Transcriber’s Note
When italics were used in the original book, the corresponding text has
been surrounded by _underscores_. Some corrections have been made to
the printed text. These are listed in a second transcriber’s note at
the end of the text.
THE STOREHOUSES OF THE KING.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THE
STOREHOUSES OF THE KING
OR
THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT
WHAT THEY ARE AND WHO BUILT THEM
BY
JANE VAN GELDER
(_née_ TRILL)
And I heard a voice in the midst of the four beasts say, A measure of
wheat for a penny, and three measures of barley for a penny; and see
thou hurt not the oil and the wine.—_Revelation_ vi. 6.
LONDON: W. H. ALLEN & CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE.
1885.
(_All Rights reserved._)
------------------------------------------------------------------------
LONDON:
PRINTED BY W. H. ALLEN AND CO., 13 WATERLOO PLACE, S. W.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
THIS VOLUME
IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
TO
EGYPTOLOGISTS AND FREEMASONS
OF ALL NATIONS,
BY
THE DISCOVERER OF WHAT THE STONE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT ARE,
AND WHO BUILT THEM,
THE AUTHOR.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
PREFACE.
The Pyramids have been reckoned among the wonders of the world, and
every effort has been made to discover for what purpose they were
constructed, and by whom they were built.
Their immense size, their solid construction, the lonely positions in
which they are placed, add to the amazement of the spectator.
Many conjectures and assertions have been made regarding them. Some
assert they were the tombs of the kings of Egypt, and others differ,
and say they were built for astronomical purposes; and those who give
up guessing or speculating regarding them, consider they were the
tokens of the folly and tyranny of the rulers of Egypt.
All travellers, and learned men and women who have visited these
gigantic monuments, admit their grandeur, and admire their sublimity.
Many expeditions have been sent to Egypt for the purpose of gaining
information regarding these Pyramids; and many public and private
individuals have spent princely fortunes in exploring them; and on
almost every occasion a book has been written, and given to the world,
showing the result of each expedition. Everything that could possibly
be said and written regarding these relics of antiquity has been given
forth to the world in all languages, from the remotest times till the
present day.
It is now the pleasant task of the author to state that the vexed
question may be set at rest, as the solution to the mystery has been
found. The discovery was made whilst reading the latest works on the
Pyramids; she recognised some features in the interior of the Great
Pyramid, and recalled to mind for what purpose such passages have been
used, and followed up the incident by reading more carefully every
book, and examining all the illustrations showing the interior and the
exterior of the noble buildings, till ultimately there remained not the
shadow of a doubt that the discovery was real. The sensation after the
removal of doubt was painful. When this sensation of amazement and
wonder had passed away, a feeling of gratitude took possession of the
mind.
This memorable discovery was made in August 1880. Began writing this
work on the 20th August and finished it on the 30th November.[1] The
entire work has been begun and brought to a conclusion without the
assistance of any person.
The narrative connected with the Pyramids is most touching; on that
account the writer proposes giving the life of the builder as she
describes these wonderful monuments of antiquity. She has never
attempted writing for publication before, therefore she humbly prays
the reader to be indulgent and to overlook all errors and shortcomings,
and to believe that this volume is brought before the world simply to
uphold the truth of the Holy Bible which has recorded the narrative;
and the appositeness of St. Paul’s assertion, that God hath chosen the
foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen
the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty;
and base things of the world, and things which are despised, hath God
chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to nought the things
that are.
CONTENTS.
Chap. Page.
I. JOSEPH—THE BUILDER 1
II. MOSES—THE RECORDER 16
III. TOWER OF BABEL—THE MODEL 38
IV. THE PYRAMIDS AS GRANARIES 49
V. THE HEBREWS IN EGYPT 58
VI. THE SPHINX—THE ENTRANCE 75
VII. MISSION OF MOSES IN THE EAST 86
VIII. MISSION OF MOSES IN THE WEST 123
IX. GRANARIES OF THE ANCIENT WORLD 162
X. DEATH OF MOSES 189
XI. RECORD OF FAMINES 198
XII. APOTHEOSIS OF MOSES 237
APPENDICES—
I. THE GREAT FAMINE IN EGYPT 247
II. THE TRANSLATION OF THE SEPTUAGINT 273
III. HERODOTUS ON THE PYRAMIDS OF EGYPT 296
IV. ON THE HEBREW AND GRECIAN FEAST OF FIRST-FRUITS 298
V. PREDICTIONS CONCERNING EGYPT 308
THE
STOREHOUSES OF THE KING.
CHAPTER I.
JOSEPH—THE BUILDER.
Joseph was the son of Jacob’s old age, and consequently he loved him
more than any of his other sons, by which Joseph incurred the envy and
hatred of his brothers, and they, knowing that the lad carried evil
reports of their conduct to their father, determined to do him some
harm. Besides, Joseph was always having strange dreams, which he
related to his father in the presence of his brothers, which dreams
were interpreted to mean some great advancement in the life of the
dreamer. The brothers watched for an opportunity to get rid of this
favourite child. The opportunity presented itself, and they availed
themselves of it. Jacob sent Joseph to see the state of affairs in the
field where the flocks were fed, and to bring him word; so Joseph, in
obedience to his father’s command, went, and when the brothers who were
guarding the flocks saw him approaching, they agreed to kill him. But
one of the elder ones said that it would be a great sin to shed the
blood of their relative, and that it would be better to throw him into
a pit and leave him there to die; to which suggestion the rest
consented. When Joseph came up to them, they insulted him, and stripped
him of the coat which his father, in his fondness for him, had made for
him, and, unheeding the lad’s cries and remonstrances, they threw him
into a pit. After this cruel deed, the men went to their meal; and
whilst eating it they saw a caravan of Ishmaelites, and to them they
sold Joseph, who was taken out of the pit and given to them. The
Ishmaelites, fearing that Joseph was not a slave, judging from his
handsome face and noble carriage, sold him to a company of Midianites,
merchants going down to Egypt. When these merchants arrived in Egypt,
they sold him as a slave to an Egyptian nobleman. Here he was kindly
treated by his master, who had confidence in his integrity, and was
made an overseer of his master’s property. Joseph was seventeen years
old when he was taken away from his home and country, and his father
mourned for him as dead. This took place in the year 1728 B.C.
The ways of the Almighty God are mysterious, and far above human
comprehension. God blessed Joseph, and he grew into man’s estate goodly
and well-favoured.
His master’s wife noticed him and became madly enamoured; losing all
self-control, she made criminal advances to him, which he repelled, and
entreated her to remember that he was her husband’s trusted servant,
and that she should not induce him to commit such wickedness against
his master and sin in the sight of God. She still persisted, till at
last she used force, and he fled from her presence, leaving a piece of
his coat by which she held him. Seeing that he was not to be overcome,
she hated him, and, to revenge herself on him, she reversed the story
and told it to her husband, who, believing her tale, became very angry
with Joseph and prosecuted him. Though the Court wherein he was tried
found him innocent, yet the nobleman persuaded the judge to place
Joseph in confinement, that his wife’s conduct might not be made
public; and, as Joseph had neither friends nor means, he was helpless,
and consequently was sent to prison, where he remained many years.
In his solitude, the mind of the captive must have often recalled
scenes of home, and all the lessons that he had learnt orally—as was
the custom in the East—and remembered the great deeds and renown of
his ancestors, and the marvellous acts of God towards Noah and Abraham
and Isaac, and his own father Jacob, who was surnamed by God Israel. In
regarding his miserable condition he must have thought of the visit to
Egypt of his great-grandfather, Abraham, who came as a prince, and was
treated by the king as his friend; and how the king, when he found he
was misinformed by Abraham regarding his wife, made honourable amends,
and gave him flocks and herds as presents; and when the famine in
Canaan was over, he and his wife and their nephew left Egypt in state
(the Egyptian historians call these visitors “Shepherd Kings”); and how
when there was another famine in Canaan, in the lifetime of Isaac,
there was corn in Egypt, and Isaac would have visited Egypt as did his
father, but that he was forbidden by God.
Thus time sped till Joseph was thirty years old, when Pharaoh, King of
Egypt, was warned in dreams of the approach of the great and memorable
famine, which was to last seven long years, during which time the earth
would make its sabbath, and produce no food for man or beast. It was
then that the unhappy captive was remembered by a fellow-prisoner,
whose dream Joseph had interpreted, and which was realised as he
predicted; so that, when all the wise men of Egypt could not tell the
King the meaning of his dreams, and when the King in his disappointed
rage was about to condemn them to death, Joseph was called.
He was taken from the prison and brought before the King, who, seeing
in him a superior deportment and a stately person, came down from his
throne and addressed him as an equal; he told him his dreams, and said
there was none who could interpret them, and that he had heard that he
understood dreams and could interpret them. Joseph answered the King
with humility, and told him what was the will of God regarding the land
of Egypt; that there would be seven years of great plenty throughout
all the land of Egypt, and after them seven years of famine; that all
the plenty would be forgotten in the land of Egypt, and the famine
would consume the land. Joseph advised Pharaoh to look out for a man
discreet and wise, and set him over the land of Egypt; to appoint
officers over the land, and to take up the fifth part of the produce of
the land of Egypt in the seven plenteous years; to let them gather all
the food of those good years that were to come, and lay up corn under
the hand of Pharaoh, and let them keep food in the cities, that it
might be for store to the land against the seven years of famine which
should be in the land of Egypt, that the land might not perish through
the famine.
Pharaoh was greatly pleased, both at the interpretation and the advice;
and, as there was none like him, in whom was the spirit of God, Pharaoh
made Joseph the Viceroy of Egypt; and Pharaoh took off his ring from
his hand and put it upon Joseph’s hand, and arrayed him in vestures of
fine linen, and put a gold chain about his neck; and he made him ride
in the second chariot which he had, and the people cried before him,
“Bow the knee!” or “Bend the knee!” and Pharaoh made him ruler of all
the land of Egypt.
And Pharaoh said unto Joseph, “I am Pharaoh, and without thee shall no
man lift up his hand or foot in all the land of Egypt.” And Pharaoh
called Joseph’s name Zaphnath-paaneah, or “Preserver of the Age.”
Consequently Joseph had absolute power vested in him. The King also
gave him to wife Asenath, the daughter of Potipherah, priest of On. And
Joseph went throughout all the land of Egypt. And in the seven
plenteous years the earth brought forth by handfuls. And he gathered up
all the food of the seven years, which were in the land of Egypt, and
laid up the food in the cities; the food of the field, which was round
about every city, laid he up in the same. And Joseph gathered corn as
the sand of the sea, very much, until he left off numbering; for it was
without number.
The land of Egypt is six hundred miles long, and is bounded by two
ranges of naked limestone hills which sometimes approach, and sometimes
retire from each other, leaving between them an average breadth of
seven miles. Northwards they part and finally disappear, giving place
to a marshy meadow plain which extends to the Mediterranean coast. To
the south they are no longer of limestone, but of granite; they narrow
to a point; they close till they almost touch; and through the mountain
gate thus formed the river Nile leaps with a roar into the valley, and
runs due north towards the sea. This land and its neighbourhood was
first inhabited by the descendants of Ham, the third son of Noah;
Mizraim, the second son of Ham, occupied Egypt. The noble river Nile is
recorded in the Scriptures as the second river which parted from the
main stream which went out of Eden to water the garden where Adam and
Eve were placed by their Creator.
In the winter and spring it rolls a languid stream through a dry and
dusty plain; but in the summer an extraordinary thing happens. The
river grows troubled and swift, it turns red and then green; it rises,
it swells, till at length, overflowing its banks, it covers the
adjoining lands to the base of the hills on either side. The whole
valley becomes a lake, from which the villages rise like islands, for
they are built on artificial mounds. The land of Egypt is by nature a
rainless desert, which the Nile, the mysterious Nile only, converts
into a fruitful garden every year.
The task that Joseph had been entrusted with was stupendous. He had to
build storehouses that would contain all the fifth part of the produce
of the plenteous years of the fertile land of Egypt that were gathered
up during the seven years. Before he set himself to the building of
these vast receptacles he must have searched for models, and whilst
doing this the building of the Tower of Babel must have come to his
recollection, for the father of Abraham was the chief officer of King
Nimrod who built it. This was a grand model, and that he followed it is
evident from what we see in the Pyramids, or Storehouses of the King,
in this, the nineteenth century of our Lord.
When the Temple at Jerusalem was about to be built by Solomon, he must
have read how the storehouses were built, and he must have been aware
for what use they were intended, as well as by whom they were built.
Solomon married the daughter of Pharaoh, King of Egypt, and as
son-in-law of the King he must have had free access to all the secret
buildings and records of the land of Egypt.
This is the account of the building of the Temple: Solomon laid the
foundations of the Temple very deep in the rock of Moriah, and the
materials were strong stones, and such as would resist the force of
time; these were to unite themselves with the rock, and become a basis
and a sure foundation for that superstructure which was to be erected
over it. They were to be so strong in order to sustain with ease those
vast superstructures and precious ornaments, whose own weight was to be
not less than the weight of those other high and heavy buildings which
the King designed to be very ornamental and magnificent. He erected its
entire body, quite up to the roof, of white stone; its height was sixty
cubits, its length was the same, and its breadth was twenty. There was
another building erected over it, equal to it in its measures, so that
the entire altitude of the Temple was a hundred and twenty cubits. Its
front was to the east.
Now the whole structure of the Temple was made, with great skill, of
polished stones, laid together so very harmoniously and smoothly that
there appeared to the spectators no signs of any hammer, or other
instrument of architecture, but as if, without any use of them, the
materials had naturally united themselves together, the agreement of
one part with another seeming rather to be natural, than to have arisen
from the force of tools upon them. The King also had a fine contrivance
for an ascent to the upper room over the Temple, and that was by steps
in the thickness of its wall; for it had no large door on the east end,
as the lower house had, but the entrances were by the sides, through
very small doors. He also overlaid the Temple, both within and without,
with boards of cedar, that were kept close together by thick chains, so
that this contrivance was in the nature of a support and strength to
the building.
The Temple was built on the crown of Moriah, “the threshing floor of
Ornan the Jebusite” (2 Chr. iii. 1), with a surrounding platform six
hundred and twelve feet square. The building called the Naos would seem
to have stood on the summit of the rock, in which graduated platforms
were cut, forming the courts of the Jews and women. The Naos was small
(sixty by twenty cubits), and was divided into the Holy of Holies and
Holy Place, the former used once a year, the latter occupied only by
the priests performing daily service. In the former was the Ark; in the
latter the altar of incense, with the table of Shew-bread on its one
side, and golden candlestick on the other. These two parts were
separated by a veil, which was rent at the crucifixion (Matt. xxvii.
51). The court of the Gentiles surrounded the Naos, but was on a lower
platform, separated by a trellis fence. The Naos was, like Mount Sinai,
the sanctuary of Jehovah, fenced off from the Gentiles’ court, the
plain below.
Solomon must have referred to the discovery that he had made regarding
these buildings (the Pyramids) and to the builder of them, when he
said: “Better is a poor and a wise child than an old and foolish king,
who will no more be admonished. For out of prison he cometh to reign;
whereas also he that is born in his kingdom becometh poor” (Eccl. iv.
13, 14).
Joseph built these storehouses near the fields of every city, according
to the size of the city and the number of its inhabitants. In the
north, near the Delta, he built many and large, according to the amount
of corn the fields there yielded. He was occupied seven years in
building them, and during the time thus occupied, he must often have
recalled the fond memories of home, and of his aged father, and his
youngest brother, the son of his deceased mother; and doubtless the
three largest Pyramids of Jeezeh he dedicated to the memory of his
ancestors, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
So Joseph laid the foundations of each storehouse very deep in the rock
on which it was built, and the materials were strong stones, such as
would resist the force of time; these were to unite themselves with the
rock, and become a basis and a sure foundation for that superstructure
which was to be erected over it. They were to be so strong in order to
sustain with ease those vast superstructures whose own weight was to be
not less than the weight of the casing stones which he designed to be
used. He erected its entire body, quite up to the roof, of stone. Its
base was square, the sides rising up slantwise, till there was only a
small square aperture left unfinished; these sides were in steps, so
that the labourers could ascend to the aperture.
The interior had chambers for the officers to reckon the quantity of
corn stored, and for the measure a stone coffer or box to measure the
corn with. There were vast chasms and receptacles with passages like
tubes leading to them, all the length from the walls, with their mouths
outside the walls, which Egyptologists call air passages, so that the
men could get to them from the exterior by the steps. The corn was
thrown into these vast spaces from outside, from the apertures in the
sides, and the aperture at the summit. When the whole receptacle was
well filled with the corn, which was as plentiful as the sand of the
sea, then all the apertures were stopped with stones, like stoppers of
bottles, made for the purpose. The side steps were then encased, from
the base to the summit, with large casing stones, so that the sides
became level, and, with the coatings of cement, the entire building
outside became level and smooth, and the top in a peak.
The corn within this grand storehouse was hermetically sealed, utterly
impervious to the sun, rain, and wind. The doors of it, as in Solomon’s
temple, were small, and in the sides. Now the whole of this structure
was made, with great skill, of stones, and those laid together so very
harmoniously and smoothly that there appeared to the spectators no
signs of any hammer or other instrument of architecture, but as if,
without any use of them, the materials had naturally united themselves
together, the agreement of one part with another seeming rather to be
natural than to have arisen from the force of tools upon them.
The foresight and discretion of Joseph were rewarded by Pharaoh, who
gave him the powers of a king and the attributes of a god.
And the seven years of plenteousness that was in the land of Egypt were
ended, according as Joseph had said, and the dearth was in all lands;
but in all the land of Egypt there was bread. And the famine was over
all the face of the earth. Joseph opened all the storehouses, and sold
corn unto the Egyptians; and all countries came into Egypt to Joseph to
buy corn, because the famine was sore in all lands. Now Joseph’s
thoughts reverted to his father’s home, and he knew that his brothers
would be obliged to come to Egypt to purchase food, for the famine was
very grievous in the land of Canaan. He gave orders that no man
desiring corn should send his servant to purchase it, but that the head
of each family should personally appear as a purchaser; he also
proclaimed that no man should be allowed to purchase corn in Egypt to
sell it again in other countries, but only such as he required for the
support of his immediate family; neither should any purchaser be
allowed to buy more corn than one animal could carry. He put guards at
all the gates of Egypt, and every man who passed through the gates was
obliged to record his name and the name of his father in a book, which
was brought by the guards every night for Joseph’s inspection. By doing
this he ascertained when his brethren entered Egypt. When they came and
stood before him, they wondered at his magnificence, the handsome
appearance and the majestic presence of the powerful man, but they did
not recognise in him their brother. He sold them corn, but contrived to
entrap them, so that they should bring down with them his own brother
Benjamin, who did not come with them this time; they departed, leaving
an hostage with Joseph, and on their next visit to buy corn they
brought with them his brother Benjamin, and a letter and presents from
Jacob. When Joseph recognised his father’s hand, his feelings grew too
strong for him; the recollections of his youth overpowered him, and,
retiring into a side apartment, he wept bitterly. He entertained all
his brothers, and sold them corn, but the price thereof he returned
without their knowledge into the sacks of each of his brothers. Before
they left Egypt he made himself known to them, and, after greetings and
explanations, he presented his brothers to Pharaoh; and Pharaoh, seeing
they were goodly men, was much pleased and very gracious towards them.
Then it was arranged that Jacob should come with all his family into
Egypt; and Pharaoh gave his chariots for their accommodation. In due
time Jacob and all his family came into Egypt. Joseph went to meet his
father, dressed in royal robes, with the crown of state upon his head;
and when he came within fifty cubits of his father’s company, he
descended from his chariot and walked to meet his father. Now when the
nobles and princes of Egypt saw this, they too descended from their
steeds and chariots and walked with him. And when Jacob saw all this
great procession he wondered exceedingly, and he was much pleased
thereat, and, turning to Judah, he asked, “Who is the man who marcheth
at the head of this great array in royal robes?” Judah answered, “This
is thy son.” And when Joseph drew nigh to his father he bowed down
before him, and his officers also bowed low to Jacob. And Jacob ran
towards his son and fell upon his neck and kissed him, and they wept
and shed tears of joy and gratitude. Joseph greeted his brethren with
affection. And Joseph brought his father and presented him to Pharaoh;
and Jacob blessed Pharaoh. And the King said unto Jacob, “How old art
thou?” And Jacob answered him, and said, “The days of the years of my
pilgrimage are an hundred and thirty years: few and evil have the days
of the years of my life been, and have not attained unto the days of
the years of the life of my fathers in the days of their pilgrimage.”
And Joseph placed his father and his brethren, and gave them a
possession in the land of Egypt, in the best of the land, in the land
of Rameses, as Pharaoh had commanded. And Joseph nourished his father,
and his brethren, and all his father’s household, with bread according
to their families (1706 B.C.).
And there was no bread in all the land; for the famine was very sore,
so that the land of Egypt and all the land of Canaan fainted by reason
of the famine. And Joseph gathered up all the money that was found in
the land of Egypt, and in the land of Canaan, for the corn which they
bought: and Joseph brought the money into Pharaoh’s house. When all
their money was spent they brought their cattle unto Joseph, and he
gave them bread in exchange for horses, and for the flocks, and for the
cattle of the herds, and for the asses: and he fed them with bread for
all their cattle for that year. After this, Joseph bought all the land
of Egypt for Pharaoh; for the Egyptians sold every man his field,
because the famine prevailed over them: so the land became Pharaoh’s.
And as for the people, he removed them to cities from one end of the
borders of Egypt, even to the other end thereof. Only the land of the
priests bought he not; for the priests had a portion assigned them of
Pharaoh, and did eat their portion which Pharaoh gave them: wherefore
they sold not their lands.
During these seven years of famine the Egyptians sold all they had, and
that being insufficient they sold themselves, so that from subjects
they became servants to Pharaoh. Joseph again showed his forethought
and discretion, and called the people and said to them, Behold, I have
bought you this day and your land for Pharaoh: lo, here is seed for
you, and you shall sow the land. And it shall come to pass in the
increase, that ye shall give the fifth part unto Pharaoh, and four
parts shall be your own, for seed of the field, and for your food, and
for them of your households, and for food for your little ones. Thus
they became serfs. The wretchedness and poverty of the people was
complete; as if the curse of Noah on his son Ham was accomplished to
the letter.
After this Jacob died, and his sons buried him in great state in the
cave of the field of Machpelah, which Abraham bought with the field for
a possession of a burying-place, in the land of Canaan (1689 B.C.).
Joseph had two sons by his wife Asenath. At the age of one hundred and
ten years this remarkable man died, and they embalmed him, and he was
put in a coffin in Egypt, and afterwards laid in the ground near the
banks of the Nile. And all Egypt wept for Joseph seventy days, and his
brethren mourned for him seven days, as they did for Jacob his father.
Then Pharaoh took the dominion in his own hands, and governed the
people wisely and in good faith.