DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15#0035
HISTORY OF THE PYRAMIDS. i§
building the pyramid. In either case we may
suppose, as the history indeed suggests, that these
learned men, whoever they may have been, re-
mained in Egypt to superintend the erection of the
structure. It may be that the architectural work
was not under their supervision ; in fact, it seems
altogether unlikely that shepherd-rulers would
have much to teach the Egyptians in the matter
of architecture. But the astronomical peculiarities
which form so significant a feature of the Great
Pyramid were probably provided for entirely under
the instructions of the shepherd chiefs who had
exerted so strange an influence upon the mind of
King Cheops.
Next, it seems clear that self-interest must have
been the predominant reason in the mind of the
Egyptian king for undertaking this stupendous
work. It is true that his change of religion implies
that some higher cause influenced him. But a
ruler who could inflict such grievous burdens on
his people, in carrying out his purpose, that for ages
afterwards his name was held in utter detestation,
cannot have been solely or even chiefly influenced
by religious motives. It affords an ample explana-
tion of the behaviour of Cheops, in closing the
temples and forsaking the religion of his country,
to suppose that the advantages which he hoped to
building the pyramid. In either case we may
suppose, as the history indeed suggests, that these
learned men, whoever they may have been, re-
mained in Egypt to superintend the erection of the
structure. It may be that the architectural work
was not under their supervision ; in fact, it seems
altogether unlikely that shepherd-rulers would
have much to teach the Egyptians in the matter
of architecture. But the astronomical peculiarities
which form so significant a feature of the Great
Pyramid were probably provided for entirely under
the instructions of the shepherd chiefs who had
exerted so strange an influence upon the mind of
King Cheops.
Next, it seems clear that self-interest must have
been the predominant reason in the mind of the
Egyptian king for undertaking this stupendous
work. It is true that his change of religion implies
that some higher cause influenced him. But a
ruler who could inflict such grievous burdens on
his people, in carrying out his purpose, that for ages
afterwards his name was held in utter detestation,
cannot have been solely or even chiefly influenced
by religious motives. It affords an ample explana-
tion of the behaviour of Cheops, in closing the
temples and forsaking the religion of his country,
to suppose that the advantages which he hoped to