Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 7.djvu/796

i I EGYPT [PYRAMIDS. 3 feet 5^ inches wide, for the first 92 feet of its length, and then we descend a step and find the passage to be 5 feet 8 inches high for 17 feet 11 inches farther, until it enters the " Queen s Chamber," as it is usually called, at the eastern corner of its north side. This chamber is 18 feet 9 inches long, and 17 feet broad, and its extreme height is 20 feet 3 inches. It has a pointed roof, of great blocks of stone, inclined upwards and meeting in the middle. Within it is the entrance of a forced passage. The remainder of the first passage, beyond where the first ascending passage leads to the most interesting parts of the structure, is still to be noticed. It continues below the forced entrance to the ascending passage for a distance of 239 feet 10 inches, being cut through the rock on which the pyramid is built. For this space its inclination and proportions do not change, but it then becomes horizontal for 27 feet, terminating at the entrance of an excavated chamber 46 feet in length, and 27 feet 1 inch in breadth, but of irregular and inconsiderable height. There is no doubt that this chamber was left unfinished at the closing of the pyramid. Beyond it the passage continues, opposite to where it entered the chamber, and extends horizontally 52 feet 9 inches into the rock in the same direction. The Second Pyramid, which bore the name of " the Great," and was the tomb of Khaf ra, or Chephren (Dynasty IV.), stands at a short distance to the south-west of the Great Pyramid, which does not very much exceed it in magnitude, though far superior in its construction. It has a base of 690 feet 9 inches square, and is 447 feet 6 inches in height, being more steep than its larger neighbour. A great part of its casing having been preserved, extending about a fourth of the distance from the summit, the ascent is very difficult, especially as when one has climbed on to the cased portion he can see nothing of the lower part of the building, and thus feels as if upon a pyramid in the air. There are two entrances, both in the north side, from which, and other peculiarities, it is possible that the building was originally much smaller than now, and that, after its first completion, it was enlarged, and a new entrance and sepulchral chamber added. The Third Pyramid, "the Superior," the tomb of Menkaura, or Mycerinus, is almost in a line with the other two, and of much smaller dimensions, being only 203 feet in height, and 354 feet 6 inches square at the base. It is constructed beautifully, and in a costly manner, and in these respects is unexcelled, if equalled, by any other pyramid. The exterior was anciently cased altogether, or in part, with granite, but this has been generally torn off. General Vyse opened it, and found that it had been previously ransacked. In it he discovered a very beautiful sarcophagus (which was unfortunately lost at sea on its way to England), as well as part of a mummy-case, bearing the name of King Menkaura, and a mummy, not certainly the king s, both of which are now in the British Museum. This confirms the statement of Herodotus that it was the tomb of Mycerinus. Manetho says that it was built by Queen Nitocris (Dynasty VI). This apparent inconsistency is explained, as Bunsen remarks (Egypt s Place, ii. 165, seq., 210, serf.}, by the construction of the pyramid, which has two principal chambers, and was evi dently enlarged after its first completion, so that we may reasonably suppose that it is the sepulchre of both Men- cheres and Queen Nitocris. Near the three large pyramids are six smaller ones ; three of these are near the east side of the Great Pyramid, and three on the south side of the Third Pyramid. They were probably the tombs of near relations of the kings who founded the great pyramids. The space around the pyramids is occupied by very numerous tombs, some built of stone, others excavated in the sides of the rock on which the pyramids stand, while others are simply pits with sepulchral chambers leading from them. The most interesting of these occupy a square bounded on the east by the Great Pyramid and on the south by the Second, and are mostly the sepulchres of the subjects of Khufu and other kings of Dynasties IV. and V. These tombs, which are of inconsiderable dimensions in comparison with many at Thebes and elsewhere, are all built of stone, and have inclined walls, so as to resemble truncated pyramids. They usually contain a chapel, or more rarely chapels, the walls of which are decorated with most remarkable painted sculptures, portraying the everyday life of the Egyptians at that remote age, with short inscriptions of an explanatory character. The absence of representations of the gods and subjects clearly connected with religion is note worthy. Other similar tombs stand to the east and south of the Great Pyramid ; and in the former direction are the principal sepulchral grottoes hewn in the side of the elevated rocky tract on which the pyramids stand. Some of these excavations bear similar representations to those of the other tombs already mentioned. To the east of the Second Pyramid is the Great Sphinx, called in Egyptian " hu," emblem of Hor-em-akhu, "Horus in the horizon," one of the most characteristic monuments of this wonderful necropolis, of an earlier date than the Great Pyramid. It is a recumbent androsphinx, or man-headed lion, 188 feet 9- inches in length, hewn out of a natural emi nence in the solid rock, some defects of which are supplied by a partial stone-casing, the legs being likewise added. Steps lead down to its front, where are a sanctuary and tablets, but these are covered by the sand, which, after the hollow has been cleared, speedily fills it again. Not far to the westward of the Sphinx is the remarkable excavation known as Campbell s Tomb, discovered by General Vyse, chiefly consisting of a large pit surrounded by a trench. The causeways leading to the Great Pyra mid and to the Third, the former of which greatly excited the admiration of Herodotus, are well worthy of a careful examination. The only pyramid which stands to the north of this group is that of Aboo-Ruweysh, which is in so ruined a condition as scarcely to deserve a visit. It lies about five miles to the north of the Great Pyramid. Southward of the Pyramids of El-Geezeh, the first objects of interest are those forming the similar group of Aboo-Seer, of much smaller dimensions, the largest being about the size of the Third Pyramid. They are on the elevated edge of the Libyan chain, about seven miles from the Third Pyramid, and are four in number, three being large, and the fourth very small. The Northern Pyramid of Aboo-Seer appears to have been the tomb of Sahura of Dynasty V., and the Middle Pyramid is the tomb of Ra-n- user of the same line. About two miles farther in the same direction are the Pyramids of Sakkarah, the greatest and most remarkable of which is called the Pyramid of Steps. The tract around them appears from the number of the tombs to have been the principal burialplace of Memphis, to which it is near. The Pyramid of Steps has a height of .196 feet 6 inches, and its base formerly measured on the north and south sides 351 feet 2 inches, and on the east and west 393 feet 1 1 inches. Within it are numerous passages and a gallery, which must, for the most part, have been made subse quently to the completion of the structure. In the centre is a very lofty and narrow chamber, and near it a small one, which was lined with blue tiles. In the latter was an inscription containing the title of the bulls Apis. Under the old monarchy those sacred animals were here entombed. It is thought that this pyramid was constructed by Uenephes of Dynasty I. If Manetho be correct in assigning

the introduction of the worship of Apis to a later king, this