Page:Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition, v. 20.djvu/136

Rh P Y R P Y R mastaba Fanin, long supposed to be his pyramid, but had a pyra- mid called " the most beautiful of buildings " at Sakkara, which was opened in 1881 (see Recueil des Travaux, by M. Maspero, iii., for those opened at Sakkara). In the Vlth Dynasty the " pyramid of souls, " built by Ati (Rauserka), is unknown. That of Teta, " the most stable of buildings," was opened at Sakkara in 1881, as well as that of Pepi (Ranieri), " the firm and beautiful. " The pyramids of Rameren, "the beautiful rising," and of Neferkara, "the firm life," are unknown. Haremsafs pyramid was opened at Sakkara in 1881. Of the last two kings of the Vlth Dynasty we know of no pyramids. In the Vllth or VHIth Dynasty most probably the brick pyramids of Dahshur were erected. In the Xlth Dynasty the pyramid, "the most glorious building," of Mentuhotep II. is mentioned, and the mud pyramid of one of the Antef kings is known at Thebes. In the Xllth Dynasty the pyramids, the- " lofty and beautiful" of Amenemhat I. and "the bright" of Usertesen II. are known in inscriptions, while the brick pyramid jut Howara may be most probably assigned to Amenemhat III., who appears to have built the adjoining temple. Of the architectural peculiarities of some particular pyramids some notice must now be given. The great pyramid of Gizeh (Khufu's) is very different in its internal arrangements from any other known (see vol. ii. p. 385 sq. and vol. vii. p. 771 sq.}. The greater number of passages and chambers, the high finish of parts of the work, and the accuracy of construction all distinguish it. The chamber which is most normal in its situation is the subter- ranean chamber ; but this is quite unfinished, hardly more than begun. The upper chambers, called the "king's" and "queen's," were completely hidden, the ascending passage to them having been closed by plugging blocks, which concealed the point where it branched upwards out of the roof of the long descending passage. Another passage, which in its turn branches from the ascending passage to the queen's chamber, was also completely blocked up. The object of having two highly - finished chambers in the mass may have been to receive the king and his co-regent (of whom there is some historical evidence); and there is very credible testi- mony to a sarcophagus having existed in the queen's chamber, as well as in the king's chamber. On the details of construction in the great pyramid it is needless to enter here ; but it may be stated that the accuracy of work is such that the four sides of the base have only a mean error of six-tenths of an inch in length and 12 seconds in angle from a perfect square. 1 The second pyramid of Gizeh has two separate entrances (one in the side, the other in the pavement) and two chambers (one roofed with slabs, the other all rock-hewn) ; these chambers, however, do not run into the masonry, the whole bulk of which is solid so far as is known. This pyramid has a part of the original casing on the top ; and it is also interesting as having the workmen's barracks still remaining at a short distance on the west side, long chambers capable of housing about 4000 men. The great bulk of the rubbish from the work is laid on the south side, forming a flat terrace level with the base, and covering a steep rock escarpment which existed there. The waste heaps from the great pyramid were similarly tipped out over the cliff on its northern side. Thus the rubbish added to the broad platform which set off the appear- ance of the pyramids ; and it has remained undisturbed in all ages, as there was nothing to be got out of it. The third pyramid was cased around the base with red granite for the sixteen lowest courses. The design of it has been enlarged at one bound from a small pyramid (such as those of the family of Khufu) to one eight times the size, as it is at present ; the passages needed therefore to be altered. But there is no sign of gradual steps of enlargement : the change was sudden, from a comparatively small design to a large one. The basalt sarcophagus of this pyramid was ornamented with the panel decoration found on early tombs, unlike the granite sarcophagi of the two previous pyramids, which are plain. Un- happily it was lost at sea in 1838. Farther south are the pyramids of Abusir, the most complete account of which is in the work of Colonel Howard Vyse. Next come those of Sakkara. The construction of the step-pyramid or cumulative mastaba has been noticed above ; its passages are very peculiar and intricate, winding around the principal chamber, which is in the centre, cut in the rock, very high, and with a tomb- chamber built in the bottom of it, which is closed with a great plug of red granite, a circular stopper fitting into a neck in the chamber roof. A doorway faced with glazed tiles bearing a king's standard existed here ; the tiles were taken to Berlin by Lepsius. The other pyramids of Sakkara are of the Vlth Dynasty, of Unas, Pepi, Haremsaf, &c. They are distinguished by the introduction of very long religious texts, covering the whole inside of the chambers and passages ; these are carefully carved in small hiero- glyphics, painted bright green, in the white limestone. Beyond 1 With respect to the construction of this and other pyramids, see Howard Vyse ; on .measurements of the inside of the great pyramid and descriptions, see Piazzi Smyth ; and on measurements in general, mechanical means, and theories, see Petrie. these come the pyramids of Dahshur, which are in a simple and massive style, much like those of Gizeh. The north pyramid of Dahshur has chambers roofed like the gallery in the great pyramid by successive overlappings of stone, the roof rising to a great height with no less than eleven projections on each side. The south pyramid of Dahshur has still the greater part of its casing remaining, and is remarkable for being built at two different angles, the lower part being at the usual pyramid angle, while the upper part is but 43. This pyramid is also remarkable for having a western passage to the chambers, which was carefully closed up. Beyond the Memphitic group are the scattered pyramids of Lisht, Illahun, and Howara, and the cumulative mastaba of Medum. Illahun is built with a framework of stone filled up with mud bricks, and Howara is built entirely of mud bricks, though doubtless cased with fine stone like the other pyramids. Beyond these there are no true pyramids, but we will briefly notice those later forms derived from the pyramid. At Abydos a large cemetery is covered with more than a hundred mud-brick chambers, the outsides of which are sloped to the form of an acute pyramid, and which have a door (or in later forms a large chamber) projecting on one side. These differ from true pyramids in (1) having an attachment more or less large on one face, (2) being always built on a square plinth, (3) having the principal face generally south, and but rarely to the north, (4) not being oriented, and (5) having the chambers occupying the greater part of the structure. The sizes are about 18 feet wide and 24 high, with a chamber 11 feet wide and 13 high, and in the later and less acute forms 20 feet base and 21 in height (see Mariette, Abydos, Description des Fouilles, ii. 43). At Thebes are also some similar structures belonging to the kings of the Xlth Dynasty ; the tomb-chamber is, however, in the rock below. The size is not so insignificant, but is under 50 feet square. These, like those at Abydos, are not oriented, and have a horizontal entrance, quite unlike the narrow pipe-like passages sloping down into the regular pyramids (see Mariette, in Sib. Arch. Trans., iv. 193). In Ethiopia, at Gebel Barkal, are other so-called pyramids of a very late date. They nearly all have porches ; their simplicity is lost amid very dubious decorations ; and they are not oriented. They are all very acute, and have flat tops as if to support some ornament. The sizes are but small, varying from 23 to 88 feet square at Gebel Barkal and 17 to 63 feet square at Meroe. The interior is solid throughout, the windows which appear on the sides being useless architectural members (see Hoskin's Ethiopia, 148, &c. ). The structures sometimes called pyramids at Biahmu in the Fayum seem to have no possible claim to such a name, though they are certainly of early work. Judging by the account of Herodotus (which seems intended to apply to them), by the present name (Pharaoh's thrones), and the actual remains, it appears that they were two great enclosed courts with sloping sides, in the centres of which were two seated statues raised on pedestals high enough to be seen over the walls of the courts. This form would appear like a pyramid with a statue on the top ; and a rather similar case in early construction is shown on the sculptures of the old kingdom. Obelisks then were single monuments (not in pairs) and stood in the midst of a great courtyard with sides sloping like a mastaba ; such open courtyards on a small scale are found in the mastabas at Gizeh, and are probably copied from the domestic architecture of the time. On the vexed question of inscriptions on the pyramids it will suffice to say that not one fragment of early inscription is known on the casing of any pyramid, either in situ, or broken in pieces. Large quantities of travellers' "graffiti" doubtless existed, and some have been found on the casing of the great pyramid ; these probably gave rise to the accounts of inscriptions, which are expressly said to have been in many different languages. The mechanical means employed by the pyramid-builders have been partly ascertained. The hard stones, granite, diorite, and basalt were in all fine work sawn into shape by bronze saws set with jewels (either corundum or diamond), hollows were made (as in sarcophagi) by tubular drilling with tools like our modern diamond rock-drills (which are but reinvented from ancient sources, see Engineering, xxxvii. 282), and small articles were turned in lathes fitted with mechanical tool -rests and jewel -pointed tools. The details of the questions of transport and management of the large stones remain still to be explained. Works referred to above. Colonel Howard Vyse, Operations at the Pyramids, 1840; Professor C. Piazzi Smyth, Life and Work at the Great Pyramid, 1867; W. M. Flinders Petrie, Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh, 1883. (W. M. F. P.) PYKENEES, a range of mountains stretching vith a general trend 18 to the north of west between France and Spain, from Cape Creus, or more properly Cape Cerbera, on the Mediterranean to the Bay of Biscay. The length of the range is about 240 miles, the greatest breadth little more than 50 miles (exclusive of the lower parallel ranges on the Spanish side), and the area covered