"So much for harem life in Egypt. I'm sorry I can't tell more about it, but all my information must come from somebody else, and therefore you must consider it second-hand. The condition of women in the East is improving, but it is yet far behind that of Europe and America. The progress is more rapid in Egypt than in Turkey and other Moslem lands, and the example of the rulers of this country in establishing schools for girls will have an effect in the right direction. But it will take a long time to overcome the prejudices that exist in consequence of the religion of the East, not only among the men but among the women themselves. Many of the Egyptian and Turkish ladies have told their foreign visitors that they would not desire to change places with them: they enjoy their life of indolence and seclusion, as it gives them a feeling of protection they would not have if the customs of Europe prevailed among them."
Esneh was the first stopping-place above Luxor, and the object of interest was a temple partly cleared out and partly covered by the houses of the town. The only part to be seen was the portico, which was reached by a flight of steps descending to it. Nobody knows the extent of the temple, as it was covered for many hundred years with heaps of rubbish. The attempts to clear it out were made quite recently, but enough has not been excavated to give even the outline of the original edifice.
[Illustration: SCULPTURES MUTILATED BY THE PERSIANS.]
The boys observed here, as they had already done at Luxor and other places, that the sculptures were frequently injured by the destruction of the faces of the figures that had been engraved with so much care. They asked the Doctor how this was done, and he thus explained it:
"The Persians," said he, "had a great objection to seeing figures on the walls of the temples, and when they overran Egypt they mutilated them in the way you perceive. Happily the sculptures were so numerous that they did not have sufficient time to destroy them all, or even a goodly portion of them.
"The early Christians, in their zeal for removing the evidences of paganism, continued the work which the Persians began. In some instances they plastered the figures over so as to conceal them, and thus unintentionally caused them to be preserved. Where the plaster is removed the figures are found in excellent condition."