DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0366
APPENDIX.
327
those who served one planet. The names' of these classes
were inscribed on the sides of the sarcophagi; and within them
were lodged books with golden leaves, upon which each priest had
written a iiistory of the past and a prophecy of the future. Upon
the sarcophagi were, also, represented the manner, in which ai ts
and sciences were performed, with a description of each process,
and the object of it. The king assigned to every Pyramid a
guardian: the guardian of the eastern Pyramid was an idol of
speckled granite, standing upright, with a weapon like a spear
in his hand; a serpent was wreathed round his head, which
seized upon and strangled whoever approached, by twisting
round Ins neck, when it again returned to its former position
upon the idol. The guardian of the western Pyramid was an
image made of black and white onyx, witli fierce and sparkling
eyes, seated on a throne, and armed with a spear ; upon the
approach of a stranger, a sudden noise was heard, and the image
destroyed him. To the coloured (that is, the Third Pyramid)
he assigned a statue, placed upon a pedestal, which was
endowed with the power of entrancing every beholder till he
perished. When every thing was finished, he caused the Pyramids
to be haunted with living spirits; and offered up sacrifices to
prevent the intrusion of strangers, and of all persons, excepting
those, who by their conduct were worthy of admission. The
author then says, that, according to the Coptic account, the
following passage was inscribed, in Arabic, upon the Pyramids.
" 1, Surid, the king, have built these Pyramids, and have
finished them in sixty-one years.2 Let him, who comes after me,
and imagines himself a king like me, attempt to destroy them in
six hundred. To destroy is easier than to build. I have clothed
them with silk; let him try to cover them with mats."
It is added, that the spirit of the northern Pyramid had been
observed to pass around it in the shape of a beardless boy, with
large teeth, and a sallow countenance; that the spirit of the
western Pyramid was a naked woman, with large teeth, who
seduced people into her power, and then made them insane, she
was to be seen at mid-day and at sunset: and that the guardian
of the coloured Pyramid, in the form of an old man, used to
1 'Die names are given in the MS. of Masoudi, but they c.amot be made oul.
— Dr. Sprenga:
8 Makrizi says " in sixty years;" and states, that he had endeavoured to find this
inscription, but in vain.—Dr. Sprenger.
327
those who served one planet. The names' of these classes
were inscribed on the sides of the sarcophagi; and within them
were lodged books with golden leaves, upon which each priest had
written a iiistory of the past and a prophecy of the future. Upon
the sarcophagi were, also, represented the manner, in which ai ts
and sciences were performed, with a description of each process,
and the object of it. The king assigned to every Pyramid a
guardian: the guardian of the eastern Pyramid was an idol of
speckled granite, standing upright, with a weapon like a spear
in his hand; a serpent was wreathed round his head, which
seized upon and strangled whoever approached, by twisting
round Ins neck, when it again returned to its former position
upon the idol. The guardian of the western Pyramid was an
image made of black and white onyx, witli fierce and sparkling
eyes, seated on a throne, and armed with a spear ; upon the
approach of a stranger, a sudden noise was heard, and the image
destroyed him. To the coloured (that is, the Third Pyramid)
he assigned a statue, placed upon a pedestal, which was
endowed with the power of entrancing every beholder till he
perished. When every thing was finished, he caused the Pyramids
to be haunted with living spirits; and offered up sacrifices to
prevent the intrusion of strangers, and of all persons, excepting
those, who by their conduct were worthy of admission. The
author then says, that, according to the Coptic account, the
following passage was inscribed, in Arabic, upon the Pyramids.
" 1, Surid, the king, have built these Pyramids, and have
finished them in sixty-one years.2 Let him, who comes after me,
and imagines himself a king like me, attempt to destroy them in
six hundred. To destroy is easier than to build. I have clothed
them with silk; let him try to cover them with mats."
It is added, that the spirit of the northern Pyramid had been
observed to pass around it in the shape of a beardless boy, with
large teeth, and a sallow countenance; that the spirit of the
western Pyramid was a naked woman, with large teeth, who
seduced people into her power, and then made them insane, she
was to be seen at mid-day and at sunset: and that the guardian
of the coloured Pyramid, in the form of an old man, used to
1 'Die names are given in the MS. of Masoudi, but they c.amot be made oul.
— Dr. Sprenga:
8 Makrizi says " in sixty years;" and states, that he had endeavoured to find this
inscription, but in vain.—Dr. Sprenger.