About the middle of the horizontal passage, there is a descent into another chamber, which is 32 feet long, 10 feet wide, and S feet 6 inches high.
The third pyramid stands at about the distance of a fur long from the second, on an advantageous rising of the rock, so that at a distance it appears equal to the former, though it is really much less and lower. lierodotus says it is 300 feet on every side, and to the middle, built of Ethiopic mar ble. Diodorus gives the same dimensions of its base, and adds, that the walls were raised fifteen stories with black stone, like Thebaie marble, and the rest finished with such materials as the other pyramids are built with ; that this piece of work, exceeded by the two former in magni tude, yet far excels them in respect to the structure, art, and magnificence of the marble ; and that on the side towards the north, the name of Myeerinus, the founder, is engraved ; but this inscription has been defaced by time. Pliny writes to the same effect, except that he makes this pyramid 363 feet between the angles.
Dr. Shaw apprehends, that neither of these pyramids was ever finished, supposing that the steps already mentioned should have been filled up with prismatical stones, so that each side of the pyramid might be smooth and level, like that of Cestius at Rome.
But, from the description of Maillet and Savary, the first pyramid appears to have been covered with a coating of marble, and thus finished on the outside, but closed ; and that it has been since forcibly opened, and the stones which shut the passage, and were of an enormous size, have been removed. This passage was composed of marble, and the stones which forums its four sides are of the finest white and hardest marble.
The ancients inform us, that the stones of the pyramids were brought from the mountains of Arabia ; and 11erodotus (lib. ii. c. 12i.) has described the manner in which they were conveyed ; but Dr. Shaw imagines, that they were taken from the spot where they were employed ; and he observes. that the greatest of them, especially, is not an entire heap of hewn stones, because that portion of it which lies below the horizontal section of the entrance, may probably be no more than an incrustation of the natural rock on which it is founded. Al r. Bry ant conjectures that, like the sphynx, which stands directly in the front of the...second pyramid, they were immense rocks which stood upon the brow of the mountain ; that the Egyptians cased them over with large stones, and brought them, by these means, to a degree of symmetry and proportion. At the same time, they filled up the unnecessary interstices with rubbish and mortar, and made chambers and apartments, as the intervals in the rock allowed, being obliged to humour the indirect turns and openings in the original mass, to execute what they proposed. This he infers from the narrowness and unnecessary sloping of the passages, which are often very close and steep, and also from the fewness of the rooms in a work of so immense a structure. That the py ramids were built upon a rock, in the place where they now stand, was suggested by Mr. Hooke.
The pyramids of Saccara, which are as many as 20 in number, vary in form, dimensions, and construction. They extend five miles to the north and south of the village of Saccara. Some of them are rounded at the top, and resemble hillocks cased with stone. One is constructed with steps, like that of Cheops. They are six in number, each 25 feet high, and 11 feet wide. The height of one in the group is 150 feet.. Another, built also in steps, is supposed to be as high as that of Cheops. The stones whereof they arc composed are much decayed, and more crumbling than those of Gizch, hence they are considered older. One of them is formed of unburnt bricks, containing shells, gravel, and chopped straw.
The general opinion, with regard to the intention and use of pyramids, is, that they were sepulchres and monuments of the dead, particularly of kings. This is expressly affirmed by Diodorus, (lib. i.) and Strabo (lib. xvii.) ; and the opinion is confirmed by the writings of the Arabians. And the reason, says Greaves, of their erecting these magnificent structures is founded on the theology ot• the P __gyptians, who, as Servius shows, in his Comment upon Virgil (iEneid, lib. iii.) where he describes the funeral of Polydorus—Animanique sepulchro candimus—believed, that as long as the body endured, so long the soul continued with it ; and this was also the opinion of the Stoics. The reason of their building their sepulchres in the form of pyramids, was either from a notion that this was the most permanent form of structure, or because they hereby intended to represent some of their gods ; particularly, as Greaves conjectures, Osiris, or the sun with many rays ; for, under this form, the statues of the gods were frequently exhibited, and the gods themselves worshipped.
Among the Egyptians, the pyramid is said to have been a symbol of human life ; the beginning of which is repre sented by the base, and the end by the apex ; on which account it was that they used to erect them on sepulchres.
The tomb of Porsenna, king of Etruria, at Clusium, in Italy, is an ancient monument of square stone, each side of which is 300 feet broad, and 50 feet high. Within the square base, says Pliny, quoting from Varro, there is an inextricable labyrinth; upon this square stand five pyramids, four in the angles, and one in the middle, '75 feet broad at the bottom, and 150 feet high, and terminating in a point ; at top, they are covered with a brass circle, from which are suspended bells, which are put in motion by the wind, so that their sound may be heard at a great distance. Upon this circle are four other pyramids, each 100 feet high ; above which, upon one plane, are five other pyramids.
Pyramids are found in various parts of the world ; indeed, the form of structure seems to have been not un common. Pyramidal tombs are found in Abyssinia, and even in Mexico, and the same form is observable in the constructed temples and pagodas of India and China. See EGYPTIAN and MEXICAN ARCIIITECTURE.