People climb the pyramid, and also go inside. In the very heart of the Great Pyramid is a tomb chamber, where we see the empty coffin of Cheops or Khufu. The tomb was rifled long ago, and no one knows where the king's ashes are.
Ascent to the summit of the Great Pyramid means arduous climbing; but it is worth while simply for the view it affords of the desert. Most of us imagine the desert as a level of white sand. I thought so until I saw it from the summit of this pyramid. The desert stretches off in long waves, and does not seem like a plain, but rather like the rolling ocean.
THE SPHINX
Not far from Cheops we see above the waves of sand a rough-hewn head that stirs us mightily. No one can forget the first impression of the Sphinx. It stands for something unique in history and in knowledge. No one with a spark of reverence in his nature can stand before that great stone face without a feeling of awe. There will be little that he can say—the most reverent ones say nothing. There before you is that half-buried, crouching figure of stone about which you have read and heard so much. The paws are covered by sand. It is only by industrious shoveling and digging that the desert is prevented from rising on the wings of the wind and completely burying the great figure.
THE SPHINX
From a drawing showing the front uncovered by sand.
The Sphinx is the symbol of inscrutable wisdom, and its lips are supposed to be closed in mysterious silence,—knowing profoundly, but telling nothing. These are, however, mere impressions. Facts are the important things. No one knows how old the Sphinx is. It is supposed to have been made during the middle empire; but later investigations seem to prove that the Sphinx existed in the time of Cheops, which would mean that it is even older than the Great Pyramid. The Sphinx was made out of living rock, and the dimensions are as follows: Body, 150 feet long; paws, 50 feet long; head, 30 feet long; face, 14 feet wide; and the distance from top of head to base, 70 feet.
It must have been an imposing monument when constructed; for then it stood in position to guard the valley of the Nile, and about it was Memphis, the great city of Egypt—Memphis now past and gone. Memphis was once the capital city of the Pharaohs, and is said to have been founded by Menes. In its day of glory it was a prosperous and well fortified city. About 1600 B. C. it was supplanted as capital by Thebes, and the glory of Pharaoh's court was transferred to the southern city.
THE COLOSSI OF MEMNON These two gigantic statues stand near the approach of the Temple of Amenophis. One of them is known as the Vocal Memnon. Inscriptions on the vocal statue record the visits of those who were with Hadrian, and of others, and relate that they heard the voice of Memnon. The Colossi are of hard gritstone, monolithic, and forty-seven feet in height, with pedestals twelve feet high. They represent Amenophis III, seated on his throne, and are sixty feet apart. |
FALLEN STATUE OF RAMESES, MEMPHIS |
MEMPHIS |
THEBES