ANCIENT EGYPT. II9 



to provide an enduring, inaccessible, and inviolable resting- 

 place for the mummy ; an outer sarcophagus, in fact, 

 hermetically sealed. The real granaries were very large 

 and built of bricks, with only two doors, one at the top, the 

 other at the base, for warehousing and delivery respectively. 

 The elaborate character of the great pyramid, with its ex- 

 tensive ramifications, has lent colour to the idea of a more 

 abstruse meaning than that of a tomb, but even that remark- 

 able structure would appear to have the same significance as 

 all the others, though differing in size and complexity of 

 construction. The fact that this form of monument has been 

 found only in necropoli is perhaps sufficient to determine its 

 use and purpose; furthermore it is known that a pyramid was 

 built for each pharaoh up to the end of the sixth dynasty. 

 The principle underlying the construction of the pyramids 

 is as a rule tolerably identical, though differing greatly as to 

 dimensions. A mass of masonry, nearly cubic in form, is 

 raised on a small rocky eminence, selected for the purpose, 

 if possible, with a raised mass of rock in the centre for a 

 core. First a slanting shaft and mortuary chamber were 

 hewn in the living rock, then a cubical mass of masonry was 

 built over it, and added to until the desired size had been 

 attained. An entrance passage to the mortuary chamber is 

 continued as the structure advances towards completion, to 

 be cunningly and hermetically sealed after the mummy had 

 been placed in its sarcophagus. Other chambers were con- 

 structed in the body of the pyramid, with passages leading 

 upwards and downwards. When enough had been built the 

 sides were filled in, and the structure faced with cement. 



These sepulchres were usually built during the lifetime of 

 the monarchs for whom they were raised; and it is often 

 imagined that a big pyramid was indicative of a long reign, 

 but this is not so, for the plan was laid down by the hereditary 

 architect in the first instance. Like mastabas, pyramids are 

 intended to have their four faces towards the four cardinal 

 points, but the orientation is often far from being exact, and 

 this fact rather does away with the theory of any scientific 



