DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0320
APPENDIX.
281
on the top of the great one was thirty-two feet square, and that it
consisted of nine stones, each of which was nearly a ton in weight,
although they were much inferior in size to some of the blocks
used in other parts of the buildings. They were of a grey lime-
stone, rather more compact than that which the English masons
call "chinch;" and, in common with other kinds of the same
stone, exhaled a foetid odour upon being struck with a hammer.
They appeared to have been quarried upon the spot, but several
blocks of a more compact variety were found scattered about the
base; and, though he did not himself observe any, were to be
seen, as he was informed, in the corners of the building, which
were put together with mortar, containing fragments of terra
cotta. He remarks, that the French had been very assiduous in
their researches; that they had attempted to open the smallest
of the three Pyramids, and had left a considerable chasm9 in one
of its sides, as an everlasting testimony of their curiosity and
zeal; and that, had not a stop been put to their labour by the
landing of our army, " the interior of this mysterious monument
would have probably been now submitted to the inquiry which
had long been an object among literary men." The doctor and
his party measured the Pyramid; but as he was not satisfied
with the result, he did not publish it, and contents himself with
stating, that the French found the height of the Great Pyramid to
be four hundred and forty-eight French feet. He then went up by
the mound of rubbish to the entrance, and after having examined
it, was of opinion that whoever opened the Pyramid must have
been previously informed of its construction, because its position
seemed to be " almost in the centre of one of its planes, instead of
being at the base ;" and, because no traces appeared of any other
excavations in search of it.1 He does not believe the Arabian
tradition, that the Pyramid was opened by Al Mamoon, a caliph
of Babylon, in the ninth century ; for Strabo must have known
of the entrance above eight centuries before the existence of
the caliph, as he has exactly described it, as well as the passage
"This chasm was made by the Mameluc Beys, and not by the French; and if it
had been carried through the Pyramid, it would not, as has been proved, have led to
any discovery, for the passages and chambers are entirely excavations in the rock.
It is remarkable that no author has mentioned the excavation in the walled enclosure
at the northern front of this Pyramid.
1 Dr. Clarke could not, of course, have been aware of the forced entrance formed
the caliphs, nor of the excavations at the base, as they were concealed under the
mound of rubbish.
281
on the top of the great one was thirty-two feet square, and that it
consisted of nine stones, each of which was nearly a ton in weight,
although they were much inferior in size to some of the blocks
used in other parts of the buildings. They were of a grey lime-
stone, rather more compact than that which the English masons
call "chinch;" and, in common with other kinds of the same
stone, exhaled a foetid odour upon being struck with a hammer.
They appeared to have been quarried upon the spot, but several
blocks of a more compact variety were found scattered about the
base; and, though he did not himself observe any, were to be
seen, as he was informed, in the corners of the building, which
were put together with mortar, containing fragments of terra
cotta. He remarks, that the French had been very assiduous in
their researches; that they had attempted to open the smallest
of the three Pyramids, and had left a considerable chasm9 in one
of its sides, as an everlasting testimony of their curiosity and
zeal; and that, had not a stop been put to their labour by the
landing of our army, " the interior of this mysterious monument
would have probably been now submitted to the inquiry which
had long been an object among literary men." The doctor and
his party measured the Pyramid; but as he was not satisfied
with the result, he did not publish it, and contents himself with
stating, that the French found the height of the Great Pyramid to
be four hundred and forty-eight French feet. He then went up by
the mound of rubbish to the entrance, and after having examined
it, was of opinion that whoever opened the Pyramid must have
been previously informed of its construction, because its position
seemed to be " almost in the centre of one of its planes, instead of
being at the base ;" and, because no traces appeared of any other
excavations in search of it.1 He does not believe the Arabian
tradition, that the Pyramid was opened by Al Mamoon, a caliph
of Babylon, in the ninth century ; for Strabo must have known
of the entrance above eight centuries before the existence of
the caliph, as he has exactly described it, as well as the passage
"This chasm was made by the Mameluc Beys, and not by the French; and if it
had been carried through the Pyramid, it would not, as has been proved, have led to
any discovery, for the passages and chambers are entirely excavations in the rock.
It is remarkable that no author has mentioned the excavation in the walled enclosure
at the northern front of this Pyramid.
1 Dr. Clarke could not, of course, have been aware of the forced entrance formed
the caliphs, nor of the excavations at the base, as they were concealed under the
mound of rubbish.