ounted it, they arranged above it five
low chambers placed exactly one above the other in order to relieve the
superincumbent stress. The highest of these was protected by a pointed
roof consisting of enormous blocks made to lean against each other at
the top: this ingenious device served to transfer the perpendicular
thrust almost entirely to the lateral faces of the blocks. Although an
earthquake has to some extent dislocated the mass of masonry, not one
of the stones which encase the chamber of the king has been crushed,
not one has yielded by a hair's-breadth, since the day when the workmen
fixed it in its place.

* Professor Petrie thinks that the pyramids of Gizeh were
rifled, and the mummies which they contained destroyed
during the long civil wars which raged in the interval
between the VIth and XIIth dynasties. If this be true, it
will be necessary to admit that the kings of one of the
subsequent dynasties must have restored what had been
damaged, for the workmen of the Caliph Al-Mamoun brought
from the sepulchral chamber of the "Horizon" "a stone
trough, in which lay a stone statue in human form, enclosing
a man who had on his breast a golden pectoral, adorned with
precious stones, and a sword of inestimable value, and on
his head a carbuncle of the size of an egg, brilliant as the
sun, having characters which no man can read." All the Arab
authors, whose accounts have been collected by Jomard,
relate in general the same story; one can easily recognize
from this description the sarcophagus still in its place, a
stone case in human shape, and the mummy of Kheops loaded
with jewels and arms, like the body of Queen Ahhotpu I.

[Illustration: 181b.jpg the interior of the great pyramid]

Drawn by Faucher-Gudin, from pl. ix., Petrie, The Pyramids
and Temples of Gizeh. A is the descending passage, B the
unfinished chamber, and C the horizontal passage pierced in
the rock. D is the narrow passage which provides a
communication between chamber B and the landing where the
roads divide, and with the passage FG leading to the
"Chamber of the Queen." E is the ascending passage, H the
high gallery, I and J the chamber of barriers, K the
sepulchral vault, L indicates the chambers for relieving the
stress; finally, a, are vents which served for the
aeration of the chambers durin