ТНК GREAT PYRAMID. OBSERVATORY, TO At В, AND TEMPLE. BY RICHARD A. PROCTOR, F.DITOR OF " KNn\YLP-l)GK ;" АГГНОК OF " >A IT UN A NO ITS SVSTHM," " ГН F. SCN," " TMF. MIM.N,' "OIHHH WORLDS THAN OPRS," ЯТС. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. NEW YORK: R. WORTHINGTON, 770 BROADWAY. 1883. Fus. 11.—Tbc Cifat I'vraiiiHi Oli т • THE GREAT PYRAMID WORKS BY RICHARD A. PROCTOR. EASY STAR LESSON'S. With Star Maps for Every Night in the Vear, Drawings NF the Constellations, &c. Crown 8VO. cloth extra, 6>. FAMILIAR SCIENCE STUDIES. Crown Svo. cloth extra, price 7i. FW. MYTHS and MARVELS of ASTRONOMY. Crown Svo. CLOTH EXTRA, 6s. PLEASANT WAYS IN SCIENCE, Crown Svo. cloth EXTRA, 6*. ROUGH WAYS MADE SMOOTH : a Series of Familiar ESSAYS ON SCIENTIFIC SUBJECTS. CROWN 8VA. CLOTH EXTRA, 6s. OUR FLACK AMONG INFINITIES : a Scries of Essays CONTRACTING OUR LITTLE ABODE IN SPACE anil TIME WITH THE INFINITIES AROUND LIS. CROWN 8VO. CLOTH EXTRA, 6s. THE EXPANSE OK HEAVEN: a Series of Essays on the WONDERS OF THE FIRMAMENT. CROWN SVO. CLOTH EXTRA, 6s. SATURN AND ITS SYSTEM. New and Revised Edition, WITH 13 STEEL PLATES. DEMY 8VO. CLOTH EXTRA, 105. 6d. THE GREAT PYRAMID : Observatory, Tomb, and Temple. WITH ILLUSTRATIONS. Crown 8VO. CLOTH EXTRA, 6s. MYSTERIES OK TIME AND SPACE. With Illustrations. CROWN 8VO. CLOTH EXTRA, -js. 6d. KEOWERS OK THE SKY. With 54 Illustrations. Crown 8VO. CLOTH EXTRA, 4*. Cd. WAGES AND WANTS OK SCIENCE WORKERS. CROWN 8VO. is. 6*t * Mr. Procter* of all writers ofour time, fast conforms to Afaitkeiv Arnolds concretion of a man ofculture; in that he strives to humanise kn&wledgc ana divest it of whatever is harsht crude, or technical, and so makes it a source of haziness and brightness for a/// WESTMINSTER REVIEW. C H ATTO & WINDUS, PICCADILLY, W. PREFACE. THE mystery of the Great Pyramid resides chiefly in this: that while certainly meant to be a tomb, it was obviously intended to serve as an observa­ tory, though during the lifetime only of its builder, and was also associated with religious observances. Minor difficulties arise from the consideration of the other pyramids. In this treatise I show that there is one theory, which, instead of conflicting with other theories of the pyramid, combines all that is sound in them with what has hitherto been wanting, a valid and sufficient reason (for men who thought as the builders of the pyramid certainly did) for erecting structures such as these, at the cost of vast labour and enormous expense. The theory here advanced and discussed shows—(i) why the Great Pyramid was an astronomical observatory while Cheops lived ; (2) why it was regarded as use- vi PREFACE. less as such after his death ; (3) why it was worth his while to build it; (4) why separate structures were required for his brother, son, grandson, and other members of his family ; (5) why it would naturally be used for his tomb; and (6) why it would be the scene of religious observances. All that is necessary by way of postulate, is that he and his dynasty believed fully in astronomy as a means (1) of predicting the future, and (2) of ruling the planets, in the sense of selecting right times for every action or enterprise. If there is one thing certain about Oriental nations in remote past ages, it is that this belief was universally prevalent. The remaining portion of the work shows how potent were those ancient superstitions about planetary influences—and their bearing first on Jewish, and later on Christian festivals and cere­ monial. RICHARD A. PROCTOR. CONTENTS. THE GREAT PYRAMID. CIlAl'TKR гл., к I. HISTORY or THE PYRAMIDS ..... I II. THE RELIGION or THE GREAT PYRAMID . 42 III. THE PROIII.KM OF THE PYRAMIDS . .78 Appendix A. Great Pyramid Measures, and /fistanecs, etc., of Sun, Earth, and Moon . 1N4 ,, B. Excavations at the Pyramids .... 191 „ „ A'ote on the Ahre i(>6 THE ORIGIN OF ТИК WKEK 201 SATURN AND THE SAIIItATII 01-' TUK JEWS . 243 ASTRONOMY AND TIIK JEWISH FESTIVALS . 272 THE HISTORY OF SUNDAY 2S7 ASTROLOGY 312 CHIEF ILLUSTRATIONS. PLATES. THE GREAT PYRAMID OIISF.RVATORY . Frontispiece HORIZONTAL SECTION OF TIIF. GREAT PYRAMID THROUGH FLOOR OK KING'S CHAMBER. To face p. 138 VERTICAL SECTION THROUGH THE GRAND GAL­ LERY „141 VLRTICAL SECTION .OK THE GREAT PYRAMID, SHOWING THE ASCENDING AND DESCENDING PASSAGES, GRAND GALLERY, AND QUEEN'S CHAMBER „ 155 WOODCUTS IX TEXT. TLAN OF THE PYRAMIDS OK GIIIZEH . .79 SHOWING HOW THE HVII.DF.KS OF THE PYRAMID PRO­ BABLY OBTAINED THEIR BASE 95 VERTICAL SECTION OK THE GREAT PYRAMID . 120 SECTIONS OF GREAT GALLERY, ETC. 130 and 131 тин GREAT PYRAMID. CHAPTER I. HISTORY OK Til К PYRAMIDS. Flow subjects of inquiry have proved more per­ plexing than the question of the purpose for which the pyramids of Egypt were built. Even in the remotest ages of which wc have historical record, nothing seems to have been known certainly on this point. For some reason or other, the builders of the pyramids concealed the object of these structures, and this so successfully that not even a tradition has reached us which purports to have been handed down from the epoch of the pyra­ mids' construction. Wc find, indeed, some expla­ nations given by the earliest historians ; but they were professedly only hypothetical, like those ad­ vanced in more recent times. Including ancient and modern theories, wc find a wide range of В 2 THE GREAT PYRAMID. choice. Sonic have thought that these buildings were associated with the religion of the early Egyptians; others have suggested that they were tombs; others, that they combined the purposes of tombs and temples, that they were astronomical observatories, defences against the sands of the Great Desert, granaries like those made under Joseph's direction, places of resort during exces­ sive overflows of the Nile; and many other uses have been suggested for them. But none of these ideas are found on close examination to be tenable as representing the sole purpose of the pyramids, and few of them have strong claims to be regarded as presenting even a chief object of these remark­ able structures. The significant and perplexing history of the three oldest pyramids—the Great Pyramid of Cheops, Shofo, or Suphis, the pyramid of Chephrcn, and the pyramid of Mycerinus ; and the most remarkable of all the facts known re­ specting the pyramids generally, viz. the circum­ stance that one pyramid after another was built as though each had become useless soon after it was finished, arc left entirely unexplained by all the theories above mentioned, save one only, the tomb theory', and that docs not afford by any means a satisfactory explanation of the circum­ stances, HISTORY OF THE PYRAMIDS. 3 I propose to give here a brief account of some of the most suggestive facts known respecting the pyramids, and, after considering the difficulties which beset the theories heretofore advanced, to indicate a theory (new. so far as I know) which seems to me to correspond better with the facts than any heretofore advanced ; I suggest it, how­ ever, rather for consideration than because I regard it as very convincingly supported by the evidence. In fact, to advance any theory at present with confident assurance of its correctness, would be simply to indicate a very limited ac­ quaintance with the difficulties surrounding the subject. Let us first consider a few of the more striking facts recorded by history or tradition, noting, as wc proceed, whatever ideas they may suggest as to the intended character of these structures. It is hardly necessary to say, perhaps, that the history of the Great Pyramid is of paramount importance in this inquiry. Whatever purpose pyramids were originally intended to subserve must have been conceived by the builders of that pyramid. New ideas may have been superadded by the builders of later pyramids, but it is unlikely that the original purpose can have been entirely abandoned. Some great purpose there was, which B 2 4 THE GREAT PYRAMID. the rulers of ancient Egypt proposed to fulfil by building very massive pyramidal structures on a particular plan. It is by inquiring into the history of the first and most massive of these structures, and by examining its construction, that we shall have the best chance of finding out what that great purpose was. According to Herodotus, the kings who built the pyramids reigned not more than twenty-eight centuries ago ; but there can be little doubt that Herodotus misunderstood the Egyptian priests from whom he derived his information, and that the real antiquity of the pyramid-kings was far greater. He tells us that, according to the Egyp­ tian priests, Cheops ' on ascending the throne plunged into all manner of wickedness. He closed the temples, and forbade the Egyptians to offer sacrifice, compelling them instead to labour one and all in his service, viz. in building the Great Pyramid.' Still following his interpretation of the Egyptian account, we learn that one hundred thou­ sand men were employed for twenty years in build­ ing the Great Pyramid, and that ten years were occupied in constructing a causeway by which to convey the stones to the place and in conveying them there. ' Cheops reigned fifty years ; and was succeeded by his brother Chcphrcn, who imitated HISTORY OF THE PYRAMIDS. 5 the conduct of his predecessor, built a pyramid— but smaller than his brother's—and reigned fifty- six years. Thus during one hundred and six years the temples were shut and never opened.' More­ over, I lerodotus tells us that ' the Egyptians so detested the memory of these kings, that they do not much like even to mention their names.