We can easily understand that the immortal sanctuary and the future abode of the Pharaoh should occupy his thoughts from the earliest period of his reign, for the undertaking was of mighty import, and its accomplishment required time and patient consideration.
The spot selected by Khufu for the station of his pyramid was a happy one, the broad shelf of rock stretching like a promontory towards the royal city of Memphis, 100 feet above the level of the plain which lay at its foot, "where stands the temple of the goddess” Isis, the tutelary deity of the necropolis ; and where reclines the stately and regal Sphinx, type of the sun's daily emergence from the horizon, and of the Pharaoh's pilgrimage on earth.
The Libyan mountains supplied in abundance a coarse nummulite limestone, fitted for the rough work of the builder. But a stone of finer quality, a compact magnesian limestone, almost a marble in density and appearance, was to be brought across the Nile from the Mokattam mountains of the Arabian range, for the better work. More than that, the red granite rocks of Syené, nearly 600 miles away, were made to yield up their riches for the great undertaking. The quarries at this time must have swarmed with skilled workmen ; a considerable army of masons must have been in possession of the rocky platform of Gheezeh ; whilst a multitude of labourers contributed their collective aid ; yet are told that the preparation of materials and the excavation of the core of the great pyramid alone occupied ten years, whilst three times that number of years were required for its completion.Authors and travellers are universally agreed as to the beauty of the stone, and the accuracy of the setting of the red granite blocks which form the upper chambers and passages of the great pyramid ; but we should have wondered to find it otherwise, after the knowledge we have acquired of the excellence of the work of the pyramid of Meydoom, and the perfection of the statues of Rahotep and Nefert, found in the neighbouring tombs ; nor can we easily forget the skillful mosaic decoration of the tomb of Nefermat. And, just as we were impressed with admiration at the completeness of organization of the ancient kingdom at the uprising of the Pharaoh Mena, so now we must acknowledge the high standard of perfection in the science and art of the architect and builder which prevailed in the fourth dynasty ; between 5,000 and 6,000 years ago.
The plan of the building of the great pyramid would seem to have been to mark out upon the rocky platform an accurate square, which should be exactly oriented, that is, which should correspond with the four cardinal points of heaven, north, south, east, and west. Around this square centre the rock was removed and levelled, leaving the central block, 22 feet high, as a nucleus or core to the subsequent additions of masonry. In the meantime a shaft was tunnelled in the square mass of rock so as to form a descending passage, with a direction from north to south ; and, having reached a point corresponding with the vertical centre of the block, a chamber for the reception of the sarcophagus or coffin was carefully excavated.
Such a simple arrangement as this would have been sufficient for ordinary purposes, and is all that exists in smaller pyramids ; but the proportions of the great pyramid were so vast, that it became convenient at a future period to construct a sepulchral chamber in the centre of the masonry itself, 140 feet above the level of the original rock.The next procedure was to build a broad course of masonry all around the square of rock ; and upon this square base another course of lesser diameter than the former, which should cover the rock centrally, and leave a broad step externally. By successive repetitions of this operation a stepped pyramid was erected, which only needed the adjustment of the apex to make it complete. To enlarge this stepped structure required the addition of a course from bottom to top ; and the graduated accretion of a succession of such stepped courses sufficed to raise the great pyramid, in the space of years, to its present stupendous proportions.
The legend informs us that the Pharaoh commenced the building of his pyramid in the year of his accession to the throne, and added a course every year, so that at or near his death it simply awaited its final completion ; and it has been judged from this statement that if the number of successive additions composing a pyramid could be ascertained, we might arrive at a knowledge of the number of years of the king's reign.
But it is to be inferred that the Pharaohs of Egypt were too wise to leave any such duty to the gratitude or inclination of their successors, since the greater number of the pyramids were really finished, excepting notably the stepped pyramid of Sakkarah and the pyramid of Seneferu at Meydoom ; and in both these instances the reason of their present form may possibly be attributed to the early death of those Pharaohs.
The act of completion of the pyramids consisted in filling up the angles of the steps with blocks of fine white limestone, which were brought from the Toorah and Massoorah quarries of the Mokattam mountains.
The act of completion of the pyramids consisted in filling up the angles of the steps with blocks of fine white limestone, which were brought from the Toorah and Massoorah quarries of the Mokattam mountains.
This work was accomplished in tiers from top to bottom ; the blocks were carefully and accurately adjusted, and when each tier was perfected, the surface of the stones was beautifully polished. It happens fortunately that two of these casing blocks were discovered in situ by Colonel Howard Vyse, but the rest, without exception, had been carried away to assist in the building of the City of the Caliphs, Grand Cairo. Herodotus informs us that when the casing was accomplished, the surface of the stones was ornamented with hieroglyphs ; and the quantity of writing was so great that, could it have been copied, it would have covered more than ten thousand pages. But although the carving of the casing stones with hieroglyphs is hardly credible, an inscription in Egyptian characters was really found near the pyramid, which, according to Herodotus, designates the quantity of radishes, onions, and garlic consumed by the workmen during their prolonged labour. The value of these articles is stated to have been 200,000l. ; and he curiously observes, "what a vast sum must have been spent on the iron tools used in the work and on the feeding and clothing of the labourers." Professor Maspero, however, in one of his lectures delivered in the College of France, has satisfactorily shown that this register of roots was not a computation of the articles consumed by the workmen, but a simple enumeration of the nature and quantity of the oblations ordained for the offerings at the altar of the sanctuary annexed to the pyramid.
Exploration of the great pyramid of late years has established the fact that the passage of entrance into the pyramid is not central, but begins on the north face, 49 feet above the foundation, and 245 feet to the east of the middle line, as though to conceal it from the intruder. From this point the passage makes a sharp descent to the sepulchral chamber excavated in the rock, originally intended for the royal resting place. But, at a short distance beyond the entrance another passage branches upwards towards the centre of the pyramid, and ends in a large hall, which is called the King's Chamber, and actually contains an empty sarcophagus of red granite or porphyry. In its way upwards, this ascending passage crosses the mouth of a shaft leading to the subterranean chamber. And, at the same point, a third passage extends horizontally inwards to a third apartment, called the Queen's Chamber, but supposed to have been devoted to a younger brother of the king. Thus we may briefly summarize the accommodation of the pyramid as consisting of three chambers, three passages leading to the three chambers from a single passage of entrance, and a shaft which descends to the subterraneous chamber. Five spaces above the roof of the King's Chamber have likewise been designated chambers : they are, in fact, simply chambers of construction intended to relieve the roof of the King's Chamber from the superincumbent weight of the masonry above. They have received the names of Davison, Wellington, Nelson, Arbuthnot, and Campbell, and the blocks of which they are constructed bear numerous quarry marks traced in the red pigment called moghrah. Amongst the masons' marks are several ovals of Khufu, and another royal oval which reads Khnum Khufu, the double name of the same Pharaoh. These ovals are valuable as identifying, although indirectly, this magnificent structure with the name of Khufu, and, with the exception of the empty porphyry sarcophagus, are our only relics of the great pyramid.
After the committal of the royal corpse, enclosed in its gorgeous outer case, resplendent with gilding and covered with exquisite painting, to its magnificent receptacle of porphyry in the sepulchral chamber, constructed of highly polished granite from Syené, or, as Herodotus calls it, "the many-coloured stone of Ethiopia", the casing of white magnesian limestone proceeded apace.
The entrance passage was closed up with masonry, and all vestige of its position and existence obliterated. But there is reason to believe that those who were in possession of the secret, were likewise acquainted with another secret, no less, indeed, that an entrance by another way, perhaps beneath the foundation itself. How else can we explain the fact that many centuries later (A.D. 820), when the Arabs forced an entrance into the King's Chamber, they discovered that it had been already rifled of its contents ?"
The entrance passage was closed up with masonry, and all vestige of its position and existence obliterated. But there is reason to believe that those who were in possession of the secret, were likewise acquainted with another secret, no less, indeed, that an entrance by another way, perhaps beneath the foundation itself. How else can we explain the fact that many centuries later (A.D. 820), when the Arabs forced an entrance into the King's Chamber, they discovered that it had been already rifled of its contents ?"
extrait de The Egypt of the Past, 1882, par Sir Erasmus Wilson (1809-1884), chirurgien et dermatologue britannique.
Ce passionné de voyages à l'étranger s'intéressa particulièrement à l'étude des antiquités égyptiennes. En 1877, il paya le coût (environ 10.000 £) du transport de l'obélisque d'Alexandrie ("Cleopatra's Needle") vers Londres, où ce monument fut érigé sur le quai de la Tamise.
