs. Thos. Cook and Son inaugurated a new line of steamers, which ran at regular intervals from Cairo to Aswân and back. The advent of these steamers on the Nile marked a new era in the history of river travel in Egypt, and the late Mr. John M. Cook, who superintended their journeys personally, and devoted much time and care to every detail of their management, was the first to undertake the transformation of the dusty village of Luxor into a town suitable for European travellers to live in. He first caused steps to be built up the bank, the convenience of which the natives were not slow to perceive, and he improved the river front, and induced the local authorities to clean the streets and alleys, and to remove the stones which blocked the ways. He then enlarged and afterwards rebuilt the old Luxor Hotel, and inaugurated improvements every

where. Gradually the streeets were widened, and as the trade which followed in the wake of his steamers grew, the natives began to build better houses for themselves, and European wares began to fill the bazaars. Quite early in the history of the modern development of Luxor, Mr. Cook founded a hospital, and hundreds of the sick and suffering gladly and promptly availed themselves of the medical assistance which he provided gratis. In this, as in many other things too numerous to mention, his sound advice, shrewd business capacity, and ready generosity laid the foundation of the prosperity which has subsequently come to Luxor. He encouraged the natives to learn new methods, and quietly and unostentatiously supported struggling local undertakings until they were established, and the trade which he enabled the natives to do with his steamers literally "made" scores of villages on both banks of the river. The great organizer of the tourist traffic of Egypt was well called the "friend of the poor," and the "father of Luxor." Next came the excavations of the temple of Luxor, begun by Prof. Maspero in 1883, and continued. with conspicuous success by M. de Morgan. The houses inside the temple were pulled down, the road along the river front was widened, and the quay built, and several improvements were made at both ends of Luxor. The sacred lake of the temple of Mut, which had degenerated into a mere stagnant pool, was filled up, to the great benefit of the community. The advent of the railway from Cairo led to the introduction of carriages, and these have brought about a great improvement in the roads to Karnak and in those which traverse the town itself. The resultant of the forces of civilization which have been brought to bear on Luxor during the last few years, is a clean, well-kept town, and the waste of time, fatigue, and annoyance which used to accompany a prolonged series of visits to the temples on each side of the river are now things of the

past. Nowhere in Egypt can time more profitably or more comfortably be spent than at Luxor. In recent years much has been done to improve the town by the natives themselves, and many of the new houses are substantial and comfortable dwellings. In the year 1906 a new and handsome mosque was built and dedicated to the service of Almighty God by a native of the town, Al-Hâgg Muḥammad Muḥassib Musa Ash-Shairi, who is descended from one of the Sharîfs or "nobles" of Mekka, who settled at Luxor in the fourteenth century, when Ab Hagâg, the builder of the old mosque, which stood in one of the temple courts, came to the town. The building stands in the heart of Luxor and is 59 feet long, 52 feet wide, and 23 feet high; the height of the minaret is 122 feet. The roof is supported by six columns of hard stone from Akhmîm, and has six windows, three on the north side, two on the west side, and one on the south side; there are doors on the west, north, and south sides. Within the mosque is a Hanafiya, and the decoration is of a partly Muslim, and partly ancient Egyptian, character. Over the main door is the inscription in Arabic: "In the name of God, the Merciful, the Compassionate! Say: May God pray for the Apostle of God, and give him peace. He who buildeth for God a house of worship shall the face of God, the Most High, follow, and God shall build for him therein a house of Paradise: Al-Hagg Muhammad Muhassib Mûsa Ash-Shairi founded this House of Assembly in the year of the Hijra 1323." Provision has been made for a garden, and when the buildings of the mosque are complete they will include a number of alms-houses.

In connection with the American Mission at Luxor (Rev. Chauncey Murch, D.D.) must be mentioned the Boarding School for Girls. This new and commodious School, which stands on the right hand side of the road to Karnak, is managed by Miss C. M. Buchanan, assisted by

Miss A. B. Atchison and Miss Jeanette Gordon, and was opened to receive boarders and day pupils on 24th February, 1905. The old School was situated in the town, on the road leading to the Railway Station, and was managed for many years by Mrs. Murch, but the development of the town and the increased and urgent demand for female education induced the authorities of the Mission to acquire a new and larger site, and to erect the present building. The School contained in 1905 about 52 boarders, and some 256 day pupils, and there is every prospect that in the near future these numbers will be increased considerably. The natives in the villages round about Luxor greatly appreciate the School, and the influence of the commonsense education which their children receive in it is already making itself felt in the families to which they belong, and is tending to promote their intellectual development.

Ancient Thebes stood on both sides of the Nile, and was generally called in hieroglyphics, Uast; that part of the city which was situated on the east bank of the river, and included the temples of Karnak and Luxor, appears to have been called Apet,* whence the Coptic Ţ & ä

and the name Thebes have been derived. The cuneiform inscriptions and Hebrew Scriptures call it No (Ezek. xxx. 14) and No-Amon† (Nahum iii. 8), and the Greek and Roman writers Diospolis Magna. When or by whom Thebes was founded it is impossible to say. Diodorus says that it is the most ancient city of Egypt; some say that, like Memphis, it was founded by Menes, and others, that it was a colony from Memphis. It is improbable that Thebes is, as Diodorus says, the oldest city in Egypt, but there is no doubt that it is one of the oldest cities of that country.

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The proof of this statement is supplied by the results of the spendid excavations which have been made during the last few years by M. George Legrain. During the course of his work M. Legrain has discovered that the temple of Karnak of the XVIIIth dynasty stood upon the remains of one of the XIth and XIIth dynasties, and that this in turn covered the site of a temple which existed under the SECOND DYNASTY, and it will surprise no one if subsequently he proves that the temple of the IInd dynasty stood upon the ruins of a sanctuary of some god who was worshipped there in the Predynastic Period. In short, M. Legrain has added nearly 2,000 years to the life-history of the city of Thebes. It is certain, however, that it did not become a city of the first importance until after the decay of Memphis, and as the progress of Egyptian civilization was, in the Dynastic Period, from north to south, this is only what was to be expected.

The spot on which ancient Thebes stood is so admirably adapted for the site of a great city, that it would have been impossible for the Egyptians to overlook it. The mountains on the east and west side of the river sweep away from it, and leave a broad plain on each bank of several square miles in extent. It has been calculated that modern Paris could stand on this space of ground. We have, unfortunately, no Egyptian description of Thebes, or any statement as to its size; it may, however, be assumed from the remains of its buildings which still exist, that the descriptions of the city as given by Strabo and Diodorus are on the whole trustworthy. The fame of the greatness of Thebes had reached the Greeks of Homer's age, and its "hundred gates" and 20,000 war chariots are referred to in Iliad IX, 381. The city must have reached its highest point of splendour during the rule of the XVIIIth and XIXth dynasties over Egypt, and as little by little the local god Åmen-Ra became the great god of all Egypt,

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