DR. PORTER ON EGYPT. 29 



means of long and intricate passages. The chambers are lined 

 with granite highly polished, and contain sarcophagi of the 

 same material. Access to them is gained by an opening high 

 up in the side of the pyramid, thi'ough which one passes into 

 a long, dark, straight passage running down into the very 

 heart of the monument. The exploration of those chambers 

 was one of the most laborious tasks I ever undertook. The 

 stones for the pyramid were brought from the hills on the 

 opposite side of the Nile Valley, about ten miles distant ; and 

 it is said that 360,000 men were employed upon it for a period 

 of twenty years. It is scarcely necessary to add that a work, 

 so vast and so utterly useless, contributed largely to waste 

 the energies and the resources of the country. Yet the mania 

 for building pyramids increased, and more than one hundred 

 of them dot the banks of the Nile. 



The labours of Cheops were not confined to the great 

 pyramid. He worked the mines of Wady Meghara, in the 

 peninsula of Sinai, where his name appears carved upon the 

 rock, and was, doubtless, seen by the Israelites in their wilder- 

 ness journey. The rock-hewn sepulchres around the great 

 pyramid were at least commenced in his time ; and perhaps he 

 may have been the designer of the Sphinx. Art and science 

 floui'ished during his reign. An ancient inscription records 

 the presentation by him of costly offerings to the gods, " images 

 of stone, gold, bronze, ivory, and ebony." The carvings and 

 paintings in the tombs at Gizeh represent with wonderful 

 skill and precision the features, costume, employments, and 

 amusements of the people, from the prince to the peasant. 

 One sees there the baker, butcher, cook, tailor, goldsmith, 

 glass-blower, potter, shepherd, ploughman, brickmaker, 

 reaper; and also harpers, singers, dancers, acrobats, story- 

 tellers, and a host of others. The accuracy of the sketches 

 and the amount of light they throw upon the manners and 

 customs of the ancient Egyptians are wonderful. While 

 wandering among those primeval monuments, and exploring 

 those tombs, one almost seems to be mixing familiarly with 

 the men and women who lived from five to six thousand years 

 ago. Long before the age of Abraham, before any contact 

 with the people of Ur of the Chaldees, Abraham's ancestors, the 

 Egyptians had advanced in civilisation, and in the arts and 

 sciences, to a degree far exceeding that of any other nation. 

 The grand temples of Thebes and Abu Simbel, the colossal 

 monuments in every part of the country, the great canals, 

 the gorgeous tombs, all proclaim the former glory of 

 Egypt ; and not the least remarkable characteristic of the 

 monuments is that they tell us and show us how everything 



