Brugsch, Heinrich: Egypt under the pharaohs: a history derived entirely from the monuments (London, 1891)

dot. iv. KING KHUFU OE CHEOPS 33

DYNASTY IV.

To restore as completely as possible the names and
order of the Pharaohs of the Fourth and Fifth Dynasties,
the Tablets of Abydos and Saqqarah (p. xx. et seq.) and
the Turin Papyrus may together be considered as
approximating to the truth.

According to the testimony of the Tablets the suc-
cessor of the good king Sneferu was Khufu, the /t\
Cheops of Herodotus. With him begin the memor- U~\
able traditions of Egyptian history, as recorded ^5/
by the Greek and Eoman authors. Khufu"

No one who has once set foot on the black soil of
Egypt ever turns on his homeward journey till his
eyes have looked upon that wonder of antiquity the
threefold mass of the Pyramids on the edge of the
desert, which is reached after an hour's ride over the
long causeway from the village of Gizeh, on the left
bank of the Nile. Prom the far distance are clearly
seen their giant forms, looking as if they were moun-
tains ; yet they are but tombs built by the hands of
men, and which, raised by Khufu and two other kings of
the same family and dynasty, have been the admiration
and astonishment alike of the ancient and modern
world. Perfectly adjusted to the cardinal points of
the horizon, they differ from each other both in
breadth and height, as is shown bv the measurements
of Colonel Howard Vyse :—

Height. Breadth.

1. Pyramid of Khufu 450-75 feet 746 feet

2. Pyramid of Khaf-Ra 447-5 „ 690-75 „

3. Pyramid of Men-kau-Ra 203 „ 352-87 „

The mode of construction of these enormous masses
Was for long an almost insoluble enigma to even experts
in. engineering.

According to their ancient custom the Egyptians,

D