DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0250
APPENDIX.
211
He observes, that the Sarcophagus emitted a sound when struck,
in the same manner as an antient monument did which stood in
Woolwich Park, and which had been brought, by Mr. Rolt, from
Smyrna; that as for the body, it was supposed by some persons
to have been removed; but that, according to Diodorus, neither
Chemmis nor Cephren were buried in the tombs built for them,
but in obscure places, from a dread of violation in consequence of
the hatred of the people.
The Sarcophagus and the Chambers were composed of the same
material, called Thebaic marble, which he considered to be the
porphyry called, by Pliny, lucostictos; whilst his companion, the
Venetian, thought that it had been quarried from the rocks of
Mount Sinai. Whatever, however, might have been the material,
it was without engraving or sculpture, and was, on the outside,
seven feet 35 inches in length, three feet 3-3 inches in depth,
and the same in breadth. The interior was 6'48 feet in length,
2-21 in breadth, and 2-86 in depth, and he says that its dimen-
sions shewed that the human stature had for many centuries
been the same.
The sarcophagus stood in the middle of the chamber, north
and south, and was twice as far from the eastern as from the
western side. He perceived an excavation beneath it, and that
a large stone had been removed from the pavement at the north-
western angle, which Sandys considered to be the mouth of a
passage leading into other apartments, but which in his opinion
had been taken up in search of the treasures which were formerly
placed in antient tombs; as was the case, according to Josephus,
when David was buried in Jerusalem, when, besides the usual
solemnities, riches were deposited in his sepulchre, to so great
an amount that, thirteen hundred years afterwards, when the city
was besieged by Antiochus the son of Demetrius, Hyrcanus, the
high priest, opened one of the vaults and took out three thousand
talents, with part of which be bought off Antiochus; and some
years afterwards, kin" Herod took from another vault large sums
of money. It is likewise stated, that notwithstanding these re-
peated violations, the actual tomb of the king was not forced; as
>t had been, according to custom, concealed with the greatest
care, for fear that the monument should at any time be forced
open.
The author then describes the two air-channels; the aperture
of the northern was -tffo of a foot by -^"oV aiui its length into
211
He observes, that the Sarcophagus emitted a sound when struck,
in the same manner as an antient monument did which stood in
Woolwich Park, and which had been brought, by Mr. Rolt, from
Smyrna; that as for the body, it was supposed by some persons
to have been removed; but that, according to Diodorus, neither
Chemmis nor Cephren were buried in the tombs built for them,
but in obscure places, from a dread of violation in consequence of
the hatred of the people.
The Sarcophagus and the Chambers were composed of the same
material, called Thebaic marble, which he considered to be the
porphyry called, by Pliny, lucostictos; whilst his companion, the
Venetian, thought that it had been quarried from the rocks of
Mount Sinai. Whatever, however, might have been the material,
it was without engraving or sculpture, and was, on the outside,
seven feet 35 inches in length, three feet 3-3 inches in depth,
and the same in breadth. The interior was 6'48 feet in length,
2-21 in breadth, and 2-86 in depth, and he says that its dimen-
sions shewed that the human stature had for many centuries
been the same.
The sarcophagus stood in the middle of the chamber, north
and south, and was twice as far from the eastern as from the
western side. He perceived an excavation beneath it, and that
a large stone had been removed from the pavement at the north-
western angle, which Sandys considered to be the mouth of a
passage leading into other apartments, but which in his opinion
had been taken up in search of the treasures which were formerly
placed in antient tombs; as was the case, according to Josephus,
when David was buried in Jerusalem, when, besides the usual
solemnities, riches were deposited in his sepulchre, to so great
an amount that, thirteen hundred years afterwards, when the city
was besieged by Antiochus the son of Demetrius, Hyrcanus, the
high priest, opened one of the vaults and took out three thousand
talents, with part of which be bought off Antiochus; and some
years afterwards, kin" Herod took from another vault large sums
of money. It is likewise stated, that notwithstanding these re-
peated violations, the actual tomb of the king was not forced; as
>t had been, according to custom, concealed with the greatest
care, for fear that the monument should at any time be forced
open.
The author then describes the two air-channels; the aperture
of the northern was -tffo of a foot by -^"oV aiui its length into