Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1891-10-19
GODS FIRST BIBLE.
That Is What DR.. Talmage Considers
EgyptS Monster Pyramid.
NOT PLANNED BY A HUMAN BRAIN.
Its Construction Implies knowledge Which
Man Never Gained.
NOT PLANNED BYAHUMAN BRAIN.
WHAT TIE GREAT PILE TEACHES Us
ESPECIAL TELEGRAM TO THE DISPATCH.


BBaoKLyS. Oct. 1S.-Dr Talmage's ser
mon this morning was the first of a series he
intends preaching on his Eastern tour, en-
titled. From the Pyramids 20 the Acropo-
lis or What Saw in Egypt and Greece
Cont;ranatory of the Scriptures His text
was Isaiah XIX, 1920: "In that day shall
there be an altar 10 the Lord in the midst
of the land of Egypt and pillar at the bor-
der thereof TO the Lord. And 1t shall be
for sign and for a witness.
Isaiah no doubt here refers to the great
pyramid ut GiZeh, the chief pyramid of
Egypt The text speaks Of pillar ir Egypt,
and taiS is the greatest pillar ever Gfted
and the text SAYS it is to be at the border OF
the land, and this pyramid is at the border
OF tire land: and the text says it shall be for
a witness, and the object of this sermon is to
tell what this pyramid witnesses.
We had on morning of December, 1889,
landed in Africa. Amid the bowling bout
men at Alexandria we had come ashore and
taken the raiI-train for Cairo, Egypt, along
the banks of the most thoroughly harnessed
river of all the worid-the river Nile.
THEIR FIRST NIGHT IN EGYPT
We had at eventide entered the city of
Cairo, the city where Christ dwelt while
staying in Egypt during the Herodic pcrse-
cution. 1t WAS our first night in Egypt.
But how can describe the thrill of expec-
tation. Eor to-day we are to see what all the
world has seen, or wants TO see-the pyra-
mids We are mounted for an hour and a
b9lTs ride We pass on amid baZaars
stuffed with rugs and carpets and curious
fabrics Of all sorts from smyrna. from AL
yfer~. from Persia. from Turkey, and
through streets where VIC meet people OF ali
coorS and all garbs. carts loaded with gar
den productions, priests in gowns. women
in black veiiS BeGOTins in long and SEEM
fuylv superfiuous apparel, Janissaries in
Jacket OF embroidered gold-out and on
toward the great pyramid; for though there
arc 50 pyramids still standing the pyramid
st gizeh is the monarch of pyramids.
Ne meet camelS grunting under their load
and see hUffalOes on either side browsing in
pasture fields The road we travel is for
part Of the way under clumps of acacia and
by long rows of sycamore and tamerisk, but
after awhile it is 4 path of rock and sand,
and we find VIC have reached the margin Of
the dcsert,
THE GREAT SAHARA DESERT,
and we cry out to the dragoman as we see a
huge pile OF rock looming in sight: ''Drago-
man, what Is that?" His answer is "The
Pyramid, ana then it seemed as if we were
living 4 century every minute. Our
thoughts and emotions were too rapid and
intense for utterance, and We ride on in si-
lence until We come to the foot of the Pyra-
mid spoken OF i'm the text, the oldest struct-
ure in all the earth, 4 OOG years old at least.
Here it is. We stand under the shadow of q
structure that shuts out all the earth and all
the sky, and we look up and strain
or vision to appreciate the distant
top.
IS we dismounted al the base of the pyra-
mid l said ''Others may go mp it, but not l.
! will satisfy myself with view from the
base. The ascent of it would be to me
1OolharIv undertaking" But after l mad
given up all idea OF ascending, / found my
daughter was determined to &C, and as could
not let her 20 with strangers, L changed
my mind and We started with guides. 1t
cannot bedone without these helpers. Two
or three times fooihardy men have at
tempted il alone, but their bodies came
tumbling down unrecognizable and lifeless.
now THE ASCENT rs MADE.
Many of the blocks of stone are four or
five feet high and beyond any ordinary hu-
man stride unless assisted. With two Arabs
to pull and two Arabs to push, found my
self rapidly ascending from height to height
and on, to attitudes terrific, and at last at
the tiptop We found ourselves on a level
space OF about 20 feet square. Through
cIearest atmosphere we looked Off upon the
desert. and OFF upon the winding Nile, and
OF upon the sphinx with its features of ever
lasting stone. and yonder upon the minarets
OF Cairo 9iitteriHg in the sun. and yonder
upon Memphis in ruins, and of upon the
wreck of empires and the battle fields o:
ayes, radius Of view enough to I'LL the mind
entire being.
After looking around for while. and
kodak had pictured the group, we de-
SCeuded The descent WAS more trying than
the ascent for climbing you need not see the
depths beneath, but coming down it was
impossible not 10 see the aDHsms below.
With two Arabs ahead to help us down, and
two Arabs to hold us back.we were lowered,
hand below hand. until the ground was ln-
vjIingly near, and amid the jargon of the
Arabs, we were safely landed.
ASPECTS OF THE PYRAMID.
said the dominant color of the pyramid
was gray, but in certain lights 1t seems to
shake OF the gray of centuries and become
blonde and the silver turns to the golden.
It covers 10 acres of ground. What an an
Tiguity! 1t was ut least 1900 years old " hen
the baby Christ was carried within sight of
II by his fugItive parents, Joseph and Mary.
The storms OF 40 centuries have drenched it,
bOlnhardCd it, Swallowed it, flashed upon it,
but there il stands ready to take another 40
centuries OF atmospheric attack if the world
should continue to exist.
1t has -, ,00O cable feet of masonry. One
hundred thousand wOrkmen at one time
tOicd in its erection. To bring the stone
from the quarTies a causewaY GO feet wide
was built. The top stones were lifted by
machinery such aS the world knows nothing
CT to-day. 1t is 1I6 feet each side of the
square base. Tie structure is 45O feet high,
higher than the CatheGrals of Cologne Stras-
brI.-r- Rouen. ST. Peters and St Paulis No
surprise 80 me that it put AZ the head of
the Seven Wonders of the World. 1t has n |
subtcrraneOus room of rcd granite called
called the Queens chamber" and the |
probability is that there are other rooms
yet uncxplOred.
THE DIFFICULT INTERIOR.
The evident design OF the architect was to
make these rooms as inaccessible as possi-
be After all the work of exploration and
all the digging and blasting, if you would
enter these subterraneous rooms you must
go through passage only feet ii inches
high and less than four feet wide.
\ sarcophaguS Of red granite stands down
under this noUntain OF masonry. The sar-
copha-us could not have been carried in
after. the pyramid was built. 1t must have
been put there before the structure was
reared Probably in that sarcophagus once
lay a wooden cCfiin containing dead king,
but tiIac has destroyed the coffin and de
strnycd the last vcstige of humnr remains.
For , 60 yv-ir TINS sepulclilal room was
uuUDcncd, ard would have been until to-
uay probably unopened, had not superst-
tiOus impression god abroad that the heart
OF the pyramid WAS 1llled with silver and
gold ard diam ends, and under al Mamoun,
AN cLCayUJing party went to work, and hav-
NIX bored ana blasted through loo feet of |
rock they found no opening ahead, and were |
about 10 give up the attempt when they |
heard stone rolling down into seemingly |
hollow place and en- ncouraged by that they |
resumed their work and came into the un' |
o"lgIound rooms.
IT IS A PERFECT STRUCTURE. !
The Pyramid built more than 1000 years |
ago being n complete geometIical hgare, |
wise men have concluded it must have been |
civiHely constructed. Man came through |
thousands OF years to fine architecture to |
music, to painting, but this was perfect at |
the worlds star, and God must have di- |