ANCIENT EGYPT. 121 



found inscribed in the doorway. It is described in the 

 hieroglyphics as Nefer Sefu, the most beautiful place ; and I 

 remember most vividly the simple grandeur of its frescoes and 

 hieroglyphs, more natural and beautiful than those of later 

 ages. An interesting example of the drawing of this period 

 may be seen in one of the museum galleries, among the 

 valuable series of ancient Egyptian illustrations from the 

 monuments. This pyramid is one of the smallest of the 

 group, being only about 60 feet high. A sarcophagus of 

 black diorite was found containing some fragments of the 

 mummy of Ooonas. The walls of two of the chambers are 

 inscribed with texts. 



The Great Pyramid. The Geezeh group of pyramids con- 

 sists of nine, of which this is the greatest. It was built for 

 the mummy of Cheops, the Shoofoo of the hieroglyphics and 

 the Suphis of Manetho, the second king of the fourth dynasty, 

 who reigned about b.c. 4,200; and his cartouche is found 

 inscribed throughout the monument. The drawing before 

 you is a copy of a fresco of this period, that of prince 

 Mer-Ab, a son of the builder of the pyramid. It is numbered 

 8 in the museum series. An ancient writer states that the 

 causeway along which the stone for the pyramid was 

 brought took ten years to build, and a gang of 100,000 

 men was employed in the work. This gang was changed 

 every three months, thus four million men were employed 

 in its construction alone; and it took seven millions more 

 to build the pyramid itself. (Note Birch's Egypt, p. 35). At 

 first sight one's preconceived ideas as to the size of this 

 mighty monument seem scarcely realised, but when one 

 observes the great masses of hewn stone, tier upon tier, one 

 begins to comprehend what a mighty mass of masonry it 

 represents, and is struck with wonder at the sight. The 

 original height was 481 feet, and breadth 755 feet, but these 

 dimensions have become reduced to 455 feet and 750 feet 

 respectively, the outer stones having been quarried away for 

 the building of the Mosques of Cairo ; it is now about 50 feet 

 higher than St, Paul's Cathedral. The present area of the 



