raditions for their sacred archives. The
monuments of these remote ages, however, cannot have entirely
disappeared: they exist in places where we have not as yet thought of
applying the pick, and chance excavations will some day most certainly
bring them to light. The few which we do possess barely go back beyond
the IIIrd dynasty: namely, the hypogeum of Shiri, priest of Sondi and
Pirsenu; possibly the tomb of Khuithotpu at Saqqara; the Great Sphinx
of Gizeh; a short inscription on the rocks of the Wady Maghara, which
represents Zosiri (the same king of whom the priests of Khnumu in the
Greek period made a precedent) working the turquoise or copper mines of
Sinai; and finally the Step-Pyramid where this same Pharaoh rests.[*]

* The stele of Sehel has enabled us to verify the fact that
the preamble [a string of titles] to the inscription of the
king, buried in the Step-Pyramid, is identical with that of
King Zosiri: it was, therefore, Zosiri who constructed, or
arranged for the construction of this monument as his tomb.
The Step-Pyramid of Saqqara was opened in 1819, at the
expense of the Prussian General Minutoli, who was the first
to give a brief description of the interior, illustrated by
plans and drawings.

It forms a rectangular mass, incorrectly orientated, with a variation
from the true north of 4 deg. 35', 393 ft. 8 in. long from east to west,
and 352 ft. deep, with a height of 159 ft. 9 in. It is composed of six
cubes, with sloping sides, each being about 13 ft. less in width than
the one below it; that nearest to the ground measures 37 ft. 8 in. in
height, and the uppermost one 29 ft. 9 in. It was entirely constructed
of limestone from the neighbouring mountains. The blocks are small, and
badly cut, the stone courses being concave to offer a better resistance
to downward thrust and to shocks of earthquake. When breaches in the
masonry are examined, it can be seen that the external surface of
the steps has, as it were, a double stone facing, each facing being
carefully dressed. The body of the pyramid is solid, the chambers
being cut in the rock beneath. These chambers have been often enlarged,
restored, and reworked in the course of centuries, and the passages
which connect them form a perfect labyrinth into which it is dangerous
to venture without a guide. The columned porch, the galleries and
halls, all lead to a sort of enormous shaft, at the bottom of which t