Anecdotes of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors and Architects and Curiosities of Art | Page 8

The
account of Herodotus is confirmed by present appearances. Denon, who
accompanied the French expedition to Egypt, was commissioned by
Buonaparte to examine the great pyramid of Jizeh; three hundred
persons were appointed to this duty. They approached the borders of
the desert in boats, to within half a league of the pyramid, by means of
the canals from the Nile. Denon says, "the first impression made on me
by the sight of the pyramids, did not equal my expectations, for I had
no object with which to compare them; but on approaching them, and
seeing men at their base, their gigantic size became evident." When
Savary first visited these pyramids, he left Jizeh at one o'clock in the
morning, and soon reached them. The full moon illuminated their
summits, and they appeared to him "like rough, craggy peaks piercing
the clouds." Herodotus gives 800 feet as the height of the great pyramid,
and says this is likewise the length of its base, on each side; Strabo
makes it 625, and Diodorus 600. Modern measurements agree most
nearly with the latter.
The pyramid of Cheops consists of a series of platforms, each of which
is smaller than the one on which it rests, and consequently presents the
appearance of steps which diminish in length from the bottom to the
top. There are 203 of these steps, and the height of them decreases, but
not regularly, the greatest height being about four feet eight inches, and
the least about one foot eight inches. The horizontal lines of the

platforms are perfectly straight, the stones are cut and fitted to each
other with the greatest accuracy, and joined with a cement of lime, with
little or no sand in it. It has been ascertained that a bed has been cut in
the solid rock, eight inches deep, to receive the lowest external course
of stones. The vertical height, measured from this base in the rock to
the top of the highest platform now remaining, is 456 feet. This last
platform is thirty two feet eight inches square, and if to this were added
what is necessary to complete the pyramid, the total height would be
479 feet. Each side of the base, measured round the stones let into the
rock, is 763 feet 5 inches, and the perimeter of the base is about 3,053
feet. The measurements of travelers differ somewhat, but the above are
very nearly correct. The area of the base is 64,753 square yards, or
about 13-1/3 acres. The surface of each face, not including the base, is
25,493 square yards; and that of the four faces is consequently 101,972
square yards, or more than 21 acres. The solid contents of the pyramid,
without making deductions for the small interior chambers, is
3,394,307 cubic yards. Reckoning the total height at 479 feet, the
pyramid would be 15 feet higher than St. Peter's at Rome, and 119
higher than St. Paul's, London. The entrance to the great pyramid is on
the north face, 47½ feet above the base, and on the level of the fifteenth
step from the foundation. The entrance is easily reached by the mass of
rubbish which has fallen or been thrown down from the top. The
passage to which this opening leads is 3 feet 7½ inches square, with a
downward inclination of about 26°. It is lined with slabs of limestone,
accurately joined together. This passage leads to another, which has an
ascending inclination of 27°. The descending passage is 73 feet long, to
the place where it meets the ascending one, which is 109 feet long; at
the top of this is a platform, where is the opening of a well or shaft,
which goes down into the body of the pyramid, and the commencement
of a horizontal gallery 127 feet long which leads to the Queen's
chamber, an apartment 17 feet long, 14 wide, and 12 high. Another
gallery, 132 feet long, 26½ high, and 7 wide, commences also at this
platform, and is continued in the same line as the former ascending
passage, till it reaches a landing place, from which a short passage
leads to a small chamber or vestibule, whence another short passage
leads to the King's chamber, which as well as the vestibule and
intermediate passage, is lined with large blocks of granite, well worked.

The king's chamber is 34½ feet long, 17 wide, and 19¾ high. The roof
is formed of nine slabs of granite, reaching from side to side; the slabs
are therefore more than 17 feet long by 3 feet 9½ inches wide. This
chamber contains a sarcophagus of red granite; the cover is gone,
having probably been broken and carried away. The sarcophagus is 7
feet 6½ inches long, 3 feet 3 inches wide, 3 feet 8½