A TRIP TO EGYPT. 
79 
third dynasty (4450 b.c.), and Menes, the first historic king, dawns 
upon our knowledge not as a primitive barbarian, but as the result 
of a long stage of unrecorded development. 
The Great Pyramid of Ghizeh. 
About eight miles from Cairo, and on the west bank of the Nile, 
upon a rocky plateau of limestone, and on the shore of the great 
ocean of desert sand, stand in desolation the three great pyramids, 
several smaller ones, many ancient tombs, and the colossal Sphinx. 
The Great Pyramid was built by Cheops, 3733 b.c. His name was 
found written in red upon the blocks of stone inside. All four sides 
measure about 755ft. each, and its height is now 451ft., but 
originally it must have been about 30ft. higher, and proportionately 
bigger at the base. The flat space at the top is now about 30ft. 
square, and the view from it is very fine. 
The usual process in Egyptian pyramid building seems to have 
been to leave a nucleus of solid rock, and enclose it in a series of 
steps, formed of huge blocks of stone. Fresh series of steps were 
added to the outside, till the requisite dimensions were obtained. 
The steps were filled up with smooth polished stone, covered with 
sculptures and inscriptions. The interior chambers and passages 
were used on the occasion of the sepulture of the illustrious 
builder, and the entrance hermetically sealed. From most of the 
pyramids the outer polished stones have been removed, to furnish 
materials for the edifices of the Mohammedan epoch, so that now 
there remains, in most cases, only the series of colossal steps, up 
which visitors climb to the summit. Anciently each pyramid had a 
temple near the base, in which divine honours were paid to the 
deified monarch for whom the pile was reared. 
Having obtained permission from the Sheikh, we commenced 
the ascent of the Great Pyramid. Two Arabs going before, and 
taking hold of each hand, help to pull you up, while a third is 
waiting to push from behind. The ascent was very fatiguing in 
the hot sun, but, from an altitude of about 300ft., the view fully 
repaid for the exertion. The Sphinx and smaller pyramids occupy 
the foreground, and I could distinctly recognise the slender 
minarets of the splendid Mosque of Mohammed Ali at Cairo, and 
April, 1893. 
