The great pyramid passages and chambers

as I sit on the upper surface of the east wainscot, is seen to be distinctly on a lower level than the top of the west wainscot.

$482 Each wainscot is characterized by four broad vertical grooves, 314 inches deep ; those on the east side are of the same dimensions as, and exactly opposite to, those on the west side of the chamber. The grooves into which the Granite Leaf is fixed, are 17 inches wide, and stop short at the bottom of the Leaf; but the other grooves are cut the full height of the wainscots, and are 2114 inches broad. The vertical ridges or pilasters which divide the three broad grooves on each wall, measure about 5 inches wide; while the width of those which retain the Granite Leaf on the south is 334 inches. The upper surface of the west wainscot is differentiated from that of the east by three deep semi-cylindrical horizontal grooves, which correspond in position with the three broad vertical grooves—See Plate XX. One of these horizontal grooves, and the upper end of the corresponding vertical groove, are shown in the photograph of the upper part of the chamber—Plate CXX. In this photograph, and especially in that which shows John stooping under the Granite Leaf (Plate CXIX), it will be observed that the dividing pilasters have been largely broken away, though sufficient remains to indicate their original dimensions. In the lower right-hand corner of the latter photograph the base of one of these pilasters is easily noticeable.

483 Some writers have suggested that the three opposite pairs of broad vertical grooves originally contained sliding portcullises of granite, which at one time cut off all entrance to the King’s Chamber. This suggestion was supported by Col. Howard Vyse, who was quite of the opinion that the King’s Chamber once contained the body of a dead king. He based this view on the resemblance of the Coffer to a sarcophagus, and on the fact that the other pyramids in Egypt, all carefully examined by Mr. Perring (his active partner in the work), as well as by himself, had given unmistakable evidences of having been erected as monumental sepulchres. His idea was, that during the lifetime of the king, the now missing portcullises were suspended above the floor of the Ante-Chamber on a level with the top of the low passages, just as the Granite Leaf is now suspended ; but that after the death and interment of the king, they were one by one lowered gradually by chiselling away the supporting granite immediately below them on the side walls, until, sinking down by their own weight, they finally rested on the floor and closed the entrance of the King’s Chamber. This, he believed, explains why these grooves run down the whole height of the wainscots. For some reason, which he fails to explain, the ancient workmen had not lowered the fourth portcullis (z.e., the Granite Leaf), and it was still to be seen suspended in its original position.

484 Except for a few mechanical difficulties, this theory seems reasonable; and those who have little interest in the matter might be inclined to accept it without further question. When, however, we begin to investigate the subject more closely, and with due ‘respect for the intelligence of the Pyramid architect’ (to quote Professor Smyth), we find that there are distinctive peculiarities about the ‘‘ Granite Leaf” (first so named by Professor Greaves in 1638 A.D.), which make it certain that 7, at all events, had not been intended by the architect to serve as a portcullis.

485 Asa portcullis, the Granite Leaf would be unaccountably small when compared with its companions, for its grooves are four and a half inches less in width than theirs ; and as it is formed of two stones placed horizontally one upon the other (See Plate

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