Anecdotes of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors and Architects and Curiosities of Art | Page 9

inches high on the
outside, the bottom being 7½ inches thick. There are no hieroglyphics
upon it. Several other chambers have been discovered above the king's
chamber, but as they are not more than three or four feet high, they
were probably intended to lessen and break the weight of the mass
above, which would otherwise fall on the King's chamber.
In 1816, Captain Caviglia discovered that the entrance passage did not
terminate at the bottom of the ascending passage, but was continued
downwards in the same inclined plane of 26°, 200 feet further, and by a
short horizontal passage, opened on what appeared to be the bottom of
the well. The passage, however, continued in the same direction 23 feet
farther; then became narrower, and was continued horizontally 28 feet
more, where it opened into a large chamber cut out of the rock below
and under the centre of the pyramid. This chamber is about 26 by 27
feet. Another passage leads from this chamber 55 feet, where it appears
to terminate abruptly.
The well, which appeared to Mr. Davidson and Capt. Caviglia to
descend no lower than where it was intersected by the descending
passage, its depth there being 155 feet, was afterwards cleared out by
the French to the depth of near 208 feet, of which 145 feet are in the
solid rock; so that the base of the pyramid being 164 feet above the low
water level of the Nile, the present bottom of the well is 19 feet above
the Nile; but the actual bottom does not appear to have been reached.
The temperature within the body of the pyramid was found to be 81° 5',
Farenheit, and in the well it was still higher. Herodotus was informed
that the chambers cut in the solid rock, were made before the building
of the pyramid was commenced. It is evident it was intended that the
pyramid should not be entered after the body or bodies were deposited
in it, as blocks of granite were fixed in the entrances to the principal
passages, in such a manner as not only to close them, but to conceal

them.--There are evidences, however, that this pyramid was entered
both by the Roman and Arab conquerors of Egypt.
The materials of all the pyramids are limestone, and, according to
Herodotus, were brought from the mountains near Cairo, where there
are ancient quarries of vast extent; but Belzoni is of opinion that a part
of them, for the second pyramid at least, was procured immediately on
the spot; others think that the greatest part of the materials came from
the west side of the Nile. The granite which forms the roofing of the
chambers, etc., was brought down the Nile from Syene. The stones of
which it is built, rarely exceed 9 feet in length, and 6½ in breadth; the
thickness has already been stated.
The ascent to the great pyramid, though not without difficulty and
danger, is frequently accomplished, even by females.
The pyramid of Cephren, the second in size, according to Belzoni, has
the following dimensions:
Side of the base, 684 feet. Vertical height, 456 " Perpendicular,
bisecting the face of the pyramid, 568 " Coating from the top, to where
it ends, 140 "
Belzoni, after great exertion, succeeded in opening the second pyramid,
and after traversing passages similar to those already described in the
great pyramid, reached the main chamber, which is cut in the solid rock,
and is 46 feet 3 inches long, 16 feet 3 inches wide, and 23 feet 6 inches
high. The covering is made of blocks of limestone, which meet in an
angular point, forming a roof, of the same slope as the pyramid. The
chamber contained a sarcophagus, formed of granite, 8 feet long, 3 feet
6 inches wide, and 2 feet 3 inches deep, on the inside. There were no
hieroglyphics on it. Some bones were found in it, which were sent to
London, and proved to be those of a bull or an ox. From an Arabic
inscription on the wall of the chamber, it appears that some of the Arab
rulers of Egypt had entered the pyramid, and closed it again. Belzoni
also discovered another chamber in this pyramid.
The pyramid of Mycernius, the third in size of the Jizeh group, is about

330 feet square at the base, and 174 feet high. This pyramid has never
been opened.
There are some large pyramids at Sakkârah, one of which is next in
dimensions to the pyramid of Cheops, each side of the base being 656
feet, and the height 339 feet. At Dashour there are also some large
pyramids, one of which has a base of 700 feet on each side, and a
perpendicular height of 343 feet; and it has