DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6551#0034
10
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEH.
over which it was constructed, is entirely exposed on
every side of the base; as are also large spaces of stone,
at equal distances in the superstructure. At each angle a
column of brick-work, two courses in width, is carried up
to the top.
I conceive that the entrance into this Pyramid is in
the sand around its base, and that the whole of the pas-
sages and chambers are in the rock; that the Pyramid
at Howara is similarly arranged; and that there are
in neither of them any chambers in the superstructures
of brick.
There were several natural grottoes in the adjacent
rocks; but I did not observe the remains of any tombs,
or of excavations, although many may lie concealed
under the vast drift of desert sand, as sepulchral shafts
are visible between the Pyramids and the village.
These Pyramids are to be included in Mr. Perring's
Survey.
After a careful examination of the Pyramids of Gizeh,
I came to the conclusion that they contained many
apartments yet unopened, as well on account of their vast
magnitude, as also of the small space occupied by those
already discovered.
The manner in which these immense buildings were
constructed, and the means by which the vast blocks
of almost impenetrable stone were worked and placed
at different heights with critical exactness, are even
now unknown. For instance, the blocks of granite,
composing the floor of the King's Chamber in the Great
Pyramid of Gizeh, are laid with such precision, that not
only are the joints scarcely perceptible, but the under
faces and edges of the stones are so sharp and polished,
OPERATIONS CARRIED ON AT GIZEH.
over which it was constructed, is entirely exposed on
every side of the base; as are also large spaces of stone,
at equal distances in the superstructure. At each angle a
column of brick-work, two courses in width, is carried up
to the top.
I conceive that the entrance into this Pyramid is in
the sand around its base, and that the whole of the pas-
sages and chambers are in the rock; that the Pyramid
at Howara is similarly arranged; and that there are
in neither of them any chambers in the superstructures
of brick.
There were several natural grottoes in the adjacent
rocks; but I did not observe the remains of any tombs,
or of excavations, although many may lie concealed
under the vast drift of desert sand, as sepulchral shafts
are visible between the Pyramids and the village.
These Pyramids are to be included in Mr. Perring's
Survey.
After a careful examination of the Pyramids of Gizeh,
I came to the conclusion that they contained many
apartments yet unopened, as well on account of their vast
magnitude, as also of the small space occupied by those
already discovered.
The manner in which these immense buildings were
constructed, and the means by which the vast blocks
of almost impenetrable stone were worked and placed
at different heights with critical exactness, are even
now unknown. For instance, the blocks of granite,
composing the floor of the King's Chamber in the Great
Pyramid of Gizeh, are laid with such precision, that not
only are the joints scarcely perceptible, but the under
faces and edges of the stones are so sharp and polished,