Page:Mount Seir, Sinai and Western Palestine.djvu/44

20 They could scarcely credit their senses; but presently, giving vent to their feelings in unutterable Arabic, they proceeded towards the pyramid in hot pursuit, and on reaching the little platform on the summit surrounded my imperturbable colleague, gesticulating violently and overwhelming him with imprecations. Above all things they could not believe that he had scaled the slippery polished cap of the pyramid in the boots in which he stood. So, in order to satisfy them on this point, he proceeded to descend as he had gone up, and safely reached the bottom along with his bare-legged tormentors. It was afterwards explained that the Arabs were answerable with their heads for any mishap to travellers visiting the Pyramids, but it is probable that "the great bakhsheesh question" was really the most potent cause of their dissatisfaction on this occasion.

The Pyramids are built of nummulite limestone—not hewn on the spot, but brought from quarries situated at the base of the hills ten miles above Cairo, on the right bank of the Nile. The quarries are of vast size, as I was informed by Dr. Schweinfurth; and one may there see tokens of the care exercised in selecting the stone, soft portions being left, the harder cut out for blocks. The lines drawn by the overseer for the workmen are also visible on the walls. The blocks were transported on a sloping causeway to the water's edge, floated across, and then hauled up a long similar causeway, still in existence, on the opposite side to their destination.

The Sphinx is, however, sculptured out of the native rock, and the horizontal lines of stratification are too plainly visible. The head is of harder material than the neck, which is formed of softer and whiter strata. Every one must regret the defacement which this grand work of Egyptian art has undergone; but knowing the custom of Mohammedans to deface all objects which they consider idolatrous, it is not difficult to trace the cause for this act of barbarism.

The so-called Temple of the Sphinx must excite the admiration of every beholder. It consists of a series of vast rectangular chambers, cut out of the solid limestone, with recesses for tombs. The walls are lined with massive blocks of the red granite of Syene, beautifully cut and polished, each fitting closely to its neighbour. One of the walls lies