The two largest pyramids were considered by the ancients one of the marvels of the world, and to be, as they actually are, sepulchres ; but many absurd notions have been put forth by moderns as to their object, which has been supposed to have been to protect Memphis from the encroachments of sands, or imitation of Hindu edifices, ur to square the circle, or vast reservoirs to purify the waters of the Nile, the burial place of Apis, or tbe granaries of Joseph. The best received hypothesis was, that the pyramids were for astronomical observation, and that the pole star was seen from the inclined passage, but it has been proved by Sir J. Herschel, that the pole star, a Draconis, of the age of Cheops, could never have Leen seen from the inclined passage. It is, however, generally agreed that the pyramids of this group are all of the age of, the 4th dynasty, older than 2000 years B.C.
At Abell' Roash, five miles N.W. of Cizeh, is a ruined pyramid of stone 320 ft. square at the base, without its casing, with a pas sage of 160 ft. at 22° 35' inclination, leading to a sepulchral chamber 40 ft. by 15 ft., with chambers of construction ; red illegible quarry marks were found in this pyramid. Another at Zowyet el Arden, made of limestone from the neighbouring hills, is so rude in construction and destroyed as to have the appearance of a circular hill about 300 ft. broad, 61 ft. high above the rock. That of Reegah, situated near a deserted village of that name, about three-quarters of a mile N.W. of pyramid of Abooseer, composed of finer masonry cased with granite, rose at an angle of 75° 20' with an upper part of Mokattam atone at 52°, and 123 ft. 4 in. square. Some sculptured stone, found N.E., had the names of Ueren-lta, king of the 3rd dynasty. At Abooseer are the remains of five pyramids—the Northern, cased with granite and Tourah limestone, had a base of 257 ft., reduced now to 216 ft., and rose 162 ft. 9 in., now reduced to 118 ft., at 51° 42' 35" : it had a passage of 27° 5' inclination, with an apartment in the centre with a destroyed sarcophagus of black basalt, and the mune of Ila-sahu or Sahu-ra, king of the 3rd dynasty, was found in this pyramid. The middle pyramid, of rather larger dimensions, contained the name of the monarch Ita-Usr, of the 3rd dynasty. The great pyramid had been cased with granite. Its original base appears to have been 359 ft. 9 in.; now it is 325 ft., and it rose 237 ft. 10 in. high, now only 164 ft. ; layers of split reeds painted red were found on the roof of the passage. The quarry marks contained the name and titles of a functionary. The small pyramid has only a base of 54 ft. 6 in., and was anciently only 78 ft. square. At Sakkara are eleven pyramids all built of stone, approached by inclined causeways from the plains below, and much decayed, except the large step-formed pyramid and that to the N.E. In the second pyramid remains of a plain basalt sarco phagus were found. The third step-shaped or great pyramid had an apartment covered with timbers, furnished with a hidden chamber. Its old base had been 351 ft. 2 in. by 393 ft. 11 in.; it is now 196 ft. 6 in. high. The doorway or entrance was encrusted with small coloured porcelain tiles worked into an inscription containing the name and title of the monarch !la-nub-tam or probably the Chnonbos Onetime of h.ratoathenea. The fifth was entirely built of Tourah atone. The inscriptions in the third pyramid show that it was made for a high officer of state. At Dashour are five pyramids—three of stone and two of brick. The northern brick pyramid, supposed to be
that of the Asychis of Ilerodotus, whose inscriptions boasted it was as superior to the atone pyramids as Jupiter to rho other gods, formerly 218 ft. and now 90 ft high. had a base of 350 ft. at an inclination of 51° 20' 25". This pyramid was anciently cased with stone, and had a portico of the same material, a portion of which was found, as also the end of a royal name resembling that of a king of the 12th dynasty. The south brick pyramid, nuch destroyed, is inadle of bricks mixed with straw and rubbish ; it was cased with Mokattam stone, and the south stone one had an inscription with the name of a functionary. Two ruined atone pyramids are at Light ; another, at Heydoum, called the false pyramid, which has not been opened, is supposed to belong to the Gth dynasty; that of Illahoun, also made of brick and stone walls; that of Hewers, also of brick, has been cased with stone, has no hscription, but has been attributed to the 1st dynasty, whose 4th king \'enephas or Venephres is said to have erected a pyramid at Kokomo ; those of Biahmoo, at Medinat El Fayoum, two in number, appear to have been the sepulchred! of Amenemha IV., and Sebeknefru or Scemiophria, placed in the lake 3loeris, near the Labyrinth, in the Arainoite nome at Crocodilopolis. According to some these pyramids consist of the cores of the ancient monuments or pedestals of the statues of the kings. They are 23 ft. high, slope 64°, and stand on a layer of Nile mud. A ruined pyramid exists at El Kufa. At Thebes are some small pyramids of sun-dried bricks, the central chambers of which have vaulted roofs, supposed to be of the 16th century B.C. One of these at the Drah-Aboo-Negger, not facing the cardinal points, is entered by a passage leading to a chamber at the bottom of which is a tablet representing the king Enentef IV. of the 11th dynasty, followed by four dogs with their names. It is to this pyramid and the adjoining tombs that the Abbott papyrus refers. [PAPYRIIS.] The principal pyramids in Nubia are those of Beg e Rauie, about 17° N. lat., called by Cailliand Assur, and Hoskins Beg,romi, which lie in three groups arranged in a crescent shape, and are the sepulchres of the monarchs of Meroe. They do not face the cardinal points, but the propylaea which are united to the pyramids all face the east, and the sepulchral chambers which are constructed in the masonry lie to the west. The inner walls of the sepulchral temples are ornamented with Osiris and other Egyptian deities, and the names and legends of the monarchs for whom they were made, one of whom had assumed the prmnomen of Sesortesen I., but many of the names and inscriptions cannot be deciphered. The art is of a late period, but the number of kings show a long duration of empire. One of these pyramids had been encased and enlarged at a later period, and in another, Ferlini, in 1834, found a collection of solid gold rings, a bronze vase and other objects walled up. Another group of about one hundred and twenty lies at El Gues N. of Gebel Barkal, and at Nourri, 18° N. lat., another group of about twenty-five, the graves of the 'Ethiopian monarchs, whose capital was Mount Bark-al, the ancient Napata, of which Tahraka was the most renowned monarch. The largest pyramid contains within it another of a different date, stone, and architecture. The base is about 155 ft., and the height about 104 ft. Other groups are at Tanqassi, Kurru, and Zuma.