THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



[Feb, 17, 



portion of the same still remaining inclosed amon^ the stones that 

 have not heon disturbed, and tlic mortar adhering to its surface, which 

 could only have t;iken place when it was first laid on. A portion of 

 this very" piece of vt'ood is in the British Museum. In the smaller 

 pyramid the apartment was V2 ft. 2 in. long, and 10 ft. Gin, wide; 

 the roof was covered with blocks laid horizontally, and which had 

 given way. 



At Sakkarah are eleven pyramids and a large building called the 

 Throne of Pharaoh. They are built of stone, and are much decayed, 

 except the large one, which is built in degrees, and this and another 

 towards the north-east are the only two at present open. Mr. Per- 

 ring has given a sketch of these pyramids, and that gentleman re- 

 marks that Bruce probablv alluded to this view, when he observed 

 that "Ihe traveller is lost in the immense expanse of desert, which 

 lie sees full of pyramids before him — is struck with terror at the un- 

 usual scene of vastness, and shrinks from attempting any discovery 

 among the moving sands of Sakkarah." hi the second pyramid the 

 regular inclined passage in the centre of the northern front remains 

 closed up with masonry. The two apartments liave pointed roofs, 

 the blocks which form the sides are not laid in horizontal beds, but 

 are laid on an inclined (jlane like the beds of the queen's chamber in 

 the great pyramid of Gbizeh. 



The great pyramid of Sakkarah is called by the Arabs, Haram el 

 Modarrggeh, "The Pyramid of Degrees." It is evident that the ex- 

 terior of the edifice originally consisted of six degrees or stories, 

 varying in heiglit and gradually diminishing in height towards the 

 top, each of which had the shape of a truncated pyramid, and was 

 successively smaller than that below it; but by the effect of time and 

 violence, the whole of the eastern and nearly the whole of the 

 northern and of the soutl'.ern sides of the lowest tier have been re- 

 moved. Two attempts have also been made to force an entrance on 

 the southern side, and the French are said to have employed artillery 

 for the purpose. The bulk of the masonry consists of loose rubble 

 work, and is inclosed by walls about Oft. in thickness, and are com- 

 posed of rudely squared stones set to the angle of the face; and the 

 breadth of the building from north to south has apparently been in- 

 creased by an additional wall on each of these sides. The walls of 

 the lowest tier are lU ft. thick. The mortar is of various kinds, but 

 it is principally composed of the gravel of the desert and of lime, or 

 of Nile earth, and of small pieces of calcareous stone. The face of 

 each story has an angle of 73" 3U' with the horizon. The entrance 

 is in a pit which opens into a passage partly horizontal and partly 

 inclined, leading to the lower part of the large apartment. Near the 

 entrance of the passage is a hole for the pivot of a door. Another 

 passage from the norlliern front leads to the same apartment at 7ft. Gin. 

 above the floor. A third entrance from the same front communicates 

 with a recess in the upper part of the apartment. A fourth entrance 

 proceeding from a pit on the southern side, communicates by a hori- 

 zontal gallery with another recess 7U ft. above the floor of the a|>art- 

 ment. The gallery is an excavation, but as the rock above it was not 

 of sufficient thickness to sustain the weight of the superincumbent 

 masonry, the ceiling is supported by a row of 22 short columns formed 

 with blocks of compact limestone. The columns have been brought 

 to their bearings by wedges of wood. The southern end of this gal- 

 lery did not seem to have been previously visited, as nearly 3U u.um- 

 niies were found in it apparently undisturbed. They had neither 

 coffins ur sarcophagi, but three or four had painted decorations ; they 

 were enclosed in wrappers with pitch and bitumen : but as Mr. Per- 

 ring did not meet with any of the objects usually deposited with 

 miiinmies, excepling some of the common stone idols on the bodv of 

 a female, he therefore concluded they were the bodies of persons 

 employed on the building. 



The large apartment (measuring 24 ft. by 23 ft., and 77 ft. high) is 

 an excavaiiiin. The original ceiling was examined by the help of 

 torches made of greased rags, and ascertained to have been formed 

 with planks, supported by a platform of timber, consisting of cross 

 bearers of oak, l.ircli and cedar, and of two principal beams of oak 

 about 18 by 12, and strutted irom each side by angle pieces. The larch 

 was in the soundest state. Beneath the floor of ihis large apartment, 

 which consists of blocks of granite 3 ft. G in. to 4 ft. G in. thickness, a 

 remarkable chamber 10 ft. long, 5 ft. 4 in. wide, and 5 ft. 4 in. high 

 had been formed ; Ihe entrance to it hid been closed by a conical block 

 of granite shaped like the stopper of a bottle, above four tons weight. 

 The Baron von Minutoli supposes tliis chamber to have been the 

 place of an oracle ; but Mr. Perring is of opinion the place was in- 

 tended for a treasury, because there did nut appear any secret en- 

 trance by which a man could easily have got into it, and because the 

 ponderous block by which it was closed did not seem fitted for mys- 

 terious purposes, as a number of men and machinery also would be 



required to raise it; because likewise no acoustic effect was perceived 

 which would peculiarly qualify the place for an oracle. 



The floor of the large apartment was supported by pillars of loose 

 masonry wedged up with wood to an uniform height; broken pieces 

 of wood, crooked branches, &c. have been inserted between the pil- 

 lars to tie them together. The extensive employment of wood is 

 peculiar to this pyramid. There are other smaller apartments in this 

 pyramid. The doorway in one of them is bordered with hierogly- 

 phics in relief, and small stars in relief are sculptured on the headings 

 of this and another doorway. 



The sides of some of the apartments are ornamented with rows of 

 convex pieces of bluish-green porcelain about G in. by 41 in., inscribed 

 on the back with a hieroglyphic, the impression of which remained 

 on the cement. The porcelain had been removed. At the back of 

 each piece of porcelain was a projection pierced through with a hole, 

 into which the moist stucco upon the wall entered (the stucco was 

 composed principally of plaster of Paris); in some instances to in- 

 crease the adhesion the wall was also perforated in the same manner. 

 This pyramid differs from the rest in many respects. It is the 

 only one in Egvpt the sides of which do not exactly f.ice the cardinal 

 points, the northern front being 4" 35' east of the true north. It 

 differs in the form and mode of building, in the number and complexity 

 of the passages and apartments, having four entrances, one being 

 on the southern side; by the hieroglyphics and peculiar ornaments 

 on the walls of the chambers, and also in containing a large apart- 

 ment covered with timber. The remaining pyramids at Sakkarah are 

 very much ruined, and have not any peculiar arrangements or con- 

 struction to require particular notice. The throne of Pharaoh, so called, 

 from an Arabian tradition that an ancient king of Egypt erected it 

 for his seat, is a pyramidal building, composed of very large stones 

 and constructed in two degrees or stories. The materials consist of 

 coarse calcareous stones, in which are semi-petrified oyster shells. 

 The building has no doubt been a tomb, but no entrance has been dis- 

 covered. 



At D ishhour are three pyramids of stone and two of crude brick. 

 The north stone pyramid is the most perfect of any in this district. 

 The stones are laid in horizontal courses, and the masonry is good ; 

 the angle at the apex is nearly a right angle, and the building has on 

 that account a handsome and solid appearance. The usual inclined 

 passage leads to the chambers about 12 ft. wide, which are covered 

 over by the courses of the walls over sailing about G in. on each side, 

 leaving the ceiling I ft. 2 in. in width. 



The southern stone pyramid is built in two inclinations, so that the 

 lower part has the form of a truncated and the upper that of a per- 

 fect pyramid, which mode of construction, according to Sir Gardner 

 Wilkinson, was probably occasioned by a desire to complete the 

 building more quickly than it was at first intended : this conjecture 

 was in some degree confirmed by Mr. Perring's researches, by which 

 it appeared that the upper part had been carried up with less care 

 than the lower, and was also composed of smaller stones ; but what- 

 ever may have been the cause, all architects must agree with Mr. 

 Perring that the ert'ect is unpleasant, and very inferior to that of the 

 other regular formed pyramids. The beds of the casing stones are 

 not horizontal ; but incline downwards towards the interior of the 

 edifice, in order probably to obtain greater solidity, as likewise to 

 save the materials, as less of the external faces of the stones thus laid 

 would require to be worked away to complete the exterior of the 

 building. This inclination, however, is not uniform, nor at right 

 angles to the exterior, but it seems to be regulated by the shape of 

 the blocks. The usual inclined passage leads to several chambers, 

 which are covered by the side courses approacliing each other. 



The northern brick pyramid is composed of crude bricks IG in. 

 long, 8 in. wide, and from 4| in. to 5.j in. thick, some composed of al- 

 luvial soil, some of sandy loam mixed up with Nile earth and a little 

 straw. All the bricks are remarkably solid, laid principally in courses 

 from north to south, occasionally intersected by courses from east to 

 west. The bricks were bedded in, and the interstices between them 

 were filled in with fine dry sand. The bricks were marked on the 

 upper surface, by means of the fingers, with ditt'erent signs, ap- 

 parently according to their quality and also according to their posi- 

 tion. The most usual mark had been made by two fingers about 1 in. 

 apart, having been drawn down the middle. This building was cased 

 with stone, and it was supposed that stone might have been also em- 

 ployed in their interior for the construction of the apartments, or 

 that the interior might afford additional proof of the antiquity of the 

 arch, because ceilings to any extent could not have been formed with 

 bricks in any other manner; but with all Mr. Perring's excavations 

 and researches, he could not discover any entrance or apartments 

 within, but he discovered a very curious and interesting mode of 

 forming a foundation. It seems that the stony surface of the desert 



