The great pyramid passages and chambers, page 138

PLATE XXXVII.

lower Entrance Passage was discovered in 1837 by Col. Howard Vyse, concealed under the level pavement some distance out from the north base of the pyramid ; but it is now hidden once more under a large mound of rubbish. I photographed the irregular outer end of the upper Entrance. It is evidently in the same condition as it was in 1818, when Belzoni found it by digging down through the great heap of sand and stones, which had accumulated upon it at the time when the greater part of the Ppyramid’s casing was removed, thus concealing it for centuries. Belzoni’s name and the date of his discovery may still be seen, carved on the face of the outer granite roof-stone, and are visible in the photograph — Plate XXXVII.

251 When the casing of the Second Pyramid was intact, the mouth of its upper entrance must have been concealed in some way, probably by a pivoted stone door like that which is supposed to have closed the Entrance to the Great Pyramid, for it also has a long excavated entrance similar to Al Mamonun’s forced passage. It would appear that all the Gizeh Pyramids were forcibly entered at about the same period.

The Entrance of the Second Pyramid of Gizeh. 252 A photograph which I secured of the north-west corner

of the Second Pyramid shows the great amount of rock-cutting which was necessary before the builders could gain a level surface for its erection—Plate XKXVIII. On the right or west side of this photograph the north side of the Third Pyramid can be seen; it shows the large chasm made by the Mamelukes in an unsuccessful attempt to discover the Entrance. Col. Howard Vyse was greatly interested in the Third Pyramid, and spent a great deal of time and money forcing passages into its solid masonry, before he finally discovered the Entrance hidden under the rubbish in the middle of the north side, a short distance above the base—Plate XXXIX. The previous operations of the Mamelukes had misled him; for he concluded that before cutting so large a chasm in their search for the Entrance, they would first have thoroughly examined every part of the pyramid’s northern face, which in their time must have been comparatively clear of rubbish. Col. Howard Vyse wrote: ‘As there were no accounts, ancient or modern, respecting the entrance of this pyramid, or of its having ever been opened, notwithstand-

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