DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0132
104
APPENDIX.
been deposited. Some doubts may exist, however, as to the
original position of those in the Third and Fourth Pyramids.1
I have already mentioned that these buildings appear to have
been begun from the east, and likewise that all the sepulchral
chambers are formed in the rock, and that, notwithstanding their
enormous extent, the superstructures are almost entirely solid
masses, excepting in the Great Pyramid, where the tomb is in
the masonry, although it has been distinctly stated by Herodotus
to have been a subterraneous chamber of a peculiar description.
I have however sufficiently alluded to this subject, and to our
unsuccessful attempts in search of it. The historian is correct in
many other instances, and it is certain that great precautions
were taken to conceal the position of the sarcophagi. Doubts
may therefore be entertained whether the real tombs have been
discovered in the two larger pyramids, and the truth might be
known respecting the one in question by the removal of the sand,
and of the ground beneath it, to a level with the Nile, along the
foot of the mountain upon which the pyramid is placed ; by which
operation any canal for the conveyance of water would inevitably
be discovered.
Upon the whole, it appears that, although the same plan
was not followed in their interior arrangements, particularly
in the three larger pyramids, all of them were intended for
the same purpose, and that their construction was carried on
upon the same principles ; that the chief masses were formed
with the materials quarried from the spot, and the parts,
which required more exactness, with a finer stone from the
Mokattam, or with granite. The Third Pyramid seems to have
been built in stages, like the Fourth and Sixth Pyramids, and to
have been afterwards completed into one continuous surface.2
1 It is to be remembered that the sarcophagi in Campbell's Tomb were laid
east and west.
a As part of the casing of the Eighth Pyramid was unfinished, Mr. Perring was
enabled to make the following observations : — lie observes, that the beds and sides
of the blocks were worked to a perfect surface, so that, when put together, the
joints were scarcely visible, but that the faces were roughly hewn and projected, so
as to preserve the edges from being injured in raising the stones required for the
higher parts of the edifice above them, and that, when the whole was completed,
the levelling commenced from the apex downwards by one set of workmen, who
trimmed off the projecting parts, and by another, who planed them down to a per-
fect and beautiful surface. In the quarries a regular system was carried to a still
greater extent. The rocks were first cleared from rubbish, and levelled; the blocks
were then marked out; holes for wedges were cut; the stones were split off by
APPENDIX.
been deposited. Some doubts may exist, however, as to the
original position of those in the Third and Fourth Pyramids.1
I have already mentioned that these buildings appear to have
been begun from the east, and likewise that all the sepulchral
chambers are formed in the rock, and that, notwithstanding their
enormous extent, the superstructures are almost entirely solid
masses, excepting in the Great Pyramid, where the tomb is in
the masonry, although it has been distinctly stated by Herodotus
to have been a subterraneous chamber of a peculiar description.
I have however sufficiently alluded to this subject, and to our
unsuccessful attempts in search of it. The historian is correct in
many other instances, and it is certain that great precautions
were taken to conceal the position of the sarcophagi. Doubts
may therefore be entertained whether the real tombs have been
discovered in the two larger pyramids, and the truth might be
known respecting the one in question by the removal of the sand,
and of the ground beneath it, to a level with the Nile, along the
foot of the mountain upon which the pyramid is placed ; by which
operation any canal for the conveyance of water would inevitably
be discovered.
Upon the whole, it appears that, although the same plan
was not followed in their interior arrangements, particularly
in the three larger pyramids, all of them were intended for
the same purpose, and that their construction was carried on
upon the same principles ; that the chief masses were formed
with the materials quarried from the spot, and the parts,
which required more exactness, with a finer stone from the
Mokattam, or with granite. The Third Pyramid seems to have
been built in stages, like the Fourth and Sixth Pyramids, and to
have been afterwards completed into one continuous surface.2
1 It is to be remembered that the sarcophagi in Campbell's Tomb were laid
east and west.
a As part of the casing of the Eighth Pyramid was unfinished, Mr. Perring was
enabled to make the following observations : — lie observes, that the beds and sides
of the blocks were worked to a perfect surface, so that, when put together, the
joints were scarcely visible, but that the faces were roughly hewn and projected, so
as to preserve the edges from being injured in raising the stones required for the
higher parts of the edifice above them, and that, when the whole was completed,
the levelling commenced from the apex downwards by one set of workmen, who
trimmed off the projecting parts, and by another, who planed them down to a per-
fect and beautiful surface. In the quarries a regular system was carried to a still
greater extent. The rocks were first cleared from rubbish, and levelled; the blocks
were then marked out; holes for wedges were cut; the stones were split off by