MYSTERIOUS EGYPT

Evening Star, Issue 21090, 30 April 1932, Page 17

MYSTERIOUS EGYPT

LECTURE BY MR GREENHOW 1 Egypt, Land of Mystery ’ was the title of another interesting lantern lecture in the series being given by Mr E. Headlam Greenhow in the Concert Chamber. A large audience last night listened to the lecture by the author and traveller. The story of man, Mr Greenhow said, was buried deeply in the earth, and Egypt was a continual source of information concerning the history of human development; its history went back 2,500 years, and there was an inferred history for hundreds of years previously,, so that the history of Egyptian civilisation could be regarded as going back 10,000 years to the time of paleolithic man. The Egyptians had their history dating back over the reigns of 300 kings. When the fact was considered that only thirty-eight English kings had reigned since the time of William the Conqueror, a matter of barely one thousand years, it could be expected that the data relating to early Egyptian civilisation would be of a fragmentary nature. This was not the case, Mr Greenhow pointed out, for the history was preserved equally perfectly with the mummies and temples, which indicated the nature of the people whose land was the centre of civilisation and the seedbud of the world’s knowledge. Herodotus, the Greek historian, who travelled in Egypt about 560 b. 0., declared that the Egyptians were excessively religious, But Mr Greenhow indicated that theirs was a worth while faith which could create such temples and architectural beauties to stand for all time. In the time of Herodotus the eyes of the world were focussed on Egypt; to-day Egypt had come udder the influence of Western efficiency and was again in the limelight. The keynote to most of the tombs and monuments in Egypt, including the Sphinx and the Pyramids, was to bo found in the fact that “ no nation ever attained to such a complete belief in immortality.” The various great mosques were erected, generally in egotistic fashion during their lives, to the glory and immortalising of great kings. Some of these great mosques were luxurious in costly materials such as marble and gold; many had massively columned courtyards with marble pillars and dignified cloisters ornamented with the most elaborate and artistic wooden latticework. _ Many were carried out in harmonious colours, and often pot plants and greenery added to their charm. Mr Greenhow dealt with the picturesque market places and great gateways of Cairo where the traveller could observe many phases of Egyptian life in modern times. Here the vendors sold their wares, the potters moulded their clay, the scent manufacturers beat out the perfume, and the camels from the caravans came to have their burdens replenished. The lecturer showed numerous pictures of these market places, great buildings, and such functions as the everyday one of the refilling of the camels’ water barrels. In considering the architecture of Egypt, Mr Greenhow showed slides to illustrate the distinctive influence of the Turks. There was much that was beautiful and noble in the ancient buildings, and it was a thing to lament that so much destruction had taken place. Destructive influences other than those natural ones of time and weather had affected many of the tombs and pyramids, although they were, in many cases, almost complete; the mummies of Eameses 11. and other great kings were _ marvellously preserved, and the spirit of conquest and heroism of thousands of years ago was in every clear-cut and expressive line of their forms. Mr Greenhow showed slides of many of the pyramids—of which there are 100 in Egypt altogether—and of numerous temples, tombs, obelisks, and mosques down the Nile for a thousand miles from Alexandria. JHe quoted frequently from Omar Ivhayyam, and cited Napoleon’s words to his soldiers as they gazed upon the Sphinx: “ Soldiers of France, forty centuries look down upon you.” The lecturer’s slides indicated the colpssal nature of these monuments. ~ „ , It was announced that Mr Greenhow would give a matinee on Monday afternoon specially adapted to pupils of secondary schools. By desire, Mr Greenhow will repeat a portion ot his illustrated address on ‘ London, the Magnificent,’ and in addition will describe the beautiful upper reaches of the Thames, Windsor Castle, and other places of repute bordering on London. On Monday evening the subject will be ‘ Tutankhamen,’ when the treasures of the wonderful tomb will be fully described and depicted in magnificent coloured photography,