12
HISTORY OF ENGINEERING.
Book I.
19 feet. The sides are lined with granite; and the roof, which is flat, is formed of thesame quality of stone, having nine slabs, which cross the breadth of the chamber.
At the upper end is a sarcophagus of similar red granite to the lining of the walls: itslength is 7 feet 6 inches, its breadth 3 feet 3 inches, and height 3 feet 5 inches; so that itwas just admissible through the portal or entrance passage. There are upon it neithersculpture nor hieroglyphics.
The most remarkable feature or accompaniment of this chamber, is the two air-channels,or funnels, which pass directly tothe outside, and commence at aheight of 3 feet from the floor.
The air-channel to the north is233 feet in length, its breadthis 9 inches, and its height 9£inches. The length of that onthe south is 174 feet 3 inches,its breadth 8 inches, and itsheight 9 inches. Where theypass through the outer face of thepyramids,they are, as measured onthe inclined face, 333 feet 1 inchfrom the base. These tubes nodoubt were intended to producea free circulation of air throughthe chamber, and bear a resem-blance to the funnel of a chim-ney : by an admission of air thelamps were probably kept burn-ing some time after the chamberwas closed.
From the base of the pyramidto the floor of the king’s cham-ber is 138 feet 9 inches ; and thenorthern side is distant from thecentre about 16 feet 3 inchessouthwards, and the easternside is 26 feet 3 inches eastwardof the centre line.
Over this chamber are fiveothers, which are about 38 feet Fig. 11.
by 16, and their heights vary
from 1 foot 4 inches to 8 feet 7 inches (Jig. 11.); the height from the floor of the king’schamber to that of the upper of the five is 69 feet S inches.
These five chambers were evidently contrived for the purpose of relieving the weightfrom the ceiling of the king’s chamber below, as they were only entered by cutting orforcing a passage through the solid mass to arrive at them. These rooms are dividedby immense granite blocks, and the upper one has inclined bleaks like those at theentrance.
The great gallery is formed by projecting the courses of stone as they are laid one overthe other, so that at the top the sides approach nearly, to allow of its being more easilycovered.
The outer stones of this pyramid are laid in regular courses, and we find them, asdescribed by Herodotus , very strongly cemented together: this author also informs ushow these immense blocks, some more than 30 feet in length, were raised ; he says thatafter the first course was laid, machines, constructed of short timbers, were placed upon it,which hoisted from step to step the various blocks as they were brought along the inclinedplane.
Goguct has given the form of such a machine, which consists of a timber frame con-taining a fulcrum, to which a long lever could be applied, worked by many men at onetime, and capable of raising weights far greater than any we find used here.
Each course being so much within that below, it formed a sort of stairs, so that such amachine as is now described could be readily applied, and would serve to raise the blocksfrom one step to the other.
Such is the manner probably adopted by these early engineers to pile one stone uponanother; and, by the magnitude of the masses they constructed, they hoped to render theirwork immortal. They are as solid as they are immense; and all the means that could befound to render them so were adopted. No timber enters into their construction, aud thestones used are of great dimensions, and always solidly bedded.