February, 1844.

My dear Friend,

The entrance of the Great Pyramid^[40] is over the sixteenth course, or layer of stone, about fifty feet above the base; a slope of rubbish, as I said before, leading up to it.^[41] It is nearly in the centre, or equidistant from either angle of the northern side of the pyramid: the eye would hardly discover that it is not exactly so; though really twenty feet, or rather more, to the eastward of the centre. The opening of the pyramid seems to have been attended with considerable difficulty; a vast number of stones having been torn down above and before the aperture. An inclined plain before the entrance forms an angle of twenty-six degrees and a half with the horizon, being in the same place with the floor of the first passage. The size of the stones above the entrance, and the manner in which they are disposed, are worthy of remark. There is no granite at the entrance of the pyramid; all the blocks are of limestone. Before the traveller enters the pyramid, he should divest himself of some of his clothes (for the heat of the interior is oppressive) and resume them immediately on coming out, to prevent any check of perspiration. The passage by which we enter the Great Pyramid is only four feet high, and three feet six inches (almost exactly two ancient Egyptian cubits) in width, and we are consequently obliged to descend in a crouching position. It is lined above and below and on each side with blocks of limestone,^[42] of a more compact kind than that of which the pyramid is mainly constructed. This superior kind of stone appears to have been brought from the quarries on the eastern side of the Nile, directly opposite the site of Memphis; for stone of the same quality is not found nearer; and Herodotus, and several other ancient writers, inform us that the quarries of the Arabian mountains^[43] supplied materials for the construction of the pyramid. Indeed, they assert that the pyramid was entirely built of stones from these quarries; but this, evidently, was not the case: the stone of which the structure is mainly composed was quarried from the rock in its neighbourhood. The nicety with which the stones are united in the sides of the first passage is very remarkable. In some parts the joint cannot be discerned without a close and minute examination. In the flooring of this passage, and of all the sloping passages in this pyramid, notches have been roughly cut, like steps, to prevent the feet from slipping; but I found them very far from producing the desired effect, being now polished by the naked feet of the guides. These notches have been the work of modern explorers. At the distance of nearly seventy feet (measuring from the outer surface of the huge block above the entrance) we find that one of the stones which form the roofing of the passage has been hewn away precisely at the point where the second passage branches off in an ascending direction (see the letter c in the section). Here we discover the square end of a granite block, which closes the entrance of the second passage, being exactly fitted to fill up the aperture. The persons who opened the pyramid, being unable to remove this obstacle, have made a forced communication with the ascending passage. At the distance of eighty feet (from the entrance of the pyramid) is the forced aperture, on the right side of the passage (see d in the section). It has been made by hollowing out the roofing, and cutting away the upper part of the side of the lower passage.

Here the explorer must light his candle (if he have not done so before), and having ascended through this opening, finds himself in a large place, which appears like a natural cavern in a rock. We now see the upper end of the granite block before mentioned, or of a second block. Above it is another, of which a part has been broken off. Above this the passage (e f) is seen clear of other incumbrances, running upwards, but in the same southern course as the first, or descending passage. It is of the same dimensions as the first, and has the same inclination; but its sides and roofing are very rough, and consequently it has the appearance of having been cut through solid rock, which is not really the case. It is a hundred and nine feet long (measuring from the southernmost of the granite blocks above mentioned), and the flooring projects a foot and a half in the same direction. The ascent of this passage is rather fatiguing. On emerging from it, we find ourselves at the foot of the Grand Passage (see f m in the section).

This great passage, ascending to the principal chamber, is, in comparison with those which lead to it, wide and lofty. Its length being great, and its sides and every part of it blackened, as if by smoke, the further extremity was invisible to us as we stood at the lower end; and its whole appearance singularly imposing. On our right, as we stood here, we observed the entrance, or mouth, of what has been called “the well” (g). There we also, at the lower end of the Grand Passage, remarked some Arabic inscriptions, rudely cut with a chisel. These, I believe, were first noticed by Sir Gardiner Wilkinson. My brother read them to me thus—“Ezbek and Beybars have been here.” “Beybars and Kalaoon El-Elfee have been here.” “SultÁn Mohammad ... Sa’eed.” These three persons were Memlook sultans of Egypt, who reigned in the latter half of the thirteenth century, at which period, it appears, the Great Pyramid was open; if these inscriptions be genuine, which my brother is a little inclined to doubt.

Under the grand, ascending passage, runs another, which is horizontal, low, and narrow. The entrance of the latter (h) is fifteen feet three inches from the projection of a foot and a half before mentioned. This passage is three feet eleven inches high, and three feet five inches wide. I found almost as much difficulty in proceeding here as I had in ascending and descending the sloping passages; the dust and the heat together being here especially oppressive. It continues of the same dimensions to the distance of ninety-three feet. Here we find a descent of one foot eight inches in the floor; so that the remainder of the passage is nearly high enough for a person of middling stature to walk along it without bending down the head. At the distance of a hundred and ten feet nine inches (from its entrance) it terminates (see i in the section) at the eastern corner of the north side of a chamber, which is nineteen feet long, and seventeen feet broad (see k). This has been called by some travellers the “Queen’s Chamber;” from the supposition that the queen of the founder of the pyramid was buried in it. The roof is formed of long bricks of stone, leaning against each other. The height of the chamber, to the commencement of the roof, is thirteen feet and a half; and to the summit, about seven feet more. The floor, sides, and roof are constructed of the same kind of limestone as the passages. In the eastern end (not in the middle, but rather to the right) is a high and narrow recess, five feet wide at the bottom, but becoming narrower towards the top, like the sides of the Grand Passage. It is three feet five inches deep. Within it, four feet from the floor, is the entrance of a forced passage, four feet wide. At the commencement it is square, and smoothly cut; but further on it becomes irregular; and at the distance of fifty feet it terminates at a hollow space, wider and more irregular than the rest. In this chamber and forced passage there is little to detain us. We return to the Grand Passage.

Above the entrance of the horizontal passage which leads to the chamber above described, is a perpendicular (marked h in the section). This perpendicular, together with the height of the said passage, is seven feet three inches. The flooring then ascends in the same direction as the other ascending passage; at an angle of twenty-six degrees and a half. At the distance of three feet five inches is another perpendicular or step of only eight inches, above which the floor has the same inclination again; and notches have been cut in it to facilitate the ascent, which is not easily performed unless without shoes. There is a bench of stone on each side all along the passage, and in the tops of these benches are oblong holes at short intervals: their use is unknown. The width of the passage (including the benches, which are one foot eight inches and a half square), is six feet ten inches; about four ancient Egyptian cubits. The sides of the passage are composed of nine courses of stone from the benches upwards. The stone is of the same kind as that of which the lower passages are constructed. Some travellers have supposed it to be white marble, but no marble is found in any part of the pyramid. The two lower courses are even with each other, but each course above projects three inches beyond that below it; and so does each corresponding course at the upper and lower ends of the passage. The length of the whole passage is a hundred and fifty-eight feet. At the distance of five feet and one inch before we reached the upper end, we ascend another perpendicular of two feet eleven inches. The floor beyond is horizontal, forming a small platform (see l in the section). From this commences a horizontal passage three feet seven inches and a half in height, and three feet five inches and a half in width (see m). Within it, on the right, is the entrance of a forced passage, made in search for other chambers than those already known. At the distance of four feet five inches (from the entrance of the true passage), commences an open space above (see n), the upper part of which is nearly twice as wide as the passage, and nine feet eight inches in length: but the passage below is contracted again to its former height by a kind of portcullis, formed of two blocks of granite one above another, each one foot three inches thick; these have been let down from the space above between two small projections on each side which form a pair of grooves. Beyond this, the passage (which is here of granite), is open as before, to the space above, and there are grooves for the reception of three other portcullises of granite, by which the architect thought that he should for ever prevent access to the mysterious chamber which contains the sarcophagus; but these have been broken and their fragments carried away. The passage beyond (see o), is of its former dimensions, and continues so to the distance of eight feet five inches, its whole length, from the top of the Grand Passage, being twenty-two feet and a half. It terminates at the eastern extremity of the north side of the Grand Chamber (see p in the section).

The dimensions of the Great Chamber are especially worthy of remark: the length is thirty-four feet four inches and a half; just twenty ancient Egyptian cubits; the width exactly half that measure. The height is about two feet more than the width. It is entirely constructed of red granite. Near the western end is the sarcophagus; which is also of red granite. It is seven feet and a half in length, three and a half in breadth, and the sides are half a foot thick. No hieroglyphics nor sculpture of any kind adorn it either within or without; its sides are perfectly plain and polished, and its form is simply that of an oblong chest, in every way rectangular. Its lid has been carried away, as well as its original contents; and we find in it nothing but dust and small fragments of stone. It has been much injured at one of its corners by a number of travellers, who have broken off pieces to carry away as memorials. When struck with any thing hard, or even with the hand, it sounds like a bell. It rests upon a block of granite considerably larger than any of the other blocks of which the floor is composed.

Why was such an enormous mass placed there? The alabaster sarcophagus in the great tomb opened by Belzoni in the valley of BeebÁn-el-Mulook, at Thebes, closed the entrance of a deep descent of steps, which has never been explored to its termination: the soft and crumbling nature of the rock through which it is cut rendering any attempt to clear it out extremely dangerous. The enormous mass of granite under the sarcophagus in the Great Pyramid may have been placed there for a similar purpose, or to cover the mouth of a vault or pit; so that, in case any violater of the sacred edifice should succeed (notwithstanding the portcullises of granite), in effecting an entrance into the Great Chamber, he might, on discovering the sarcophagus, believe the object of his search to be accomplished. An excavation has been made (I believe by Col. Howard Vyse), beneath this huge stone, but it seems hardly to have been carried sufficiently far. The sides of the chamber are formed of six regular courses of granite blocks, which are united with the greatest exactness, and their surfaces are perfectly even and polished, without hieroglyphics or any other inscriptions or ornaments. In the northern side near the corner of the entrance is a small aperture, and opposite to it on the southern side is another. Col. Vyse discovered the termination of each of these, in the exterior of the pyramid: they seem to have been designed for the purpose of ventilation. The roof of the chamber consists of nine long granite blocks which extend from side to side. The half only of the stone at each end is seen, the other half resting on the wall.

Returning from this chamber we stop at the platform at the upper end of the Grand Passage (see l in the section).^[44] Here we observe at the top of the eastern wall (that is on the left of a person facing the end of the passage), at the height of twenty-four feet, a square aperture which is the entrance of another passage (q). Small notches have been cut at the corner all the way up, for the reception of the ends of short pieces of wood, which were thus placed one above another so as to form a kind of ladder. These have been taken away, and the ascent without them is difficult and dangerous. When my brother was here alone some years ago, two Arabs contrived to climb up by means of the little notches, and took with them a strong rope, the end of which he tied round him, and so they drew him up to the top. As soon as he was freed from the rope they demanded of him a present, threatening that if he refused they would descend and leave him there. Though my brother laughed at their threats, they would not for some minutes confess that they were joking. The passage in which he found himself is only two feet four inches square. It turns immediately to the right, and to the distance of a few feet it continues square and of the same dimensions as before, but much clogged with dirt; afterwards it becomes irregular both in direction and in the construction of its sides, and it was difficult for my brother to drag himself along it, while numbers of bats escaped from within and flew against his face. At the distance of twenty-four feet the passage terminates at the northeast corner of a large but low place (r). This chamber (if such it may be called) was discovered by Mr. Davison, who was British Consul at Algiers, and who visited Egypt with Mr. Wortley Montague in 1763 and 4, and it is called by the discoverer’s name. It is directly above the Grand Chamber, and is of the same width as that chamber, but four feet longer. The long granite blocks which compose the roof of the lower chamber form the floor of this, and the first and last of these blocks are here seen entire. The upper surface of each of them is very rough, and they are not all of the same thickness. The roof also of this place is formed of long blocks of granite eight in number. The height is scarcely more than three feet. In the southeast corner is a small forced passage which ascends a few feet. The second roof above the Grand Chamber was made to secure the lower roof, which otherwise might have been broken down by the superincumbent masses. Col. Vyse discovered over Davison’s chamber three others similar to it one above another, and above the uppermost of these another with a pointed roof; and in making this discovery he made one of much greater importance, that of two hieroglyphic names, rudely inscribed as quarry-marks; one of them certainly the name of the founder, as before mentioned; the other, according to some, a variation of the same name; according to others, the name of a predecessor or successor of the founder.

I scarcely need tell you that I did not descend what is called the well. It was explored by Mr. Davison, and afterwards in 1801 by Col. Coutelle; but its termination and use remained involved in uncertainty and mystery, until it was cleared out in 1817 by Caviglia. On the right of the lower end of the Grand Passage two feet below the floor, are three low steps occupying a space of four feet and a half in length. Beyond them is the mouth of the first shaft which is two feet two inches square. Here are little notches roughly cut in the sides in which to place the fingers and toes, and as the space is narrow, a person may descend without the aid of a rope, as my brother did, but he found it difficult and dangerous to do so. The ascent is attended with less danger, and seems precisely like climbing a chimney. At the depth of a few feet it becomes very rugged and irregular, and continues so for nearly fifty feet. After descending rather more than sixty feet, an aperture is seen on the southern side, which is the entrance of a kind of grotto (s) between five and six feet high, and about three times as long, turning to the right. It is hollowed out in a vein of coarse but compact gravel, and the well in consequence of this vein, is lined with masonry for the space of a few feet above and below the grotto. Where the masonry ceases (t) the well takes a sloping direction and continues so to the bottom; but towards the bottom (see u in the section) the slope becomes more steep. All the sloping part is cut through the solid rock below the foundation of the pyramid, and is of a square form. At the bottom of the well (v) is a horizontal passage six feet long, communicating with the first passage, two hundred and twelve feet below the aperture by which one ascends to the second passage.

The first passage of the pyramid from the aperture last mentioned, continues in the same direction, and is of the same dimensions, but is cut through the solid rock, and is not lined with masonry. The aperture which communicates with the bottom of the well is two feet ten inches broad. It is on the right of a person descending the first passage. This passage continues in the same direction to the distance of twenty-three feet further (see w in the section), beyond which it is horizontal, and so low and encumbered with rubbish, that the explorer is obliged to drag himself in a prostrate position. At the distance of sixteen feet nine inches there is a recess (x) on the right side three feet four inches deep, and six feet five inches wide. Four feet and a half beyond this, the passage terminates at the eastern extremity of the north side of a large excavated chamber (y).

The Great Excavated Chamber is nearly under the centre of the pyramid. It is twenty-seven feet broad, and sixty-six feet long. The roof is flat, but the floor is very uneven. At the entrance the chamber is fifteen feet high; towards the western end the rock rises perpendicularly half-way towards the ceiling, and there are masses of strange forms, but not altogether irregular, rising still higher, and nearly touching the top of the chamber. In the floor at the lower end is a wide hollow space nearly filled with rats’ dung. Immediately opposite the entrance is a level passage (z), low and narrow, running towards the south; it terminates abruptly at the distance of fifty-five feet. The floor of the chamber is just a hundred feet below the level of the external base of the pyramid. It appeared evident to my brother that this great chamber was an unfinished excavation. Mr. Salt thought otherwise: “He had flattered himself that it would turn out to be that described by Herodotus as containing the tomb of Cheops, which was insulated by a canal from the Nile; but the want of an inlet, and its elevation of thirty feet above the level of the Nile at its highest point, put an end to this delusive idea.” This great chamber was discovered by Caviglia, of whose operations in the Great Pyramid, and in the neighbouring tombs, an interesting account is given in the 19th vol. of the “Quarterly Review.” After having explored the well, and endeavoured, in vain, to draw up the rubbish with which the lower end was filled, he turned his attention to the clearing of the first passage of the pyramid, which, until that time, had been supposed to terminate just below the aperture which communicates with the second passage. In the prosecution of this work (which was one of much difficulty, as the passage was choked with large fragments of stone), he discovered the communication with the bottom of the well, and, continuing his operations, soon after entered the Great Excavated Chamber.

Such is the description of all that is now known of the interior of the Great Pyramid. It has been calculated that there might be within this stupendous fabric, three thousand seven hundred chambers, each equal in size to the Sarcophagus Chamber, allowing the contents of an equal number of such chambers to be solid, by way of separation.^[45] Yet this enormous pile seems to have been raised merely as a sepulchral monument, to contain, perhaps, one single mummy, not a particle of which now remains in the place in which it was deposited with so much precaution:^[46] unless there be yet undiscovered any other receptacle for the royal corpse than the sarcophagus in the Granite Chamber. Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus assert that the building of the Great Pyramid occupied about twenty years, and according to the former, a hundred thousand men—according to the latter three hundred and sixty thousand men—were employed in its construction.

The Great Pyramid is surrounded, on three sides, by almost innumerable tombs. On the east are three small pyramids; and on the same side, and on the west and south, are many oblong tombs, flat-topped, and with sides inclining inwards. Some persons who have been unreasonable enough to doubt whether the pyramids are sepulchral monuments, must, I think, be convinced of their error by the discoveries of Colonel Vyse: long before which, my brother found bones and mummy-rags in the principal pyramid of SakkÁrah.