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

Khufu, and when the Pyramid itself had begun to rise well above ground level. The so-called Queen’s Chamber was then constructed in the building itself, but on its completion, as the monarch was still alive, the Pyramid was continued upwards, and a third, and larger, chamber was constructed right in the heart of the monument which was intended for his final resting place.

This idea is a very close relative of the accretion theory of Pyramid building—to be referred to later in another connection—which is that the size of a pyramid was roughly proportionate to the length of the reign of the monarch who erected it, a theory which is found, on testing, to be quite fallacious, and in support of this idea and to account for the great size of the pyramids of Khufu and Khafra, it is stated by almost every authority that their two reigns totalled over 100 years, a statement based upon that of Herodotus, who gives their duration as 106 years, while Manetho allows sixty-three years to Khufu and sixty-six to Khafra.1 Their correct duration, on the other hand, is twenty-three years for the reign of Khufu, and twenty-one for that of Khafra, a fact which sufficiently disposes of the above idea to account for the succession of chambers in the Great Pyramid, an idea, also, at variance with experience and common sense. For, carried to its logical conclusion, we might find a pyramid containing so many chambers that its final one was situated almost in the apex, if we are to apply it to Khufu and his pyramid, for some of the later monarchs lived nearly as long—or even longer—than either Khufu or Khafra, yet produced pyramids not only far smaller in bulk, but of greatly inferior workmanship. Yet in no instance do we find any form of tomb constructed to uphold this theory.

1 The fictitious chronology of Manetho and how it was fabricated has already been alluded to and explained (see p. 19).

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