the air channels of chephren's pyramid

8/12/2019 The Air Channels of Chephren's Pyramid

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STUDIES IN ANCIENTEGYPTTHEAEGEAN ANDTHE SUDANEssays inhonorofDowsDunhamon the occasionofhis 9 thbirthday

June I 198

Edited byWilliam Kelly Simpson and Whitney M. Davis

Department of Egyptian and Ancient Near Eastern ArtMuseum of Fine Arts Boston

1981


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The Air-Channels of Chephren s PyramidI . E. S. E D W A R D S

Muchhas been written about the so-called air-channels o fthe Great Pyramid atGiza,but their unfinished counterparts in the Second Pyramid have, not surprisingly,received relatively litdeattentionfrom Egyptologists.The aim o f thisshortstudywi l lbe threefold: to showthatconstructional difficulties were not responsible for the abandonment o fthe work on the channels o fthe Second Pyramid, tocontend thatthe full significanceo f the Great Pyramid channels has not hithertobeen properly appreciated and, in the light o f a more complete understanding ofthe purpose o f those channels, to explain why the channels in the Second Pyramidwerenot completed. It is intended as a modest, but I hope acceptable, offering toone o f the most highly respected Egyptologists o four time, whose friendshipIhave been privileged to enjoy for morethanfort)' years.

T h e air-channels in the Second Pyramid are situated in the innermost o f itstwo burial-chambers,1long known as Belzoni's chamber.2It is an oblong room withits main axisrunningEast-West, which was hewn as a pit in the rock when thefoundations o f the pyramid were being prepared. Over the pit a pointed roof waserected, its massive slabso flimestone projecting downwards below the tops ofthe twoside-walls.The channels, which are rectangular in section, were cut in theupperpart o f thosewalls,thenorthern 4 * 5 westo f the entrance to the chamber andthe southern approximately opposite. 3They differ slighdy in their dimensions, butthisdisparity iso f no consequence for the problems discussed here.4A line, paintedin red, extends perpendicularly downwards from the west side o fthe opening ofeach channel to a point some fivefeet below,5where it forms one side o fa rectang l e , also drawn in red, which corresponds fairly closely in its dimensions with theapertures above. Both Petrie and Borchardt concluded, nodoubtrightly,thattherectangles marked the positions in which it was first intended to cut the channels.6Borchardt believedthatthe change o f plan could be explained by the assumptionthatthe original positions involved too long a boring through the solid rock to bepracticable with the toolsthenavailable,andthisexplanation was adopted byHlscher in his description o fthe pyramid.7Maragioglio and Rinaldi expressedthe same opinion, but they also pointed outthatcutting air channels in the higherposition would have involved an additional difficulty owing to the overhang o f thesloping roof-blocks which 'would have to be drilled'.8

Inview o fwhat they regarded as the insuperable technological problemsinherentin tunnelling through the rock, Maragioglio and Rinaldi came to the conclusionthatthe builders never intended to construct long channels comparablewith those o f the Great Pyramid and consequendythatthe existing cavities wereeither 'symbolic air-channels' or, more probably, simply sockets for the insertion ofa cross-beam to support a curtain, thereby dividing the roomintotwo compartments, one for the burial o f the king and the other to serve as 'an antechamber, aserdab or a storeroom'.9The first o fthese suggestions can be refuted on the groundthatsymbolic channels could have been cut just as easily at the lowerlevel,wherethey would have corresponded more nearly in position with the channels in theGreatPyramid, andtherewould have been no need to change the original plan.T h e second suggestion is no more plausiblethanthe first, because the proper placefo r such amenities would have been in the mortuary temple. Moreover,if twochambers were required, it is not likelythatthe partition would have consisted o f afabriccurtain with a large gap between it and the ceiling; a wall built ofblocksofstone or formed o f uncutrock would seem much more probable.

There can be littledoubtthatthe reason for the change in position was adesire to reduce the amount o f rock to be cut in the construction o f the channels,but is it necessary to supposethatthe whole project was eventually abandonedbecause drillso f sufficientlength and strength had notthenbeen manufactured?T h e architect would have known what was technically feasible when he included

1 The reason for the abandonment of theoutermost chamber is discussed in the writer' sPyramids of Egypt, md ed . (Harmondsworth,1 9 6 1 ) , pp. 1 5 3 - + .2 G. Belzonigivesa graphic description of thedifficulties which he encountered in 1 8 1 7 ,whensearching for the entrance to the pyramid, inNarrative of the Operations and Recent Discoverieswithin the Pyramids, Temples, Tombs andExcavations in Egypt and Nubia (London, 1 8 2 1 ) ,pp. 2 5 7 - 6 8 .3 Belzoni, o p. cit., pi. 1 2 ,shows the apertures in rough drawing of the chamber. W. M. F. Petrie,Th e Pyramids and Templeso f Gizeh (London,1 8 8 3 ) , p. 1 0 6 ,gives the following measurementsfo r the space between the tops of the wallsand the base of the aperture: N. 5 3 . 6 inches,S. 55.2inches.. V. Maragioglio and C. Rinaldi,L Architettura delle Piramidi Menfite (Rapallo,1 9 6 6 ) , vol.5 ,pi. 1 0 ,fig. 7, are roughly in agreement with Petrie 1 . 3 6 m )for the northernaperture, but do not show the souther n. J . S.Perring, The Pyramids of Gizeh (London, 1 8 + 0 ) ,Part 2 ,pi. 3, fig.2 ,seems to show a space ofabout 8 feet between the top o f the wall and thenorthernaperture, but the plan may not havebeen drawn to scale.4 See Petrie, loc. cit.5 Maragioglio and Rinaldi,loc. cit., give themeasurement as1 .59m. It is to be noted thatthey show two parallel lines extending downwards from each side of the apertures, and theymention them in their description p . 5 8 ) , butIcould not see the second line when I visitedthe chamber recently and it is not visible oncolour ed photogr aphs kindly given to me byM r s . Del Nord of Boston. Dr. Manfred Bietak,wh o has made a further in spection o f the wallsin response to my request, has confirmed thatthereis no second line.6 Petrie, loc. cit.; Borchardt,ZAS 35 1 8 9 7 ) ,pp. 9 0 - 9 1 .7 U. Hlscher,Das Grabdenkmal des KnigsChephren (Leipzig, 1 9 1 2 ) , pp. 6 2 - 3 .8.Op. cit.,p. no.9.Op. cit.,p. no. Perring, in H. V y s e , Operationscarried on at the Pyramids of Gizeh (London,1 8 4 0 ) ,vol. I, p.1 7 8 , n . 3 , is quoted as havingsuggested thatthe holes were used in the construction o fthe roof without explaining howthey could have been so employed.

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1 0 See n. 3above.1 1 H. V y s e ,op. cit.,vol. I, p. 2 8 7 ; Petrie,op. cit.1 2 E.g ., J. Vandier,Manuel II, p. 3 8 ;Maragioglioand Rinaldi,op. cit.,vol. 4, pp. 1 2 9 - 3 0 .1 3 AlexanderBadawy, The Stellar Destinyo f Pharaoh and the so-called Air-Shafts ofCheops'Pyramid, inMitteilungen e s Instituts f rOrientforschung der deutschen Akademie derWissenschaften zu Berlin Band 1 0 ,Heft 2 - 3( 1 9 6 4 ) , pp. 1 8 9 - 2 0 6 ; VirginiaTrimble, Astronomical Investigation concerning the so-calledAir-Shaftsof Cheops' Pyramid, Ibid., pp. 1 8 3 - 7 .1 4 For references to the PyramidTexts,seeR . O. Faulkner,JNES is ( 1 9 6 6 ) , pp. 1 5 3 - 6 1 , andBadawy,op. cit., pp. 1 9 5 - 8 and 1 9 9 - 2 0 3 .1 5 Trimble,op. cit.1 6 See Elizabeth Thoma s, Air Channels in theGreat Pyramid, inJEA 39 ( 1 9 5 3 ) ,p. 1 1 31 7 SeeBadawy,op. cit., p. 1 9 2 .

the channels in his design and consequendy it must be asked whether a more practical method thandrilling could not have been adopted. It certainly could, and thtechnique employed in constructing the burial-chamber could also have been usedfor the channels. Open trenches with their floors sloping downwards at the requisite angles could have been cut in the rock from the surface to points at a distanceo f fiveor six feet from the chamber and continued thereafter horizontally in linewith the existing cavities as far as the roof-slabs. Holes couldthenhave been cut inthe slabs from the outer sides and the penetration o fthe remaining thickness ofrock bv drilling frombothsides would not have been a very difficult operation. Inorder to allow enough space for manoeuvre, the trenches would have had to beabout 3ft. wide, but thiswidth would have been reduced tothat o f the cavities bythe insertion o f a lining o f wall-blocks to support a stone roof.Channels so constructed would have been very similar to those in the Great Pyramid, exceptthatthe floors would probably have consisted o f the bare rock.Finally,the trencheswould have beenfilledwith rubble to ground-level. Since the cavities are lessthan5 ft. below the tops o f the wallso f the chamber,10 thetotalvolume o f rock to becut in makingbothtrenches would have been far lessthanthe amount extracted inhollowing out the pit for the chamber. It is by no means inconceivablethatworkon the trenches had already been begun, and it may have progressed far beyondthe initial stages when the decision was taken to dispense with the channels.

I f it is accepted thatpractical difficulties were not the cause o f the abandonment,some other reason must have been responsible for it. A clue to the solutiono f the problem seems to be offered by the channels in the two upper chambers ofthe Great Pyramid.EarlyEgyptologists supposed thatthey were constructed forpurposes o f ventilation, and they would certainly have hadthateffect i f their outeapertures were left open, but it is at least possiblethatthey were covered bv the limstone casing o f the pyramid and consequently sealed. This theory has not beenentirely discarded by some more recent writers, 12whileothershave maintained thathe channels were intended to serve as passages through which the spirit o f theking could make its ascent to the astral regions, aviewwhich is also favoured by thpresent writer.13The Pyramid Texts frequently allude to the king's association in hiafterlifewith the stars and, in particular, with the circumpolar stars and with Orionand Sothis.14Scientific study has shownthat,at the time when the Great Pyramidw a s built, thenorthernchannel, which sloped upwards at an angle of 3 1 owith thehorizontal, was in almost exact alignment with what wasthenthe Pole Star(a Draconis), around which the circumpolar stars revolved, whilethreestars inOrion's belt passed each day at culmination directly over the southern channel,whose slope is 4 4 - 5 - l r > T o supposethatsuch a setting o f the channels had no magicsignificanceseems highly improbable. Nevertheless, critics have rightly pointed othatthe stars in question could not have been observed through the channelsbecause, even apart from their appreciable deviation from a straight line, the lowerends o f the channels run horizontally for about 5ft. from the walls o f the chambersbeforeturningsharply upwards. 5Inthisrespect their design conforms withthatothe regular entrance-corridors o f pyramids, one o f whose functions is also believedto have been to serve as a symbolical channel o f approach to the circumpolar starsViewedfrom the burial-chambers, these corridors begin with a horizontal sectionand thenturnupwards to emerge in the northernface o f the pyramid. The GreatPyramid too, as it was first planned, with its burial-chamber below ground, f o l lowedthis pattern,but when the internal plan was changed and the two chamberswere built in the body o f the pyramid, at a higherlevelthan the entrance, the angleo f the corridors was necessarily reversed sothatthev ran downwards from thechambers instead o f upwards. It would have been possible to maintain the upwardslope only by making a new entrance high in the superstructure o f the pyramid, asindeed was done in the western corridor o f the Bent Pyramid, but experience hadprobably shownthatraising the heavy blocks to plug a corridor at such a heightafter the pyramid was completed caused great difficulties. Thenorthernchannel, ithe opinion o f the present writer, was devised by the architect in order to avoid a

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repetition ofthisproblem: it was asubstitutefor the regular upward sloping corridor, a model representation of it, but nodoubtconsidered equally effective as amagicalelement. It was a simple solution, which not only satisfied the supposedrequirements for the king's passage to the northernstars, but also made possiblethe introduction ofasecond channel as a meansofapproach to the constellation ofOrion in the south, for which no special provision had previously been included inthe architecture ofapyramid.

When the Second Pyramid was planned its architect obviously intended toequip it with similar channels to thoseofthe Great Pyramid, but work on theirconstruction came to anabruptend, though, it has already been maintained, nopractical difficulties prevented their completion. The reason, however, is not far toseek:the burial-chamber was mainly below ground and the approach to it was by acorridor sloping downwards from the entrance andrunninghorizontal )' to thechamber. The purposeofthenorthernchannel was therefore covered by the corridor: a channel from thenorthernwall ofthe chamber would have been merely afunctional duplicate and consequently superfluous. Egyptian funerary architectureiscertainly not without examplesofthe retentionofearlierelements after they hadlosttheir original utility, the reproduction ofthe pre-dynastic grave-tumulus in thebodyofthe early dynastic brick mastabas at Saqqara being perhaps the clearestexample,but they did not duplicate the functions ofother elements and, moreover,they were long-established, whereas the channels from the burial-chamber wererecent innovations intended to meet exceptional circumstances in the Great Pyramidwhich did not exist in the Second Pyramid. The abandonment ofthe plan did,however,involve the lossofaspecial wayofapproach to the southern stars, theabsenceofwhichin the earlier pyramids suggeststhatits inclusion in the GreatPyramidwas less essentialthanthatofthe northernchannel. Its function must previouslyhave been performed by some, as yet, unknown means to which resort wasagainmade when the planofthe Second Pyramid was changed. It may not be farfrom thetruthto supposethatit wasthisprospective loss which led the architect toreproduce the channels when he first planned the burial-chamberofthe SecondPyramid.

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the air channels of chephren's pyramid

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