Pyramids

There are remains of at least seventy more or le ruined pyramids on the long plateau, extending from Abu Roash in the north to Medum in the south. These divide themselves into groups, viz., Abu Roash, Gizeh, Abusir, Sakkara, Dahshur, Lisht, and the Fayum group, that of Medum standing alone. But of all these le than twenty have been identified as tombs of different kings. Many theories have been advanced as to their age, purpose, method of construction, etc., and much excavation and measuring have proved that they were built between the period of the 1st and XIIth Dynasties, solely as tombs for the preservation of royal mummies. The method of construction has been a puzzle to the engineering mind since cla ic times. Hero dot us and Diodorus both record what had been told to them on the point, but neither theory is conclusive. It has been recently proved that it would be quite po ible with the unlimited manual labour at the command of the Pharaohs to construct a pyramid without any complex or elaborate machinery. The finer examples are built of nummulitic limestone from the quarries of Turah and Masarah on the other side of the river. Others, as some at Dahshur, were built of mud brick, only the pa ages and chambers inside being of limestone. In some cases only the accidental discovery of such chambers has led to the knowledge that the mound of detritus above was once a pyramid. The great pyramid at Gizeh in its original state presented four smooth surfaces to the beholder, as it was entirely faced with granite and limestone blocks most beautifully joined. But the whole of this outer casing has disappeared, the place having for centuries served as a quarry. The pa ages inside were arranged with an intricacy designed to foil the efforts of plunderers. In spite of the great care thus taken to conceal the mummy, the pyramid was opened many times, by Persians, Romans, and Arabs, and when investigated in more modern times nothing remained in the chambers but a lidle sarcophagus without inscription. In some of the chambers above the name of Khufu was discovered, conclusively proving that this was the tomb of the second king of the IVth Dynasty. Of the two other pyramids that form the Gizeh groups, the larger is that of Khafra or Khephren, the other, that of Men-kau-Ra or Mycerinus. The pyramids at Abusir are the tombs of Sahu-Ra, Ra-en-user and other Vth Dynasty kings. At Sakkara are the tombs of Unas, Teta, Pepi I., Mer-en-Ra, Pepi II.; at Lisht, that of Usertsen I.; at Medum that of Sneferu; in the Fayum, those of Usertsen II. and Amen-em-hat III. of the XIIth Dynasty. There are also pyramids at Thebes, el Qullah, near Napata in Ethiopia, and at Meroe.