Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 1.djvu/299

 The Tomb under the Ancient Empire. 209 of these walls was filled in, and thus a kind of terrace, or huge rectangular block, was obtained (Fig. 138), which served as the core for a new pyramid (Fig. 139). This again disappeared under a pyramid of larger section and gentler slope (Fig. 140), whose sides reached the ground far beyond the foundations of the terrace. In the case of a long reign this operation might be repeated over Fig. 136, Fig. 137. Fig. nS. Fig. 139. Fig. 140. Fig. 141. Fig. 142. Figs. 136—142. — Successive states of a pyramid, according to the system advocated in Btedeker's Guide. and over again (Figs. 140 and 142). A large pyramid would thus be composed of a series of pyramidal envelopes placed one upon another. The mummy-chamber was either cut in the rock before the laying of the first course of stone, or it was contrived in the thickness of the masonrv itself; as the casingr of stone went on increasing in thickness, galleries were left for ventilation and VOL. I. E E