"All things fear Time; but Time fears the Pyramids," says the ancient proverb. The pyramids are for eternity. They alone of all man's works seem able to conquer time. They are mute witnesses to the greatness and majesty of Egypt five thousand years ago. The Egyptian pyramids are royal tombs, the burial vaults of kings. A pyramid was constructed of horizontal layers of rough-hewn blocks with a small amount of mortar. The outside casing was of massive blocks, usually greater in thickness than in height. Inside of each pyramid, always low down, and usually below the ground level, was built a sepulchral chamber. This room, which contained the body of the king, was always reached by a passage from the north, sometimes beginning in the pyramid face, sometimes descending into the rock on which the pyramid was built. To build but a single one of these huge tombs must have taken thousands of slaves many years, and there are seventy-six of them in existence today. What a record of toil and suffering for the vanity of kings!
The oldest of these pyramids is the Step Pyramid of Sakkara. It is supposed to be the oldest building of stone in the world. It lies near the vanished city of Memphis, the capital city of King Menes, the first Egyptian monarch whose name is known to history, and the founder of the earliest known dynasty, variously estimated to have been from 5702 to 2691 B. C.
The greatest and most famous pyramid is the Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) at Gizeh. It was originally four hundred and eighty feet high; its base covers an area of thirteen acres; and each side is seven hundred and fifty-five feet long. The ancient builders were so accurate in their work that modern engineers have discovered an error of only sixty-five one-hundredths of an inch in the length of the sides of the base, and of one-three-hundredth of a degree in angle at the corners. The base is practically a perfect square.
The Pyramid of Khufu is the only surviving wonder of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world. One hundred thousand men worked for twenty years to build this tomb, which contains two million three hundred thousand limestone blocks, of an average weight of two and a half tons. How the tremendous undertaking was ever accomplished is one of the mysteries of the world. But even this huge tomb was no protection against robbers. The body of King Khufu has disappeared, stolen from its famous resting place centuries ago.
To ascend the pyramid one has to climb steps, narrow and about three feet apart. For a small fee the Arabs help the tourist to the top, from where the view is well worth the trouble. The blocks that formed the point of the pyramid have been removed, and the summit is a level platform thirty-six feet square.
PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION
ILLUSTRATION FOR THE MENTOR, VOL. 1, No. 42, SERIAL No. 42
COPYRIGHT, 1913. BY THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC.
