The National tribune. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1877-1917, 1881-11-05
EGYPTIAN MECHANICS.

hHulu, vi CHeOpS, OF Tie lOurtH uyHdSty, was
! originally $50 feet 8 inches, and the base 764
feet. 1t is virtually mass of solid masonry, for
the rock must take up but small proportion OF
the interior, and the chambers and passages have
no appreciable relation to the whole bulk. The
material chiefly employed is the limestone on
which the structure stands, which was in part
cleared away to make level platform; but the
finer quality, used for the casing stones and
lining OF passages, was quarried on the other side
OF the river, nearly ten miles away, and the
red granite, also used for inner casing and for
the SarcOphagus, quarried at Syene, at the
extreme south of Egypt, nearly five hundred
and fifty miles away by the course of the river
We must remember that the Third Pyramid, now
203 # high, cased in part or wholly with gran
lite of Syene. How did the Egyptians contrive to
transport and raise these vast block of stone?
Let us look at the whole process. First, the
labor of quarrying, without any of the modern
aids of blasting, must have been enormous,
especially when the hard red granite, which
turns the edge of our modern steel tools. and yet
was cut by bronze ones had to be hewn out and
shaped into accurate blocks The transport to
the river not difficult, and the descent on
RATS during the high Nile would have met no
risks but from sandbanks. At this period of
the year the RATS would have been brought by
a canal very near the site of the pyramid
causeway, of which there are remains would
have made the land transport less difficult
But it must be remembered that the only mode
of moving great masses was by means of sledges
drawn by men oxen. So far we see only
vast expenditure of almost unaided labor; how
do
imag inatiOn to master the tremendous work:
we are constantly confused by our being
unable to cast away the modern notions of
facility to which we are accustomed All
this preliminary labor was followed by the
actual work of building The Great Pyramid is
not mass of piled-up stones; it is a model of
constructive skill sheet of paper cannot be
placed between the casing-stones, and we can
scarcely imagine that any mortar was spread
upon their sides. The passages present no rough
ness that could arrest the sarcophagus. Every
thing was exquisitely finished. Allowance was
made for the pressure of the vast mass. The
great chamber of the sarcOphagus has no less
than five small chambers above it to tighten
the superintendent weight over the entrance
Of the first passage two great stones are placed
pOcIIioI
consequence nothing has given way. Our real
difficulty begins when we endeavor to explain
any mode by which the great blocks of which
the pyramid is built were placed in position at
their various heights until the top stone was
put upon the summit, and the work of casing
completed the wonder. 1t would be easy to
find method, if it did not entail as much labor
as the building of the pyramid itself Rejecting
any such view, the most reasonable conjecture
that can be offered is that inclined planes ran
along the sides of the giant steps in which the
pyramid was built, and that the stones were
dragged up them by the wOrkmen. 1t is neces-
sary here to note that, when the mummy of the
King had been placed in the sepulchral chamber.
the entrance passage permanently closed
and heavy portcullises lowered at intervals. this
needing great mechanical skill. The chapel at
tached to each pyramid for the sepulehral rites
was built at suitable distance in front OF it,
contrary to the practice in the tombs of subjects
around it, in which the chapel was constructed
In the mass OF the masonry or hewn in the rock
The final closing of every pyramid which was
the universal custom, is an important fact which
in itself is enough to disprove scientific heresv
according to which deep secrets were concealed
in the heart of the Great Pyramid for the en-
hghtenment OF remote generations. Professor
Plazz Smyth does not consider the red granite sar-
cophagus royal coffin, like every other sarcopha-
gus in Egypt, but a divinely appointed sacred |
standard connecting the ancient measures with !
for instance, the English inch Yet more here |
and in other parts Of the pyramid, he tancies |
that he sees the indications of profound astro- |
Egyptians This phantasy has been pushed TO |
the length of making the pyramid not alone |
record of an ancient faith but stone prophecy |
of the ages to come. An Psychologist may ridi-
Guile theory which destroys the whole value of |
his labors; logician may protest against the
selection of one pyramid in which 10 found |
hypothesis and the rejection of all others and |
the choice OF measurements which best suit the |
evolution of the fancies Of the spectator: but |
the true answer can only be given by good mathe-
maticians They explain the reasons of the |
proportions which have been interpreted away
from their original purpose, and show how easy
it is to prove anything to the unin:tiated by |
those dangerous playthings," numbers, which
at least deceive the theorst himself Sir Henry ,
James, Royal Engineer, and Professor Wacker-
barth, of Upsala, have thus abundantly refuted |
the extraordinary fancies of Professor Piazzi |
Smyth.-R G. Potts. IN Contemporary Recietr.