Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 16.djvu/657

* PYRAMID. 573 PYRAMUS. limestone. Two passages, both on the north side, give access to the interior. One of these is in the pavement in front of the pyramid, the other is 3S feet above the surface of the ground. The upper passage descends at an angle of 25° 55' to a depth of 105 feet, and leads through a horizontal corridor to the sepulchral chamber called, from its discoverer, Belzoni's Chamber. It is hewn in the rock and is 46V2 feet long, Wy^ feet wide, and 22 li feet high. Belzoni, who opened the pyramid in 1S18, found in this cham- ber a granite sarcophagus filled with rubbish. The lower passage, beginning in the pavement in front of the north face of the pyramid, first descends at an angle of 21° 40', then runs hori- zontally for 59 feet, and then ascends, terminat- ing in the horizontal corridor leading to Belzoni's Chamber; the total length of the passage is 97 feet. Xear the middle of its horizontal portion a small chamber -is introduced, and a descending passage, 22 feet long, leads to another chamber, 34 feet 3 inches long, 10 feet 4 inches wide, and 8 feet 5 inches high. The Third Pyramid, called by the Egyptians Vctcr-ilenkaure, 'Menkaure is divine,' was built by ilenkaure, the successor of Chephren, and the Mycerinus of Herodotus. Its perpendicular height is 204 feet, and the sides, which slope at an angle of 51°,- rise to the height of 262^4 feet. Each side measures 356% feet at the base. The lower part of the pyramid is cased with slabs of polished red granite. The entrance is about 13 feet above the ground on the north side. From it a passage slopes down at an angle of 26° 2' for a distance of 1041^ feet, then, be- coming nearly horizontal, passes through an ante- chamber 12 feet long. 10 feet wide, and 7 feet high, and finally enters a large chamber 44ii feet long, I2I2 feet wide, and 13 feet high, in which were found the remains of a stone sar- cophagus. From the floor of this chamber a shaft leads to the tomb chamber, which lies below. It is paved with fine granite blocks, and has an arched roof formed of blocks placed against each other at an angle, and hollowed out on the inside. In this chamber Colonel Vyse found the basalt sarcophagus of ilycerinus. but it was lost at sea in 1S38 while being conveyed to England. In the chamber above were found a part of the wooden colfin of the King and some fragments of his mummy. To the south of this pyramid are three small pyramids, prob- ably constructed for members of the family of Mycerinus. South of Ghizeh are the pyramids of Aiusir, the ancient Busiris, erected by kings of the Fifth Dvnasty. The entrances of these pyramids are, as usual, on the north side, and in all of them the tomb chamber is reached by a passage at first slanting and afterwards horizontal. The northernmost of the three largest pyramids (originally fourteen in number) is that of Sahu- re. the second King of the Fifth Dynasty. Its perpendicular heifrht. originally IfiSio feet, is now only 118 feet. The central pyramid is that of Re-en-woser. the sixth King of the same dynasty. The largest of the three, which has a perpendicular height of 165 feet (formerly 229 feet), has not yet been identified. The other pyramids of this group are mere heaps of ruins. The burial field of Saqqara contains a con- siderable number of pyramids. Of special in- terest is the so-called 'step pyramid,' the tomb of Zoser, the second King of the Third Dynasty. It rises in si.x steps which are respectively 38, 30, 341/4, 32, 31, and 291/0 feet in height; the width of each step is from 6 to 7 feet. The perpendicular height is 197 feet. The interior of the pyramid contains a very numerous and complicated series of pa.ssages and chambers. According to Petrie, it is not a true pyramid at all, but a mastaba enlarged by successive addi- tions into the pyramidal shape. The slope of the sides (about 75°) differs considerably from that of the true pyramids. Xear it is the pyramid of Unas, the last King of the Fifth Dynasty, and in the vicinitv are the pvramids of the Pharaohs Teta, Pepi' I., Mer-en-re, and Pepi II. of the Sixth Dynasty. These pyramids were opened in 1881, and the walls of their chambers were found to be covered with long religious texts. South of Saqqara are the pyramids of Dahshflr, which are in a simple and massive style much like those of Ghizeh. The group consists of two large and two smaller pyramids of stone, and two of mud bricks, the latter being usually known as the 'black pyramids.' The more northerly of the two brick pyramids, which formerly had a casing of stone." is the tomb of Usertesen III. of the Twelfth Dynasty. Its pres- ent height is 90 feet. To the southwest of it is a large stone pyramid 326 feet high and 702 feet in width. To the south and east are the remains of other pyramids, and still farther to the south is a pyramid of peculiar form, usually termed the 'blunted pyramid.' The lower portion slopes at an angle of 54° 41', while the sides of the apex form an angle of 42° 59'. It is 321 feet in height and 620 feet square. The name of the builder is unknown, but it probably belongs to the oldest period of Egyptian history. The next group of pyramids, south of DahshOr, is the group of Lisht. of which the more south- erly is the tomb of Usertesen I. of the Twelfth Dynasty. Still farther south is the pyramid of Medimi (q.v. ). To the west of Medum. on the edge of the Fayum, are the pyramids of lUahun and Hawara. the former tlie tomb of Usertesen 11., the latter that of Amenemhat III. The pyramid of Illahun is built with a frame- work of stone filled up with mud bricks, while that of Hawara is built entirely of mud bricks, though it was doubtless originally cased over with fine stone. Consult: Description de I'Egypte (Paris, 1809- 29) : Lepsius. Denlcnmler (Berlin. 1849-59) ; Perring. Pyramids of Gizeh (London, 1839-42) ; Vvse. Operations Carried on at the Puramids of Gizeh in 1SS7 (London, 1840-42) ;" Smyth, Life and Work at the Great Pyramid (London, 1867) ; Petrie, Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh (London, 1883) : Haicara (London, 1889) ; Kahun (London, 1890) : Illahun (London, 1891): Medum (London. 1892); Baedeker, Aeijypfen (4th ed.. Leipzig, 1897). PYR'AMUS (Lat.. from Gk. Wpaiwt) and THISBE, this'be (Lat., from Gk. e<(r/3.)). Two lovers whose tragical history is told by Ovid in the fourth book of his Metamorphoses. They were natives of Babylon and immediate neighbors. But though tenderly attached to each other, their parents would not consent to their marriage, and they were obliged to content themselves with stolen interviews through an opening in the wall between their gardens. On one occasion they