DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3558#0003
THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZEH
THE SECOND PYRAMID.
As the rock upon which the Pyramids are placed rises considerably to the westward, in preparing a base for the Second it has been
levelled so as to form an area around the building, bounded. On the western and northern sides by a low cliff, in which grottoes,
containing shafts, have been excavated: but immediately under the Pyramid the rock has been merely stepped up in horizontal
layers; and it appears at the south-western corner 11 feet 10 inches, and at the north-western 14 feet 3 inches, above the base.;
The stone, which has been removed, was probably used in the building. It had been hewn into blocks about 9 feet square; as
appeared, in 1837, when the lines of the quarrying were discovered under an accumulation of sand near the north-western corner
of the area :* in other places they had been nearly effaced by exposure to the Desert air, which sufficiently proves their extreme
antiquity. ■]''};.■■'■ '■■ '
A substruction of large stones had been laid, for a considerable distance, at the north-eastern and south-eastern angles
of the building; no doubt, in order to keep up a level surface. There are, also, several sepulchral shafts before the Northern
Front. The rock sounds hollow in many places between this and the Great Pyramid, and probably contains many subterraneous
chambers and passages; but the echoes, occasioned by the immense size and relative positions of these vast buildings, are so
extraordinary, that the ear is not to be entirely trusted.
A line of Hieroglyphics is inscribed over the beginning of a doorway in the cliff, immediately above the quarryings; and
there are a few others on the rock to the westward, where a similar portal has been designed, f
The lower tiers of this Pyramid (about 7 or 8 feet in height) have been faced with granite, as Herodotus has described:
but, writh the exception of the Entrance-Passage composed of the same material, the masonry is by no means equal to that
of the Great Pyramid. Mr. Perring is of opinion that the interior is divided by massive walls of wrought stone into square
compartments, filled up with a gigantic sort of rubble-work, composed of large blocks, and of mortar: however this may
be, it is so irregularly built, that since the removal of the casing, the Desert sand and rain have penetrated in several places to a
considerable distance; and it was owing to this looseness of construction, that Signore Belzoni was unable to work his way through
the stones, which had collapsed in the forced Entrance, supposed to have been made by the Caliphs; and that, in 1837, the
Arabs could not be employed in another part of it: it is therefore surprising how this great chasm could have been originally
made.
The blocks on the summit of the building have been thrown down, so as to leave a platform of about 9 feet
square; and to the distance of from 130 to 150 feet from the top, a casing of hard stone yet remains; most probably
on account of the difficulty of removing it at so great a height. It has been quarried in the Mokattam Mountains, and is similar
in quality to that with which the Great Pyramid has been revetted. It would appear, indeed, that the whole building was
covered over when it was visited by Sandys in 1610, by M. de Villamont in 1618, and by Professor Greaves in 1638 ; but it is
described, by M. Carreri, to have been dilapidated in 1693, although that account is in some degree contradicted by M. Fourmont,
who travelled in 1755.J
From the excavations lately made,§ and from that formerly carried on by Signore Belzoni on the eastern side, it appears that
the Pyramid was surrounded with a Pavement, but the breadth of it has not been ascertained, excepting at the centre of the
Northern Front, where it extends to the distance of 36 feet from the base, in the form of a step, like that at the Great Pyramid.
And it is to be observed, that this Pavement, which actually concealed a lower Entrance, had not been disturbed, whilst that at
the Great Pyramid, where no such passage appears to exist, was found to have been broken up. It may, therefore, be reasonably
inferred, that a belief was formerly entertained in the tradition mentioned by Herodotus, that a Subterraneous Passage and
Chamber had been contrived beneath the Great Pyramid of a totally different construction from those in the other buildings :(|
and this circumstance is the more extraordinary, as it is the only Pyramid of the nine now remaining at Gizeh in which apartments
have been constructed in the masonry, and as the passages and chambers in all the Others, with the exception of a small part
of the Inclined Entrances, are excavations in the rock. Nor is it one of the least surprising circumstance these singular
monuments, that their enormous superstructures (that, for instance, of the Second Pyramid occupying, even in its present state,
nearly eleven acres of ground,) are solid masses of masonry, and add little to the concealment or defence of the tombs beneath
them.*f[ It is to be observed, however, that several of the sepulchral Chambers at Koinike, the ancient Xanthus, are also excavations
in the rock, and are totally unconnected with the monuments above them.
The ruined building on the Eastern Front, as well as those similarly placed hear the Great and
Third Pyramids, seem to have been Hypcethral Temples. The one in question is composed of
immense blocks; and, upon what appears to have been the inner face of one of them, Hieroglyphics
have been inscribed, which shew that it has belonged to a more ancient building. The Inscription is
less perfect at present than it was in 1817, when the annexed sketch was made by Mr. Salt, as many
of the characters are now effaced; but even these admit of no remark, excepting that in the column
to the left, the reed or branch signifies " Souten," or King.**
Another collection of large masses of stone near the Southern Front of the Pyramid seems to indicate the site of a
considerable monument; which, from having been peculiarly exposed to the winds of the Desert, has probably perished by the
lapse of time, rather than by human violence. The blocks that remain are of an enormous size, but they have lost their
exterior surfaces.
There is every reason to believe that the Desert has been continually advancing, particularly from the westward, upon the
Valley of the Nile; and that there was little or no sand upon the Mountains of Gizeh, or Upon the plain beneath, when these
extraordinary monuments were built, y-f-
It appears, also, notwithstanding the opinion that a natural awe and superstitious veneration had forbidden in early times
the violation of these Tombs, that the two larger were forced open soon after their erection, at all events before any great
accumulation of sand had taken place; for in cutting through the mounds at their Northern Fronts, the stratum of undisturbed
sand, at the bottom, was only a few feet deep below the line of rubbish occasioned by the first aggression made upon them. At
the Great Pyramid, a second mark or line led to the aperture attributed to the Caliphs; and above it the mound extended
to the regular Entrance, in which state, before the operations in 1837, it had remained at least for more than two hundred
years, and probably much longer. As the Forced Passage made by the Caliphs at the Second Pyramid was upon a higher
level, the heap above the stratum of sand was in one mass, and concealed both the regular entrance and the Forced Passage,
which were perfectly unknown until Signore Belzoni's discoveries.
As an additional argument that the Pyramids were broken into at a very early period, the authority of Diodorus Siculus
may be adduced, who mentions that, from the dread of violation, neither the body of Cheops nor that of Chephren were
deposited within these Tombs: for supposing the history to be fabulous, yet it shews the probability of such an event even at
that time, and accounts for the precautions taken to prevent it by concealment, and by closing up the Passages with ponderous
# See Map and Plan; and also "Operations carried on at Gizeh," &c.; published by Mr. Fraser, 215 Regent Street. f See Mr. Birch's Notes, Plate VII.
X See abstracts from these travellers in the Appendix to " Operations carried on at Gizeh." § See Plate Y?«i and also " Operations carried on at Gizeh."
|| In order to prove the truth of this statement, a shaft was sunk in 1838 from the subterraneous Chamber in the Great Pyramid to a depth below the level of the river, but nothing was discovered; it would appear, therefore, that Herodotus was
misled by the priests, and that the subterraneous Chamber and unfinished Passage leading from it to the southward were intended as a blind, and to divert attention from the real Tomb; although, at the same time, it must be confessed, that the testimony
of the historian is extremely explicit on this subject; and that the anxiety of the priests to conceal the Tomb is inconsistent with the hatred in which even the name of Cheops is said to have been held.
^f See " Operations carried on at Gizeh."
'-*•* These characters are inserted by the permission of the Earl of Mountnorris, who has been so good as to allow of the perusal of Mr. Salt's sketches and papers for the use of this work.
-f-f The following passage from Tacitus, "Annals," Lib. ii., "disjectasque inter et vix pervias arenas instar montium eductse Pyramides," describes the Pyramids as having been situated amidst desert sands ; but the description cannot be taken literally, and it is to
be remembered that it was written nearly 2G0 years after Christ;
THE SECOND PYRAMID.
As the rock upon which the Pyramids are placed rises considerably to the westward, in preparing a base for the Second it has been
levelled so as to form an area around the building, bounded. On the western and northern sides by a low cliff, in which grottoes,
containing shafts, have been excavated: but immediately under the Pyramid the rock has been merely stepped up in horizontal
layers; and it appears at the south-western corner 11 feet 10 inches, and at the north-western 14 feet 3 inches, above the base.;
The stone, which has been removed, was probably used in the building. It had been hewn into blocks about 9 feet square; as
appeared, in 1837, when the lines of the quarrying were discovered under an accumulation of sand near the north-western corner
of the area :* in other places they had been nearly effaced by exposure to the Desert air, which sufficiently proves their extreme
antiquity. ■]''};.■■'■ '■■ '
A substruction of large stones had been laid, for a considerable distance, at the north-eastern and south-eastern angles
of the building; no doubt, in order to keep up a level surface. There are, also, several sepulchral shafts before the Northern
Front. The rock sounds hollow in many places between this and the Great Pyramid, and probably contains many subterraneous
chambers and passages; but the echoes, occasioned by the immense size and relative positions of these vast buildings, are so
extraordinary, that the ear is not to be entirely trusted.
A line of Hieroglyphics is inscribed over the beginning of a doorway in the cliff, immediately above the quarryings; and
there are a few others on the rock to the westward, where a similar portal has been designed, f
The lower tiers of this Pyramid (about 7 or 8 feet in height) have been faced with granite, as Herodotus has described:
but, writh the exception of the Entrance-Passage composed of the same material, the masonry is by no means equal to that
of the Great Pyramid. Mr. Perring is of opinion that the interior is divided by massive walls of wrought stone into square
compartments, filled up with a gigantic sort of rubble-work, composed of large blocks, and of mortar: however this may
be, it is so irregularly built, that since the removal of the casing, the Desert sand and rain have penetrated in several places to a
considerable distance; and it was owing to this looseness of construction, that Signore Belzoni was unable to work his way through
the stones, which had collapsed in the forced Entrance, supposed to have been made by the Caliphs; and that, in 1837, the
Arabs could not be employed in another part of it: it is therefore surprising how this great chasm could have been originally
made.
The blocks on the summit of the building have been thrown down, so as to leave a platform of about 9 feet
square; and to the distance of from 130 to 150 feet from the top, a casing of hard stone yet remains; most probably
on account of the difficulty of removing it at so great a height. It has been quarried in the Mokattam Mountains, and is similar
in quality to that with which the Great Pyramid has been revetted. It would appear, indeed, that the whole building was
covered over when it was visited by Sandys in 1610, by M. de Villamont in 1618, and by Professor Greaves in 1638 ; but it is
described, by M. Carreri, to have been dilapidated in 1693, although that account is in some degree contradicted by M. Fourmont,
who travelled in 1755.J
From the excavations lately made,§ and from that formerly carried on by Signore Belzoni on the eastern side, it appears that
the Pyramid was surrounded with a Pavement, but the breadth of it has not been ascertained, excepting at the centre of the
Northern Front, where it extends to the distance of 36 feet from the base, in the form of a step, like that at the Great Pyramid.
And it is to be observed, that this Pavement, which actually concealed a lower Entrance, had not been disturbed, whilst that at
the Great Pyramid, where no such passage appears to exist, was found to have been broken up. It may, therefore, be reasonably
inferred, that a belief was formerly entertained in the tradition mentioned by Herodotus, that a Subterraneous Passage and
Chamber had been contrived beneath the Great Pyramid of a totally different construction from those in the other buildings :(|
and this circumstance is the more extraordinary, as it is the only Pyramid of the nine now remaining at Gizeh in which apartments
have been constructed in the masonry, and as the passages and chambers in all the Others, with the exception of a small part
of the Inclined Entrances, are excavations in the rock. Nor is it one of the least surprising circumstance these singular
monuments, that their enormous superstructures (that, for instance, of the Second Pyramid occupying, even in its present state,
nearly eleven acres of ground,) are solid masses of masonry, and add little to the concealment or defence of the tombs beneath
them.*f[ It is to be observed, however, that several of the sepulchral Chambers at Koinike, the ancient Xanthus, are also excavations
in the rock, and are totally unconnected with the monuments above them.
The ruined building on the Eastern Front, as well as those similarly placed hear the Great and
Third Pyramids, seem to have been Hypcethral Temples. The one in question is composed of
immense blocks; and, upon what appears to have been the inner face of one of them, Hieroglyphics
have been inscribed, which shew that it has belonged to a more ancient building. The Inscription is
less perfect at present than it was in 1817, when the annexed sketch was made by Mr. Salt, as many
of the characters are now effaced; but even these admit of no remark, excepting that in the column
to the left, the reed or branch signifies " Souten," or King.**
Another collection of large masses of stone near the Southern Front of the Pyramid seems to indicate the site of a
considerable monument; which, from having been peculiarly exposed to the winds of the Desert, has probably perished by the
lapse of time, rather than by human violence. The blocks that remain are of an enormous size, but they have lost their
exterior surfaces.
There is every reason to believe that the Desert has been continually advancing, particularly from the westward, upon the
Valley of the Nile; and that there was little or no sand upon the Mountains of Gizeh, or Upon the plain beneath, when these
extraordinary monuments were built, y-f-
It appears, also, notwithstanding the opinion that a natural awe and superstitious veneration had forbidden in early times
the violation of these Tombs, that the two larger were forced open soon after their erection, at all events before any great
accumulation of sand had taken place; for in cutting through the mounds at their Northern Fronts, the stratum of undisturbed
sand, at the bottom, was only a few feet deep below the line of rubbish occasioned by the first aggression made upon them. At
the Great Pyramid, a second mark or line led to the aperture attributed to the Caliphs; and above it the mound extended
to the regular Entrance, in which state, before the operations in 1837, it had remained at least for more than two hundred
years, and probably much longer. As the Forced Passage made by the Caliphs at the Second Pyramid was upon a higher
level, the heap above the stratum of sand was in one mass, and concealed both the regular entrance and the Forced Passage,
which were perfectly unknown until Signore Belzoni's discoveries.
As an additional argument that the Pyramids were broken into at a very early period, the authority of Diodorus Siculus
may be adduced, who mentions that, from the dread of violation, neither the body of Cheops nor that of Chephren were
deposited within these Tombs: for supposing the history to be fabulous, yet it shews the probability of such an event even at
that time, and accounts for the precautions taken to prevent it by concealment, and by closing up the Passages with ponderous
# See Map and Plan; and also "Operations carried on at Gizeh," &c.; published by Mr. Fraser, 215 Regent Street. f See Mr. Birch's Notes, Plate VII.
X See abstracts from these travellers in the Appendix to " Operations carried on at Gizeh." § See Plate Y?«i and also " Operations carried on at Gizeh."
|| In order to prove the truth of this statement, a shaft was sunk in 1838 from the subterraneous Chamber in the Great Pyramid to a depth below the level of the river, but nothing was discovered; it would appear, therefore, that Herodotus was
misled by the priests, and that the subterraneous Chamber and unfinished Passage leading from it to the southward were intended as a blind, and to divert attention from the real Tomb; although, at the same time, it must be confessed, that the testimony
of the historian is extremely explicit on this subject; and that the anxiety of the priests to conceal the Tomb is inconsistent with the hatred in which even the name of Cheops is said to have been held.
^f See " Operations carried on at Gizeh."
'-*•* These characters are inserted by the permission of the Earl of Mountnorris, who has been so good as to allow of the perusal of Mr. Salt's sketches and papers for the use of this work.
-f-f The following passage from Tacitus, "Annals," Lib. ii., "disjectasque inter et vix pervias arenas instar montium eductse Pyramides," describes the Pyramids as having been situated amidst desert sands ; but the description cannot be taken literally, and it is to
be remembered that it was written nearly 2G0 years after Christ;