DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6551#0339
OPERATIONS CARRIED OjST AT GIZEII,
287
blackened with smoke in 1638. They are noticed by-
various travellers, and have given rise to many fanciful
conjectures by M. Maillet and others; it is therefore sur-
prising that their direction was so long unknown. It is,
however, satisfactorily proved by these operations that
they were intended to ventilate the King's Chamber, and
that they have no communication with any other apart-
ments; and, consequently, it might be inferred that no
chambers, or passages, exist in the Pyramid besides those
already discovered.
The excavation in search of a southern entrance was
therefore given up, which had been carried to a consider-
able depth without finding the least indication of a pass-
age, either by an inclination in the courses of the stones,
or by any other circumstance. The great magnitude of
the building, compared with the smallness of the cham-
bers and passages; and also the position of the entrance
to the eastward in the northern front, induced a conjec-
ture that an entrance to the westward in the southern
front might conduct to passages and apartments con-
structed in the great space between the three chambers
entered from the north. But this does not appear to be
the case ; and it is to be believed that the King's Chamber
is the principal apartment, and the security of the sarco-
phagus within it the great object for which the Pyramid
was erected. Many arguments might be adduced in sup-
port of this opinion ; amongst others, it may be observed,
that the proportions of the passages correspond with the
dimensions of the sarcophagus, and that their arrange-
ment seems expressly intended to facilitate the deposi-
tion, and to prevent the removal of it. The Queen's
Chamber may be considered as an appendage to the
287
blackened with smoke in 1638. They are noticed by-
various travellers, and have given rise to many fanciful
conjectures by M. Maillet and others; it is therefore sur-
prising that their direction was so long unknown. It is,
however, satisfactorily proved by these operations that
they were intended to ventilate the King's Chamber, and
that they have no communication with any other apart-
ments; and, consequently, it might be inferred that no
chambers, or passages, exist in the Pyramid besides those
already discovered.
The excavation in search of a southern entrance was
therefore given up, which had been carried to a consider-
able depth without finding the least indication of a pass-
age, either by an inclination in the courses of the stones,
or by any other circumstance. The great magnitude of
the building, compared with the smallness of the cham-
bers and passages; and also the position of the entrance
to the eastward in the northern front, induced a conjec-
ture that an entrance to the westward in the southern
front might conduct to passages and apartments con-
structed in the great space between the three chambers
entered from the north. But this does not appear to be
the case ; and it is to be believed that the King's Chamber
is the principal apartment, and the security of the sarco-
phagus within it the great object for which the Pyramid
was erected. Many arguments might be adduced in sup-
port of this opinion ; amongst others, it may be observed,
that the proportions of the passages correspond with the
dimensions of the sarcophagus, and that their arrange-
ment seems expressly intended to facilitate the deposi-
tion, and to prevent the removal of it. The Queen's
Chamber may be considered as an appendage to the