Stretching north and south for many miles between the verdant valley of the Nile and the Libyan desert beyond, at an elevation of one hundred feet above the level of the Nile, rises a barren plateau, lying at a distance of about ten miles west of Memphis and running parallel with the river.
To the ancient kings of Egypt this rocky ridge, beneath which the Sun, the chief deity of the Egyptians, appeared to sink to rest, seemed the most fitting site upon which to build their tombs. Sitting in their palace at Memphis and viewing this western plateau, they could but meditate upon the time when their sun of life should sink and they be called to the abode of the Gods.
It was the custom to hew out chambers in the rocks on the sides of the hilly ridge, in which to place the bodies of the common dead. The king, who had reigned over his subjects in life, felt it but a fitting monument to his memory that his sepulcher should be of the most magnificent proportions.
The royal sarcophagus was usually placed in a spacious chamber under a grand monument of stones. Little by little the heap began to take more definite shape under the hands of the builders, until it assumed the immovable form and severe aspect of a pyramid.
Gradually the structure became more and more regular in the character of its interior and in the outline of its exterior, till it finally stood sharply defined against the sky, the pride of the builders and the marvel of future ages.
It is said by one authority that there were about seventy of these pyramids erected along the plateau west of Memphis, between Abu Roash and Dashur. Among them were some especially noted for their size and magnificence.
According to an ancient writer, the usages and customs of the Egyptians were directly opposite to those of other nations. It was the custom for the women to be employed in business and trade, while the men stayed at home to spin and attend to domestic affairs. This gave rise to the extraordinary law by which the daughters, not the sons, were obliged to provide for their parents.
In carrying burdens, the men bore them upon the head, the women upon the shoulder. Bread was kneaded with the feet, and mortar mixed with the hands. In all other countries the cattle were separated from the members of the household, but in Egypt men and beasts dwelt together.
According to this author, the Egyptians were the first to assert the immortality of the soul. They believed that the soul, after the corruption of the body, entered some animal, and by a continuous change passed successively into the different kinds of creatures belonging to the air, earth, and water. After a lapse of three thousand years it again dwelt in a human body.
The utmost care was employed to preserve the body as long as possible, that the soul might be obliged to continue with it. As the body was thus cared for, or embalmed, no labor nor cost was spared in building the sepulchers, which were termed eternal mansions. Their houses were built with much less care and expense, for they considered them but inns where men abode as travelers for a few years.