DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.3559#0013
10
PYRAMIDS OF SACCARA.
Nearly the whole of the pavement has been removed, and the stones are scattered about the floor, and in the passages.
In the inner of the two principal apartments the remains of a small sarcophagus, made of plain basalt, and without any
ornament, were found. The sarcophagus had been removed from its original position.
In the northern and southern walls (at B B, Fig. 2) are cavities, apparently intended to receive the ends of beams, used
for lowering the sarcophagus into its place.
The whole of the passages and apartments are excavated in the rock, and are below the base of the Pyramid.
Height .............
Length of Inclined Entrance-passage, closed up with masonry, about
Angle of ditto . . 26° 35'
Horizontal Passage, length to Portcullis . . .
Thickness of Portcullis .......
Portcullis to Apartments . ...
Total length............. 60
Original.
Present.
231 ft. 3 in.
210 ft.
Oin
146 ft. 6 in.
108 ft.
Oin
• • •
t
•
78 ft.
9 in
Feet.
Inches.
31
3
2
3
26
9
3
Width of Passage .........
Height to Granite Heading, A ......
Ditto beyond ditto . . . . . . .
Outer Principal Apartment, length, East and West .
breadth, North and South
height at Sides ....
height in Centre . .
Passage between Apartments, length . . . .
width .....
height .....
Inner Apartment, length, East and West .
breadth, North and South . . . .
The height is the same as that of the Outer Apartments.
Passage leading from the Principal Entrance-passage to the Side-rooms, length
width
height
First Room, running East and West, length ......
width......
Second Room, running North and South, length......
width . . . .
THE GREAT PYRAMID, No. 3 IN THE MAP.
Feet.
Inches.
4
2
6
1
4
2
13
7
10
3
10
5
14
2
5
6
3
11
3
11
25
71
10
3
13
0
2
8
4
2
18
0
8
0
34
0
7
3
PLATES IX. X. XI. XII.
A view of this Pyramid is given in Plate IX. Fig. 6.
It is called by the Arabs, " Haram el Modarrggeh," the Pyramid of Degrees; and it is situated* on an elevation of about
91 feet above the plain, whence, by scarping the rock into a regular incline to the base of this Pyramid, and also to that
of the one marked No. 2 in the Map, roads have been formed for the conveyance of the stone used in the buildings, from
the eastern face of the mountain, where it was principally obtained, and also for that of the finer blocks, which had been
brought across the river from the Mokattam. It was opened by the Baron von Minutoli in 1821, and is the only Pyramid in
Egypt, the sides of which do not exactly face the cardinal points, the northern front being 4<° 35' east of true north. It also
differs from the rest in many other particulars, namely, in the form and mode of building, in the number and complexity of the
passages, in having four entrances (one of them in the southern front), and also a variety of small excavated chambers, upon
the walls of two of which hieroglyphics and peculiar ornaments are to be seen; in containing a large apartment covered in
with timber, and furnished with a hidden chamber, not apparently intended for sepulchral purposes, and likewise a great
quantity of fragments of marble, and of alabaster vases, and of sarcophagi, which give to the building the character of an
extensive catacomb, rather than that of the tomb of a single individual.
It is evident that the exterior of the edifice originally consisted of six degrees or stories, each of which had the shape
of a truncated Pyramid, and was successively smaller than that below it; but, by the effects of time and of violence, the whole
of the eastern, and nearly the whole of the northern and of the southern sides of the lowest tier have been removed. Two
attempts have also been made to force an entrance on the southern side, and the French are said to have employed artillery for
that purpose.
The bulk of the masonry (B, Plate X. Fig. 1) consists of loose rubble work, and is enclosed by the walls, CC, which are
about 9 feet in thickness, and are composed of rudely squared stones set to the angle of the face; and the breadth of the building
from north to south has apparently been increased by an additional wall on each of those sides. The walls of the lowest tier
are 10 feet thick. The stones have been quarried on the spot, and a great deal of mortar has been used; in some places, on
the southern side, the masonry is of a better quality. The mortar is of various kinds, but it is principally composed of the
gravel of the desert and of lime, or of Nile earth and of small pieces of calcareous stone.
It seems to have covered an area of 15,372 square yards; but the present base is irregular, in consequence of the partial
removal of the lowest tier.
Original. Present.
Platform at top, North and South . 42 ft. 10 in. 24 ft.
East and West . 85 ft. 8 in. 55 ft.
The degrees or stories vary in height, and gradually diminish towards the top.
Feet.
Inches.
1st ......
37
8
2d . . .
. 35
11
3d......
34
3
4th......
. 32
7
5th ......
30
10
6th .....
. 29
2
200
5
Present height above Base .
. 196
6
above Sand .
. 190
0 (in places less).
Original Base, North and South
East and West
Feet. Inches.
351 2
393 11
The face of each story or degree has an angle of 13° 30' with the horizon.
The entrance, which is in a pit, at the distance of 52 feet from the building, and 11 feet to the westward of the centre
of the northern front (see a, Plate X. Figs. 1 and 2), is generally closed up by the sands of the desert.
The pit opens into a passage, which is nearly horizontal for about 120 feet, and afterwards descends, in the circuitous and
irregular manner shewn in the drawings, to the lower part of the large apartment. It is an excavation, and appears to have been
intended for a secret communication with the large apartment, and also with the small chambers and lower passages.
Near the entrance of the passage is a hole for the pivot of a door.
The centre of the principal entrance is 36 feet to the eastward of the centre of the northern front. The passage is stopped
up with masonry; it has been irregularly cut out, but the general inclination is 23° 20'; it is 3 feet 5 inches wide in the
centre, and has a ramp on each side. It is 176 feet 5 inches long, and it enters the apartment 7 feet 6 inches above the
floor. The excavation made for it was originally more than 10 feet in width, and for 76 feet it was an open cutting, beyond
* The base appeared to be longer from north to south than from east to west; but it is supposed that it was a square, and that the apparent irregularity was owing to the rubbish, and to the ruined state of the building. The rock and the different sorts of masonry are
distinguished in the plans.
PYRAMIDS OF SACCARA.
Nearly the whole of the pavement has been removed, and the stones are scattered about the floor, and in the passages.
In the inner of the two principal apartments the remains of a small sarcophagus, made of plain basalt, and without any
ornament, were found. The sarcophagus had been removed from its original position.
In the northern and southern walls (at B B, Fig. 2) are cavities, apparently intended to receive the ends of beams, used
for lowering the sarcophagus into its place.
The whole of the passages and apartments are excavated in the rock, and are below the base of the Pyramid.
Height .............
Length of Inclined Entrance-passage, closed up with masonry, about
Angle of ditto . . 26° 35'
Horizontal Passage, length to Portcullis . . .
Thickness of Portcullis .......
Portcullis to Apartments . ...
Total length............. 60
Original.
Present.
231 ft. 3 in.
210 ft.
Oin
146 ft. 6 in.
108 ft.
Oin
• • •
t
•
78 ft.
9 in
Feet.
Inches.
31
3
2
3
26
9
3
Width of Passage .........
Height to Granite Heading, A ......
Ditto beyond ditto . . . . . . .
Outer Principal Apartment, length, East and West .
breadth, North and South
height at Sides ....
height in Centre . .
Passage between Apartments, length . . . .
width .....
height .....
Inner Apartment, length, East and West .
breadth, North and South . . . .
The height is the same as that of the Outer Apartments.
Passage leading from the Principal Entrance-passage to the Side-rooms, length
width
height
First Room, running East and West, length ......
width......
Second Room, running North and South, length......
width . . . .
THE GREAT PYRAMID, No. 3 IN THE MAP.
Feet.
Inches.
4
2
6
1
4
2
13
7
10
3
10
5
14
2
5
6
3
11
3
11
25
71
10
3
13
0
2
8
4
2
18
0
8
0
34
0
7
3
PLATES IX. X. XI. XII.
A view of this Pyramid is given in Plate IX. Fig. 6.
It is called by the Arabs, " Haram el Modarrggeh," the Pyramid of Degrees; and it is situated* on an elevation of about
91 feet above the plain, whence, by scarping the rock into a regular incline to the base of this Pyramid, and also to that
of the one marked No. 2 in the Map, roads have been formed for the conveyance of the stone used in the buildings, from
the eastern face of the mountain, where it was principally obtained, and also for that of the finer blocks, which had been
brought across the river from the Mokattam. It was opened by the Baron von Minutoli in 1821, and is the only Pyramid in
Egypt, the sides of which do not exactly face the cardinal points, the northern front being 4<° 35' east of true north. It also
differs from the rest in many other particulars, namely, in the form and mode of building, in the number and complexity of the
passages, in having four entrances (one of them in the southern front), and also a variety of small excavated chambers, upon
the walls of two of which hieroglyphics and peculiar ornaments are to be seen; in containing a large apartment covered in
with timber, and furnished with a hidden chamber, not apparently intended for sepulchral purposes, and likewise a great
quantity of fragments of marble, and of alabaster vases, and of sarcophagi, which give to the building the character of an
extensive catacomb, rather than that of the tomb of a single individual.
It is evident that the exterior of the edifice originally consisted of six degrees or stories, each of which had the shape
of a truncated Pyramid, and was successively smaller than that below it; but, by the effects of time and of violence, the whole
of the eastern, and nearly the whole of the northern and of the southern sides of the lowest tier have been removed. Two
attempts have also been made to force an entrance on the southern side, and the French are said to have employed artillery for
that purpose.
The bulk of the masonry (B, Plate X. Fig. 1) consists of loose rubble work, and is enclosed by the walls, CC, which are
about 9 feet in thickness, and are composed of rudely squared stones set to the angle of the face; and the breadth of the building
from north to south has apparently been increased by an additional wall on each of those sides. The walls of the lowest tier
are 10 feet thick. The stones have been quarried on the spot, and a great deal of mortar has been used; in some places, on
the southern side, the masonry is of a better quality. The mortar is of various kinds, but it is principally composed of the
gravel of the desert and of lime, or of Nile earth and of small pieces of calcareous stone.
It seems to have covered an area of 15,372 square yards; but the present base is irregular, in consequence of the partial
removal of the lowest tier.
Original. Present.
Platform at top, North and South . 42 ft. 10 in. 24 ft.
East and West . 85 ft. 8 in. 55 ft.
The degrees or stories vary in height, and gradually diminish towards the top.
Feet.
Inches.
1st ......
37
8
2d . . .
. 35
11
3d......
34
3
4th......
. 32
7
5th ......
30
10
6th .....
. 29
2
200
5
Present height above Base .
. 196
6
above Sand .
. 190
0 (in places less).
Original Base, North and South
East and West
Feet. Inches.
351 2
393 11
The face of each story or degree has an angle of 13° 30' with the horizon.
The entrance, which is in a pit, at the distance of 52 feet from the building, and 11 feet to the westward of the centre
of the northern front (see a, Plate X. Figs. 1 and 2), is generally closed up by the sands of the desert.
The pit opens into a passage, which is nearly horizontal for about 120 feet, and afterwards descends, in the circuitous and
irregular manner shewn in the drawings, to the lower part of the large apartment. It is an excavation, and appears to have been
intended for a secret communication with the large apartment, and also with the small chambers and lower passages.
Near the entrance of the passage is a hole for the pivot of a door.
The centre of the principal entrance is 36 feet to the eastward of the centre of the northern front. The passage is stopped
up with masonry; it has been irregularly cut out, but the general inclination is 23° 20'; it is 3 feet 5 inches wide in the
centre, and has a ramp on each side. It is 176 feet 5 inches long, and it enters the apartment 7 feet 6 inches above the
floor. The excavation made for it was originally more than 10 feet in width, and for 76 feet it was an open cutting, beyond
* The base appeared to be longer from north to south than from east to west; but it is supposed that it was a square, and that the apparent irregularity was owing to the rubbish, and to the ruined state of the building. The rock and the different sorts of masonry are
distinguished in the plans.