The Mt. Sterling advocate. (Mt. Sterling, Ky.) 1890-current, 1892-10-04
THE PYRAMIDS.

occupied by Jerusalem. Rome and
Athens, at the very dawn of human
history, when all the rest of the world
was still wrapped in the thick gloom
Of prehistoric barbarism, vast town
of huge buildings rose not far from
thelpresent city, on the other side Of
thegNile which was dotted with the
boats OF the ancient inhabitants. a
forest of venerable date trees casts its
shadows upon the black soil, beneath
which lie buried the builders of this
city of world gone by, of which
nothing remains but the vast ceme-
teries, their position marked by an
avenue of monuments. The famous
pyramids of Gizah, opposite Cairo, on
the borders of the desert, form the
last of these necropoli.
Everyone is familiar with the APP
peasance Of these strange pyramids,
these huge paradoxes of strictly geo.
mctrical form, so vast and so lofty
that it was not until after fifty-eight
centuries of development that The
human race succeeded in erecting a
building of greater height, while the
Hottest pinnacle of the most aspiring
Gothic belfiy, however light and airy
it be, did not soar higher than the
point Of the pyramid at Cheops before
it was blanted by time. Nothing
could be more confusing to the eye
than the general appearance of these
heaps of stones, in which no artistic
conception plays the slightest part.
The effects of perspective in these
lines of mathematical regularity are
most bMarre-huge bare triangles, the
outlines shortened or Heightened,
lnarked'out like diagram by the sun
into flat bands of light and shade, the
reflections in the sand OF the four
mighty angles varying according to
the time of day. The sl@ping sides.
which at a distance appear absolutely
plain, are, when approached more
nearly, discovered to be broken up
into a series of projecting stones, like
a huge staircase worn with age, 1t is
somewhat difficult to Judge at first
sight OF the size of the pyramid, and
the best way to measure the height by
climbing it! 1t is at corner where
the stages, which seem to have been
made for a race of giants, are divided
into smaller steps, either for the sake
of mortais of lesser stature or by the
action OF time, that the ascent of
Cheops is made. We start, pushed
from behind by one Arab guide, and
dragged from above by another, with
our eyes fully occupied with the
dangers of the climb. Completely ex-
hausted, altogether out of breath, and
with knees too stiff to move, we pause
at last, feeling as if we had scaled all
three pyramids at once. But looking
around, we find we are scarcely one
Third of the distance up, and see our
felow-climhers looking like scattered
ant upon the huge triangular mass. 1t
is not until the platform at the top is
reached, and the lungs are filled with
the pure air of the nights, that any real
idea is obtained of the monument of
Cheops.
And what does this huge edifice con-
tain? We must go down again and
find out.
The entrance, which was walled up.
is at a considerable height from the
ground, i'll one of the faces or the
pyramid, and looks like the porch of a
cave cut in the living rock. A dark,
door opens on to a
low marrow passage, with floors,
walls, and ceiling all lined with gran
ate, polished till it is like ice. An
Arab guide, with q candle in his hand, !
lolsts you on to his shoulders and |
Dlunges with you into the slippery cor
'idor, which descends rapidly to
lole in the rock on a level with the
'oii, going up again at the same angle. |
This opening gives access to bare
DOM, in which is square hole, once
re restiDg-place of the mummy of
me OF the Pharaohs. The rest of the
Interior consists of two or three mar
ow passages, resembling cavities
made in oak timber by the teredo.
With two other chambers similar to
hat known as the Kings, all faced
nth granite, without a moulding or
rnament OF any kind; airless inclo-
losures, where no chink admits a raw
f light or sunshine !. huge masses of