DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0263
224
APPENDIX.
for he saw in the Great Pyramid, although he did not examine
them, descending passages choked up with rubbish, which were
said to be of great length, and to lead to sepulchral chambers.2
He agrees with Mr. Melton, that these monuments are not built
with marble but with sandstone ; and he then quotes Pliny as to
the number of men employed, and the sums expended in erecting
them. He expresses his surprise at the magnitude ofthe enormous
blocks which have been placed at so great a height, and his regret
that historians have not recorded the means employed in moving
them.
M. MAILLET (1G92),
{Consul-General in Eyypt from 1692 to 1708,)
Has given a detailed account of the Pyramids, and his authority
has been in many respects much relied upon. Amongst other
circumstances, he incidentally mentions the northern dyke, or
causeway, by which the stones were brought to the Pyramids;
and he remarks that the whole of its antient course might easily be
discovered, as the foundations probably remain under the soil.
He first adverts to the Third Pyramid, and observes that it
had been cased with blocks of a prodigious size, some of which
had been taken away, and many of the rest split by means of
wedges for other purposes.
He then remarks that the Second Pyramid was surrounded,
on the western and northern sides, by a foss3 cut in the rock ;
that it had been also cased with hard stones, which yet remained
towards the top, possibly because they could not conveniently be
removed ; that its ascent was tolerably easy, as far as the casing,
and that the Arabs had repeatedly climbed up to the summit;
that neither this Pyramid nor the Third had been opened ; and
that the discovery of entrances would be very difficult undertakings,
although, he observes, as the entrances into the Great, and into
some of the smaller Pyramids, were on the northern side, probably
* It would sccni that he had observed the continuation of the inclined entrance
passage beyond the junction of it with the ascending communication.
3 It is difficult to imagine how the levelling of the rock, on the western and
northern sides of this Pyramid, can be considered a foss.
APPENDIX.
for he saw in the Great Pyramid, although he did not examine
them, descending passages choked up with rubbish, which were
said to be of great length, and to lead to sepulchral chambers.2
He agrees with Mr. Melton, that these monuments are not built
with marble but with sandstone ; and he then quotes Pliny as to
the number of men employed, and the sums expended in erecting
them. He expresses his surprise at the magnitude ofthe enormous
blocks which have been placed at so great a height, and his regret
that historians have not recorded the means employed in moving
them.
M. MAILLET (1G92),
{Consul-General in Eyypt from 1692 to 1708,)
Has given a detailed account of the Pyramids, and his authority
has been in many respects much relied upon. Amongst other
circumstances, he incidentally mentions the northern dyke, or
causeway, by which the stones were brought to the Pyramids;
and he remarks that the whole of its antient course might easily be
discovered, as the foundations probably remain under the soil.
He first adverts to the Third Pyramid, and observes that it
had been cased with blocks of a prodigious size, some of which
had been taken away, and many of the rest split by means of
wedges for other purposes.
He then remarks that the Second Pyramid was surrounded,
on the western and northern sides, by a foss3 cut in the rock ;
that it had been also cased with hard stones, which yet remained
towards the top, possibly because they could not conveniently be
removed ; that its ascent was tolerably easy, as far as the casing,
and that the Arabs had repeatedly climbed up to the summit;
that neither this Pyramid nor the Third had been opened ; and
that the discovery of entrances would be very difficult undertakings,
although, he observes, as the entrances into the Great, and into
some of the smaller Pyramids, were on the northern side, probably
* It would sccni that he had observed the continuation of the inclined entrance
passage beyond the junction of it with the ascending communication.
3 It is difficult to imagine how the levelling of the rock, on the western and
northern sides of this Pyramid, can be considered a foss.