Page:Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine.djvu/42

18 you get breath to cast your eyes upwards along the face of this jagged mountain aide, as it now appears, and to appreciate in some measure the vastness of its proportions.

The Pyramids you behold are, however, very different from those of the time of Herodotus. In the first place you perceive that the Great Pyramid is truncated, instead of ending nearly in a point like its neighbour, that of Ghizeh. Again, you observe that the apex of Ghizeh is cased in smooth stone while the whole exterior of the Great Pyramid is formed of step-like rows of masonry. It was not thus that the Egyptian architect handed over his great work to his monarch; for in 1837 Colonel Howard Vyse discovered two casing stones in position, which may now be seen. They are blocks of limestone, 8 feet 3 inches long and 4 feet 11 inches in perpendicular height, and indicate that the whole exterior was encased by polished blocks, giving it a perfectly smooth and glittering surface, well calculated to protect the building from injury, and to give an aspect of finish and completeness very different from that which it now presents.

The act of vandalism which has deprived the Pyramids of their outer casing was perpetrated by the Caliphs, who carried away the stones to build the mosques of Cairo; the result being that the general appearance of the exterior gives one the impression that these most ancient of buildings are rapidly disintegrating and destined to fall to pieces in the course of ages. This is no mere fancy. Let any one examine closely the condition of the outer walls, and he will find that they are penetrated by cracks and little fissures in all directions, along which the stone is crumbling away. These are due, I believe, to the expansion and contraction occasioned by the great changes of temperature between day and night; and the consequence is, that when a thunderstorm breaks over the district, as sometimes happens, the loosened pieces are washed down, and fresh surfaces for the sun to act upon are exposed. In course of time, therefore, the Great Pyramid, as well as that of Ghizeh, must become a ruin; and for this the only remedy is re-casing.