This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1840 Excerpt: ...writers, and to that contained in a book called "Morat-Alzeman," that they were built by Joseph, by Nimrod, by Queen Dalukah, or by kings of Egypt, to guard against the consequences of the flood; that they were the sepulchres of King Saurid, of King Hougib, and of Fazfarinoun, son of Hougib; or that, according to the Sabeans, the Great Pyramid was the sepulchre of Seth. In the third chapter, he considers more immediately for what purpose the Pyramids had been constructed, and states his belief that they were tombs; and he mentions, in support of this opinion, the testimonies of several antient and Arabian authorities, and cites, more particularly, the existence of a Sarcophagus in the Great Pyramid. The enormous magnitude of these buildings he conceives to have been intended for the security of the bodies entombed, whose preservation was supposed to have been connected with the existence of the soul: and in further support of this idea, he refers to the custom of embalming; and, amongst other quotations and references, to the assertion of Plato, that this connexion between the soul and the body, and the wonderful preservation of the latter by artificial means, prove how firmly a belief in the immortality of the former existed in the earliest ages. He then alludes to the different modes of embalming, and to the funeral rites performed by the Egyptians; and observes that embalming was evidently in use in the tim; of Joseph, and remarks that the Hebrews are said, by Tacitus, to have, in many respects, 7 The Third Pyramid could scarcely have been finished in seven years. imitated the Egyptians in these matters. He considers that, in a passage of that author, "condere" was inserted by mistake, instead of " condire;"8 and that embalm...

An army officer and politician, Richard William Howard Vyse (1784-53) also made his mark as an Egyptologist. This three-volume work, published in 1840-2, has remained an instructive resource in Egyptology up to the present day. Adopting the style of a journal, with illustrations and diagrams throughout, it narrates in detail his excavations at Giza, surveying and measuring the pyramids. Following Vyse's return to England, the work was continued by the engineer and surveyor John Shae Perring (1813-69). Vyse gives observations of his travels, and of the landscape, people and architecture he encountered, as well as details of the important work he carried out. Most notable was his discovery, using gunpowder, of four new chambers in the Great Pyramid containing 'quarry marks' - graffiti by the pyramid builders. Volume 2 (1840) contains detailed descriptions of the excavation of several pyramids and their contents, and appendices with extensive measurements.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1840.