Come we now to the "Great Pyramid," "which is still," says Lenormant, "at least in respect of its mass, the most prodigious of all human constructions," The "Great Pyramid," or "First Pyramid of Ghizeh," as it is indifferently termed, is situated almost due north-east of the "Second Pyramid," at the distance of about 200 yards. The length of each side at the base was originally 764 feet, or 57 feet more than that of the sides of the "Second Pyramid." Its original perpendicular height was something over 480 feet, its cubic contents exceeded 89,000,000 feet, and the weight of its mass 6,840,000 tons. In height it thus exceeded Strasburg Cathedral by above 6 feet, St. Peter's at Rome by above 30 feet, St. Stephen's at Vienna by fifty feet St. Paul's, London, by a hundred and twenty feet, and the Capitol at Washington by nearly two hundred feet. Its area was thirteen acres, one rood, and twenty-two poles, or nearly two acres more than the area of the "Second Pyramid." which was fourfold that of the "Third Pyramid," which, as we have seen, was that of an ordinary London square. Its cubic contents would build a city of 22,000 such houses as were above described, and laid in a line of cubic squares would reach a distance of nearly 17,000 miles, or girdle two-thirds of the earth's circumference at the equator. Herodotus says that its construction required the continuous labour of a 100,000 men for the space of 20 years, and moderns do not regard the estimate as exaggerated.
The "Great Pyramid" presents, moreover, many other marvels besides its size. First, there is the massiveness of the blocks of which it is composed. The basement stones are in many cases 30 feet long by 5 feet high, and 4 or 5 wide: they must contain from 600 to 700 and 50 cubic feet each, and weigh from 46 to 57 tons. The granite blocks which roof over the upper sepulchral chamber are nearly 19 feet long, by two broad and from three to four deep. The relieving stones above the same chamber, and those of the entrance passage, are almost equally massive. Generally the external blocks are of a size with which modern builders scarcely ever venture to deal, though the massiveness diminishes as the pyramid is ascended. The bulk of the interior is, however, of comparatively small stones; but even these are carefully hewn and squared, so as to fit together compactly.
Further, there are the passages, the long gallery, the ventilation shafts, and the sepulchral chambers all of them remarkable, and some of them simply astonishing. The "Great Pyramid" guards three chambers. One lies deep in the rock, about a 120 feet beneath the natural surface of the ground, and is placed almost directly below the apex of the structure. It measures 46 feet by 27, and is 11 feet high. The access to it is by a long and narrow passage which commences in the north side of the pyramid, about 70 feet above the original base, and descends for 40 yards through the masonry, and then for seventy more in the same line through the solid rock, when it changes its direction, becoming horizontal for 9 yards, and so entering the chamber itself. The two other chambers are reached by an ascending passage, which branches off from the descending one at the distance of about 30 yards from the entrance, and mounts up through the heart of the pyramid for rather more than 40 yards, when it divides into two. A low horizontal gallery, a 110 feet long, leads to a chamber which has been called "the Queen's"—a room about 19 feet long by 17 broad, roofed in with sloping blocks, and having a height of 20 feet in the centre. Another longer and much loftier gallery continues on for a 150 feet in the line of the ascending passage, and is then connected by a short horizontal passage with the upper-most or "King's Chamber." Here was found a sarcophagus believed to be that of King Khufu, since the name of Khufu was scrawled in more than one place on the chamber walls.
The construction of this chamber—the very kernel of the whole building—is exceedingly remarkable. It is a room of 34 feet in length, with a width of 17 feet, and a height of 19, composed wholly of granite blocks of great size, beautifully polished, and fitted together with great care. The construction of the roof is particularly admirable. First, the chamber is covered in with nine huge blocks, each nearly 19 feet long and 4 feet wide, which are laid side by side upon the walls so as to form a complete ceiling. Then above these blocks is a low chamber similarly covered in, and this is repeated four times; after which there is a fifth opening, triangular, and roofed in by a set of huge sloping blocks, which meet at the apex and support each other. The object is to relieve the chamber from any superincumbent weight, and prevent it from being crushed in by the mass of material above it; and this object has been so completely attained that still, at the expiration of above forty centuries, the entire chamber, with its elaborate roof, remains intact, without crack or settlement of any kind.
Further, from the great chamber are carried two ventilation-shafts, or air-passages, northwards and southwards, which open on the outer surface of the pyramid, and are respectively 233 and 194 feet long. These passages are square, or nearly so, and have a diameter varying between 6 and 9 inches. They give a continual supply of pure air to the chamber, and keep it dry at all seasons.
The Great Gallery is also of curious construction. Extending for a distance of 150 feet, and rising at an angle of 26° 18', it has a width of 5 feet at the base and a height of above 30 feet. The side walls are formed of 7 layers of stone, each projecting a few inches over that below it. The gallery thus gradually contracts towards the top, which has a width of 4 feet side. The exact object of so lofty a gallery has not been ascertained; but it must have helped to keep the air of the interior pure and sweet, by increasing the space through which it had to circulate.
No comments:
Post a Comment