Gabb, Thomas: Finis pyramidis or Disquisitions concerning the antiquity and scientific end of the great pyramid of Giza, or ancient Memphis, in Egypt, and of the first standard of linear measure (Retford, 1806)

( 52 )

time of Herodotus, and the less altitude, when Mr.
Greaves visited the Pyramid, seems to be a proof wan-
ting nothing but accuracy in their statements, to be
demonstration : and though no man is infallible, can it
be reasonable to argue two such reputable characters,
as Greaves and Herodotus, could either of them, in so
short a length, as at most one stadium or furlong, have
deviated from the other and from truth, by 110 feet?

But if this deposite of sands is not the effect of the
winds, by what agency came it there ? Not by any ex-
traordinary over-flowing of the Nile, from which a se-
dement might be left; for it is known, that river never
rose to near the height of that plain of rock, nor are
there any kind of shell-fish in the Nile; whereas shells
and petrified oysters are found in the sands about the
Pyramids.

And it must be allowed/when this Pyramid of Giza
was built, there were no such depths either of sands or
earth upon the rock, as in the time of Herodotus, from
the absurdities that would follow such a supposition;
since the builders must first have dug out their depth
of sand equal in extent to twelve English acres; and
when their work was completed, must be argued to have
filled in, against the acclining sides, to the level of the
former surface, and thus have buried a considerable part
of their own work.

From these positions, it evidently appears, this
Pyramid must have been erected by the Antediluvians:
and, the universal deluge, called Noah's flood, and the
description given of it in Holy Writ, will account, in a
satisfactory manner, for the lodgment of sands on the
surface of that extensive rock.

We