DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.5538#0057
SAN YILLAGL.
II.
THE BURIED CITIES OF ANCIENT EGYPT.
If as a rule the busy American, no less than the busy Eng-
lishman, knows less about Egypt both ancient and modern
than about many less interesting lands, we may assume that
his apparent indifference is mainly due to the remoteness of
the place and the subject. From the port of New York to
the harbor of Alexandria, as the crow flies, may be rough-
ly estimated at between five and six thousand miles; while
for those who are not crows the transit, even at high press-
ure, would scarcely be accomplished under three weeks.
But if modern Egypt is so far away that it takes three
weeks to get there, ancient Egypt is infinitely more distant.
The traveller who would visit the court of Memphis in the
days of the earliest Egyptian monarchy must undertake a
journey of some six or seven thousand years. He must not
only go up the Nile; he must ascend the great River of Time
and trace the stream of History to its source.
Do we realize how far distant is his goal, or how many
familiar landmarks he must leave behind t We are accus-
tomed to think of the days of Plato and Pericles, of Horace
and the Cassars, as "ancient times." But Egypt was old and
outworn when Athens and Rome were founded; the great
II.
THE BURIED CITIES OF ANCIENT EGYPT.
If as a rule the busy American, no less than the busy Eng-
lishman, knows less about Egypt both ancient and modern
than about many less interesting lands, we may assume that
his apparent indifference is mainly due to the remoteness of
the place and the subject. From the port of New York to
the harbor of Alexandria, as the crow flies, may be rough-
ly estimated at between five and six thousand miles; while
for those who are not crows the transit, even at high press-
ure, would scarcely be accomplished under three weeks.
But if modern Egypt is so far away that it takes three
weeks to get there, ancient Egypt is infinitely more distant.
The traveller who would visit the court of Memphis in the
days of the earliest Egyptian monarchy must undertake a
journey of some six or seven thousand years. He must not
only go up the Nile; he must ascend the great River of Time
and trace the stream of History to its source.
Do we realize how far distant is his goal, or how many
familiar landmarks he must leave behind t We are accus-
tomed to think of the days of Plato and Pericles, of Horace
and the Cassars, as "ancient times." But Egypt was old and
outworn when Athens and Rome were founded; the great