813 



PYRAMID. 



PYRAMID. 



which is a parallelogram. To find it, let the vertex be v, and let 

 opposite sides of the base meet in A and u. Then every plane parallel 

 to A v B cuts the pyramid in a parallelogram, one of whose angles is 

 equal to the angle A v B. 



PYRAMID, the term applied to elevated mounds of stone or brick- 

 work of the geometrical shape of that name, the most remarkable of 

 which are those in the plain of Gizeh, which were considered one of 

 the seven wonders of the ancient world. The origin of the name is 

 involved in much obscurity; but it appears, like obelisk, to be a Greek 

 term, the hieroglyphic word for pyramid being pa aimer, ten ben, 

 vrlerli.r; the Coptic piharam, and Arabic d haram, being derived 

 from the Greek. These pyramids are sloped or symmetrical mouuds 

 placed over the graves or chambers of the sepulchres made for the 

 monai chs and other great personages of the earliest Egyptian dynasties, 

 commencing with the 3rd and ending with the 12th, after which 

 their use was abandoned in Egypt. The pyramids lying in a vast 

 plain or cemetery, extending from 29 to 30 N. lit., for between CO 

 and 70 miles, are supposed to be about 69 in number. They are all 

 ! in a uniform manner. A rectangular sepulchral chamber 

 was first hollowed in the rock, with a passage of sufficient dimensions 

 i lit the sarcophagus, communicating with the surface. Over this 

 was at once erected a cubical course of masonry, which served for the 

 nucleus of the pyramid. If the king died during the year, the 

 masonry was covered with a polished casing in shape of a small pyra- 

 mid ; if the monarch survived, another course of masonry was added 

 t" the height of the nucleus, and the length of the lower stage or base 

 increased by courses of stone on each side. Additions on the same 

 plan continued to be made as long as the king lived, fresh courses 

 being added from year to year. When the monarch died this ceased ; 

 the pyramid was cased by filling up the angles of the masonry with 

 smaller stones, placing oblong blocks one upon another, so as to make 

 a series of steps from the top to the base, and then bevelling off all 

 these stones, commencing from the top downwards, at a uniform 

 angle. A smooth surface was given to each side of the pyramid, 

 rendering it a perfect triangle, while, owing to each stone overlapping 

 the other, no vertical joint was left. Some differences are observable 

 a-> 1 1 the manner in which the intern.il walls were either vertical or 

 iii'-lined ; but the general principle is the same in all, and the mode of 

 lini.-'hiiig the pyramid casings corresponds with the description of 

 Herodotus (II. cxxv.). The means by which the stones were raised is 

 not known ; but the discovery of hemispherical holes about 8 inches in 

 diameter, that look polished by the turning of a heavy body, have 

 suggested the use of derrick*, or similar machines the employment of 

 scaffolding for the purpose being impossible. All the pyramids arc 

 with thfir sides facing the four cardinal points of the compass, 

 and their entrances are on the north side, somewhere about the centre. 

 Extraordinary precautions were taken to prevent access to the sepul- 

 chral chambers ; the passages, made exceedingly narrow, were closed 

 by great blocks of stone or granite portcullises, which closed the 

 passages before the apartment ; and the entrance was not placed in the 

 centre of the elevated masonry, where it could have been easily seen, 

 but in the plain below. 



The first group of pyramids is that of Memphis, the three principal 

 i if which are cchelloned on an elevated plateau, 120 stadia from 

 Memphis nml (."> from the Nile. The largest of these said by 

 Id T "lotus to have been built by Cheops, by Dindoriis attributed to 

 Chembcg or Chabryes, and by Manctho and Eratosthenes to Suphis or 

 S.i'iplii* I. formerly had a base 764 ft. square, which has been 

 diimni-lu-tl, by the continual spoliation of the sides for material to 

 build the city of Cairo, to 746 ft. Its ancient height, judging by the 

 casing stones discovered by Colontl Howard Vyse, was 480 feet ; its 

 present is only 450. The angle of its inclination is 51 50'. It is 

 built upon thy rock, which has been cut down at the sides to obtain a 

 level platform ; and its entrance, which lies 24 ft. 6 in. east of the 

 centre of the north side, is 8 ft. 5J in. broad by 3ft. 11 in. high, with 

 an incline of 28 41'. This passage descends to the original sepulchral 

 chamber of the pyramid, commonly called the subterraneous apartment, 

 with a distance of 320 ft. 10 in. This apartment, which measures 

 46ft. I'.ng by -11 ft. 1 in. wide, with a height of 11 ft. 6 in., has at 

 its south end a ! :> in. long by 2 ft. 7 in. 



broad, and 2 ft. 8 in. high, leading south, apparently a continuation 

 of the works in this direction for the purpose of forming a second 

 sepulchral chamber for holding the furniture of the mummy ; but the 

 work was abandoned in this direction, because the prolonged life of the 

 monarch caused the mouth of the passage in the rock to be covered by 

 the masonry added to the body of the pyramid. At the distance of 

 63 ft. 2 in. from the entrance another passage of the came si/.e was 

 constructed at an angle of 26 18', and ran fi>r 124 ft. 4 in. so slippery 

 that the ascent was effected by small ln>l. s cut for the purpose, and 

 then became a horizontal passage parallel to the plan>> of site of the 

 pyramid, 109ft. 11 in. long. Part of this passage is rather broader 

 than the rest, and leads to a chamber > -ailed the Queen's, 



having a groined rcmf, measuring 17 ft. by 18 ft. 9 in., and 20 ft. 3 in. 

 high, having a recess at the east side, and placed nearly in tho centre 

 of the pyramid, at a distance of 07ft. 4 in. from the floor <T plain' 

 of site of the pyramid. This chamber was evidently mailn for the 

 reception of the sarcophagus, but was subsequently abandoned, and the 

 iscencling passage continued on a larger scale with granite blocks 28 ft. 



high and 150 ft. 10 in. long, with a short horizontal passage leading to 

 the upper or so-called King's chamber. In this short passage was a 

 portcullis 1 2 ft. 5 in. high, to defend any entrance into the chamber. 

 The Kiug's chamber had a flat roof, and measures 17 ft. 1 in. by 34 ft. 

 3 in., with n, height of 19 ft. 1 in., and the north side is more than 

 16 ft. 3 in. south of^ the pyramid, probably because the monarch was 

 expected to survive so long as to admit of sufficient masonry being 

 added to enable it to be placed there. As the heat and confinement of 

 this chamber appears to have been stifling, two air-channels, one 9i in. 

 by 9 in., the other 9J in by 8J in., ran from the chamber to the north 

 and south faces of the pyramid : these, when opened by Mr. Perring 

 in 1837, restored the ventilation to the chamber. In, the chamber 

 itself is a sarcophagus of red granite, 7 ft. 6^ in. long by 3 ft. 3 in. 

 broad, and 3 ft. 5 in. high without its cover, entirely plain, and neither 

 ornamented with sculpture or inscriptions. This no doubt anciently 

 contained a wooden coffin, in which was deposited the body of tho 

 founder ; but both have disappeared long since, when the pyramid 

 was opened and plundered. The King's chamber is surmounted by 

 five other small chambers placed above, the uppermost having a 

 pointed roof formed by stones placed en lUcharge. The object of 

 these chambers appears to have been to lighten the roof of the apart- 

 ment, which is flat, from the weight of the superincumbent mass. 

 These chambers are from 37 ft. to 38 ft. 4 in. long, and from 16 ft. i in. 

 to 20 ft. 6 in. wide. The height varies from 1 ft. 4 in. to 8 ft. 7 in., and 

 they rise for 69 ft. 3 in. from the roof of the great chamber. The first 

 of these nearest that point was discovered by Davison in 1764, the 

 others by Colonel Howard Vyse in 1837, who named them Wellington, 

 Nelson, Arbuthnot, and Campbell chambers ; but they are generally 

 called the chambers of construction, as showing the purpose for which 

 they were made. 



The opening of these chambers solved the enigma of the pyramid ; 

 their floors and roofs 'were made by blocks of red or sy enitic granite 

 from the quarries of Assouan, but the sides were partly formed by 

 blocks of a hard calcareous stone, brought from the quarries of Mokat- 

 tam and Tourah. While yet in the quarries the workmen had scrawled 

 upon them in large linear hieroglyphics, in a red colour, the names and 

 royal titles of two kings, accompanied by other words. Those in the 

 so-called Nelson chamber, nearest the king's chamber, had only the 

 standard name of Khuf u , or Cheops ; those in the Arbuthnot chamber 

 the standard name, titles, and cartouche of Klmum Khufu ; and those 

 in the uppermost chamber, the titles and cartouche of Khufu, or 

 Cheops, and hieroglyphs with numerals. Although an attempt has 

 been made to show that these are two different monarchs, yet the fact 

 of both having the same Horus or standard name at this epoch, shows 

 that both names belong only to one monarch, the Khufu of the hiero- 

 glyphs and Cheops of Herodotus, whose body anciently reposed in 

 the sarcophagus of the sepulchral chamber beneath. These quarry 

 marks were placed in all sorts of ways in the chamber, and some- 

 times had been cut short by the sawing of the blocks of stone, showing 

 that they were inscribed while the material was in the quarries. At 

 the junction of the two inclined passages .is the so-called well, con- 

 sisting of a shaft 2 ft. 4 in. square, descending perpendicularly for 

 26 ft. 1 in., then 32 ft. 5 in. to a recess called the grotto, and finally 

 for 1 33 ft. to tho subterraneous apartment. It was cut through the 

 masonry after it had been constructed, and therefore evidently did not 

 form part of the original design, and is supposed to have been made 

 for the workmen to descend after they had closed up the passage from 

 the upper end of it. The base of this pyramid is about 137 ft. above 

 the level of the inundation of the Nile ; it contains at present 

 82,111,000 cubic feet of masonry, and anciently about 7,000,000 more, 

 and the weight is calculated as 6,316,000 tons, covering at present 

 1 2 a. 3 r. 3 p. As it exists at present, stripped of its casing, there aro 

 203 steps; they decrease, but not regularly, from the bottom to the top 

 from 4 ft. 10 in. to 2 ft. 2 in., the stones being 9 ft. long, and 6J ft. 

 broad. The ascent is fatiguing, but not attended with danger, tho 

 summit having been often reached by ladies. The horizontal lines of 

 the platforms are fitted with the greatest nicety, and joined by a 

 n 'incut (if lime without sand. Some of the casing stones at tho base 

 were discovered by Colonel Howard Vyse, and gave the angle of incli- 

 nation. This pyramid is supposed to have been open at the Roman 

 times, and traces of Latin inscriptions are said to have been found in 

 the passages, as well as Cufic inscribed during the rule of the Arab 

 conquerors of Egypt. 



According to Herodotus the great pyramid was built by Cheops, 

 who closed the temples, and stopped the sacrifices, and made a con- 

 scription of the people to build this monument by bringing the stone 

 from the Tourah quarries ; gangs of 1 00,000 men were relieved every 

 three months ; ten years were employed for the causeway, 3,000 ft. 

 long, 60 ft. wide, 48 ft. high, which had a hieroglyphical inscription ; 

 the subterraneous chamber, he states, was in an island made by a canal 

 from the Nile ; twenty more years were consumed for the masonry. 

 It was constructed like steps, and the stones were raised from layer to 

 layer by machines. He describes the manner of facing the pyramid frozn 

 the tc ip, and gives an account of a hieroglyphical inscription, recording 

 1600 talents of silver spent for the radishes and onions supplied to the 

 workmen. Cheops reigned 50 years. Diodorus calls this monarch 

 I 'hembes. At the time of Pliny the pyramids were then ascended, 

 although the casing of the great pyramid is said to have remained till 



