DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0351
312
APPENDIX.
were those of a cow, and therefore a strong proof, that, contrary
to the received opinion, the Pyramids were not tonihs. He found
that the Arahic inscription, mentioned by Belzoni, was no longer
legible ; and that a lower descending passage, which, he supposed,
led to many other excavated chambers, was filled up with large
stones and rubbish. He adds, that, although attended with some
danger, the ascent to the top of this Pyramid had several times been
effected. He then discusses, with considerable detail, the various
opinions, that had been entertained, respecting the purpose for
which the Pyramids were intended, — for observatories, for tombs,
for treasuries, or granaries ; and he conceives, that they could not
have been intended for observatories, on account of the number
of them, and from their having been covered with a smooth casing ;
neither for granaries, on account of their construction, and also of
their exposed situation in the desert. He thinks the suggestion that
they were tombs more probable, although he does not coincide
with that opinion, ;is he considers that they were temples erected
to the worship of Athor, Aphrodite, or Venus, which was intro-
duced by Cheops, who, out of respect for that deity, closed up the
temples, and interdicted the national worship already established,
and thereby incurred the hatred of the priests, as mentioned by
Herodotus; which, he conceives, would not have been the case if
he had merely built himself a tomb. He considers the tradition
respecting Cheops's daughter, another proof that the worship
of Athor was thus observed, and that the Pyramids were temples,
lie says, that although Herodotus stated, upon the authority of
the priests, that the body of Cheops was entombed in the Great
Pyramid, he could not have been informed by them that the
Second Pyramid was a sepulchre, because he expressly said that
it was not furnished with subterraneous apartments like the great
one. He also remarks, that Diodorus was informed by the priests,
that although these buildings were intended for tombs, yet, from
apprehension of the hatred of the people, the bodies of the kings
were not actually deposited within them ; a statement, which,
although not entirely true, yet sufficiently establishes the fact
that no person has ever been entombed in them. The Arab
account, cited by Greaves, he wholly discards, and imagines that
the sarcophagus in the King's Chamber was intended to receive
the embalmed body of a cow, the symbol of Athor, or Venus.
He then remarks, that although Mycerinus permitted the temples
to be opened, and the priests to resume their functions, yet that he
also erected a pyramid to Athor, and that, when his only daughter
APPENDIX.
were those of a cow, and therefore a strong proof, that, contrary
to the received opinion, the Pyramids were not tonihs. He found
that the Arahic inscription, mentioned by Belzoni, was no longer
legible ; and that a lower descending passage, which, he supposed,
led to many other excavated chambers, was filled up with large
stones and rubbish. He adds, that, although attended with some
danger, the ascent to the top of this Pyramid had several times been
effected. He then discusses, with considerable detail, the various
opinions, that had been entertained, respecting the purpose for
which the Pyramids were intended, — for observatories, for tombs,
for treasuries, or granaries ; and he conceives, that they could not
have been intended for observatories, on account of the number
of them, and from their having been covered with a smooth casing ;
neither for granaries, on account of their construction, and also of
their exposed situation in the desert. He thinks the suggestion that
they were tombs more probable, although he does not coincide
with that opinion, ;is he considers that they were temples erected
to the worship of Athor, Aphrodite, or Venus, which was intro-
duced by Cheops, who, out of respect for that deity, closed up the
temples, and interdicted the national worship already established,
and thereby incurred the hatred of the priests, as mentioned by
Herodotus; which, he conceives, would not have been the case if
he had merely built himself a tomb. He considers the tradition
respecting Cheops's daughter, another proof that the worship
of Athor was thus observed, and that the Pyramids were temples,
lie says, that although Herodotus stated, upon the authority of
the priests, that the body of Cheops was entombed in the Great
Pyramid, he could not have been informed by them that the
Second Pyramid was a sepulchre, because he expressly said that
it was not furnished with subterraneous apartments like the great
one. He also remarks, that Diodorus was informed by the priests,
that although these buildings were intended for tombs, yet, from
apprehension of the hatred of the people, the bodies of the kings
were not actually deposited within them ; a statement, which,
although not entirely true, yet sufficiently establishes the fact
that no person has ever been entombed in them. The Arab
account, cited by Greaves, he wholly discards, and imagines that
the sarcophagus in the King's Chamber was intended to receive
the embalmed body of a cow, the symbol of Athor, or Venus.
He then remarks, that although Mycerinus permitted the temples
to be opened, and the priests to resume their functions, yet that he
also erected a pyramid to Athor, and that, when his only daughter