The mystery of the Great pyramid : traditions concerning it and its connection with the Egyptian Book of the dead : with numerous illustrations

MYSTERY OF THE GREAT PYRAMID

which purports to have originated from the era of its construction. Thus, even the Egyptians themselves are silent upon the subject, while explanations given by the earliest historians, such as Herodotus and Diodorus, are mainly conjectural. Both imply that the Great Pyramid was probably intended as the tomb of Khufu, but both are also clear that he was buried elsewhere, while the Second Pyramid, erected during the reign of his successor, Khafra, has likewise never been used as a sepulchral chamber, notwithstanding that its internal constructionunlike that of the Great Pyramid—does conform to the type used for pyramid burial.

It is not surprising, therefore, that all sorts of legends and theories have, in the course of past centuries, grown up round the Great Pyramid. Besides the tombic theorywhich has always been the chief one, and more generally accepted than any other—it has been regarded as an astronomical observatory, a view which appears at first to be substantiated by the Great Pyramid’s extremely accurate orientation! ; as a combined tomb and temple ; a huge granary, like those erected in the time of Joseph (see Note E); defence against the encroaching sand of the desert ; and even as a refuge from the Flood.

This last idea was advanced in quite early times, Col. Howard Vyse citing an Arab writer, Ben Mohammed Balki, who states that the pyramids—Great, Second, and Third—were built as a refuge against an approaching destruction of mankind either by fire or by water. Another Arab historian, Masoudi (d. A.D. 967), cites a similar

1 While the Great Pyramid was designed externally to fulfil certain astronomical purposes, it was not an observatory in the sense intended by upholders of this particular theory, who maintain that its internal passages were used for observing the stars and planets on the principle of a telescopic tube. It was raised, however, for a purpose analogous to that of a sundial, rather than an astronomical observatory. Refer our chapter (vi) on ‘‘ Astronomical Conceptions **.

3 ge)