Leaving the Nile, and passing a station on the Upper Egyptian railway (p. [463]), we still have a run of 5 M., nearly due W., to the Pyramids, the huge angular forms of which gradually become more distinct and soon stand out in clear outlines.
The terminus of the tramway is near the large Mena House Hotel (p. [440]), on the N.E. border of the Libyan Desert. Adjacent is a Greek restaurant. The road then ascends in a curve to the (½ M.) plateau of the Pyramids.
Near the tramway-terminus is a station for donkeys and camels (5 pias. per hour; see also pp. [173], 174).—The plateau is open to the public and may be quite well explored without a guide. Tickets of admittance to the monuments themselves are sold at a stall next to the Viceregal Kiosque, at the N.E. corner of the Great Pyramid. Guides (Bedouins) also are obtained here on application to their sheikh (recognizable by the rosette on his breast). Ticket for the ascent of the Great Pyramid 10 pias. (for the interior, also 10 pias.); for the other monuments 5 pias.; for the entire expedition, including the ascent of the Great Pyramid and the visit to its interior, 20 pias.—Bakshîsh optional, but it is usual to give a few piastres. No attention should be paid to beggars or to vendors of ‘antiquities’. Unofficial guides who try to thrust themselves on visitors should be repelled, with the aid of the police if need be.
The **Pyramids of Gîzeh form the second and most imposing of the six groups of pyramids extending along the border of the Libyan desert, in a line of about 19 M. in length. To the N.W. is the Abu Roâsh group, towards the S.E. are the groups of Zâwyet el-Aryân, Abusîr (p. [464]), Sakkâra (p. [464]), and Dahshûr (p. [464]). The Arabs call them ahrâm (sing, háram).
The Pyramids of Gîzeh, creations of the 4th Dynasty (about B.C. 2850 to 2700), rank among the oldest monuments of human industry, and their colossal proportions extort from us to-day the same astonishment that was felt in antiquity by Greek and Roman travellers. We marvel both at the technical skill shown by the Egyptians in their construction, and at the might of the kings, who must have had the services of many thousands of their subjects at command. The pyramids are believed to have been built in layers. Each king at his accession began to erect his tomb-pyramid on a small scale. If wealthy or long-lived he enlarged the original design, and after his death the outer covering was added.
The **Great Pyramid, erected by Kheops or Cheops, the Khufu of the Egyptians, was called by them Yekhwet Khufu (the ‘glorious place of Khufu’). Herodotus (II, 125) states that 100,000 men were employed for three months every year in building it. The outer covering, with the exception of a few fragments on the base below the entrance, has disappeared. Each side is now 248 yds. in length (originally 255 yds.). The perpendicular height is 450 ft. (once, to the apex, 480 ft.). The sides rise at an angle of 51°50′. The solid content of the masonry, deducting the nucleus of rock and the chambers in the interior, was formerly about 3,302,500 (and is still about 3,081,100) cubic yards. This stupendous structure is composed of yellowish limestone blocks, quarried in the vicinity and containing numerous fossils, chiefly nummulites (a kind of snail-shell), while the incrustation consisted of blocks of a finer white limestone from the Mokattam quarries.
The Ascent of the Pyramid, though free from danger, is very toilsome. The visitor is helped up the steps, mostly 3 ft. high, by three Bedouins, two holding his hands and the third pushing behind. We may reach the top, a platform of 11 yds. square, in 10–15 min., but a more leisurely ascent is advisable. The *View of the yellow sands and bare rocks of the great desert-plateau, on which rise the Sphinx, the smaller pyramids of Gîzeh, and the more distant tombs stretching as far as Dahshûr, awakens solemn thoughts of death and eternity. At our feet stretches a tract of rich arable land, luxuriantly clothed with blue-green vegetation and entirely inundated in autumn. To the E., beyond the glittering river, rise the citadel of Cairo and the warmly-coloured Mokattam hills.
The Interior of the Pyramid will not interest ordinary travellers. The air in the passages, hall, and tomb-chamber is hot and stifling and makes the visit very disagreeable.
From the E. side of the Great Pyramid, where a Temple for the cult of the dead once stood, we walk past the Three Small Pyramids of relatives of Kheops to the Sphinx, which rises from the sand of the desert some 350 yds. to the S.E.
The **Sphinx, the most famous monument in this vast burial-ground, probably once a natural rock, has the form of a recumbent lion with the head of a king (Khephren?), wearing a head-cloth adorned with the royal serpent. In front of the breast is the image of a god, much weather-worn. The head also is sadly mutilated, the nose and beard have broken off, and the reddish tint which once enlivened the face has almost entirely disappeared. But in spite of all injuries the monument preserves a striking expression of strength and majesty. The eyes have a pensive, faraway look, the lips wear a half-smile, and the whole face is of graceful and beautiful type. The height of the monument, from the pavement on which the fore-legs of the lion rest to the crown of the head is about 66 ft.; its length, from the lion’s fore-paws to the root of the tail, is about 186 ft. On the top of the head is a cavity.