THE GREAT PYRAMID OBSERVATORY, TOMB, AND TEMPLE AUTHOR OF BY RICHARD A. PROCTOR EDITOR OF KNOWLEDGE' SATURN AND ITS SYSTEM' THE SUN' THE MOON' C 33 PREFACE. THE mystery of the Great Pyramid resides chiefly in this that while certainly meant to be a tomb, it was obviously intended to serve as an observatory, though during the lifetime only of its builder, and was also associated with religious observances. Minor difficulties arise from the consideration of the other pyramids. In this treatise I show that there is one theory, which, instead of conflicting with other theories of the pyramid, combines all that is sound in them with what has hitherto been wanting, a valid and sufficient reason (for men who thought as the builders of the pyramid certainly did) for erecting structures such as these, at the st of vast labour and enormous expense. The theory here advanced and discussed shows-(1) why the Great Pyramid was an astronomical observatory while Cheops lived; (2) why it was regarded as use less as such after his death; (3) why it was worth his while to build it; (4) why separate structures were required for his brother, son, grandson, and other members of his family; (5) why it would naturally be used for his tomb; and (6) why it would be the scene of religious observances. All that is necessary by way of postulate, is that he and his dynasty believed fully in astronomy as a means (1) of predicting the future, and (2) of ruling the planets, in the sense of selecting right times for every action or enterprise. If there is one thing certain about Oriental nations in remote past ages, it is that this belief was universally prevalent. The remaining portion of the work shows how potent were those ancient superstitions about planetary influences—and their bearing first on Jewish, and later on Christian festivals and ceremonial. RICHARD A. PROCTOR. GREAT THE 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 of B |