of Mr. W.M. Flinders Petrie, whose work on
_The Pyramids and Temples of Gizeh_, published with the assistance of a
grant from the Royal Society in 1883, constitutes our standard authority on
the construction of these Pyramids.--A.B.E.]

The royal tombs have the form of pyramids with a square base, and are the
equivalent in stone or brick of the tumulus of heaped earth which was piled
over the body of the warrior chief in prehistoric times (Note 14). The same
ideas prevailed as to the souls of kings as about those of private men; the
plan of the pyramid consists, therefore, of three parts, like the mastaba,
--the chapel, the passage, and the sepulchral vault.

The chapel is always separate. At Sakkarah no trace of it has been found;
it was probably, as later on at Thebes, in a quarter nearer to the town. At
Medum, Gizeh, Abusir, and Dahshur, these temples stood at the east or north
fronts of the pyramids. They were true temples, with chambers, courts, and
passages. The fragments of bas-reliefs hitherto found show scenes of
sacrifice, and prove that the decoration was the same as in the public
halls of the mastabas. The pyramid, properly speaking, contained only the
passages and sepulchral vault. The oldest of which the texts show the
existence, north of Abydos, is that of Sneferu; the latest belong to the
princes of the Twelfth Dynasty. The construction of these monuments was,
therefore, a continuous work, lasting for thirteen or fourteen centuries,
under government direction. Granite, alabaster, and basalt for the
sarcophagus and some details were the only materials of which the use and
the quantity was not regulated in advance, and which had to be brought from
a distance. To obtain them, each king sent one of the great men of his
court on a mission to the quarries of Upper Egypt; and the quickness with
which the blocks were brought back was a strong claim upon the sovereign's
favour. The other material was not so costly. If mainly brick, the bricks
were moulded on the spot with earth taken from the foot of the hill. If of
stone, the nearest parts of the plateau provided the common marly limestone
in abundance (Note 15). The fine limestone of Turah was usually reserved
for the chambers and the casing, and this might be had without even sending
specially for it to the opposite side of the Nile; for at Memphis there
were stores always full, upon which they continually drew for public
buildings, and, therefore, also for the