144 London Philosophical Society. 



duced by the common entrance passage, nor by the well, 

 how was the body to be deposited within it ? Would the 

 attendants convcv it in their arms ? This was impossible, for 

 a sinole man can scarcely penetrate one dtpartmcnl of the 

 passaecs — or would they drag it by cords ? This was ab- 

 surd to suppose, when the Egyptian veneration for the dead 

 was called to mind : — and supposing this true, what was the 

 use of so manv passages so curiously contrived ? Was it to 

 increase the magnificence of the burial ? This could not be ; 

 for the paspaacs are in general only three feet and a half 

 high, and only one of them leads to the upper room. Was 

 it "for the attendants, who, according to RJaillel's theory, 

 were buried alive with the dead monarch? This was ridicu- 

 lous, for they were confined to a single room : — and for 

 what purpose the two rooms, the five galleries, the platforms, 

 and the uell r And if the niche in the lower room were de- 

 dicated to the mummy of the queen, how came it that the 

 unalterable laws of the Egyptian priests were violated at the 

 same time, and in the same building? How came it that 

 the body in the sarcophagus was placed horizontally, but 

 the body in the queen's chamber perpendicularly ? The six 

 circumstances, from whence he infers his conclusion, are 

 therefore, 1st, that it was impracticable to bury the body 

 with any the least degree of decency in the sarcophagus ; 

 2d, that the foro) was not likely to be given to the human 

 body, being half the width of the length ; 3d, that it was 

 customary for the Egyptians to hollow the internal cavity 

 of their real sarcophagi in the human shape, and this is not 

 so formed ; 4th, that it was a custom of the Egyptians to 

 decorate them with hieroglyphics, and this is not so adorned ; 

 5th, that it was likewise a custom of the Egyptians, de- 

 pending upon invariable laws, to place them upright against 

 a wall, and this is not so placed : — it may be said, that it has 

 been moved ; but it is fixed, and the atteinpt to dig for trea- 

 sure beneath it, of which the testimonials still remain, 

 proves that it retains its original position ; and 6tli, that the 

 sarcophao-us consists of two exact cubes ; and this circum- 

 stance, combined with its mystic situation, which is pre- 

 cisely that of one of the foci of an ellipse, supposing ai> 

 ellipse inscribed on the rectangle of the floor, substantiates 

 clearly the fact, that its purposes were mysterious. To what 

 purposes then, asked Mr. C. was it apjihed ? to those of 

 lustration, similar 'o the same vases in Hindostan? We 

 have Tanks of this description, adds Mr. C, in the British 

 Museum, and no one ever imagined that they were in- 

 tended for sepulchres. He then proceeds with a just and 

 sensible argument, drawn from the pyramidal Temples of 



India. 



