Litchfield enquirer., 1879-03-13

TIE PYRANIDs-The age of the pyramids is doubtful. The object for which they were built is certain. There is no need here to ex- anime curious speculaiions to which their measures have, like the numbers of Manethos list, seemed to effer themselves with strange facility, like false lights that lead the traveller into the qucksands. They were royal tombs, and nothing more. We need not draw any idea of astronomical use from their facing the cardinal points, whereas the Chaldcan Pyra- mids pointed to them, nor, in the case Of the Great Pyramid, from the curious circumstance that at the time of it's building it's entrance passage pointed to the then polar star, Dra- conis nor from the excellent platform for as- tronomical observation on it's summit, nor from its chief measures being in exact Egyptian cu- bits without fractions. There may have been religious reason for the orientation of this and other Egyptian pyramids, but it is quite obvi- ous that deviation of direction would have produced disagreeable discord in the placing of these geometrcally- shaped buildings. It was no use to point a passage to the pOle-star, as it had to be closed at the completion of the structure, after the Kings seputure. The platform did not exist when the casting of the monument was complete to it's apex. The most famous buildings of antiquity were con- structed of full measures, without fractio ions, in all their chief dimensions What perhaps, 
 proportion when fractions were allowed became matter of religion. The pyramids, then were tombs of Kings. Each had it's name. The Great Pyramid was called ''the Splendid ;' the second pyramid, strangely enough, 'sthe Great ;" the third pyramid, ''the Superior" Each must have been the chief object of a Kings reign. Begun at, or perhaps in some cases before, his accession, it was built on a plan which allowed constant addition and speedy completion. Thus the pyramids are the measures of the reigns of those who built them, and happily in many cases we know from the tombs around who these royal build CTS were. The main principles of an Egyptian tomb of this age are the same in the pyramids and in the smaller built tombs, though the mode in which the principle are carried out is different. These smaller tombs consist of a quadrangular mass of masonry like an oblong truncated pyramid, having pit entered from above, descending to a sepulchral chamber cut in the rock beneath and within is also 6 chapel entered from an external door, and a secret chamber to contain statues of the de- ceased. The pyramids represent the purely sepulchral part ef these structures. In front of the entrance of each was & chapel, to which was probably attached a secret chamber. The form of the pyramids is probably traceablG to the natural shapes of the deserted mountains All Egyptian architecture is characterized by the same sloping lines as these mountains varying like them from the sharp inclination of the pyramids to the very slight slope of the built tombs, and, it may be added, of all the great massive gateways of the latter temples. Whether these forms were thus derived or not, their adoption must have been due to their ex- treme strength. The manner in which the pyr- amds were constructed was first shown in Prof. Lepsius' ''Letters from Egypt" The objects of the royal builders was strength of position, a secure place of sepulture, and method by which the monument could be gradually in- creased from year to year and finished with little delay when the Kings death made this necessary. A site was chosen on the low ta- bIe-land of the Libyan Desert, and slight ele- vation was selected as a peg on which the structure should, as it were, be pivoted In this core of rock a sleping, descending passage, usually entered from the north, was cut of sui. ficient slze for the conveyance of a sarcopha- gus, leading to sepulchral chamber. Above and around the rock a solid structure of masonry was raised, of cubical form, but with slightly sloping sides. In the case of the Kings death st this stage of the work, the pyr- amid was at once completed by the addition of sloping lateral masses and a pyramid cap. Roughly, this additional work did not exceed in quantity the first construction, excluding the excavation. If the King lived on, the first construction was enlarged on each of it's four sides so as to form great platform on which a second central mass was raised, and a pyra. mid of two degrees without filled in angles was formed. At this stage the work could be com pleted if necessary, or if the King still lived, each platform from the lowest could be in- creased on the same principle. The form of the Pyramid of Steps at Sakkarah, the cen tral monument of the Metropolis of Memphis, is good illustration of the general principle, and the change of angle in the Southern Pyra- mid of Lashoor is valuable as probable in. stance of nasty completion Contemporary Reoiew