The great pyramid passages and chambers, str. 139

PLATE XXXVIII. ing the attempts that from time to time had been made, it was an object of the greatest curiosity, and I fully expected to discover the interior chambers and passages, by carrying on the gallery [or forced horizontal passage] to the centre, and by afterwards sinking a large shaft to the foundation ’—See Plate XXXIX. This operation proves at least that there are no built chambers in the solid masonry of this pyramid.

The north side of the THIRD PYRAMID of Gizeh ; showing the large chasm excavated by the Mamelukes in their search for the Entrance of the Pyramid; also the north-west corner of the Second Pyramid ; with part of the artificial cliff to the west, formed by the ancient builders in their rock-levelling operations.

253 Col. Howard Vyse stated it as his opinion that the upper passage which ascends northward from the top of the large rock-cut chamber under the base of the Third Pyramid (See Plate XXXIX), is an abandoned Entrance Passage. From certain indications on its walls, it appears to have been cut inwards through the rock from the north ; whereas the present Entrance Passage shows evidence of having been cut outwards from the large chamber. The upper passage must therefore have been made first. Professor Flinders Petrie’s examination of these passages caused him to share Col. Howard Vyse's opinion; and he believes that certain granite stones which at present block half the height of the upper passage, were placed there by the ancient builders for the purpose of blocking it up when they decided to cut the new Entrance Passage. The upper end of the old passage terminates abruptly against the masonry, which was added for the purpose of increasing the originally contemplated dimensions of the pyramid. The large carved sarcophagus which Col. Howard Vyse found in the lower

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