Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1913-05-11
The Great Pyramid of Egypt and the
Discovery of the New Facing
S tones at the North Base.

some thirty-fivc square feet each. were
not only worked finely as this. but
contained very fine film of white &C.
ment To merely place these nineteen
ton casing stones in contact would be
careful work, but To do SO with cement in
the joints seems almost impossible Yet
this was tho usual work over thirteen
acres of surface. with tens CT thousands
of casing stones. none less than a ton III
weight. Col. WISE writes: Such is the
tenacitN of the wonderful cement with
which they were held together that a
fragment of one that had been destroyed
remained firmly fixed in it's original
alignment Notwithstanding the great
lapse OF time and the violence to which
il had been exposed
The pavement slabs forming the base
on which the first course rests terminate
or project in true. unbroken line or
seam lG3 inches from and parallel to
the fase line formed by the compare
lively sharp pointed edges of the casing
stones
The complete outlines of the bases of
the stones We're clearly incised on the
pavement. also on the top surface OF the
casing stones on which they were to rest.
II was not adv sable TO blacken them. as
they would then resemble the blackcned
Jennings. consequently they do not show
in tine photographs.
White Limestone-Not Marble.
! Several writer's have crroneouSiy
stated that the Great Pyramid was COW
cred by granite. by marble. by alabaster
and even by concrete The casing stones
were in fact quarried out Of white,
compact limestone. brought from the
Mokattane. Tourah or Massarah quarries,
on the east side of the Nile near Cairo.
\ special causeway was constructed from
the Nile to the CiZeh pyramids. some 1o9
feet of VIII CHI still remains. over this the
-to 4
by means of wooden rollers. We are
positive that limestone the only
stone used in covering khufus pyramid
The limestone casing stones sun IN sltn
The tons of limestone chips and dust
which covered them. TO say nothing of
the great bulk Of the pyramid workmen 8
limestone rubbish covering the sloping
face of the pyramid plateau Iout not
put there to strengthen it,, leave no doubt
on this point.
"A few of the lowest courses of the
adjoining pyramid. that of Chephren
(Cheops' SOM are chseled from red gran
lite: all the courses above that were OF
limestone. some 40 feet of which ard
still in stu at the top. While the pyra-
mid adjoining Chephrens, built by his
son Menkauran. is covered for the hrst
fourteen courses zone quarter its heighD
by we'll fitted, though rough finished. red
granite blocks. above that all is lime
stone. The Abu Roash pyramid of Ded-
afr, another son of the great Cheops, was
completely covered by granite.
The pavement. which was originally
thirty-ve feet wide at the north side of
the monument. is composed of limestone
slabs varying in size from 1xf feet to 4X3
feet. Most of them would average 20.6S
inches the ancient Egyptian cubit in
thickness. This pavement rests upon the
natural rock. which has been scarped
down to an uneven level. The jo-nings
though fine. not to he compared with
those in the casing stones. nor is the
quality of stone fine. although 1t is
superior to the core masonry.
tine pavement at the east side of tie
great pyramid consists of over a third Of
an acre OF smoothly dressed and joined
black granite blocks. Distinct saw-teeth
marks show they had been sawn into
shape
Some Wonderful Revelations.
Mr. Covingtons object in making the
excavation was not only to test the base
line theory, but also to improve the face.