Page:General History of Europe 1921.djvu/38

RESTORATION OF THE GREAT PYRAMIDS AND OTHER TOMB-MONUMENTS IN THE ANCIENT CEMETERY OF GIZEH, EGYPT. (AFTER HOELSCHER) These royal tombs (pyramids) belonged to the leading kings of the Fourth Dynasty, which came in the early part (2900-2750 B.C.) of the Pyramid Age. The Great Pyramid, the tomb of King Khufu (Greek, Cheops), is on the right. Next in size is that of King Khafre (Greek, Chephren) on the left. On the east side (front) of each pyramid is a temple, where the food, drink, and clothing were placed for the use of the dead king. These temples, like the pyramids, were built on the desert plateau above, while the royal town was in the valley below (on the right). For convenience, there- fore, the temple was connected with the town below by a covered gallery, or corridor, of stone, seen here descending in a straight line from the temple of King Khafre and terminating below, just beside the Sphinx, in a large oblong building of stone, called a valley-temple. It was a splendid structure of granite serving not only as a temple but also as the entrance to the great corridor from the royal city. The pyramids are surrounded by the tombs of the queens and the great lords of the age. At the lower left-hand corner is an unfinished pyramid, showing the inclined ascents up which the stone blocks were dragged. These ascents were built of sun-baked brick and were removed after the pyramid was finished