A Collection of Curious Travels and Voyages, Volume 2 · Observations 2 · Section 2
The Deſcription of the Inſide of the firſt Pyramid.
Having finiſhed the Deſcription of the Superficies of the greater Pyramid, with the figure and dimenſions of it, as they preſent themſelves to the view without; I ſhall now look inwards, and lead the Reader into the ſeveral ſpaces, and partitions within; of which if the Ancients have been ſilent, we muſt chiefly impute it to a reverend and awful regard, mixed with Superſtition, in not preſuming to enter thoſe Chambers of Death, which Religion and Devotion had conſecrated to the reſt and quiet of the Dead. Wherefore Herodotus mentions no more, but only in general, That ſome ſecret Vaults are hewn in the Rock under the Pyramid. Diodorus Siculus is ſilent, though both enlarge themſelves in other particulars leſs neceſſary. Strabo is alſo very conciſe, whoſe whole Deſcription both of this and of the ſecond Pyramid is included in this ſhort expreſſion: Forty Stadia (or Furlongs) from the City (Memphis) there is a certain brow of an Hill, in which are many Pyramids, the Sepulchres of Kings, three of them are memorable, two of theſe are accounted amongſt the ſeven Miracles of the World; each of theſe are a furlong in heighth; the Figure is quadrilateral, the Altitude ſomewhat exceeds each ſide, and the one is ſomewhat bigger than the other. On high, as it were in the midſt, between the ſides, there is a Stone that may be removed, which being taken out, there is an oblique (or ſhelving) entrance (for ſo I render that which by him is termed foreign) leading to the Tomb. Pliny expreſſes nothing within, but only a Well (which is ſtill extant) of eighty ſix cubits in depth, to which he probably imagines, by ſome ſecret Aqueduct, the Water of the River Nilus to be brought. Ariſtides in his Oration entituled foreign, upon a miſinformation of the Aegyptian Prieſts, makes the Foundation of the Structure to have deſcended as far below, as the Altitude aſcends above. Of which I ſee no neceſſity, ſeeing all of them are founded upon Rocks; his words are theſe: Now as with admiration we behold the tops of the Pyramids, but that which is as much more under ground oppoſite to it, we are ignorant of, (I ſpeak what I have received from the Prieſts.) And this is that which hath been delivered to us by the Ancients, which I was unwilling to pretermit, more out of reverence of Antiquity, than out of any ſpecial ſatisfaction. The Arabian Writers, eſpecially ſuch as have purpoſely treated of the Wonders of Aegypt, have given us a more full deſcription of what is within theſe Pyramids; but that hath been mix'd with ſo many Inventions of their own, that the truth hath been darkned, and almoſt quite extinguiſhed by them. Which Traditions of theirs are little better than a Romance; and therefore leaving theſe, I ſhall give a more true and particular deſcription out of mine own Experience and Obſervations.
On the North ſide aſcending thirty eight feet, upon an artificial bank of Earth, there is a ſquare and narrow paſſage leading into the Pyramid, through the mouth of which (being equidiſtant from the two ſides of the Pyramid) we enter as it were down the ſteep of an Hill, declining with an angle of twenty ſix degrees. The breadth of this Entrance is exactly three feet, and 463 parts of 1000 of the Engliſh foot; the length of it beginning from the firſt declivity, which is ſome ten palms without, to the utmoſt extremity of the Neck, or ſtreight within, where it contracts it ſelf almoſt nine feet continued, with ſcarce half the depth it had at the firſt entrance, (though it keep ſtill the ſame breadth) is ninety two feet and an half. The Structure of it hath been the Labour of an exquiſite Hand, as appears by the ſmoothneſs and evenneſs of the Work, and by the cloſe knitting of the Joynts; a Property long ſince obſerved, and commended by Diodorus, to have run through the Fabrick of the whole Body of this Pyramid. Having paſſed with Tapers in our Hands this narrow Straight; though with ſome difficulty (for at the farther end of it we muſt Serpent-like creep upon our Bellies) we land in a place ſomewhat larger, and of a pretty height, but lying incompoſed: Having been dug away, either by the curioſity or avarice of ſome, in hope to diſcover an hidden Treaſure; or rather by the Command of Almamon, the deſervedly renowned Calife of Babylon. By whomſoever it were, it is not worth the enquiry, nor doth the place merit deſcribing, but that I was unwilling to pretermit any thing, being only an Habitation for Batts, and thoſe ſo ugly, and of ſo large a-ſize, (exceeding a foot in length) that I have not elſewhere ſeen the like. The length of this obſcure and broken ſpace containeth eighty nine feet, the breadth and height is various, and not worth conſideration. On the left hand of this, adjoyning to that narrow Entrance through which we paſſed, we climb up a ſteep and maſſy Stone, eight or nine feet in height, where we immediately enter upon the lower end of the firſt Gallery. The Pavement of this riſes with a gentle acclivity, conſiſting of ſmooth and poliſht Marble, and where not ſmeared with Duſt and Filth, appearing of a white and alabaſter colour; the Sides and Roof, as Titus Livius Burretinus, a Venetian, an ingenious young man, who accompanied me thither, obſerved, was of impoliſh'd Stone, not ſo hard and compact as that on the Pavement, but more ſoft and tender; the breadth almoſt five feet, and about the ſame quantity the height, if he have not miſtaken. He likewiſe diſcovered ſome irregularity in the breadth, it opening a little wider in ſome places than in others; but this inequality could not be diſcerned by the eye, but only by meaſuring it with a careful Hand. By my obſervation with a Line, this Gallery contained in length an hundred and ten feet. At the end of this begins the ſecond Gallery, a very ſtately piece of work, and not inferiour, either in reſpect of the curioſity of Art, or richneſs of Materials, to the moſt ſumptuous and magnificent Buildings. It is divided from the former by a Wall, through which ſtooping, we paſſed in a ſquare hole, much about the ſame bigneſs as that by which we entred into the Pyramid but of no conſiderable length. This narrow paſſage lyeth level, not riſing with an acclivity, as doth the Pavement below and Roof above of both theſe Galleries. At the end of it, on the right hand, is the Well mentioned by Pliny, the which is circular, and not ſquare, as the Arabian Writers deſcribe: The diameter of it exceeds three feet, the Sides are lined with white Marble, and the deſcent into it is by faſtening the Hands and Feet, in little open ſpaces, cut in the Sides within, oppoſite and anſwerable to one another in a perpendicular. In the ſame manner are almoſt all the Wells and Paſſages into the Ciſterns at Alexandria contrived, without Stairs or Windings, but only with inlets and ſquare holes on each ſide within, by which, uſing the Feet and Hands, one may with eaſe deſcend. Many of theſe Ciſterns are with open and double Arches, the lowermoſt Arch being ſupported by a row of ſpeckled and Thebaick Marble Pillars, upon the top of which ſtands a ſecond row, bearing the upper and higher Arch: The Walls within are covered with a ſort of Plaiſter for the colour white, but of ſo durable a ſubſtance, that neither by time, nor by the water is it yet corrupted and impaired. But I return from the Ciſterns and Wells there to this in the Pyramid, which in Pliny's Calculation is eighty ſix cubits in depth, and it may be was the paſſage to thoſe ſecret Vaults mentioned, but not deſcribed by Herodotus, that were hewn out of the natural Rock, over which this Pyramid is erected. By my meaſure ſounding it with a line, it contains twenty feet in depth. The reaſon of the difference between Pliny's Obſervation and mine, I ſuppoſe to be this, That ſince his time it hath almoſt been dammed up, and choaked with Rubbage, which I plainly diſcovered at the bottom, by throwing down ſome combuſtible matter ſet on fire. Leaving the Well, and going on ſtraight upon a level, the diſtance of fifteen feet, we entred another ſquare paſſage, opening againſt the former, and of the ſame bigneſs. The Stones are very maſſy, and exquiſitely joynted, I know not whether of that gliſtering and ſpeckled Marble I mention'd in the Columns, of the Ciſterns at Alexandria. This leadeth (running in length upon a level an hundred and ten feet) into an arched Vault or little Chamber, which by reaſon it was of a Grave-like ſmell, and half full of Rubbage, occaſion'd my leſſer ſtay. This Chamber ſtands Eaſt and Weſt▪ the length of it is leſs than twenty feet, the breadth about ſeventeen, and the height leſs than fifteen. The Walls are entire, and plaiſter'd over with Lime; the Roof is covered with large ſmooth Stones, not lying flat, but ſhelving and meeting above in a kind of Arch, or rather an Angle. On the Eaſt ſide of this Room, in the middle of it, there ſeems to have been a paſſage leading to ſome other place, whither this way the Prieſts went into the hollow of that huge Sphynx, as Strabo and Pliny term it, or Androſphynx, as Herodotus calls ſuch kinds (being by Pliny's calculation 102 feet in compaſs about the Head, in height 62, in length 143, and by my obſervation made of one entire Stone) which ſtands not far diſtant without the Pyramid, South-eaſt of it, or into any other private Retirement, I cannot determine; and it may be too this ſerved for no ſuch purpoſe, but rather as a Theca or Nicchio, as the Italians ſpeak, wherein ſome Idol might be placed; or elſe for a piece of Ornament (for it is made of poliſh'd Stone) in the Architecture of thoſe times, which ours may no more underſtand than they do the reaſon of the reſt of thoſe ſtrange proportions that appear in the Paſſages and inner Rooms of this Pyramid. Returning back the ſame way we came, as ſoon as we are out of this narrow and ſquare paſſage, we climb over it, and going ſtraight on, in the trace of the ſecond Gallery, upon a ſhelving pavement (like that of the firſt) riſing with an angle of twenty ſix degrees, we at length come to another partition. The length of the Gallery from the Well below to this partition above, is an hundred fifty and four feet; but if we meaſure the pavement of the floor, it is ſomewhat leſs, by reaſon of a little vacuity (ſome fifteen feet in length) as we deſcribed before, between the Well and the ſquare hole we climbed over. And here to reaſſume ſome part of that, which hath been ſpoken, if we conſider the narrow entrance at the mouth of the Pyramid, by which we deſcend, and the length of the firſt and ſecond Galleries, by which we aſcend, all of them lying as it were in the ſame continued line, and leading to the middle of the Pyramid, we may eaſily apprehend a reaſon of that ſtrange Eccho within, of four or five Voices, mentioned by Plutarch, in his Fourth Book, De placitis philoſophorum; or rather of a long continued Sound, as I found by experience, diſcharging a Muſquet at the entrance; for the ſound being ſhut in, and carried in thoſe cloſe and ſmooth paſſages, like as in ſo many Pipes or Trunks, finding no iſſue out, reflects upon it ſelf, and cauſes a confuſed noiſe and circulation of the Air, which by degrees vaniſhes, as the motion of it ceaſes. This Gallery or Corridore (or whatſoever elſe I may call it) is built of white and poliſh'd Marble, the which is very evenly cut in ſpacious Squares or Tables. Of ſuch Materials as is the Pavement, ſuch is the Roof, and ſuch are the Side-walls that flank it; the coagmentation, or knitting of the Joynts, is ſo cloſe, that they are ſcarce diſcernable by a curious Eye; and that which adds a grace to the whole Structure, though it makes the paſſage the more ſlippery and difficult, is the acclivity and riſing of the Aſcent. The height of this Gallery is 26 feet, the breadth is 6 feet, and 870 parts of the foot divided into a thouſand of which three feet, and 435 of 1000 parts of a foot, are to be allowed for the way, in the midſt; which is ſet, and bounded on both ſides with two banks (like Benches) of ſleek and poliſh'd Stone; each of theſe hath one foot, 717 of 1000 parts of a foot in breadth, and as much in depth. Upon the top of theſe Benches, near the Angle, where they cloſe, and joyn with the Wall, are little ſpaces, cut in right angled parallel Figures, ſet on each ſide oppoſite to one another, intended, no queſtion, for ſome other end than Ornament. In the caſting and ranging of the Marbles in both the Side-walls, there is one piece of Architecture, in my judgment very graceful, and that is, that all the courſes or ranges, which are but ſeven, (ſo great are thoſe Stones) do ſet, and flag over one another about three inches, the bottom of the uppermoſt courſe overſetting the higher part of the ſecond, and the lower part of this overflagging the top of the third, and ſo in order the reſt, as they deſcend.
Having paſſed this Gallery, we enter another ſquare hole, of the ſame dimenſions with the former, which brings us into two anticamerette, as the Italians would call them, or Anticloſets, (give me leave in ſo unuſual a ſtructure to frame ſome unuſual terms) lined with a rich and ſpeckled kind of Thebaick Marble. The firſt of theſe hath the dimenſions almoſt equal to the ſecond; the ſecond is thus proportioned, the Area is level, the Figure of it is oblong, the one ſide containing ſeven feet, the other three and an half, the height is ten feet. On the Eaſt and Weſt ſides, within two feet and an half of the top, which is ſomewhat larger than the bottom, are three Cavities, or little Seats, in this manner,
This inner Anticloſet is ſeparated from the former, by a Stone of red ſpeckled Marble, which hangs in two Mortices (like the leaf of a Sluce) between two Walls, more than three feet above the pavement, and wanting two of the Roof. Out of this Cloſet we enter another ſquare hole, over which are five lines cut parallel and perpendicular.
Beſides theſe, I have not obſerved any other Sculptures or Engravings in the whole Pyramid, and therefore it may juſtly be wondred whence the Arabians borrowed thoſe vain Traditions I before related, That all Sciences are inſcribed within in Hieroglyphicks. And as juſtly it may be queſtioned, upon what authority Dio, or his Epitomizer Xiphilinus, reports that Cornelius Gallus (whom Strabo more truly names Aelius Gallus, with whom he travelled into Aegypt, as a friend and companion) engraved in the Pyramids his Victories, unleſs we underſtand ſome other Pyramids not now exiſtent. This ſquare paſſage is of the ſame wideneſs and dimenſions as the reſt, and is in length near nine feet, (being all of Thebaick Marble, moſt exquiſitely cut) which lands us at the North end of a very ſumptuous and well proportion'd Room. The diſtance from the end of the ſecond Gallery to this Entry, running upon the ſame level, is twenty four feet. This rich and ſpacious Chamber, in which Art may ſeem to have contended with Nature, the curious Work being not inferiour to the rich Materials, ſtands as it were in the Heart and Center of the Pyramid, equidiſtant from all the Sides, and almoſt in the midſt between the Baſis and the top. The Floor, the Sides, the Roof of it are all made of vaſt and exquiſite Tables of Thebaick Marble, which if they were not vailed, and obſcured by the ſteam of Tapers, would appear gliſtering and ſhining. From the top of it deſcending to the bottom, there are but ſix ranges of Stone, all which being reſpectively ſized to an equal height, very gracefully in one and the ſame altitude, run round the Room. The Stones which cover this place are of a ſtrange and ſtupendious length, like ſo many huge beams lying flat, and traverſing the Room, and withal ſupporting the infinite maſs and weight of the Pyramid above. Of theſe there are nine which cover the Roof, two of them are leſs by half in breadth than the reſt, the one at the Eaſt end, the other at the Weſt. The length of this (b)Theſe proportions of the Chamber, and thoſe which follow of the length and breadth of the hollow part of the tomb, were taken by me with as much exactneſs as it was poſſible to do; which I did ſo much the more diligently, as judging th…s to be the fitteſt place for the fixing of meaſures for Poſterity. A thing which hath been much deſired by learned men, but the manner how it might be exactly done, hath been thought of by none. I am of opinion, that as this Pyramid hath ſtood three thouſand years almoſt, and is no whit decayed within, ſo it may continue many thouſand years longer: and therefore that after-times meaſuring theſe places by me aſſigned, may hereby not only find out the juſt dimenſions of the Engl…ſh foot, but alſo the feet of ſeveral Nations in theſe times, which in my Travels abroad I have taken from the Originals, and have compared them at home with the Engliſh Standard. Had ſome of the ancient Mathematicians thought of this way, theſe times would not have been ſo much perplexed, in diſcovering the meaſures of the Hebrews, Babylonians, Aegyptians, Greeks, and other Nations. Such parts as the Engliſh foot contains a thouſand, the Roman foot on Coſſutia's Monument commonly called by Writers Pes Colotianus) contains nine hundred ſixty ſeven. The Paris foot a thouſand ſixty eight. The Spaniſh foot nine hundred and twenty. The Vene…ian foot 1062. The Rhinland foot, or that of Snellius, 1033. The Bracio at Florence 1913. The Bracio at Naples 2100. The Deran at Cairo 1824. The greater Turkiſh Dike at Conſtantinople, 2200.Chamber on the South ſide, moſt accurately taken at the Joynt or Line, where the firſt and ſecond row of Stones meet, is thirty four Engliſh feet, and 300 and 80 parts of the foot divided into a thouſand (that is 34 feet and 380 of 1000 parts of a foot.) The breadth of the Weſt ſide at the Joynt or Line, where the firſt and ſecond row of Stones meet, is ſeventeen feet, and an hundred and ninety parts of the foot divided into a thouſand (that is 17 feet, and 190 of 1000 parts of a foot.) The height is nineteen feet and an half.
Within this glorious Room (for ſo I may juſtly call it) as within ſome conſecrated Oratory, ſtands the Monument of Cheops, or Chemnis, of one piece of Marble, hollow within, and uncovered at the top, and ſounding like a Bell. Which I mention not as any Rarity, either in Nature or in Art; (for I have obſerved the like ſound in other Tombs of *As appears by a fair and ancient Monument brought from Smyrna to my very worthy Friend Mr. Rolt Eſq which ſtands in his Park at Woolwich.Marble cut hollow like this) but becauſe I find modern Authors to take notice of it as a Wonder. Some write, that the Body hath been removed hence, whereas Diodorus hath left above ſixteen hundred years ſince, a memorable paſſage concerning Chemmis the Builder of this Pyramid, and Cephren the Founder of the next adjoyning. Although (ſaith he) theſe Kings intended theſe for their Sepulchres, yet it hapned that neither of them were buried there: For the people being exaſperated againſt them, by reaſon of the toilſomneſs of theſe works, and for their Cruelty and Oppreſſion threatned to tear in pieces their dead bodies, and with Ignominy to throw them out of their Sepulchres. Wherefore both of them dying, commānded their Friends privately to bury them in an obſcure place. This Monument, in reſpect of the nature and quality of the Stone, is the ſame with which the whole Room is lined; as by breaking a little Fragment of it, I plainly diſcover'd, being a ſpeckled kind of Marble, with black, and white, and red ſpots, as it were equally mixt, which ſome Writers call Thebaick Marble; tho' I conceive it to be that ſort of Porphyry which Pliny calls Leucoſticto… and deſcribes thus: Rubet Porphyrites in eadem Aegypto, Plin. lib. 36 cap. 7.ex eo candidis intervenientibus punctis Leucoſtictos appellatur. Quantiſlibet molibus caedendis ſufficiunt lapidicinae. Of this kind of Marble there were, and ſtill are, an infinite quantity of Columns in Aegypt; but a Venetian, a man very curious, who accompanied me thither, imagined that this ſort of Marble came from Mount (c)Which may alſo be confirmed by Bellonius's Obſervations, who deſcribing the Rock, out of which, upon Moſes's ſtriking it, there guſhed out waters, makes it to be ſuch aſpeckled kind o… T…baick Marble: Eit une groſſ… pierre maſſive droicte de meſmegrain & de la couleur, ba que.Sinai, where he had lived amongſt the Rocks, which he affirmed to be ſpeckled with party colours, of black, and white, and red, like this: And to confirm his Aſſertion, he alledged, that he had ſeen a great column left imperfect amongſt the Cliffs, almoſt as big as that huge and admirable (d)The compaſs of the Scapus of this Column at Alexandria near the Torus is 24 Engliſh feet: The compaſs of the Scapus of thoſe at Rome is fifteen Engliſh feet, and three inches. By theſe proportions, and by thoſe Rules which are expreſſed in Vitruvius, and in other Books of Architecture, the ingenious Reader may compute the true dimenſions of thoſe before the Pantheon, and of this at Alexandria, being in my calculation the moſt magnificent Column that ever was made of one entire Stone.Corinthian Pillar ſtanding to the South of Alexandria, which by my meaſure is near four times as big as any of thoſe vaſt Corinthian Pillars in the Porticus before the Pantheon at Rome, all which are of the ſame coloured Marble with this Monument, and ſo are all the Obelisks with Hieroglyphicks, both in Rome and Alexandria. Which Opinion of his doth well correſpond with the Tradition of Ariſtides, who reports, that in Arabia there is a Quarry of excellent Porphyry. The figure of this Tomb without is like an Altar, or more nearly to expreſs it, like two cubes finely ſet together and hollowed within: It is cut ſmooth and plain, without any ſculpture and engraving, or any relevy and imboſſment. The exteriour Superficies of it contains in length ſeven feet three inches and an half. Bellonius makes it twelve feet, and Monſieur de Breves nine; but both of them have exceeded. In depth it is three feet three inches and three quarters, and is the ſame in breadth. The hollow part within is in length, on the Weſt ſide, ſix feet, and four hundred eighty eight parts of the Engliſh foot divided into a thouſand parts (that (e)Six feet 488. 1000.is 6 feet and 488 of 1000 parts of a foot) in breadth, at the North end two feet, and two hundred and eighteen parts of the foot divided into a thouſand parts, (that (f)Two feet 218.1000. In the …eiteration of theſe numbers, if any ſhall be offended, either with the novelty or tediouſne…s of expreſsing them ſo often. I muſt juſtifie my ſelf by the example of Ʋ …ug …g, Nephew to Timurlane the great (for ſo is his Name, and not Tamerlane) and Emperor of the Moguls or Tartars, (whom we term amiſs the Tartars) for I find in his Aſtronomical Tables (the moſt accurate of any in the Eaſt) made about 200 years ſince, the ſame courſe obſerved by him, when he writes of the Grecian, Arabian, Perſian, and Gelalean Epocha's, as alſo of thoſe of Ca…aea and Turkiſtan. He expreſſeth the numbers at large, as I have done, then in figures, ſuch as we call Arabian, becauſe we firſt learned theſe from them; but the Arabians themſelves fetch them higher, acknowledging that they received this uſeful invention from the Indians, and therefore from their Authors they name them Indian Figures. Laſtly, he renders them again in particular Tables. Which manner I judge worthy the imitation, in all ſuch numbers as are radical, and of more than ordinary uſe: For if they be only twice expreſſed, if any difference ſhall happen by the neglect of Scribes▪ or Printers, it may often ſo fall out, that we ſhall not know which to make choice of; whereas if they be thrice expreſſed, it will be a rare chance, but that two of them will agree; which two we may generally preſume to be the truth.is 2 feet, and 218 of 1000 parts of a foot.) The depth is 2 feet and 860 of 1000 parts of the Engliſh foot. A narrow ſpace, yet large enough to contain a moſt potent and dreadful Monarch, being dead, to whom living all Aegypt was too ſtreight and narrow a circuit. By theſe dimenſions, and by ſuch other obſervations, as have been taken from me by ſeveral embalmed Bodies in Aegypt, we may conclude, that there is no decay in Nature; (though the Queſtion is as old as Homer) but that the men of this Age are of the ſame ſtature, they were near three thouſand years ago; notwithſtanding St. Auguſtine and others are of a different opinion. Quis jam aevo iſt'o non minor ſais Parentibus naſcitur? ſaith Solinus.
It may juſtly be queſtioned how this Monument could be brought hither, ſince it is an impoſſibility that by thoſe narrow paſſages before deſcribed, it ſhould have entred. Wherefore we muſt imagine, that by ſome machina it was raiſed, and conveyed up without, before this Oratory or Chamber was finiſhed, and the Roof cloſed. The poſition of it is thus, it ſtands exactly in the Meridian, North and South, and it as it were equidiſtant from all ſides of the Chamber, except the Eaſt, from whence it is doubly remoter than from the Weſt. Under it I found a little hollow ſpace to have been dug away, and a large Stone in the Pavement removed, at the angle next adjoyning to it; which Sands erroneouſly imagines to be a paſſage into ſome other compartiment, dug away, no doubt, by the Avarice of ſome, who might not improbably conjecture an hidden Treaſure to be repoſited there.
The ingenious Reader will excuſe my curioſity, if before I conclude my deſcription of this Pyramid, I pretermit not any thing within, of how light a conſequence ſoever. This made me take notice of two inlets or ſpaces, in the South and North ſides of this Chamber, juſt oppoſite to one another; that on the North was in breadth 700 of 1000 parts of the Engliſh foot, in depth 400 of 1000 parts; evenly cut, and running in a ſtreight line ſix feet, and farther, into the thickneſs of the Wall. That on the South is larger and ſomewhat round, not ſo long as the former; and by the blackneſs within ſeems to have been a Receptacle, for the burning of Lamps. T. Livius Burretinus would gladly have believed that it had been an Hearth for one of thoſe eternal Lamps, ſuch as have been found in Tulliola's Tomb in Italy, and, if Cambden be not miſinformed, in England, dedicated to the Urns and Aſhes of the Dead; but I imagine the Invention not to be ſo ancient as this Pyramid.