You know how people，when they go abroad，bring home souvenirs.Well，nations have done the same thing.They have carried away many of the obelisks in Egypt and taken them to their own countries.Sometimes these souvenirs have been given，sometimes they have been bought，sometimes they have been stolen.We have one in Central Park，New York，and there is another in London on the bank of the river Thames.These two obelisks are called “Cleopatra’s Needles，”though they were made long before the Queen of Egypt named Cleopatra lived and they look more like giant pencils than needles.One is in Paris in the center of a beautiful square.There are many in Rome.
【中文阅读】
我们大家肯定都在某个时候盖过房子吧。有的用卡片叠房子，一吹就倒了。有的用书堆房子，或用积木搭房子，还有的可能曾在自家的后院里支过简陋的小木屋。
每一座房子必定都有屋顶和墙壁。如果你把两块积木或卡片斜靠在一起，就会使墙壁形成屋顶，屋顶构成墙壁。这可是最简易的方式——它的侧面既是屋顶也是墙壁，就像帐篷或棚屋一样。金字塔的侧面既是墙壁也是屋顶，具有帐篷的某种形状。但金字塔除了内部的几个小屋外，它的建构是坚固的。
我说过，世界上最古老的建筑是坟墓。而第二古老的建筑却是神庙——人们为他们的神所建造的房屋。下面的插图我们认为是一座神庙的遗址。也许它从来就没有屋顶，但几根石头横梁仍遗留在原地。它被称作史前巨石柱。它不在埃及，而在英国。看了图后你会发现，傲立的巨石依然表明神庙的建造方式——与金字塔有所不同。它却是把一块石头横放在两块竖立的石头之上。这是第二种建筑方式。
史前巨石柱建筑遗址看起来很像是小孩子用积木搭建的房屋——两块积木笔直地立着，上面横放着另一块。但这些不是积木，而是坚硬的岩石，大岩石有人的好几倍大呢！史前巨石柱或许是在一块圈出来做圣地的空地上建成的。古人来到此地祭拜太阳神。那可是早在基督和基督教诞生之前的事。我们把建造史前巨石柱的人称作德鲁伊特。
在埃及有一座规模最大，年代最久的神庙，那就是卡尔纳克神庙。这座神庙有一部分是由拉美西斯大王所建。这位法老曾下令杀死在埃及境内所有的以色列小孩。这座神庙现在已成废墟，同时也是世界上最美观的废墟之一。也许你并不认为一片废墟能有什么美观。通常，支离破碎的房屋同一个缺胳膊少腿的人一样，是不美的。你凭什么说卡尔纳克神庙美观呢？我认识一个人，他专门在自家后院搭建废墟。这当然太荒谬了。
卡尔纳克神庙曾经支撑屋顶的主圆柱差不多有七十英尺高（相当于普通人身高的十二倍），十二英尺宽（相当于普通人横躺时高度的两倍）。这些柱子的造型或像一朵莲花，或像一簇莲花。莲花就是生长在尼罗河里的睡莲。
埃及还有其他神庙。尽管这些神庙的规模较小，但它们的建法却大致相同。首先是通往神庙的斯芬克斯大道，然后是两座方尖碑。方尖碑是一块高耸笔直的大石头，顶端很尖，据说它代表一束日光。
走过方尖碑，便是神庙的入口。入口的两侧是由两座巨型的塔建成，这种塔被称作桥塔。桥塔的墙壁向塔内倾斜。越往高处，倾斜得越厉害，就像金字塔的造型。据说，古代的占星家——即根据星象的变化预测未来的人——常常爬上塔顶，“研读星象”。桥塔正面的岩石上还刻有许多人面像。
跨进入口便是一个由高墙围住的庭院。往前是一个立柱大厅，叫做多柱厅。再往前就是神庙最神圣的地方，乃神像的供奉处。一般人都知道，出国旅游的人都要带纪念品回国。同样道理，国家之间出访也会这样做。各个国家都从埃及把方尖碑运出来，搬进自己的国家。有些是人家当作纪念品赠送的，有些是花钱买的，也有是从埃及偷出来的。美国纽约的中央公园里有一座，英国伦敦的泰晤士河畔也有一座。这两座方尖碑被称作“克娄巴特拉针”。尽管它们早在埃及女王克娄巴特拉诞生之前就已经造成，但它们看起来更像是巨型铅笔而不像针。巴黎某个美丽的广场中心有一座，而罗马却有许多座。
MUD PIE PALACES AND TEMPLES
土饼宫殿和神庙
IN THE Bible，Chaldeans means the wise men and priests of what you and I call the Two River Country.They were men of Chaldea，which was one of the countries in the Two River Country along with Assyria and Babylonia.Assyria was a little farther north than Babylonia and Chaldea，but all three countries were very much alike and sometimes all three were under one king.
The Two River Country was watered by a network of canals between the Two Rivers and so was very fertile.The finest crops in all the world grew there and many large cities were built on the plains.Nowadays these plains are dry and desert-like，for the canals have not been taken care of and without water the crops fail to grow.On the plains one can now see big mounds or low hills where once the palaces and cities stood.These are all that is left of the handsome buildings of this ancient land，and they crumbled into dust because they were made of mud，as I told you once before.Imagine a king’s palace made of mud—mud baked in the sun like a mud pie！But you remember，do you not，that these Two River people covered their mud walls with glazed tiles and slabs of stone？The tiles were bright colored like bathroom tiles and the slabs of stone were carved in low relief so that even a mud palace became a handsome building.
But with only mud bricks the Two River builders were handicapped.They could not make mud-brick houses more than one story high.The houses would have tumbled down had they been higher.The walls were not strong enough to hold a second story.As a one-story house would not look very palace-like，when these people built a palace they first made a hill with a flat top or platform of dried mud and placed the palace on that.The palace then seemed much higher.
The sides of the platform were very steep—almost，if not quite，straight up and down.So to reach the top of the platform a slanting roadway called a ramp was built against its side.
As mud walls were so crumbly，the builders had to make their palace walls very，very thick.Some were as much as twenty feet thick.The sun was very hot in that part of the world and these thick walls helped to keep out the heat.Further to keep out the heat，the Two River people made their palaces without windows，so the rooms were lighted only by lamps.
We usually think of palace rooms as large and spacious，but the rooms in the Two River mud palaces were very small.They had to be because of the lack of stone and ofwooden beams long enough to stretch across a wide space.In a palace，however，the builders made up for the smallness of the rooms by having a great number.
The temples which the priests built were made of mud bricks，too，but the one single platform for a foundation was not enough，so they built several，one on top of another.This gave the effect of a terraced pyramid，as each platform was set back from the one below it.In New York and some other cities to-day，architects are again planning tall buildings in this ancient way—the stories stepped back，as we call it.
You remember the Bible story of the flood—how the Babylonians built a tower called the Tower of Babel so that in case of another flood the people could climb to the top and escape drowning？Well，the Tower of Babel was not built straight up and down.It was a stepped pyramid such as I have described.It was like a set of blocks of different sizes piled one on top of another，each one a little smaller than the one below.Each was reached from the other by a ramp.On the topmost and smallest platform was placed the temple or shrine for the idol.
