DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0306
APPENDIX.
267
equal width, excepting that parts of the two next the walls were
hidden hy the masonry. He could not discover of what material
the Sarcophagus was composed ; it was seven feet long, four
broad, and three feet two inches high, and had not any lid.
Several observations, taken with the compass, are then added,
but he supposes that it does not traverse freely in the interior
of the Pyramid. He says, that the mouth of the northern air-
channel is one foot by eight inches, and that, at the depth of
five feet, it ends in the solid masonry. He supposes, therefore,
that it is a forced passage, as the stones within it are regularly
and firmly built, and could not have fallen in by accident, and
as there are no traces of any aperture on the exterior of the Pyra-
mid, which he had carefully examined. He also describes another
opening, about six inches wide, on the eastern side of the Chamber,4
which gradually became larger, and appeared to have been in-
tended to contain relics, manuscripts, or other articles usually placed
in tombs. He again condemns the conjectures of M. Maillet, and
observes how easily hypotheses are made, and how quickly they
vanish before an unprejudiced observer, who is determined to be
guided by facts, and who will not conceal the truth. He says,
that the mouth of the well is from thirty to forty inches wide, and
inserts M. Maillet's description, which he had himself verified.
He then remarks, that the King's Chamber is not in the middle
of the Pyramid ; but, as he did not take the angles of the descend-
ing and ascending passages, he could not exactly fix its position.5
The position of the entrance into the Pyramid, to the eastward of
the centre in the northern front, he supposes, was intended to
conceal it in case a vertical excavation should have been attempted
from its apex; and he considers that this precaution was the most
ingenious contrivance in these buildings,which, it is to be remarked,
he does not appear to hold in much estimation. He is of opinion,
that sepulchral apartments, with entrances from the other sides of
the Pyramids, may exist, not only on account of the immensity of
the building, but as affording an additional chance of security
for the principal tomb, which could not have been easily distin-
guished from the rest. He does not coincide with the opinion of
M. Maillet, that the well had been closed up, nor that the great
4 This must be the southern air-channel.
1 It is to the north of it in his plan, which hy his own confession cannot be very
accurate.
267
equal width, excepting that parts of the two next the walls were
hidden hy the masonry. He could not discover of what material
the Sarcophagus was composed ; it was seven feet long, four
broad, and three feet two inches high, and had not any lid.
Several observations, taken with the compass, are then added,
but he supposes that it does not traverse freely in the interior
of the Pyramid. He says, that the mouth of the northern air-
channel is one foot by eight inches, and that, at the depth of
five feet, it ends in the solid masonry. He supposes, therefore,
that it is a forced passage, as the stones within it are regularly
and firmly built, and could not have fallen in by accident, and
as there are no traces of any aperture on the exterior of the Pyra-
mid, which he had carefully examined. He also describes another
opening, about six inches wide, on the eastern side of the Chamber,4
which gradually became larger, and appeared to have been in-
tended to contain relics, manuscripts, or other articles usually placed
in tombs. He again condemns the conjectures of M. Maillet, and
observes how easily hypotheses are made, and how quickly they
vanish before an unprejudiced observer, who is determined to be
guided by facts, and who will not conceal the truth. He says,
that the mouth of the well is from thirty to forty inches wide, and
inserts M. Maillet's description, which he had himself verified.
He then remarks, that the King's Chamber is not in the middle
of the Pyramid ; but, as he did not take the angles of the descend-
ing and ascending passages, he could not exactly fix its position.5
The position of the entrance into the Pyramid, to the eastward of
the centre in the northern front, he supposes, was intended to
conceal it in case a vertical excavation should have been attempted
from its apex; and he considers that this precaution was the most
ingenious contrivance in these buildings,which, it is to be remarked,
he does not appear to hold in much estimation. He is of opinion,
that sepulchral apartments, with entrances from the other sides of
the Pyramids, may exist, not only on account of the immensity of
the building, but as affording an additional chance of security
for the principal tomb, which could not have been easily distin-
guished from the rest. He does not coincide with the opinion of
M. Maillet, that the well had been closed up, nor that the great
4 This must be the southern air-channel.
1 It is to the north of it in his plan, which hy his own confession cannot be very
accurate.