In all the pyramids the entrance is in the north front, and the descending passages have an angle of or 27°. This line seems to be nearly directed to the pole star, and the north face of the pyramid to be almost in the plane of the earth's equator. This we believe has never been re marked; and we want only accurate measures to put it beyond a doubt. But if they even deviate two or three degrees, this only shows the rudeness of astronomical knowledge at the time when the pyramids were built, or the rudeness of the methods by which the angles were laid down.
The second pyramid, that of CePhrenes, is said by Denon to have a base of 655 feet, and to he 398 feet high. The whole is thought to have been covered by stucco of gypsum and flint. Belzoni discovered its entrance in the north front in 1818. Advancing along a narrow passage, 100 feet long, he found the great chamber 46 feet long by 16 wide, and 23 high, cut out of the solid rock. It con tained a granite sarcophagus, half sunk in the floor, with many bones, some of which have proved to be those of the cow. An Arabic inscription on the wall proves that it
had been opened by the Sultan Ali Mahomet.
The third pyramid of Mycerinus is 280 feet at the base, and 162 high.
The pyramids of Saccara extend five miles to the north and south of the village of Saccara. Sonic of them arc rounded at the top, and are like hillocks cased N‘ ith stone, as shown in Plate CCCCLXXI. No. II. Fig. 14. taken from Dr. Clarke's Travels. One of them has steps like that of Cheops. The ranges or steps are six in number, each range being twenty-five feet high, and eleven feet wide. The total height is one hundred and fifty feet. There is another built also with steps, which is supposed to be as high as that of Cheops. The stones of these pyramids are much decayed, and they are more crumbling than those of Djiza ; and hence they are supposed to be older. One of them is built of unburnt bricks, containing shells, gravel and chopped straw, and is in a very moulder ing state. See Pococke's Description of the East, vol. ii. Clarke's Travels, vol. iii. chap. iv. and v.