“I set out from Cairo on the 6th of February, 1818, under pretence of going in quest of some antiquities at a village not far off, in order that I might not be disturbed in my work by the people of Cairo. I then repaired to the Kaiya Bey, and asked permission to work at the pyramid of Ghiza, in search of antiquities. He made no objection, but said that he wished to know if there was any ground about the pyramid fit for tillage. I informed him that it was all stones, and at a considerable distance from any tilled ground. He nevertheless persisted in inquiring of the cachef of the province, if there was any good ground near the pyramids; and after receiving the necessary information, granted my request.
“Having thus acquired permission I began my labours on the 10th of February, at a point on the north side, in a vertical section at right angles to that side of the base. I saw many reasons against my beginning there, but certain indications told me that there was an entrance at that spot. I employed sixty labouring men, and began to cut through the mass of stones and cement which had fallen from the upper part of the pyramid; but it was so hard joined together that the men spoiled several of their hatchets in the operation. The stones which had fallen down along with the cement had formed themselves into one solid and almost impenetrable mass. I succeeded, however, in making an opening of fifteen feet wide, and continued working downwards in uncovering the face of the pyramid. This work took up several days, without the least prospect of meeting with anything interesting. Meantime I began to fear that some of the Europeans residing at Cairo might pay a visit to the pyramids, which they do very often, and thus discover my retreat and interrupt my proceedings.
“On the 17th of the same month we had made a considerable advance downwards, when an Arab workman called out, making a great noise, and saying that he had found the entrance. He had discovered a hole in the pyramid into which he could just thrust his arm and a djerid of six feet long. Towards the evening we discovered a larger aperture, about three feet square, which had been closed in irregularly by a hewn stone. This stone I caused to be removed, and then came to an opening larger than the preceding, but filled up with loose stones and sand. This satisfied me that it was not the real but a forced passage, which I found to lead inwards and towards the south. The next day we succeeded in entering fifteen feet from the outside, when we reached a place where the sand and stones began to fall from above. I caused the rubbish to be taken out, but it still continued to fall in great quantities. At last, after some days’ labour, I discovered an upper forced entrance, communicating with the outside from above, and which had evidently been cut by some one who was in search of the true passage. Having cleared this passage I perceived another opening below, which apparently ran towards the centre of the pyramid.
“In a few hours I was able to enter this passage, which runs horizontally towards the centre of the pyramid, nearly all choked up with stones and sand. These obstructions I caused to be taken out, and at halfway from the entrance I found a descent, which also had been forced, and which ended at the distance of forty feet. I afterwards continued the work in the horizontal passage above, in hopes that it might lead to the centre; but I was disappointed, and at last was convinced that it ended there, and that to attempt to advance that way would only incur the risk of sacrificing some of my workmen, as it was really astonishing to see how the stones hung suspended over their heads, resting perhaps by a single point; indeed, one of these stones fell, and had nearly killed one of the men. I therefore retired from the forced passage with great regret and disappointment.
“Notwithstanding the discouragements I met with I recommenced my researches on the following day, depending upon my indications. I directed the ground to be cleared away to the eastward of the false entrance; the stones, encrusted and bound together with cement, were equally hard as the former, and we had as many large stones to remove as before. By this time my retreat had been discovered, which occasioned me many interruptions from visitors.
“On February 28, we discovered a block of granite in an inclined direction towards the centre of the pyramid, and I perceived that the inclination was the same as that of the passage of the first pyramid, or that of Cheops; consequently I began to hope that I was near the true entrance. On the 1st of March we observed three large blocks of stone one upon the other, all inclined towards the centre; these large stones we had to remove as well as others much larger, as we advanced, which considerably retarded our approach to the desired spot. I perceived, however, that I was near the true entrance, and, in fact, the next day about noon, on the 2nd of March, was the epoch at which the grand pyramid of Cephrenes was at last opened, after being closed up so many centuries, that it remained an uncertainty whether any interior chambers did or did not exist.”
Belzoni then gives a detailed description of the passages leading to the great chamber of the pyramid. “On entering the great chamber,” he continues, “I found it to be forty-six feet three inches long, sixteen feet three inches wide, and twenty-three feet six inches high, for the most part cut out of the solid rock (for this chamber was at the bottom of the pyramid) except that part of the roof towards the western end. In the midst we observed a sarcophagus of granite partly buried in the ground to the level of the floor, eight feet long, three feet six inches wide, and two feet three inches deep inside, surrounded by large blocks of granite, being placed apparently to guard it from being taken away, which could not be effected without great labour. The lid of it had been opened; I found in it only a few bones of a human skeleton, which merit preservation as curious relics, they being in all probability those of Cephrenes, the reported builder of the pyramid.”
Tomb of Alexander the Great.
It is necessary, however, to inform the young reader that Belzoni, being unversed in osteology, was mistaken here, and that these bones, when examined by scientific men in London, were found to be those of a cow; thus giving foundation for the theory that the bodies of sacred animals, the representatives of the Egyptian gods, were interred with extraordinary honours.