THE PYRAMIDS. 247 
with common sense, and unworthy of the chap. 
majesty of history." If we would obtain , ^'' , 
authentic information concerning- the earhest 
history of the Egyptians, we must be contented 
to glean from other sources ; and principally 
from Jewish and Arabian writers. The Jews, by 
the long residence of their forefathers in Egypt, 
and also by the constant intercourse offered in 
the contiguity of this country and Judcra, were 
of all people the most likely to have preserved 
some knowledge of Egyptian antiquities : and 
the Arabs have preserved not only the names 
bestowed upon the Pyramids from the earliest 
times, but also some traditions as to the use 
for which they were intended. By the dim light 
thus afforded, and by comparing the existing re- 
mains with similar works in other countries, and 
with the knowledge we possess of the customs 
of all nations in their infancy, we may possibly 
attain something beyond mere conjecture, as to 
the people by whom the Pyramids were erected, 
and the purpose for which they were intended. 
The epocha of their origin was unknown when 
the first Greek philosophers travelled into Egypt\ 
(3) " Nihil certius est, quam omnia, quae de conditoribus Pyrami- 
dum prodita nobis sunt ab jE^yptiis et Graecis, esse incertissima. 
Ipsi id Veteres fatentur." Perizonii /Egypt. Orig. et Temp, antiquiss. 
Investigatio, cap.w'i. jo. 386. L. Bat. 1711- 
