Greaves, John: Pyramidographia: or, a Description of the pyramids in Egypt ([London], [1752])

pstfa

Of the Authors or Founders', &c,

611

fietlion* Cbmmis) signifying adusiion,
which anciently might be the same in
Egyptian, and ;c-«4> or fc*»«4, signifying
fwarthy vijage, or tfdz//2 ; Herodotus might
call him Cheops in Greek, whom, in the
Egyptian language, Diodorus stiles Chemmis.
But I go on with Diodorus. This Chemmis,
J saith he, ereffed the greatest of thefe three
Pyramids, which are reputed among the fe-
ven wonderful fabricks of the world ; where
he also inlarges the number of the work-
men employed by him, to three hundred
and fixty t'houfa'nd, which Herodotus men-
tions only to have been an hundred thou-

fand-, though both of them con

and

Pliny with them both, that twenty years
were fpent in the building of this Pyramid.
Concerning the second Pyramid, Hero-
dotus and Diodorus assign the author of it
to have been Cephren, brother to the for-
mer king. Diodorus adds, that by some
he is also called Chabryis, and was the son
of Chemmis; a difference which I imagine
to have been occasioned out of the diver-
sity of pronunciation of Chabryis for Ce-
phren -, there being an easy transmutation
in letters of the same organ, as gramma-
rians use to speak. Cheops, as " Herodo-
tus informs us, being deceafed, his brother
Cephren reigned after him •, who imitated
him, as in other things, fo in the making of
a Pyramid, the magnitude of which is less
than that of his brother's. And ° Diodorus
relates, That Chemmis being dead, his bro-
ther Cephren fucceeded him in the kingdom,
Und reigned sifty-fix years : fome fay, that
not his brother, but his fon, which was named
Chabryis, reigned after him. This is as-
sirmed by the confent of all, that the fuccessor
of the sormer king, in imitation of him, built
the fecond Pyramid like to the sirsi, in respetl
of the art and workmanfhip, but far inferior
to it in respetl of magnitude.
The third Pyramid was erected by vMy-
cerinus, some call him Mycherinus, as it is
observed by Diodorus, who makes him the
son of Chemmis, as Herodotus doth of Che-
ops -, the difference between them being, as
we noted before, rather nominal than real.
The same q Herodotus also writes, That
some os the Grecians make the third Pyramid

the work of Rhodopis a-curtizan \ an error, G
in opinion, of thofe who feem not to know- who
this Rhodopis might be, of which they fpeak -,
sor neither could jhe have undertaken such a
Pyramid, on which fo many thoufand talents-
were to be fpent \ neither lived jhe in this
man's time, but in the time of king Amasis.
Now this Amafis, as he elsewhere sliews,
lived long after these Pyramids were in
being. The same story is cited both by
r Strabo and Pliny, both of them omitting
the names of the founders os the former
two. Strabo gives her a double name %
The third Pyramid is the fepulchre of a cur-
tizan, made by her lovers, whom Sappho
the poetress calls Doricha, mijlrefs to her
brother Charaxus •, others name her Rho-
dope. But, whether we name her Do-
richa, or Rhodope, the relation is altogether
improbable, if we consider either her con-
dition, or the infinite vastness of the ex-
pence. For s Diodorus, though he rightly
acknowledges this Pyramid to be much
less than either of the sormer two; yet in.
respect of the exquisite workmanship, and
richness of the materials, he judges it not
inferior to either of them. A structure
certainly too great and sumptuous to have
been the design and undertaking of a cur-
tizan, which could hardly have been per-
formed by a rich and potent monarch.
And yet Diodorus hath almost the same
relation, only a little altered in the cir-
cumstances: * Some fay, that this is the fe-
pulchre of the ftrumpet Rhodope *, of whom
fome of the Nomarchas (or prefects of the
provinces) being enamoured, by a common
expence to win her favour, they built this mo-
nument. But to pass by this fable, (for it
is no better) and to return to our inquiry.
The same author immediately before, in-
genuously confesses, that, concerning them
all three, there is little agreement either
amongst the natives, or amongst writers:
u For they fay, Armasus made the grealest
of thefe ; the fecond, Amasis-, the third9
Inaron. And w Pliny, informing us that
thefe three were made in feventy-eight years
and four months, leaves the founders of them
very uncertain : for, reciting the names os
many authors that had described them, he

REAVES.

1 Diod. Sic. lib. i. Xi^ic"] Ketjza'Kiv'atrz cAe Tnv yzyiwrcov reiKvUv^iuS'iov tcov hv <roi{ \-n\d rots Iwi-
(pa.Vi9cl.Toti itfoie nv&y.xij.iva.v. ,
m Tyramis amplijsima ex Arabicis lasidicinis conjlat. Trecento, LX hominum millia amis XX earn consin{xisse
produntur. Plin. 1. 36. c. 12.
n Herod, lib. 3. Tztev]n<Ta.v]<& cse runs, c4tcT£sa<\% tyiv sictatXtiW rov a.S'iKqlv ojjth Xsppwa, Sec.
0 Diodor. lib. 1. Titev}n<rav}&> cNra siatrikia? tktk t^n^i^ctj-o tw dpyjw 0 dsihzos Xuppriv, kai issiirswiiirn
it, Itp°S TOl? <7riVWK0VlCL,j£C.
P tlv^yjcPct, j^i no.) »t^> «T£/.iTe]o sohXov ihdcrtra <ra walfa. Herodot. lib.,2.
* Herodot. lib. 2. Tnv cT« u(]<ct'irzpot q&<r) 'Ekxmcov 'Vo^cotti^ haim yvvaubc tiva,t,'ist of6st)V hz so'isks, 'Sec.
r Aijijcu d\ mi ZTctl£g.{ Tcttpos yijovcoi vto r Zgyscov n z,cs7Tseo [J.zv ti t y.iAav Tromretct Kctht-i Aopiyctv
\^0[x<cvy\v rk dcTzhtpx avrm Xsj^^k yisovtfctv cthKoi J^ ovo[jM'v<ri 'PosoTrnv. Strab. lib. 17.
s Diod. Sic. lib. 1. r Diod. Sic, lib 1. Tojj'thv s'bvioi Assacr/ 'PoJVjVsJ^ ra.<pov ztvat tJk iTcti^ts, \\c
ya.ah'iuv vopdp-fcwv Tivds \^.^dcyivoy.ivac, Jid tpihoropyictv o\Ko^oy.mavlaii^iTiMaetiKQi/^roKctja<TK<£a.<Ty.e,
* Idem ibid. Triv y.iy\sw noim-cu Kiswiv 'Appdlov, rhv S'l S'ivjipjiV 'Au.ce.o-iv [yp. 'A.wwsycrii'] thv, <T£
TfWm 'Ivdpava {yp.} Mdpav*. w Ttes verb sacia annis LXXVIII. & menfibm IV. Plin. lib. 36.'cap. 12.
concludes.