execution. His death, however, was only the signal for the increase of his sect, which even many of his former antagonists now joined, and which now, for the first time, was developed into a proper religious system that of the Sabbathaites or Sabbathians (Shebsen). Among the succeeding apostles of the sect were Nehemiah, previously a bitter enemy of Sabbathais, and Nehemiah Hajun, who flourished in the beginning of the eighteenth century. The latter taught the dogma of the Trinity as part of the new faith; and it became a principle of this religion to accept and to modify itself to the dominant creed of the country-Islam in the East, Christianity in the West. Remnants of the sect are said to be still in existence in Poland and Turkey.

Of founders of sects in the nineteenth century, the most remarkable is Joseph Smith, who originated the sect of the Mormons. A full account of this wonderful movement is given in a previous number of this series, The History of the Mormons, in vol. vi.

32

NCE

HE erection of structures for shelter, for worship, for commemoration, or for any other useful or ornamental purpose, is one of those branches of art in which mankind very early excelled. Hence it is that in Eastern countries, from which, as a starting-point, we trace the progress of civilisation, some of the noblest and most stupendous of human erections are still to be found. Egypt, Syria, Persia, India, and China had their pyramids, catacombs, walls, towers, and temples long before Greece and Rome had being; and though these may be deficient in that taste and ornamental gracefulness which make the Athenian structures models even to the present day, still many of them possessed a vastness and grandeur of conception which has stamped them as wonders to all following ages. When science and art arose in Greece, and flowed onward along the southern and western shores of Europe, even to our own remote island, the genius of architecture displayed itself in another form; the semi-barbaric vastitude of the Oriental pile gave way to chastened elegance and symmetrical compactness-beauty of form and skilful arrangement were substituted for mere magnitude and expense of labour.

No. 63.

I

ANCIENT AND PAGAN ARCHITECTURE

It may be convenient to separate into two groups the structures taken as illustrative examples-the one comprising those which are either ancient or pagan, the other those which are either Christian or modern.

PYRAMIDS AND MONUMENTS

OF EGYPT.

The whole of this interesting country is crowded with monuments of the gigantic architecture of former times and of different ages; among the most ancient, and by far the most stupendous of which are the Pyramids. These colossal erections, to which there is no parallel in other countries, are situated on a rocky tract at the foot of those mountains which form the western boundary of the valley of the Nile. They are about thirty in number, and are scattered along a tract of nearly seventy miles in length-commencing with those of Gizeh, near Cairo, and ending with a small group a little below Feshu. The principal group occurs near the place where stood the ancient city of Memphis, and consists of four nearly entire pyramids, with a number of smaller ones in a state of dilapidation. The four faces exactly correspond to the four cardinal points. The most northern, commonly known as the 'Great Pyramid,' is the largest ; its perpendicular height being little short of 500 feet, and its base covering more than eleven acres of land. The base forms a square, whose side is 733 feet; and as the length of the sloping side upwards is about equal to that of the base, each face may be regarded in a general way as an equilateral triangle. It must not be supposed, however, that these structures are smooth-sided, sharppointed, mathematical pyramids; for the summits are not now entire, and the sides, whatever may have been their original condition, consist in reality of a number of steps formed by the successive layers of stone. The steps in the Great Pyramid are variously estimated at from 207 to 212, the length of some of the blocks forming them being not less than thirty feet. The size of the blocks is unequal, but they have all right angles, that they may fit closely together. The external layers have neither mortar nor cramps; but in the body of the Pyramid a kind of cement is used, composed of lime, sand, and clay. The only foundation is the surface of the subjacent rock, which is about eighty feet above the level of the ground annually overflowed by the Nile.

Respecting the purpose of these erections numerous conjectures have been offered; but the opinion generally entertained is, that they were erected by the ancient kings of Egypt as private mausoleums or tombs. This idea is so far supported by the fact, that the

larger pyramid, near Memphis, has interior chambers, in one of which is a marble sarcophagus, supposed to have contained the ashes of the monarch who completed the structure. It is necessary

to mention, however, that Mr Piazzi Smyth published, in 1864, a large volume on purpose to develop a theory that the Great Pyramid was built as a universal standard of weights and measures." The passages and chambers of this pyramid, which are walled and

Section of Great Pyramid of Gizeh (from Vyse's Pyramids of Gizeh).

D, débris and remains of casing; Q, queen's chamber; K, king's chamber; O, outer casing line; S, N, air channels; W, well; Sub., subterranean apartment.

covered with polished marble and granite, are of a curious and intricate kind (see cut). They have been entered and explored by various travellers.

Since the above was written, Mr Piazzi Smyth has published a second work concerning the Great Pyramid, in which he gives some measurements recently obtained by Mr Inglis. It is found that the base of the pyramid is not a perfect square, the lengths of the four sides being respectively 9120, 9114, 9102, and 9104 English inches. Of course, such small deviations may be due to instrumental errors. The vertical height Mr Inglis found to be 5478 inches up to the platform, or 5857 to the once existing apex. There have been many hypotheses concerning the proportions of the pyramid. (1.) That the perimeter of the base equals six times the vertical height; (2.) That the perimeter of the base is to the vertical height as the circumference of a circle to the radius; (3.) That the vertical height, the sloping height from the middle of one side of the base, and the length of one side are in the ratio of 4, 5, 6; (4.) That each face of the pyramid equals in area the square of the vertical height. Colonel James, in 1867, found that the rise at the four angles is in the ratio of 9 vertical to 10 horizontal; and that the length of each side of the base equals 360 Egyptian cubits.

The Egyptian pyramids, as has been stated, are of different ages; but those we have described are considered by Sir Gardner Wilkinson to be the most ancient, and to have been built by Suphis, and his brother Sensuphis, about 2120 years before the Christian era. But whatever was the time of their erection, or by whom erected, there can be no doubt of their being amongst the earliest, as they are unquestionably the most stupendous, monuments of human architecture. Diodorus Siculus asserts that the building of the Great Pyramid occupied about twenty years, and that three hundred and sixty thousand men were employed in its construction.

The other architectural monuments of Egypt which have attracted the attention of after-ages are the Great Sphinx, the labyrinth of Arsinöe, the reputed musical statues of Memnon, the hieroglyphical obelisks of Luxor, the catacombs of Thebes, the obelisks known as Cleopatra's Needles, and the Pillar of Pompey. The Great Sphinx, though sadly mutilated, is still to be seen about sixty yards to the south-east of the Great Pyramid already described. This enormous figure-which is intended to represent the body of a lion with the breasts and head of a woman-is cut out of the solid rock, and seems to have been formed as a monument in connection with the inundation of the Nile, which takes place when the sun passes from Leo to Virgo. Its huge recumbent body, about sixty feet in length, and its outstretched fore-legs, are almost entirely buried in sand and rubbish; but the neck and head rise above the wreck-the latter being twenty feet high-and, though much mutilated, still possessing a considerable degree of feminine beauty.

Of all the labyrinths of antiquity, that of Arsinöe was the largest and most costly; those of Crete and Lemnos being mere imitations, and not one-hundredth part of its dimensions. It was so extraordinary that Herodotus, who partly explored its chambers, declares it to be even more wonderful than the Pyramids. It was situated near the city of Crocodiles, or Arsinöe, a little above the lake Mœris, and is reputed to have been the conjoint work of the twelve kings among whom Egypt was at that time divided. It seems to have been designed as a pantheon, or universal temple of all the Egyptian deities which were separately worshipped in the provinces. It was also the place for general assembly of the magistracy of the whole nation; for those of all the provinces met here to feast and sacrifice, and to judge causes of great consequence. For this reason every province had a hall or palace appropriated to it-the whole edifice being thus divided, according to Herodotus, into twelve, though Pliny makes the number sixteen, and Strabo even so many as twenty-seven. The former authority tells us that the halls were vaulted, and had an equal number of doors opposite to one another, six opening to the north and six to the south, all encompassed by the same wall; that there were 3000 chambers in this edifice-1500 in the upper part, and as many under ground; and that he viewed