to the law of retaliation, (Jus Talionis,) was to be punished with the same punishment, which was decreed against the crime in reference to which he had falsely testified. (Deut. 19. 16-21.)

In the time of Our Lord, the Jus Talionis (Matt. 5. 38-40) was confounded with moral principles, i. e., | it was taught that the law of Moses, which was merely civil or penal, rendered it perfectly justifiable, in a moral point of view, for a person to inflict on another the same injury, whatever it might be, which he himself had suffered. The persons who expounded the law to this effect do not appear to have recollected its true character, as a civil or penal law, which originated from the circumstances of the times, and seem not to have remembered, that the literal retaliation could not take place until after the decision of a judge on a suit, brought by the person injured, and then was never to exceed the original injury. Furthermore, it was by no means necessary that this retaliation should take place at all, since the aggrieved party might, either before or after the decision of the judge, make an arrangement with the aggressor, and relieve him from the infliction of the punishment, to which he had legally exposed himself, on his rendering that satisfaction which, in the Hebrew, is technically called 5 kopher, and ji pidyon, a

ransom.

The law of retaliation was common among all ancient nations, and was in truth then the most efficacious means of protecting a person from injuries. But, in progress of time, when feelings and manners had assumed a milder tone, causes which originated from one person's receiving bodily injuries from another were brought into the common civil courts on the footing of other causes, and the punishment to be inflicted on the aggressor, or the satisfaction in any other way to be rendered to the injured party, was left entirely to the person who sat as judge.

The various offerings directed to be made in atonement for breaches of the ceremonial law, were in reality fines, and as such belong to the class of Punishments; but they will be more advantageously considered under another head. See TRESPASS OFFERING.

PURGATORY is an imaginary place, in which the just who depart out of this life are, by the Romanists, supposed to expiate certain offences which do not merit eternal damnation. Broughton has endeavoured to prove that this notion has been held by Pagans, Jews, and Mohammedans, as well as by Christians, and that, in the days of the Maccabees, the Jews believed that sin might be expiated by sacrifice after the death of the

sinner.

The arguments advanced by the Romanists for purgatory are these:-(1.) Every sin, however slight, though no more than an idle word, as it is an offence to God, deserves punishment from him, and will be punished by him hereafter, if not cancelled by repentance here. (2.) Such small sins do not deserve eternal punishment. (3.) Few depart this life so pure as to be totally exempt from spots of this nature, and from every kind of debt due to God's justice. (4.) Therefore few will escape without suffering something from his justice for such debts as they have carried with them out of this world, according to that rule of Divine justice by which he treats every soul hereafter according to its works, and according to the state he finds it in death. From these propositions, which the Romanist considers as so many self-evident truths, he infers that there must be some place of punishment other than hell: for since the infinite goodness of God can admit nothing into heaven

1111

which is not clear and pure from all sin, both great and small, and as infinite justice cannot permit men to receive the reward of bliss who as yet are not out of debt, but have something of justice to suffer, there must, of necessity, be some place or state where souls departing this life, pardoned as to eternal guilt or pain, yet obnoxious to some temporal penalty, or with the guilt of some venial faults, are purged and purified before their admittance into heaven.

But it may be observed, (1.) That the Books of Maccabees have no evidence of inspiration, therefore quotations from them are not to be regarded. (2.) If they were, the texts referred to would rather prove that there is no such place as purgatory, since Judas did not expect the souls departed to reap any benefit from his sin-offering till the resurrection. (3.) The texts quoted from the Scriptures have no reference to this doctrine. Scripture in general speaks of departed souls going, immediately at death, to a fixed state of happiness or misery, and gives us no idea of purgatory. (Isai. 57. 2; Rev. 14. 13; Luke 16. 22; 2Cor. 5. 8.) (4.) It is derogatory from the doctrine of Christ's satisfaction. If Christ died for us and redeemed us from sin and hell, as the Scripture speaks, then the idea of further meritorious suffering detracts from the perfection of Christ's work, and places merit still in the creature; a doctrine exactly opposite to Scripture.

In accordance with these views, our Church, in her Twenty-second Article, condemns "the Romish doctrine of Purgatory," as "a fond thing vainly invented, and grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.”

PURGE, tsaraph. (Isai. 10. 26.) This term. is generally used in the Scriptures in the sense of, to cleanse, or purify.

The Prophet Isaiah, referring to the children of Israel, is commanded to say, thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away 66 And I will turn my hand upon thee, and purely purge away thy dross, and take away all thy tin." The force of this expression will appear from the circumstance that silver and many of the other metals suffer greatly from the admixture of tin, a very small quantity serving to make them as brittle as glass; and what is more, it is with difficulty separated from them again. The very vapour of tin has the same effect as the metal itself on silver, gold, and copper, rendering them brittle. See METALS AND METALLURGY.

PURIFICATION, 7 nidda, (Numb. 19. 9,) a ceremony enjoined in the Mosaic law for the cleansing of anything from pollution or defilement.

The uncleannesses and defilements for which purification was necessary, were very various, as also were the modes of expiation. Most of the instances of uncleanness ceased of themselves after the expiration of a certain period of time, provided that the unclean person, at the expiration of the said time, washed his body and his clothes; but, in other instances, unclean persons were unable to free themselves from the stain of their defilement, until they had first gone through certain ceremonies of purification prescribed in the ritual.

Purifications were, for the most part, performed with water, sometimes with blood, (Heb. 9. 21,22,) and with oil. (Exod. 30. 26-29; Levit. 8. 10,11.) The water of purification was to be drawn from a spring or running stream, and was either pure, or mixed with blood, (Heb. 9. 19,) or with the ashes of the red heifer. For preparing these ashes, a red heifer was burnt with great solemnity. This ceremony is described at length in the 19th chapter of the Book of Numbers.

As all the

people were to be interested in it, the victim was provided at their charge. This Jewish rite certainly had a reference to things done under the Gospel, as St. Paul has remarked in his Epistle to the Hebrews, (9. 13,14,) "For if the blood of bulls and of goats, [alluding to the sin-offerings and to the scape-goat,] and the ashes of an heifer, sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ.... purge [or purify] your conscience from dead works to serve the living God."

The ashes of the heifer here mentioned were prepared in a singular manner. The animal, which was to be one of a red, or rather yellowish colour, inclining to brown, free from all defect, and which had never submitted to the yoke, was led to the priest; she was then conducted out of the city, or the encampment, as the case might be, by some other person, and slain. The priest who had accompanied dipped his finger in the blood, and sprinkled it seven times towards the sanctuary. Presently the heifer was burnt whole in the same place, the priest in the meanwhile heaping upon the fire other piles of wood, and throwing into it, at the same time, hyssop and scarlet thread. The who persons formed the various offices of leading out, slaying, and burning the heifer, and of carrying away the ashes, as also the priest who officiated, were unclean until the evening. (Numb. 19. 6,8,10,21.) There seems never to have been any improper superstition connected with this rite.

cups

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The Jews had two sorts of washing, for purposes of religious purification; one, of the whole body by immersion, tabal, which was used by the priests at their consecration, and by the proselytes at their initiation; the other of the hands or feet, called dipping, or pouring of water, ya tsaba, and which was of daily use, not only for the hands and feet, but also for and other vessels used at their meals. (Matt. 25. 2; Mark 7. 3,4.) The six waterpots of stone, used at the marriage feast of Cana, in Galilee, (John 2. 6,) were set for this purpose. To these two modes of purification, Our Lord seems to allude in John 13. 10, where the being "clean every whit" implies one who had become a disciple of Christ, and consequently had renounced the sins of his former life. He who had so done was supposed to be wholly washed, and not to need any immersion, in imitation of the ceremony of initiation, which was never repeated among the Jews. All that was necessary in such a case, was the dipping or rinsing of the hands or feet, agreeably to the customs of the Jews. Sometimes the lustration was performed by sprinkling blood, or anointing with oil. Sprinkling was performed either with the finger, or with a branch of cedar and hyssop tied together with scarlet wool. (Levit. 14. 4-6; Numb. 19. 18; Psalm 51. 7.)

Besides the purification from impurities actually contracted, another purification, rachats, resembling the lustratio of the Gentiles, was in use, having for its objects either persons or things dedicated to divine worship. The Levites, priests, and, above all, the high priest, underwent a purification previously to undertaking their respective offices. In like manner the Israelites were commanded to sanctify themselves by washings of their persons and clothes, &c., previously to receiving the Law, (Exod. 19. 10,11-14,15; Heb. 9. 19,) and after the giving of the Law, and the people's assent to the book of the covenant, Moses sprinkled them with blood. (Exod. 24. 5-8; Heb. 9. 19.) So also were the tabernacle, and all its sacred vessels, anointed with oil, (Exod. 30. 26-28; 40. 9-11; Levit. 8. 10,11,) and, as St. Paul further intimates, were sprinkled with the blood

of the victims.

Those who were about to offer sacrifice unto the Lord were also to be lustrated, (1Sam. 16. 5;) as well as those who were repairing to Divine worship to offer their prayers, (Judith 12. 7,8,) and especially the priest and the high-priest, before they executed their respective offices. (Exod. 30. 20.) Lastly, all who, according to the Mosaic law, were from any cause adjudged impure, were to be purified before they could be admitted into the congregation of the Lord. (Numb. 19. 20.)

In the Mosaic law, those persons are termed unclean whom others were obliged to avoid touching, or even meeting, unless they chose to be themselves defiled, that is, cut off from all intercourse with their brethren, and who, besides, were bound to abstain from frequenting the place where Divine worship and the offering feasts were held, under penalties still more severe.

The duration and degrees of impurity were different. In some instances, by the use of certain ceremonies, an unclean person became purified at sunset; in others, this did not take place until eight days after the physical cause of defilement ceased. Lepers were obliged to live in a detached situation, separate from other people, and to keep themselves actually at a distance from them. They were distinguished by a peculiar dress; and if any person approached, they were bound to give him warning, by crying out, "Unclean! unclean!" Other polluted persons, again, could not directly touch those that were clean, without defiling them in like manner, and were obliged to remain without the camp during the wanderings in the desert, and probably afterwards outside the cities, that they might not be in their way. (Numb. 5. 1-4.) Eleven different species of impurity are enumerated in the Levitical law, to which the later Jews added many others.

The purification of the leper was attended by several ceremonies not employed on other occasions, and which may be briefly noticed. The man who was supposed to have been healed of leprosy first underwent an examination from a priest, beyond the limits of the encampment while the Israelites were in the wilderness, but subsequently without the boundaries of the city. (Levit. 14. 1-7; Matt. 8. 4; Mark 1. 44.) If found perfectly restored, he obtained another man to bring two living birds, (doves or young pigeons,) cedar-wood, scarlet, and hyssop. One of the birds was slain, and the blood received into an earthen vessel, partly filled with water. Into this the priest dipped the other bird alive, the cedar-wood, the scarlet, and hyssop; sprinkled the once leprous man seven times, and let the living bird go free, as a symbol of his liberation from the leprosy. (Levit. 14. 1-7.) This ceremony was likewise observed in the purification of a leprous house. (Levit. 14. 48-53.) See HOUSE.

The subject of these ceremonies having then washed his body and his clothes, and shaved himself, was accounted clean, but was not permitted to enter the encampment or the city until the seventh day from this time. On that day, he shaved off not only the beard and eyebrows, but the hair from every part of the body, washed again his body and his clothes, and was then esteemed perfectly purified. (Levit. 14. 8,9.)

He brought also on the same day two rams of a year old, and a sheep of the same age, into the tabernacle or temple, also the customary quantity of flour overspread with oil, and a measure of oil in addition. The priest then presented the leper and the animals before God. He slew one ram as a trespass offering, and offered the measure of oil to God as a wave offering. He then put some of the blood of the trespass offering on the tip of the right ear of the recovered leper, on the thumb of his right hand, and the great toe of his right foot. He

scattered of the oil, moreover, which was poured out upon his palm, seven times towards the sanctuary; with the finger of his right hand besmeared with it, as he had done before with the blood, the thumb of the leper's right hand, and the great toe of his right foot, and poured the remainder of it upon his head. (Levit. 14. 10-18.) He then slew the sheep for a sin offering, and the other ram for a burnt offering. In case of poverty, two turtle-doves and two young pigeons could be substituted in the place of the sheep and the second ram. (Levit. 14. 19-32; comp. Luke 17. 12-14; Matt. 8. 2-4; Mark 1. 40-44.)

Various legal impurities are enumerated in Leviticus 12. 1-8 and 15, which it is not necessary to detail, nor their modes of purification; to which we may add, that all human corpses, and the carcasses of beasts that died in any other way than by the knife, were regarded as unclean. Whoever touched the former, or went into the tent or apartment (after the Israelites had houses) where a corpse lay, was unclean for seven days; and whoever touched a dead body, or even a human bone, or a grave in the fields, was unclean for the same period. The body of a clean beast, that fell not by the knife, but died in any other way, defiled the person who touched it until the evening, (Levit. 11. 39;) and the carcasses of unclean beasts, by whatever means they died, did the same. (Levit. 5. 2; 11. 8,11,24,25,27,28,31; Deut. 14. 8.) The consequence of this law was, that the carcasses of beasts were not suffered to remain above ground, but were put into the earth, that passengers might not be in danger of pollution from them.

By these wise enactments, the spreading of contagious diseases would be effectually prevented, which, in hot climates, are peculiarly rapid and fatal. For the same reason, also, Michaëlis is of opinion that Moses commanded the Israelites to break earthen vessels, which were liable to be defiled by being left uncovered in a tent or apartment where a person died, or a corpse lay, (Numb. 19. 15,) or by an unclean beast falling into them, (Levit. 11. 33,) or by the touch of a diseased person. (Levit. 15. 12.)

PURIM, FEAST OF. This festival was introduced by Mordecai, to commemorate the deliverance of the Jews from the cruel designs of Haman. It was celebrated on the 14th or 15th day of the last month of the ecclesiastical year, viz., Adar, or March, and was called Purim, a Persian word, which signifies lot, because Haman had ascertained, in this way (by lot), the day on which the Jews were to be destroyed. It was also called Mordecai's day, Mapdoxaiкn nμepa. ἡ Μαρδοχαικη ἡμερα. | (2Macc. 15. 36.)

It is stated by the Talmudists that some of the Jews were opposed to this festival, which arose from a fancied resemblance between it and the heathen festivals of Bacchus. The great body of the nation, however, observed the feast, and made it a period of great rejoicing: the Book of Esther was read in the synagogues on the occasion, and whenever the name of Haman occurred, all clapped their hands, and struck with their fists and with mallets on the benches, and cried out, "Let his memory perish." Anciently the Jews, on the return of this festival, were in the habit of erecting crosses on their houses, from a tradition that Haman was crucified, not hanged, but these having been interdicted, they substituted some other sign in their stead. They still observe this festival in much the same way, and spend the day in the utmost conviviality. See ESTHER, BOOK

OF.

PURITY. Purity implies a fixed habitual abhorrence of all forbidden indulgences of the flesh; and that all past impurities, either of heart or life, will be reflected on with shame and sorrow. It also implies a careful and habitual guard against everything which tends to pollute the mind, whereby the heart will be freed, in a great measure, from impure and irregular desires. To this purport is the injunction of the Apostle to Titus, "Be thou an example in . . . . . purity." (1Tim. 4. 12.)

PURPLE. The colour termed in the Scriptures

aregaman, (Exod. 25. 4,) is to be distinguished from that called techeleth, the violet or blue-purple referred to in Mark 15. 17,20; Luke 16. 19; John 19. 2,5; and Revelation 17. 4.

The aregaman is supposed to be a precious colour, extracted from the Purpura, or Murex, a species of univalve shell-fish abundant on the Phoenician coast; and the same with the famous Tyrian dye, so costly and so much celebrated in antiquity. See CLOTHES.

Among the blessings pronounced by Moses upon the tribes of Israel, those of Zebulun and Issachar are, They shall suck of the abundance of the seas, and of treasures hid in the sand." (Deut. 33. 19.) These "treasures hid in the sand," have given rise to much discussion: some writers have supposed them to be the sand of the river Belus, early used in glass-making, but they are more probably those highly valuable murices and purpura which were found on the sea-coast near the country of Zebulun and Issachar, and of which those tribes partook in common with their heathen neighbours of Tyre.

"It has been usual," says a modern naturalist, "with most authors, to confound together the genera of the murex and purpura, and to use the words as synonimous: but though there is some external resemblance between many of the shells of the two genera, yet they are easily distinguished by this, that the mouth of the purpura is less long, and is less dentated and alated than that of the murex. The body and the head of the shells of this genus are not so elevated as those of the murex kind, and are not covered with points or buttons at the mouth. If a shell is therefore found to have a small, smooth, and round mouth, and a body covered with undulated leaves, as it were, like those of savory or endive, and sometimes with long points, and its tail, whether short or long, be hollowed and somewhat bent, this may be called a purpura, and not a murex.

"On examining the whole family of the purpuræ, we may distinguish four remarkable specific differences among them. The first of these comprehends those purpura which have the body of the shell garnished with a sort of undulated foliage in clouded ridges, and have a short and crooked tail. The second comprehends those which have the body of the shell covered with acute points, and have a long tail. The third comprehends those which have as long a tail as the former, but have a smooth body, or at the utmost have only a few slight protuberances and wrinkles on it. And the fourth takes in those which are small, and have an elevated clavicle, a short crooked tail, and the body of which is covered either with slender spines or hairs.

"The purpura and murex are both fished up in great plenty in the gulf of Tarentum; but the small quantity of the coloured juice which each fish contains, and the necessity of using it before the animal dies, makes it impossible to bring it to any regular article of traffic. The ancients used this colour only on cotton and woollen stuffs; whereas our cochineal, which was unknown to the ancients, strikes equally well on silks and stuffs.

These shells are also found in various parts of the Medi

terranean.

"In the seas of the Spanish West Indies about Nicoya, is found a shell-fish, which perfectly resembles the ancient purpura, and, in all probability, is the very same. They are gathered plentifully in the spring, and, by rubbing one against another, they yield a kind of saliva or thick glair, resembling soft wax: but the purple dye is in the throat of the fish, and the finest part is lodged in a little white vein; the rest of the body is of no use. There are also found upon the coasts of the South Sea, in the province of Guayaquil, certain sea-snails, as Ulloa calls them, sticking to the stones, and covered by the sea at high water, about the size of small nuts, which contain a liquor or juice that has the true colour of purple. The colour is very bright, and so durable, that washing rather increases than diminishes its lustre, nor does it fade or decay by use and wearing. Woven stuffs are not dyed with it, but only cotton threads. As soon as a sufficient quantity of the liquor is squeezed from the fish, the cotton thread is drawn through it, and it takes and retains the tincture without any farther trouble; but the purple colour is not discovered till the thread is dry, the juice being of a milky colour at first, but it soon changes into green, and at last settles in a purple.

"The purpura lives on other fish. It usually hides itself at a small depth in the sand, sometimes even in fresh-water rivers, and as it lies hid, it thrusts up a pointed tongue, whichs wounds and kills anything that comes over it."

Various kinds of shell-fish yielding colouring matter are found on the shores of the British islands, and of France, more particularly in Poitou, but they have not been turned to any economical purpose.

In reference to the purple vestment, (Luke 16. 19,) it may be observed, that this was not in the time of Our Lord exclusively a regal colour, as it became afterwards from the usage of the Roman emperors. In the earlier times it was the dress of any person of high rank, and in the parable it is figuratively mentioned as the apparel of a rich man; thus courtiers are styled by the old classical historians, purpurati. Lydia of Thyatira, one of the converts of St. Paul, was a "seller of purple," (Acts 16. 14,) that is, of robes dyed of a purple colour.

PURSE. The word D' kis, (Prov. 1. 14,) signifies a bag for money or weights, which formerly, as well as at present, in the East, was usually carried in the girdle. See Girdle.

PUTEOLI, HOTOλot, a city of Campania, in Italy, about eight miles west of Naples, and more than a hundred south of Rome. It was originally called Dicæarchia, and afterwards Puteoli, from the great number of wells (putei) in the neighbourhood. It is now called Puzzoli, or Pozzuolo, is a very inconsiderable place, and extremely unhealthy; it retains, however, the remains of an amphitheatre, and of a temple of Jupiter, which attest its ancient splendour. The neighbouring country has been from the earliest ages the scene of vehement volcanic action, and it, though in some parts exuberantly fertile, has generally a repulsive aspect, strewed with half-calcined fragments of rock, and abounding in hot springs, and clefts in the earth whence issue unceasingly flame and mephitic exhalations.

Puteoli was a favourite place of resort for the Romans, on account of the adjacent mineral waters and its hot baths; and its harbour was defended by a celebrated mole, the remains of which are still to be seen. It stood on a creek near and just opposite to Baiæ, and was the place where the ships from Egypt and the East

usually touched and landed their cargoes; as well, perhaps, to avoid the necessity of doubling the formidable promontory of Circeium, as because no other commodious port existed nearer to Rome. Puteoli was noted for its numerous hot springs, celebrated for the cure of various diseases. Baiæ, on the other side of the creek, is frequently mentioned by the Latin writers as the resort of the emperors and wealthy Romans, for relaxation or health. Baie was the Bath of Italy, and Puteoli partook of its prosperity, being, in fact, connected with it on one side by a continuation of country seats, as Misenum was on the other; and the district which comprehended the three places, thus connected, was popularly regarded as a little Rome. Puteoli was well known to the Jews, from their being accustomed to land and embark there in their journeys to and from Rome. St. Paul landed and abode here seven days, by the favour of the centurion, on his first journey to Rome. (Acts 28. 13.) It appears, from Acts 28. 11, that Puteoli was the destination of the vessel from Alexandria: and we learn from the independent testimony of the

PYGARG, i dishon, (Deut. 14. 5;) Sept. πυγαργος. The animal styled pygarg, one of those allowed for food to the Hebrews, is in the margin of our version suggested to be the bison, but it is more probably a kind of gazelle, or antelope; perhaps the one to which Dr. Shaw alludes when he observes, "Besides the common gazelle, or antelope, (which is well known in Europe,) this country likewise produces another species, of the same shape and colour, though of the bigness of our roebuck, and with horns sometimes two feet long."

PYRAMIDS. Pyramids are found in various parts of the world, as in India, Babylonia, and Mexico, but these are exceeded both in vastness and in renown by the stupendous masses of masonry ordinarily known as the Pyramids of Egypt. These latter, though not mentioned in the Scriptures, are with some probability

country; some writers, indeed, have ascribed their building to them, but it is now believed that if they were so employed, it was only upon some of the brick pyramids of Lower Egypt.

The general aspect and the position of these giant piles have been already noticed under the article EGYPT, where it was stated that the largest and most important are the Pyramids of Gizeh. These are three in number, of vast size, having several other smaller ones immediately adjoining them.

The third pyramid of Gizeh, that of Mycerinus, has three smaller pyramids ranged along its south face, and the Great Pyramid has six, and three of a larger size, but much decayed, on its eastern face. Besides these, an extensive region of tombs, arranged in streets crossing each other, and occupying the same shape and extent of ground as the base of the pyramid of Cheops, are found along its western side. The second pyramid has a line of chambers cut in the rock, and on its eastern side are the ruins of a temple. The third has a similar temple and avenue; and, indeed, the eastern face of the Great Pyramid has traces, though more indistinct, of a similar

structure; but the second temple, that of Cephrenes, is distinguished by having the Sphinx ranged in front of the centre of its eastern face, bearing all the marks of having been connected with it by communications cut through the rock underground. Between the paws of the Sphinx a perfect temple was discovered, a few years ago, by Belzoni, on clearing away the sand by which it had been choked up for ages.

The dimensions of the three pyramids are rather variously stated, but the following figures are given upon good authorities.

Base Height

Cheops. Cephrenes. 763ft. 684ft.

456* 51°

456 52.59

Mycerinus. 330ft.

174

45°

Angle of inclination The names of the founders of the pyramids, and the age of their foundation, are altogether conjectural, except that we know that they were regarded as monuments of antiquity two thousand five hundred years ago. The ancients knew little of their internal structure. Herodotus (445 B.C.) merely speaks of an entrance leading to the interior of the Great Pyramid, by hearsay from the priests, who informed him that there were secret vaults beneath, hewn out the natural rock. Strabo, who lived • When perfect, probably 479 feet.

after the Christian era, only describes a single slanting passage, which led to a chamber in which was a stone tomb. Diodorus Siculus (44 B.C.) agrees with this; and Pliny (A.D. 66) adds that there was a well in the Great Pyramid, eighty cubits deep. This is all the ancients have said about the interior.

The Egyptian priests, indeed, assured Aristides, a Greek traveller about two centuries before Christ, that "the excavations beneath were as great as the height above;" and Ebn Abd Alhokim, an Arabic writer of the ninth century, says, that the builders "constructed numerous excavated chambers, with gates to them, forty cubits under ground." Other Arabian writers say that these chambers contain chests of black stone, in which were deposited the sacred archives of King Samiel, who built the pyramid. Many discoveries (perhaps a burialplace under ground) obviously remain to be made.

The same Arab historian, Alhokim, gives the following account of the opening of the great pyramid under the Caliphate, from which time it has remained in the condition seen and described by all modern travellers, to the time of the Italian traveller, Caviglia, who made a discovery of a new chamber and passages, about twenty years ago:

"After that Almamon the Caliph (A.D. 820,) en