PYRAMIDS 



1S7S 



PYRAMIDS 



YRAMIDS, pir'amidz, the royal tombs of 

 ancient Egypt, gigantic structures that have 

 been in existence since the early period of hu- 

 man history. The most famous a group of 

 three near Gizeh were numbered among the 

 Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, and the 

 modern age still man-els at them. Says the 

 historian Myers: 



These venerable memorials of the early world, 

 although they stand so far back in the gray dawn 

 of the historic morning, mark not the beginning 

 but in some respects the perfection of Egyptian 

 art. They speak of long periods of human life, of 

 ages of growth and experience, lying behind the 

 era they represent. 



Another point of view is expressed by the 

 travel lecturer, Burton Holmes: 



Eloquent of the wealth and power of those 

 kings, they represent the suffering, pain and. toil 

 of dumb, uncounted multitudes of slaves they 

 are the highest, costliest, crudest tombs the world 

 has ever seen. 



The celebrated Gizeh pyramids are located 

 about five miles west of Gizeh, on the border 



The tapering Pyramids, the Egyptians' pride, 

 And wonder of the world. BLAIR. 



In the illustration the view is westward across 

 the Nile. 



of the Libyan Desert. The largest of these, 

 the Great Pyramid, was erected by Khufu, 

 whom the Greeks called Cheops. He was the 

 second king of the fourth dynasty, and lived, 

 probably, twenty-nine centuries before the Chris- 



tian Era. Herodotus, the Greek historian, is 

 authority for the statement that it took 100,000 

 men twenty years to erect the Great Pyramid. 

 Its base covers thirteen acres, and its triangular 

 sides rise to an apex 451 feet (perpendicularly) 

 above the ground. One Egyptologist has esti- 

 mated that this massive structure the largest 

 piece of masonry ever built contains 2,300,000 

 stone blocks, which have an average size of 

 forty cubic feet. The weight of the structure 

 is estimated to be not less than 6,848,000 tons. 

 Ages ago the pyramid had an outer casing made 

 of polished stones, all carefully fitted together, 

 but this has long since disappeared, leaving ex- 

 posed the central core of rough-hewn blocks. 

 Before the smooth covering was worn away it 

 was thought that there were but two things 

 that could reach the top of the pyramid the 

 eagle and the reptile but now, 



"The mighty pyramids of stone 

 That wedgelike cleave the desert airs, 

 When nearer seen and better known 

 Are but gigantic flights of stairs." 



The sides are climbed by hundreds of tourists, 

 assisted by white-robed Arab guides. The apex 

 has lost some of its crowning blocks, and one 

 finds on reaching the top a level platform 

 thirty-six feet square. The original height of 

 the pyramid was 481 feet. 



The entrance leading to the interior passage 

 is in the north side of the structure, about 

 forty-eight feet above the ground. This pas- 

 sageway descends gradually to a horizontal cor- 

 ridor which opens into an underground cham- 

 ber. From this room a sloping, blind passage 

 leads to an ascending corridor which opens into 

 the Chamber of Queens and the Great Hall. 

 The latter, a high, narrow vault, terminates in 

 another narrow passage which leads to the 

 King's Chamber. This, the most marvelous of 

 the interior rooms, is lined with polished gran- 

 ite and contains the crumbling stone coffin of 

 the king. 



