DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.10358#0447
41 2
PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
and to stand some sixty feet from its base to its crown, while between its legs stood an altar,
to which a great flight of steps conducted the worshipper of Horns in the Horizon. 'Abd-
el-Latif was enchanted with its proportions and the " winning smile " upon its gracious
countenance ; but the loss of the nose has since destroyed its beauty.
A Pyramid is simply a cairn or barrow, only its stones are laid regularly and their
edges are carefully finished, instead of being roughly thrown together. The principle of
the Pyramid is almost always the same. A rocky eminence on the desert tract lying
between the river and the Libyan hills, above the reach of the annual inundation, was
excavated for the reception of the king's sarcophagus, and a sloping passage was cut to
connect the royal sepulchre with the surface. Over the sepulchre, both to protect it from
the inroads of the sand and to mark the spot, a large block of stones was erected, almost in
PYRAMID OF MEYDUM.
The Arabs call it "The False Pyramid." Its outer walls consist of admirably jointed and polished blocks of Mukattam stone. The base is
hidden by a heap of debris.
the shape of a cube, but slightly tapering towards the top. This was done early in the king's
reign, and if he died at this point his mummy was inserted into the tomb, a small pyramidal
cap was put on the top of the block of stone, and triangular or wedge-shaped pieces were added
to the sides, and a small Pyramid, effectually closing the royal sepulchre, was then complete.
If the king, however, continued to reign, he deferred the cap and wedges, and, instead of them,
put other blocks round the base, so as to form a second stage, upon which he erected another
quasi-cube like the first. If the king died at this point, the cap and wedge-shaped side-pieces
could be added, and the Pyramid thus completed would be one size larger than the first form.
The longer the king lived the more numerous these stages became, so that it is possible to
gauge roughly the duration of a king's reign by the height of his burial cairn. There are
sometimes other chambers besides the subterranean tomb in Pyramids, which were probably
PICTURESQUE PALESTINE.
and to stand some sixty feet from its base to its crown, while between its legs stood an altar,
to which a great flight of steps conducted the worshipper of Horns in the Horizon. 'Abd-
el-Latif was enchanted with its proportions and the " winning smile " upon its gracious
countenance ; but the loss of the nose has since destroyed its beauty.
A Pyramid is simply a cairn or barrow, only its stones are laid regularly and their
edges are carefully finished, instead of being roughly thrown together. The principle of
the Pyramid is almost always the same. A rocky eminence on the desert tract lying
between the river and the Libyan hills, above the reach of the annual inundation, was
excavated for the reception of the king's sarcophagus, and a sloping passage was cut to
connect the royal sepulchre with the surface. Over the sepulchre, both to protect it from
the inroads of the sand and to mark the spot, a large block of stones was erected, almost in
PYRAMID OF MEYDUM.
The Arabs call it "The False Pyramid." Its outer walls consist of admirably jointed and polished blocks of Mukattam stone. The base is
hidden by a heap of debris.
the shape of a cube, but slightly tapering towards the top. This was done early in the king's
reign, and if he died at this point his mummy was inserted into the tomb, a small pyramidal
cap was put on the top of the block of stone, and triangular or wedge-shaped pieces were added
to the sides, and a small Pyramid, effectually closing the royal sepulchre, was then complete.
If the king, however, continued to reign, he deferred the cap and wedges, and, instead of them,
put other blocks round the base, so as to form a second stage, upon which he erected another
quasi-cube like the first. If the king died at this point, the cap and wedge-shaped side-pieces
could be added, and the Pyramid thus completed would be one size larger than the first form.
The longer the king lived the more numerous these stages became, so that it is possible to
gauge roughly the duration of a king's reign by the height of his burial cairn. There are
sometimes other chambers besides the subterranean tomb in Pyramids, which were probably