THE PYRAMIDS
The road leading down to the old Nile gate is a very beautiful one. Crossing the bridge there, we see the picturesque Nile boats, like the lateen boats of the Mediterranean. The avenue leads out to the pyramids, and there in the far distance you can see them, – those golden cones about which is wrapped so much of Egypt's history and mystery. The first sight of the pyramids naturally means much to any intelligent traveler. It makes no difference how much you have read, how much you have heard of them, you cannot be disappointed. It is said that the pyramids will last as long as the world, and they certainly look it. They represent to us the life of the world stretching back into the dim past; and, in their imposing solidity, they seem to give assurance of lasting to eternity. There are four of the pyramids in this group; though the mind naturally dwells on the largest, – the Pyramid of Khufu or Cheops. And to think that these are the works of man, and that they are tombs of the kings who lived and reigned somewhere about fifty centuries ago! The Great Pyramid of Cheops is 480 feet high and covers an area of thirteen acres, each side being 755 feet. The dimensions of this astounding work are almost mathematically exact. It is built of over two million blocks of limestone, and they are fitted together with the nicety of mosaics. How could these wonderful structures have been erected? – that has been the question of modern engineers. It has been suggested that an inclined plane of earth was constructed, and that the blocks were dragged by men to the top, the inclined plane being added to and raised for each layer. Then, when the pyramid was complete, the inclined plane of earth might have been taken away. This, however, is only a theory. Nothing is known of the methods employed. Originally the sides of the pyramid were smooth, and a little of this outer facing is still in place. These prism-shaped blocks were taken away from time to time for building purposes in Cairo.
People climb the pyramid, and also go inside. In the very heart of the Great Pyramid is a tomb chamber, where we see the empty coffin of Cheops or Khufu. The tomb was rifled long ago, and no one knows where the king's ashes are.
Ascent to the summit of the Great Pyramid means arduous climbing; but it is worth while simply for the view it affords of the desert. Most of us imagine the desert as a level of white sand. I thought so until I saw it from the summit of this pyramid. The desert stretches off in long waves, and does not seem like a plain, but rather like the rolling ocean.
THE SPHINX
Not far from Cheops we see above the waves of sand a rough-hewn head that stirs us mightily. No one can forget the first impression of the Sphinx. It stands for something unique in history and in knowledge. No one with a spark of reverence in his nature can stand before that great stone face without a feeling of awe. There will be little that he can say – the most reverent ones say nothing. There before you is that half-buried, crouching figure of stone about which you have read and heard so much. The paws are covered by sand. It is only by industrious shoveling and digging that the desert is prevented from rising on the wings of the wind and completely burying the great figure.
The Sphinx is the symbol of inscrutable wisdom, and its lips are supposed to be closed in mysterious silence, – knowing profoundly, but telling nothing. These are, however, mere impressions. Facts are the important things. No one knows how old the Sphinx is. It is supposed to have been made during the middle empire; but later investigations seem to prove that the Sphinx existed in the time of Cheops, which would mean that it is even older than the Great Pyramid. The Sphinx was made out of living rock, and the dimensions are as follows: Body, 150 feet long; paws, 50 feet long; head, 30 feet long; face, 14 feet wide; and the distance from top of head to base, 70 feet.
It must have been an imposing monument when constructed; for then it stood in position to guard the valley of the Nile, and about it was Memphis, the great city of Egypt – Memphis now past and gone. Memphis was once the capital city of the Pharaohs, and is said to have been founded by Menes. In its day of glory it was a prosperous and well fortified city. About 1600 B. C. it was supplanted as capital by Thebes, and the glory of Pharaoh's court was transferred to the southern city.