Litchfield enquirer. [volume] (Litchfield, Conn.) 1829-current, 1845-12-04
ASTONISHING FACTS IN RELATION TO
,.r >, THE EGYPTIAN; PYRAMIDS. ..,.

= r
! ,y >, THE EGYPTIAN PYRAMIDS.
The materials Of which the pyramids are con-
structed, afford scope for lang d, sertatiml, because
Independently Of the Science and skill requisite for
their adaptation. the DISTANCES from which most of
| them were brought, proves that each Monarch's
sway extended all over Egypt and Lower Nnbia, il
not beyUhd! and id relation 70 this subject we ga.
ther the following facts,Grem The second lecture Of
! Mr.. GljddOn's new course:--, r.,j ,...t,,;h
Geologically considered. Egypt is a very pecu-
! liar country. the qusffes of different kinds OF
Stone living al great distances from each other in
distinctly marked localities If you see piece oi
basalt on the. beach Of the Mediterranean, you
know that there is no hasaltic quarry nearer than
betweenetiic frat and I'd cataract and. when sou
find a blockfof granite at Memphis. you know that
no granite exists but at the first cataract-nea: er
than the eastern desert On the Red Sea with the
peninsula at Mount 81 MIA Early civilization and
extended dominion is indicated in these facts. and
when we reflect upon them, we almost think we
witness the work OF Transportation going on; that
we see the builders, and the buildings themselves
in process of erection Tis hlocksi of Arabian
limestone used in the iaterior affhe pyramids were
brought from the ancient 1ulrries Of Toorah, on
the opposite side If the Nile, distant about I or
| 30 miles from each pvr1mii These very quarries
are vast halls, as twsre, excavaed in the living
Rock. wherein entire armies might encamo, are a.
dorned with now INITIATED tablets recording the
age Of their respective openings bv different Pha-
raohs, not oaly to show the Derry beds whence the
stupendons blocks OF som. of the pyramids were
taken: b,t are, in Themselves, works as wondrous
and suhlms az the Mem ,hits Pyramids! nay, at
the very fot Of these qNsrries. lie the }cgualesS
tomb and S,rcophagi Of nnnumbered generatloas Of
ancient 9ulrryman! These qutrales are OF intense
archaeological interest, because the tablets IN them
| record that stone was cut in them for Memphis
| on such a day, such a month, such year Of the
reign of such king; and these kings begin from
the remote times before the 10th dynasty, and. at
different intervals. come down through the Phara-
onic period with many Of shn others, till we reach
the Pto!emic epoch aud end with Latin inscrip.
tions similar to those ID Egypt. attesting that
't these q1arries were worked" in the proptiouS e.
of OUT Lords and En lerors1 Saverns and AntOni-
us. thus abug Us to descead almost step by step
from the remote antiquity Of 22JJ years 3. G. down
To- go years after the Christian era. The hand OF
modern barbarism, PROMPTED by the destructive
ness of NJ manned Ali. has, since 1880, done more
to detace these tablets-to blow up many Of these
halls in sheer W lntonness, than has been effected
by time in 40 10 years! 5'''''iE ;."".''4
Every atom Of the hundred. Thousand tons Of
granite used in the pyramids was cut at Syene, the
lst cataract, distant $40 miles. The blocks. some
OF which 40 feet long had to be cut out OF thei,
beds with wooden wed ses and copper chissels );
then polished with emery till they were Al smooth
as looking glasses, and then carried by land half
mile to the river-2laced ON RATS and fioated down
GAO miles to ACCOMPLISHMENTS By canals, to the
foot Of the Lybian chain-cqnyeyed by land over
gigantic causeways from one mile to- three in
length to the pyramids for which they were in
tendd. and then elevated by machinery aud placed
In their present position, with skill. aud ma
sonic precision that has COMPOUNDED the most SCI
enti6c European engineer with amazement The
very basGn sArcophagi that! opce held the mummy
Of the Pharaohs, in the Utmost recesses of these
pyramidal mausolea, l-2 feet long by l-2 broad
land 3 deep, were all "brskIght from Lower Nubia,
from the basalic quarries Of the I'd cataract. not
nearer than $50 miles up the river Looking into
the interior of the pyramids, there is still much I"
staxger belief-to excite our admiration. In the
pyl amid of Ave steps, the upper beams that sup.
port the roof of the chamber are Of oak, !Grc and
CEDAR not one OF which trees grow in Egypt. and
establish the fact Of the timber trade with lllyra,
Asia Minor aud Mount Lebanon In ages long before
Abraham! In the fragments OF mummy the
cloth is found to he saturated with the ''Pissaphal
tum"-Jews' pitch or bitlmen Judiacum, CON-
pounded Of vegetable pitch from the Archipelago,
and of asphalum nf the Dead Sea. in Palestine -
we find Gum Arabic, that does not grow nearer
than 1900 miles from the pyramids. attesting com.
| merce with Upper NWbia. The gold leaf came
from the mines Of Suakim on the Red Sea, or from
| remote Fazogu. The liquid which cleansed out
the body Of the mummy was Ced'ta, the fluid ros.
in Of the oinus cedrus-that grows not nearer than
SYRIA. Th. spices send US to the Indian Ocean,
| the alloes to Snccotra--the cinnamon I" Ceylon.
the ancient Taprohane-and then the arts and sci.
enees brought to bear upon the pyramids that must
have arrived at perfection long before that day are
not onlv themes ior endless reflection, but oblige
US to confess that in chronology we are yet chill.
dren !-Bost. Trans ..........,