DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.6552#0395
356
APPENDIX.
possess a solidity, that neither tempests nor time can destroy?"
The author then quotes the verses of Motanehhi, mentioned by
Ebn Al Werdi; • and also says, that the Pyramids were supposed
to have been the tombs of antient kings, who were as desirous of
posthumous glory as they had been of renown during their exist-
ence, and who intended, by these buildings, to transmit their
names to remote posterity.
He mentions, that when the Caliph Al Mamoon arrived in
Egypt, he ordered the Pyramids to be opened, and that an exca-
vation was accordingly made in one of them with great labour and
expense, which, at length, disclosed an ascending narrow pas-
sage, dreadful to look at, and difficult to pass. At the end of it
was a quadrangular chamber, about eight cubits square, and
within it a sarcophagus. The lid was forced open, but nothing
Avas discovered excepting some bones completely decayed by
time ; upon which the caliph declined any further examina-
tion, as the expenses had been very great, particularly in provi-
sions for the workmen. The author then observes, that it has
been mentioned, that Hermes, called Tiismegistus, and, in
Hebrew, Enoch, having ascertained, from the appearances of
the stars, that the deluge would take place, built the Pyramids to
contain his treasures, and books of science and knowledge, and
other matters, worth preserving from oblivion and ruin; but that
it has also been said, that the founder of the Pyramids was
either Surid Ben Slialuk, or Sheddad Ben Ad ; that the Copts
did not believe that the Amalekites came to Egypt, but that
the Pyramids were built by Surid in consequence of a dream, in
which he saw appearances in the heavens, which portended the
flood; that he built them in six months, and covered them with
coloured silk, and placed upon them the inscription already
mentioned,—"I have built," &c. He likewise says, that the sur-
faces of the two Pyramids were covered with inscriptions from the
top to the bottom, and that the lines were close to one another,
but almost erased ; but that it was not positively known who built
them, nor what was the meaning of the inscriptions ; in short, that
every thing connected with them was mysterious, and the traditions
respecting them various and contradictory ; at the same time,
that they commanded such admiration and astonishment, that they
were actually worshipped. He adds, that the caliph ordered his
people to ascend the Great Pyramid, which they accomplished in
2 Ebn Al Werdi's writings have been translated by Frehn.—Dr. Spraigcr.
APPENDIX.
possess a solidity, that neither tempests nor time can destroy?"
The author then quotes the verses of Motanehhi, mentioned by
Ebn Al Werdi; • and also says, that the Pyramids were supposed
to have been the tombs of antient kings, who were as desirous of
posthumous glory as they had been of renown during their exist-
ence, and who intended, by these buildings, to transmit their
names to remote posterity.
He mentions, that when the Caliph Al Mamoon arrived in
Egypt, he ordered the Pyramids to be opened, and that an exca-
vation was accordingly made in one of them with great labour and
expense, which, at length, disclosed an ascending narrow pas-
sage, dreadful to look at, and difficult to pass. At the end of it
was a quadrangular chamber, about eight cubits square, and
within it a sarcophagus. The lid was forced open, but nothing
Avas discovered excepting some bones completely decayed by
time ; upon which the caliph declined any further examina-
tion, as the expenses had been very great, particularly in provi-
sions for the workmen. The author then observes, that it has
been mentioned, that Hermes, called Tiismegistus, and, in
Hebrew, Enoch, having ascertained, from the appearances of
the stars, that the deluge would take place, built the Pyramids to
contain his treasures, and books of science and knowledge, and
other matters, worth preserving from oblivion and ruin; but that
it has also been said, that the founder of the Pyramids was
either Surid Ben Slialuk, or Sheddad Ben Ad ; that the Copts
did not believe that the Amalekites came to Egypt, but that
the Pyramids were built by Surid in consequence of a dream, in
which he saw appearances in the heavens, which portended the
flood; that he built them in six months, and covered them with
coloured silk, and placed upon them the inscription already
mentioned,—"I have built," &c. He likewise says, that the sur-
faces of the two Pyramids were covered with inscriptions from the
top to the bottom, and that the lines were close to one another,
but almost erased ; but that it was not positively known who built
them, nor what was the meaning of the inscriptions ; in short, that
every thing connected with them was mysterious, and the traditions
respecting them various and contradictory ; at the same time,
that they commanded such admiration and astonishment, that they
were actually worshipped. He adds, that the caliph ordered his
people to ascend the Great Pyramid, which they accomplished in
2 Ebn Al Werdi's writings have been translated by Frehn.—Dr. Spraigcr.