Al-Dimashqi's Medieval Account of the Pyramids and Temples of Egypt

As most readers know, I have collected what is probably the most voluminous compendium of medieval myths about the pyramids of Egypt available in English. There are a few texts, however, that even I had not yet read and translated. One of them belonged to the Syrian cosmographer al-Dimashqui, who died in 1327. His Cosmography is quite similar to the Akhbar al-zaman, though tending toward the geographical rather than the historical, and with much less interest in Egypt. Nevertheless, it contains an interesting section on the pyramids of Giza that is clearly a derivative of the earlier pyramid stories known from the Akhbar on down.

I hadn’t looked into this before because al-Suyuti, the Ottoman-era historian, included large chunks of al-Dimashqi’s text verbatim in his own treatise on the pyramids, albeit without identifying the source, and I assumed from the translator’s notes to al-Suyuti that there was little reason to read the original. The two versions are manifestly derived from the same source, but al-Suyuti was apparently only an indifferent copyist of this passage, interpolating material not found in the original and omitting points he considered irrelevant. Comparing the two versions, however, offers us an object lesson in the dangers of trusting that material has been faithfully preserved unchanged across the centuries.
 
My translation of al-Dimashqi (from the French edition) is at left (or first, if you are reading this on a mobile device), with al-Suyuti as translated by Leon Nemoy at right (or below). I have broken up the text a bit to make it easier to read.

al-Dimashqi

According to historians, they (the pyramids) were raised before the Flood by Sahlūq ibn Shiryāq or by Hermes Trismegistus who is identical with Idris, called in Hebrew Enoch. Hermes, after having foreseen by the stars the arrival of the Deluge, ordered them to be raised and to enclose therein the manuscripts and the treasures which they feared to lose on this occasion. Each of its pyramids has a quadrangular base with a conical shape; its perpendicular height rises to 317 cubits, forming four planes with equal sides, each of which is 460 cubits; but, in spite of this height, they have such solidity, durability, and such good proportions that they have experienced no alteration either by rainwater or by earthquakes. Between the stones there is no cement, but one would believe that a white canvas has been spread tight over the stones, since there is not even the distance of a hair separating them. The length of each stone is five cubits with a width of two cubits. It is said that the architect constructed vaults, one atop the other. They have doors built of stone in the same style as the rest; the length of each vault is twenty cubits. Each door is of a stone that turns on hinges; when it is closed, one cannot even tell that there is an opening. There is a vault to the south, one to the east, and one to the west, and each door leads to seven chambers, dedicated to the seven planets and closed by bolts. In front of each of these apartments, there is an idol hollowed out of gold, holding his hand in his mouth; on his forehead he bears a Himyarite inscription; when one reads it aloud, he opens his mouth, and therein is the key to the lock.
 
The Copts claim that these two pyramids and the little ones are tombs; the eastern pyramid contains the tomb of King Soweid [Sūrīd], the western one of his brother Herdjlb, and the colored pyramid that of Afroûbin b. Herdjlb). According to the opinion of the Sabeans, one of these pyramids is the tomb of Agathodaemon, identical with the prophet Seth, and the other is that of Hermes or Idris the prophet, whom we have previously mentioned; the colored pyramid belongs to Sāb b. Hermes who gave the name to the Sabeans. They make pilgrimages (here) and immolate a rooster, by whose convulsions at the moment of immolation they claim to know that which is hidden about the future.
 
The intentions of the kings to reveal the contents of these two pyramids remained frustrated until the time of the Caliph Ma’mūn who, after arriving in Egypt, ordered one opened. He succeeded only after a great effort. He found success by conducting the search at a point that immediately led him to the goal he sought. The passageway led him to a square apartment, in the middle of which was a basin clad in marble. After removing the lid, nothing was found within except for rotten bones many centuries old. Then Ma’mūn gave the order to stop the excavations. Would to God that he had commanded the opening of the two pyramids or the other three small ones, so that the secret was made visible to him and to everyone. A scholar, looking at the pyramids says these words: “For every building, I fear the ravages of time, but as for this monument, I fear for time.”

al-Suyuti

​Others say that it was HERMES, he of the triple wisdom, called by the JEWS ENOCH, and the same person as the blessed IDRĪS, who deduced from the position of the stars that the Deluge was about to come, and gave orders for the building of the Pyramids and the deposition in them of treasures, books on the sciences, and other valuables which, one might fear, would perish and disappear. Each of the Pyramids has a square foundation and is of gradually tapering shape. Its height vertically is three hundred and seventeen cubits. It is enclosed by four surfaces forming equilateral triangles, each side being four hundred and sixty cubits long. It goes up (into the air) until it (reaches its summit which) is six cubits by six. It is said that on its summit there was (loosely) placed a (round) ​stone shaped like a ball of thread, and although fierce winds continuously pounded at it, yet it was arranged with such superb skill of workmanship, such perfect symmetry, and such fine care, that down to the present time it has never moved, in spite of the fierceness of the winds, the downpours from the clouds, and the shocks of earthquakes. They are so constructed that the layers of cement between the stones (are so excellent in quality that they) look like white cloaks spread (flat) between stones, or (white) sheets (of paper); (the stones are so firmly joined together that) there is not enough of a gap between them to hold a hair. Each of their stones is five cubits by two, and it is said that the builder had made for each of the two Pyramids several doors, built over underground vaults made of stone; the length of each vault is twenty cubits, and each door is made of a single stone revolving upon a hinge in such a way that when the door is shut one would not notice that it was there. Each door leads to seven chambers, and each chamber bears the name of a star and is locked with locks. Before each chamber stands a concave idol of gold with one of his hands upon his mouth and with a Himyaritic inscription upon his forehead. When the inscription is read (aloud) his mouth opens and in it is found a key wherewith the lock may be opened.
 
​The Copts say that both the great Pyramids and the colored one are tombs, the Eastern one being the tomb of king SAWRĪD, the Western one that of his brother HARJĪB, and the colored one that of IFRABIYŪN son of HARJĪB. The Sabians, however, say that one of the great Pyramids is the tomb of SETH, the other one the tomb of HERMES, and the colored one the tomb of ṢĀB, son of HERMES, after whom the Sabians are named. They make pilgrimages to the latter Pyramid, sacrifice cocks and black calves, and burn incense before it.
 
When AL-MA’MŪN opened the Pyramid, he struck a narrow shaft, made of black quartz (so hard) that iron (tools) could not work it, between two railings running along the wall. Hollows were chiseled out in the (railings of the) shaft, so that the visitor might take hold of these hollows and enable himself to walk down the shaft without sliding. In the lower part of the shaft is a large and deep well, and they say that at the bottom of the well are doors leading to many places, (such as) chambers, closets, and other wonderful places. At the end of the shaft AL-MA’MŪN’s men found a square place in the center of which was a covered basin of granite; whenever they lifted up its lid they found nothing but worn out pieces of rope.

Nemoy noted that al-Suyuti’s description of the surface of the pyramid was corrupt, and you can see that the original preserves a clearer meaning, but also one that shows how the corruption completely changes the sense of the text. In the original, the meaning is that the pyramids’ smooth stones are held together without mortar and appeared like a seamless cloth. In the latter, the cement is not only present but said to be spread as thinly as a tablecloth! There’s also more than a little difference between Khufu’s sarcophagus being filled with rope or bones.
 
It’s another good reason not to trust secondary sources.
 
But more interesting to me is something that al-Dimashqui doesn’t say in a part that al-Suyuti does not quote. Only a few paragraphs later, he describes the fabulous temple of Akhmim (Panopolis), which Islamic tradition—following that of the Christian Hermetic philosophers—claimed had been built by Hermes Trismegistus before the Flood to preserve all knowledge. Listen to this: 

Among the most famous of all these temples is that of Akhmim, built of white stone and marble, each block measuring five cubits high and two cubits wide; it comprises seven rooms each dedicated to one of the seven planets, and covered with inscribed stones, painted with azure, of a color so fresh that one would say that the workmen had just finished it. The walls of these rooms are covered with all kinds of figures representing the mysteries of Coptic science: magic, medicine, chemistry, all the branches of astronomy and the cult of the stars.

Did you catch the important part? He claims that the temple of Akhmim is built of the same stones as the Great Pyramid, and that the temple contains the same layout as the underground chambers beneath the pyramid. Given the essential conservatism of Islamic historiography, this can’t be a coincidence. Instead, it appears to be another piece of evidence that the myth of the pyramid as a repository of ancient wisdom—still believed by modern fringe history writers—originated in the transfer of an earlier legend associated with the temples of Egypt, particularly the Hermetic story of the temple at Akhmim, a key center of Hermetic and alchemical mysticism in Late Antiquity. That would be why al-Mas’udi, writing in the 900s, attributed the story of the prophecy before the Flood and the preservation of knowledge to the temples rather than the pyramids, and why Abu Ma’shar, writing in the 800s, told the story of Hermes at the temple in Akhmim. Here, at a surprisingly late date, we see al-Dimashqi preserving part of a conflated story, probably without realizing it.