Reprint of the original, first published in 1883.

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1888 edition. Excerpt: ... THE GREAT PYRAMID. CHAPTER I. HISTORY OF THE PYRAMIDS. Few subjects of inquiry have proved more perplexing than the question of the purpose for which the pyramids of Egypt were built. Even in the remotest ages of which we have historical record, nothing seems to have been known certainly on this point. For some reason or other, the builders of the pyramids concealed the object of these structures, and this so successfully that not even a tradition has reached us which purports to have been handed down from the epoch of the pyramids' construction. We find, indeed, some explanations given by the earliest historians; but they were professedly only hypothetical, like those advanced in more recent times. Including ancient and modern theories, we find a wide range oi B choice. Some have thought that these buildings were associated with the religion of the earlyEgyptians; others have suggested that they were tombs; others, that they combined the purposes of tombs and temples, that they were astronomical observatories, defences against the sands of the Great Desert, granaries like those made under Joseph's direction, places of resort during excessive overflows of the Nile; and many other uses have been suggested for them. But none of these ideas are found on close examination to be tenable as representing the sole purpose of the pyramids, and few of them have strong claims to be regarded as presenting even a chief object of these remarkable structures. The significant and perplexing /history of the three oldest pyramids--the_Gx atSPyramid of Cheops, Shofo, or Suphis, the pyramid I of Chephren, and the pyramid of Mycerinus; and the most remarkable of all the facts known respecting the pyramids generally, viz. the circum-stance that one...

First published in 1929, The Mystery of the Great Pyramid attempts to unravel the secrets of the Great Pyramid by drawing parallels with the rituals in the Book of the Dead. The conception of the Pyramid and the origin of the cult of Osiris and of the Book of the Dead are to be found in a common source, which maybe expressed in the one word, Messianism. The author argues that this is why the literature of early Christian gnosticism abounds in mystical pyramid figures and associated astronomical conceptions and constellations. This book will be of interest to students of history, philosophy, and theology.

Many theories surround the geometric and mathematical factors that determined the shape of the Great Pyramid. Herz-Fischler examines and tests the theories of a range of, mostly Victorian, archaeologists, architects, engineers and mathematicians including Jomard, Perring, Ramee and Petrie.