A Collection of Curious Travels and Voyages, Volume 2 · Observations 2 · Section 6 – Section 7
In what manner the Pyramids were built.
WE had ended our Diſcourſe of the Pyramids, but that I find one ſcruple toucht upon by Herodotus, Diodorus, and Pliny, which is worth the diſcuſſion, as a point of ſome concernment in Architecture; and that is, in what manner theſe Pyramids were built, and with what Art and Contrivance the Stones, eſpecially thoſe vaſt ones in the firſt were conveyed up. Herodotus, who firſt raiſed the Doubt, gives this ſolution: They carried up the reſt of the Stones with little Engines made of Wood, raiſing them from the ground upon the firſt row: When the Stone was lodged upon this row, it was put into another Engine, ſtanding upon the firſt ſtep, from thence it was conveyed to the ſecond row by another: For ſo many rows and orders of Steps as there were, ſo many Engines were there; or elſe they removed the Engine, which was one, and eaſie to be carried, to every particular row, as often as they moved a Stone. We will relate that which is ſpoken of either part; therefore thoſe in the Pyramid were firſt made, which were the higheſt, then by degrees the reſt, laſt of all, thoſe which are neareſt to the Ground, and are the loweſt. The firſt part of this Solution of Herodotus is full of difficulty. How in the erecting and placing of ſo many machinae, charged with ſuch maſſy Stones, and thoſe continually paſſing over the lower degrees, could it be avoided, but that they muſt either unſettle them, or endanger the breaking of ſome Portions of them; which mutilations would have been like Scars in the Face of ſo magnificent a Building? His ſecond Anſwer is the ſounder; but I conceive the Text to be imperfect. Diodorus hath another Fancy: The Stones (ſaith he) at a great diſtance off were prepared in Arabia, and they report, that by the help of Aggeres (Engines not being then invented) the Work was erected. And that which begets the greateſt admiration is, that ſo vaſt a Structure was perfected in that place, which is all about repleniſhed with Sand, where there appears not any Relicks either of the Aggeres, or of the hewing and poliſhing of the Stones: So that it ſeems not piecemeal by the Induſtry of Men, but altogether, and at once, the whole pile, as it were by ſome God, was erected in the midſt of the Sands. Some of the Aegyptians relate Wonders of it, and endeavour to obtrude I know not what Fables, namely, That theſe Aggeres conſiſting of Salt and Nitre, were diſſolved by letting in the River, which wholly conſumed them without the labour of Hands, leaving this Structure (entire.) But the truth of the buſineſs is not ſo, but that thoſe multitudes of men which were employed in raiſing the Aggeres, carried them away unto their former places: For as they report three hundred and ſixty thouſand men were employed in theſe Offices, and the whole Work was ſcarce finiſhed in the ſpace of twenty years. Pliny partly agrees with him, and partly gives another Anſwer: The queſtion is, by what means the Cement is conveyed up to ſuch a height (he rather might have queſtion'd how thoſe vaſt Stones were conveyed up) ſome ſay, that banks of Nitre and Salt were made up as the Work roſe, which being finiſhed, they were waſhed away by the River (Nilus.) Others imagine that Bridges were made with Brick; which, the Work being ended, were diſtributed into private Houſes: for they conceive that the Nilus being much lower, could not come to waſh them (away.) If I may aſſume the liberty of a Traveller, I imagine that they were erected, neither as Herodotus deſcribes, nor as Diodorus reports, nor as Pliny relates, but that firſt they made a large and ſpacious Tower in the midſt reaching to the top; to the ſides of this Tower, I conceive, the reſt of the Building to have been applied, piece after piece, like ſo many Buttreſſes or Supporters, ſtill leſſening in height, till at laſt they came to the lowermoſt degree. A difficult piece of building taken in the beſt, and eaſieſt projection; and therefore it is no wonder, if it were not often imitated by the Ancients, and no where expreſſed or commended by the great Maſter of Architecture Vitruvius. Yet ſurely if we judge of things by the events, and if we reflect upon the intention of Monuments, which are raiſed by the Living, to perpetuate the Memory of the Dead, then is this as commendable a way as any. And therefore we ſee at Rome, that though by the revolution of ſo many Ages the Mauſoleum of Auguſtus be almoſt decayed, and the Septizonium of Severus be utterly loſt, both intended for laſting and ſtately Sepulchres, yet the Pyramid of C. Caeſtius ſtands fair and almoſt entire; which is no more to be compared, either for the vaſtneſs of the Stones or the whole bulk and fabrick of it, with theſe, than are the limbs and body of a Dwarf to the dimenſions of a Gyant, or ſome large Coloſſus.
I have done with the Work, but the Artizans deſerve not to be pretermitted; concerning whom the obſervation of Diodorus is as true, as it is boldly delivered by him. It is confeſſed, that theſe Works (ſpeaking of the Pyramids) far excel the reſt in Aegypt, not only in the maſſineſs of the Structures, and in the Expences, but alſo in the Induſtry (and Skill) of the Artificers. The Aegyptians think the Architects are more to be admired than the Kings, who were at the expence; for they by their abilities and ſtudy, theſe by their Wealth received by Inheritance, and by the labours of others erected them.
The Concluſion.
AND thus much of the Sciography, or of the artificial and architectonical part; I ſhall ſhut up all with one obſervation in Nature for the recreation of the Reader, recited by Strabo in theſe words. We ought not to omit one of the ſtrange things ſeen by us at the Pyramids: Some heaps of Stone, being Fragments hewn off lye before the Pyramids, amongſt theſe are found little Stones, ſome in the ſimilitude and bigneſs of lentils, ſome as grains of Barly, which appear half unſcaled: They report theſe are ſome Relicks of the Proviſions, which were given to the Workmen, and have been petrified; which ſeems probable enough.
Theſe, if there were ever any ſuch, are either conſumed by time, or ſcattered by the Winds, or buried with thoſe Tempeſts of Sand, to which the Deſarts are perpetually expoſed: But Diodorus, who not long preceded him, was not ſo curious as to deliver this Relation. And were not Strabo a Writer of much gravity and judgment, I ſhould ſuſpect that theſe petrified grains (though I know ſuch petrefactions to be no impoſſibility in Nature; for I have ſeen at Venice the Bones and Fleſh of a man, and the whole Head entirely tranſmuted into Stone; and at Rome clear Conduit-water, by long ſtanding in Aquaeducts, hath been turned into perfect Alabaſter) are like thoſe Loafs of Bread, which are reported to be found by the Red Sea converted into Stone, and by the Inhabitants ſuppoſed to be ſome of the Bread the Iſraelites left behind them, when they paſſed over for fear of Pharaoh. They are ſold at Grand Cairo handſomly made up in the manner of the Bread of theſe times, which is enough to diſcover the impoſture; for the Scripture makes them to have been unleavened Cakes: And they baked unleavened Cakes of the dough which they brought forth out of Aegypt. Or elſe Strabo's relation may be like the Tradition of the riſing of dead mens Bones every (a)Sands in his Travels writes That they are ſeen to riſe o… Good Friday. A Frenchman at Grand Cairo, who had been preſent at the reſurrection, ſhewed me an arm which he brought from thence: the fleſh ſhriveled, and dryed like that of the Mummies. He obſerved the Miracle to have been always behind him: once caſually looking back, he diſcovered ſome Bones, carried privately by an Egyptian under his Veſt, whereby he underſtood the Myſtery.year in Aegypt; a thing ſuperſtitiouſly believed by the Chriſtians, and by the Prieſts either out of ignorance or policy, maintained, as an Argument of the Reſurrection. The poſſibility and truth of it, Metrophanes the Patriarch of Alexandria thought (but very illogically) might be proved out of the Prophet Eſay; And they ſhall go forth, and look upon the carcaſſes of the men that have tranſgreſſed againſt me, for their worm ſhall not dye, neither ſhall their fire be quenched; and they ſhall be an abhorring unto all fleſh.
But I have digreſſed too far; the confutation of theſe, and the deſcription of the Mummies, or of the reſt of the Aegyptian Sepulchres (for from thence comes the matter of this their ſuppoſed Reſurrection) and that infinite maſs and variety of Hieroglyphicks, which I have either ſeen there, or bought or tranſcribed elſewhere, may be the *An Argument intended by me, and for which I made a collection of ſeveral Antiquities, in my Travels abroad, but theſe (and would only theſe) have unfortunately periſhed at home amidſt the ſad diſtractions of the time.Argument of another Diſcourſe.