The pyramids of Egypt, especially the two largest of the group of Jizeh
or Gize, are the most stupendous masses of buildings in stone that human
labor has ever been known to accomplish, and have been the wonder of
ancient and modern times.--The number of the Egyptian pyramids, large
and small, is very considerable; they are situated on the west bank of
the Nile, and extend in an irregular line, and in groups at some
distance from each other, from the neighborhood of Jizeh, in 30° N.
Latitude, as far as sixty or seventy miles south of that place. The
pyramids of Jizeh are nearly opposite Cairo. They stand on a plateau or
terrace of limestone, which is a projection of the Lybian
mountain-chain. The surface of the terrace is barren and irregular, and
is covered with sand and small fragments of rock; its height, at the
base of the great pyramid, is one hundred and sixty four feet above the
ordinary level of the Nile, from which it is distant about five miles.
There are in this group three large pyramids, and several small ones.
Herodotus, who was born B.C. 484, visited these pyramids. He was
informed by the priests of Memphis, that the great pyramid was built by
Cheops, king of Egypt, about B.C. 900, and that one hundred thousand
workmen were employed twenty years in building it, and that the body of
Cheops was placed in a room beneath the bottom, surrounded by a vault,
to which the waters of the Nile were conveyed through a subterranean
tunnel. A chamber has been discovered under the centre of the pyramid,
but it is about fifty-six feet above the low-water mark of the Nile. The
second pyramid, Herodotus says, was built by Cephren or Cephrenes, the
brother and successor of Cheops, and the third by Mycerinus, the son of
Cheops. Herodotus also says that the two largest pyramids are wholly
covered with white marble; Diodorus and Pliny, that they are built of
this costly material. The account of Herodotus is confirmed by present
appearances. Denon, who accompanied the French expedition to Egypt, was
commissioned by Buonaparte to examine the great pyramid of Jizeh; three
hundred persons were appointed to this duty. They approached the borders
of the desert in boats, to within half a league of the pyramid, by means
of the canals from the Nile. Denon says, "the first impression made on
me by the sight of the pyramids, did not equal my expectations, for I
had no object with which to compare them; but on approaching them, and
seeing men at their base, their gigantic size became evident." When
Savary first visited these pyramids, he left Jizeh at one o'clock in the
morning, and soon reached them. The full moon illuminated their summits,
and they appeared to him "like rough, craggy peaks piercing the
clouds." Herodotus gives 800 feet as the height of the great pyramid,
and says this is likewise the length of its base, on each side; Strabo
makes it 625, and Diodorus 600. Modern measurements agree most nearly
with the latter.
The pyramid of Cheops consists of a series of platforms, each of which
is smaller than the one on which it rests, and consequently presents the
appearance of steps which diminish in length from the bottom to the top.
There are 203 of these steps, and the height of them decreases, but not
regularly, the greatest height being about four feet eight inches, and
the least about one foot eight inches. The horizontal lines of the
platforms are perfectly straight, the stones are cut and fitted to each
other with the greatest accuracy, and joined with a cement of lime, with
little or no sand in it. It has been ascertained that a bed has been cut
in the solid rock, eight inches deep, to receive the lowest external
course of stones. The vertical height, measured from this base in the
rock to the top of the highest platform now remaining, is 456 feet. This
last platform is thirty two feet eight inches square, and if to this
were added what is necessary to complete the pyramid, the total height
would be 479 feet. Each side of the base, measured round the stones let
into the rock, is 763 feet 5 inches, and the perimeter of the base is
about 3,053 feet. The measurements of travelers differ somewhat, but
the above are very nearly correct. The area of the base is 64,753
square yards, or about 13-1/3 acres. The surface of each face, not
including the base, is 25,493 square yards; and that of the four faces
is consequently 101,972 square yards, or more than 21 acres. The solid
contents of the pyramid, without making deductions for the small
interior chambers, is 3,394,307 cubic yards. Reckoning the total height
at 479 feet, the pyramid would be 15 feet higher than St. Peter's at
Rome, and 119 higher than St. Paul's, London. The entrance to the great
pyramid is on the north face, 47½ feet above the base, and on the level
of the fifteenth step from the foundation. The entrance is easily
reached by the mass of rubbish which has fallen or been thrown down from
the top. The passage to which this opening leads is 3 feet 7½ inches
square, with a downward inclination of about 26°. It is lined with slabs
of limestone, accurately joined together. This passage leads to another,
which has an ascending inclination of 27°. The descending passage is 73
feet long, to the place where it meets the ascending one, which is 109
feet long; at the top of this is a platform, where is the opening of a
well or shaft, which goes down into the body of the pyramid, and the
commencement of a horizontal gallery 127 feet long which leads to the
Queen's chamber, an apartment 17 feet long, 14 wide, and 12 high.
Another gallery, 132 feet long, 26½ high, and 7 wide, commences also at
this platform, and is continued in the same line as the former
ascending passage, till it reaches a landing place, from which a short
passage leads to a small chamber or vestibule, whence another short
passage leads to the King's chamber, which as well as the vestibule and
intermediate passage, is lined with large blocks of granite, well
worked. The king's chamber is 34½ feet long, 17 wide, and 19¾ high.
The roof is formed of nine slabs of granite, reaching from side to side;
the slabs are therefore more than 17 feet long by 3 feet 9½ inches wide.
This chamber contains a sarcophagus of red granite; the cover is gone,
having probably been broken and carried away. The sarcophagus is 7 feet
6½ inches long, 3 feet 3 inches wide, 3 feet 8½ inches high on the
outside, the bottom being 7½ inches thick. There are no hieroglyphics
upon it. Several other chambers have been discovered above the king's
chamber, but as they are not more than three or four feet high, they
were probably intended to lessen and break the weight of the mass above,
which would otherwise fall on the King's chamber.
In 1816, Captain Caviglia discovered that the entrance passage did not
terminate at the bottom of the ascending passage, but was continued
downwards in the same inclined plane of 26°, 200 feet further, and by a
short horizontal passage, opened on what appeared to be the bottom of
the well. The passage, however, continued in the same direction 23 feet
farther; then became narrower, and was continued horizontally 28 feet
more, where it opened into a large chamber cut out of the rock below
and under the centre of the pyramid. This chamber is about 26 by 27
feet. Another passage leads from this chamber 55 feet, where it appears
to terminate abruptly.
The well, which appeared to Mr. Davidson and Capt. Caviglia to descend
no lower than where it was intersected by the descending passage, its
depth there being 155 feet, was afterwards cleared out by the French to
the depth of near 208 feet, of which 145 feet are in the solid rock; so
that the base of the pyramid being 164 feet above the low water level of
the Nile, the present bottom of the well is 19 feet above the Nile; but
the actual bottom does not appear to have been reached. The temperature
within the body of the pyramid was found to be 81° 5', Farenheit, and in
the well it was still higher. Herodotus was informed that the chambers
cut in the solid rock, were made before the building of the pyramid was
commenced. It is evident it was intended that the pyramid should not be
entered after the body or bodies were deposited in it, as blocks of
granite were fixed in the entrances to the principal passages, in such a
manner as not only to close them, but to conceal them.--There are
evidences, however, that this pyramid was entered both by the Roman and
Arab conquerors of Egypt.
The materials of all the pyramids are limestone, and, according to
Herodotus, were brought from the mountains near Cairo, where there are
ancient quarries of vast extent; but Belzoni is of opinion that a part
of them, for the second pyramid at least, was procured immediately on
the spot; others think that the greatest part of the materials came from
the west side of the Nile. The granite which forms the roofing of the
chambers, etc., was brought down the Nile from Syene. The stones of
which it is built, rarely exceed 9 feet in length, and 6½ in breadth;
the thickness has already been stated.
The ascent to the great pyramid, though not without difficulty and
danger, is frequently accomplished, even by females.
The pyramid of Cephren, the second in size, according to Belzoni, has
the following dimensions:
Side of the base, 684 feet.
Vertical height, 456 "
Perpendicular, bisecting the face of
the pyramid, 568 "
Coating from the top, to where it
ends, 140 "
Belzoni, after great exertion, succeeded in opening the second pyramid,
and after traversing passages similar to those already described in the
great pyramid, reached the main chamber, which is cut in the solid rock,
and is 46 feet 3 inches long, 16 feet 3 inches wide, and 23 feet 6
inches high. The covering is made of blocks of limestone, which meet in
an angular point, forming a roof, of the same slope as the pyramid. The
chamber contained a sarcophagus, formed of granite, 8 feet long, 3 feet
6 inches wide, and 2 feet 3 inches deep, on the inside. There were no
hieroglyphics on it. Some bones were found in it, which were sent to
London, and proved to be those of a bull or an ox. From an Arabic
inscription on the wall of the chamber, it appears that some of the Arab
rulers of Egypt had entered the pyramid, and closed it again. Belzoni
also discovered another chamber in this pyramid.
The pyramid of Mycernius, the third in size of the Jizeh group, is about
330 feet square at the base, and 174 feet high. This pyramid has never
been opened.
There are some large pyramids at Sakkârah, one of which is next in
dimensions to the pyramid of Cheops, each side of the base being 656
feet, and the height 339 feet. At Dashour there are also some large
pyramids, one of which has a base of 700 feet on each side, and a
perpendicular height of 343 feet; and it has 154 steps or platforms.
Another pyramid, almost as large at the base as the preceding, is
remarkable. It rises to the height of 184 feet at an angle of 70°, when
the plane of the side is changed, to one of less inclination, which
completes the pyramid. At Thebes, there are some small pyramids of sun
dried bricks. Herodotus says, "About the middle of Lake Moeris, there
are two pyramids, each rising about 300 feet above the water. The part
that is under the water is just the same height." It is probable that
these pyramids were built on an island in the lake, and that Herodotus
was misinformed as to the depth of the water. There are numerous
pyramids in Nubia--eighty or more--but they are generally small.
The object of the Egyptians in building these pyramids, is not known.
Some writers maintain that they were as memorials, pillars, or altars
consecrated to the sun; others, that they served as a kind of gnomon for
astronomical observations; that they were built to gratify the vanity
and tyranny of kings, or for the celebration of religious mysteries;
according to Diderot, for the transmission and preservation of
historical information; and to others, for sepulchres for the
kings,--which last was the common opinion of the ancients. Some suppose
that they were intended as places for secret meetings, magazines for
corn, or lighthouses; but their structure, and great distance from the
sea, are sufficient refutations of these absurd hypotheses.