"This great image stands north of the second pyramid of Gizeh. The effigy is the symbolical form of the god Harmachu, meaning Horus the Resplendent, to whom the adjacent temple was dedicated.
"The figure is hewn out of the solid rock. It has the body of a crouching lion and the head of a man capped and bearded. It is one hundred and ninety feet high.
"Between the paws, which are extended to a distance of fifty feet, is a monumental stone bearing the name of Khafra, who is said to have dedicated the image. The shoulders are thirty-six feet in breadth. The head measures from top to chin twenty-eight feet and six inches.
"The drifting sands of centuries have fallen around the mighty effigy, until only the solemn visage, looking out towards the Nile, and a small part of the shoulders and back remain above the level of the desert."
CHAPTER LXXXV.
HELIOPOLIS, THEBES, AND KARNAC.
About ten miles northeast of Cairo lie a few crumbled stones and a single obelisk; these are all that remain of the ancient city of Heliopolis. This obelisk, the oldest in Egypt, was erected by the second king of the fourth dynasty, about two hundred years before the dawn of the Christian era.
Heliopolis was not only a famous city of the ancient world, but it was the seat of learning as well. One of its greatest attractions was the Temple of the Sun, possibly the most celebrated building in Egypt.