In addition to the pyramid myths and legends recorded by Al-Maqrizi around 1400 CE, which I have translated and published on a separate page, medieval European and Islamic authors recorded many legends, myths, and fabulous claims about the pyramids of Egypt, developed in a time when the true history of Egypt had been forgotten and was thus replaced with material drawn from the Bible, the Qur'an, and Jewish and Arabian legends. These are some of those claims.
Julius Honorius, Cosmographia (c. 500 CE +/- 50 years)
From the place of the pyramids, which are called the “storehouses of Joseph,” and the palace of the king Thetharcus,* that is to say Pharaoh, is 212 miles.
* The word is corrupt. A variant reads Tepsus. Possibly Cheops or Taharqa was meant.
Translated by Jason Colavito from Riese, Geographi latini minores, p. 51.
* The word is corrupt. A variant reads Tepsus. Possibly Cheops or Taharqa was meant.
Translated by Jason Colavito from Riese, Geographi latini minores, p. 51.
Stephanus of Byzantium, Ethnica p. 540.14 (c. 530 CE)
Pyramids, a building in Egypt. … They were called pyramids from the corn (πυρός), which the king collected there, thus creating a lack of food in Egypt.
Translated by Francesca Schironi in From Alexandria to Babylon (2009).
Translated by Francesca Schironi in From Alexandria to Babylon (2009).
Pseudo-Nonnus, Commentary on Gregory of Nanzianus, Oration on Basil the Great 43 (6th century CE)
The Pyramids, also, built in a great undertaking in Egypt, are worthy of wonder. The Christians say these are the storehouses of Joseph, whereas the heathen say, among them Herodotus, that they are the tombs of certain kings.
Translated by Jason Colavito.
Translated by Jason Colavito.
Antoninus of Piacenza, Itinerary 43 (570s CE)
Near the cataract upon either bank of the Nile are two cities, which the daughters of Lot are said to have built: one of them is named Babylonia. Then we came through the plains of Tanis, to the city of Memphis, and to Antinoe, where Pharaoh lived, from which cities the children of Israel went out. At these places are the granaries of Joseph, twelve in number, full of wheat.
Translated by Aubrey Stewart.
Translated by Aubrey Stewart.
Gregory of Tours, History of the Franks 1.10 (c. 594 CE)
The Nile flows through Egypt, as you very well know, and waters it by its flood, from which the inhabitants of Egypt are named Nilicolæ. And many travelers say its shores are filled at the present time with holy monasteries. And on its bank is situated, not the Babylonia of which we spoke above, but the city of Babylonia in which Joseph built wonderful granaries of squared stone and rubble. They are wide at the base and narrow at the top in order that the wheat might be cast into them through a tiny opening, and these granaries are to be seen at the present day. From this city the king set out in pursuit of the Hebrews with armies of chariots and a great infantry force.
Translated by Earnest Brehaut in 1916.
Translated by Earnest Brehaut in 1916.
The pyramids as Joseph's granaries. Mosaic at St. Mark's Cathedral, Venice (1200s CE), modeled on an illustration in the 5th century Cotton Genesis.
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Dicuil, Liber de Mensua Orbis Terrae 6.13 (c. 825 CE)After sailing on the Nile for a long time, they (the monk Fidelis and his companions) saw, looking like mountains, which they admired from a distance, the seven storehouses that Holy Joseph had built for the number of the seven years of abundance, four in one place and three in another.
Translated by Jason Colavito. |
Abu Maʿshar al-Balkhi, The Thousands (c. 840-860 CE) (lost)
Preserved in Ibn Juljul, Tabaqat al-atibbaʾ 5-10 (987 CE)
Abu Ma‘shar al-Balhi, the astrologer, said in the Book of Thousands: “There are three Hermeses. The first of these was the Hermes who lived before the Flood. The name ‘Hermes’ is a title like that of Caesar or Khusrau. The Persians name him Wiwanghan (i.e. Awanjhan), which is to say ‘the Just,’ in their accounts of the lives of the kings. The Harranians hold to his philosophy. They (the Persians) state that his father’s father was Gayumart, which is to say Adam. The Hebrews say that he is the same as Enoch, which is to say in Arabic, Idris.” Abu Ma‘shar said, “This Hermes was the first to ponder celestial events and the movement of the stars, and his grandfather Gayumart taught him to discern the hours of day and night. He was the first to build temples to exalt God therein. He was also the first to study and discuss medicine, and he wrote well-measured poems for his contemporaries about things terrestrial and celestial. It is also said that he was the first to predict the Flood and anticipate that a celestial cataclysm would befall the earth in the form of fire or water. He made his residence in Upper Egypt, and chose it to build pyramids and cities of clay. Fearing the destruction of knowledge and the disappearance of the arts in the Flood, he built the great temples; one is a veritable mountain called the Temple in Akhmim, in which he carved representations of the arts and instruments, including engraved explanations of science, in order to pass them on to those who would come after him, lest he see them disappear from the world.”
Translation by Jason Colavito.
Preserved in Murtada ibn al-‘Afif, The History of Egypt (before 1237 CE)
Abu Ma‘shar the astrologer, in his Book of Thousands, says that the reason for the building of the Pyramids was the dream which Surid ibn Sahluq saw. He confirms it in his Book of Miraculous Dreams, where he adds that he sent for the priests and soothsayers of his time, and the astrologers, and related to them what he had seen of the descent of the Moon upon Earth in the form of a woman; of the overturning of the Earth with its inhabitants, and of the total eclipse of the Sun; and the dream he had after that: and that the Priests declared to him the coming of the Deluge, whereof mention is made in the Book of the Annals…
Translation by J. Davies (adapted)
Abu Ma‘shar al-Balhi, the astrologer, said in the Book of Thousands: “There are three Hermeses. The first of these was the Hermes who lived before the Flood. The name ‘Hermes’ is a title like that of Caesar or Khusrau. The Persians name him Wiwanghan (i.e. Awanjhan), which is to say ‘the Just,’ in their accounts of the lives of the kings. The Harranians hold to his philosophy. They (the Persians) state that his father’s father was Gayumart, which is to say Adam. The Hebrews say that he is the same as Enoch, which is to say in Arabic, Idris.” Abu Ma‘shar said, “This Hermes was the first to ponder celestial events and the movement of the stars, and his grandfather Gayumart taught him to discern the hours of day and night. He was the first to build temples to exalt God therein. He was also the first to study and discuss medicine, and he wrote well-measured poems for his contemporaries about things terrestrial and celestial. It is also said that he was the first to predict the Flood and anticipate that a celestial cataclysm would befall the earth in the form of fire or water. He made his residence in Upper Egypt, and chose it to build pyramids and cities of clay. Fearing the destruction of knowledge and the disappearance of the arts in the Flood, he built the great temples; one is a veritable mountain called the Temple in Akhmim, in which he carved representations of the arts and instruments, including engraved explanations of science, in order to pass them on to those who would come after him, lest he see them disappear from the world.”
Translation by Jason Colavito.
Preserved in Murtada ibn al-‘Afif, The History of Egypt (before 1237 CE)
Abu Ma‘shar the astrologer, in his Book of Thousands, says that the reason for the building of the Pyramids was the dream which Surid ibn Sahluq saw. He confirms it in his Book of Miraculous Dreams, where he adds that he sent for the priests and soothsayers of his time, and the astrologers, and related to them what he had seen of the descent of the Moon upon Earth in the form of a woman; of the overturning of the Earth with its inhabitants, and of the total eclipse of the Sun; and the dream he had after that: and that the Priests declared to him the coming of the Deluge, whereof mention is made in the Book of the Annals…
Translation by J. Davies (adapted)
Ibn Khuradadhbeh, Kitāb al-masālik wa’l-mamālik (c. 846-847 CE)
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As related in the surviving abridgment:
The pyramids of Egypt are constructed of granite and marble; their height is 400 cubits; it is also the measure of their length and width. All kinds of medical formulae and wonderful talismans are engraved on them. On one we also read: “Let the king who claims to be powerful try to destroy them, although it is easier to destroy than to build. And, indeed, the income of the whole world would not be enough for this work of destruction…..” Translated by Jason Colavito from the French edition of Charles Barbier de Meynard |
Quoted by Al-Maqrizi in his Al-Khitat from the original:
Both Egyptian pyramids each have a width of 400 cubits, and the more they rise, the more their width shrinks. Both are made of alabaster and marble, and their height is 400 cubits by 400 cubits wide. On their faces texts about the art of magic and all the wonderful secrets of medicine were etched by hand. There is also this entry: “I am the one who built these. Let him who proclaims himself a powerful king destroy them, for to destroy is easier than to build!” An estimate of the expenditure required for this work has been established, and it has been recognized that the income of the whole world would not be enough. Translated by Jason Colavito from the French edition of U. Bouriant |
Ibn Wahshiyya, Kitab Shawq al-Mustaham (Ancient Alphabets) 4.12 (c. 863-930 CE)
The alphabet of Hermes Abootat the philosopher. He wrote on the noble art (of philosophical secrets.) He constructed in upper Egypt treasure chambers, and set up stones containing magic inscriptions, which he locked, and guarded by the charm of this alphabet, extracted from the regions of darkness.
Translated by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall. Note: This text is of uncertain authenticity, and a case has been made that it is a seventeenth century forgery based on the work of Athanasius Kircher.
Translated by Joseph von Hammer-Purgstall. Note: This text is of uncertain authenticity, and a case has been made that it is a seventeenth century forgery based on the work of Athanasius Kircher.
Al-Mas’udi, Meadows of Gold (c. 947-956 CE)
Chapter 31
...On the question of the construction of the pyramids: “They were,” he (the Copt) continued, “the tombs of the kings. When one of their kings died, his body was placed in a stone basin similar to what is called a djarun in Egypt and Syria; this they sealed with a lid, and they started to construct the pyramid from the base up to a certain height. The sarcophagus was deposited at the center of the building, and they continued to raise the vault up to the height you see. A door was placed under the pyramids, and it was entered through an underground corridor surmounted by a vault, which could have a length of a hundred cubits or more. Each pyramid had a door and a similar entryway.” But, he was asked, how were the pyramids built? How could the workers climb up and work on them? Using what equipment could they lift these huge stones, one of which can now be raised only with incredible effort, if it is even possible? The Copt replied: “They built the pyramids by stacking layers in degrees, like a staircase; then they polished them, scraping them from top to bottom. This was the process of a people who combined strength and admirable patience with a religious respect for their kings.” When asked why the inscriptions that cover the pyramids and temples are indecipherable, he replied, “The scholars and those who used this writing are all gone, and when Egypt was occupied in turn by foreign peoples, the alphabet and writing of the Greeks prevailed. The Copts, as they became more familiar with this writing, employed it and combined the letters with those of their own alphabet; from their contact with the Greeks emerged writing which had elements of both Greek and old Coptic, and thus they lost knowledge of the writing of their ancestors.”
[...]
The ancients, like the moderns, have spoken of the secret properties and enchantments of Egypt. The tradition related to the old queen is widespread in the country, and no one disputes it. The barabi of the Said, and the other provinces, still exist, there are various figures which, when represented on certain objects, exercise the influences fixed and determined by the Egyptians, according to their knowledge of the general laws of nature. God knows the truth better.
When I was in Ikhmim, in Upper Egypt, several people gave me the following information from Abu'l-Faïd Dū ‘l-Nūn al-Misri al-Ikhmimi, surnamed the Ascetic. He was a scholar who had laid down rules of conduct, and professed a particular religion. Very curious to know the history of the temples, he often visited them, and studied a great number of their images and inscriptions. Here is what he said: “I found in a temple an inscription which I have deciphered; it says: ‘Beware of freed slaves, of the ardor of young men, of an army composed of the indentured, and of the Nabataeans who have become Arabs.’ In another temple, I read: ‘Those whose destiny is fixed think themselves masters of their decisions, but fate laughs (at our hopes).’” He asserted that he had seen an inscription written elsewhere in the same ancient characters, and he affirmed that after studying it, he had read:
“[If one] examines the stars but knows nothing; [then] many stars do what they please.”
The people who built these temples had a taste for astrology, and they persistently probed the secrets of nature. They had learned from the study of the stars that a catastrophe threatened the land; but they were uncertain whether the world was to perish by fire, by a deluge, or if the sword were to exterminate its inhabitants. In fear lest the sciences should be annihilated with the people, they constructed these berabi (singular, berba) and disgorged their knowledge into the figures, the images, and the inscriptions which adorned them. They built them either of stone or of earth, separating these two kinds of constructions. If the foretold catastrophe, they said, is of fire, the edifices built of earth and clay will harden like stone, and our sciences will be preserved. If, on the contrary, it is a deluge, the water will carry away that which is built out of earth, but the stone will subsist. In the case of destruction by the saber, these two kinds of buildings will remain standing. According to the above, these temples were built before the Deluge. Others give them a more recent date. As to the catastrophe which the Egyptians predicted, the one they didn’t know whether it was fire, water, or sword, it is believed to have been a foreign invasion, and a king occupied Egypt and put to death all the inhabitants by the sword. According to other reports, it was an epidemic that depopulated the country. In support of this opinion we are shown mounds in the district of Tanis, which is called Abu’l Kūm, where corpses of every age and sex are crammed together, and form a high mountain. There are also in the province of Misr and in the Said, bodies piled up one upon another, in the depths of caves, ponds, tombs, and in other places, without knowing to which race they belong, for neither Christians nor Jews recognize them as their ancestors; The Muslims do not know who they are, and history tells us nothing about them. These bodies are clothed, and the ornaments which adorn them are often taken from the neighboring hills and from the mountains.
The temples of Egypt are still standing and are very curious edifices; the Berba found in the province of Ansina (Antinoe), are among the most celebrated in Egypt, the Berba of Ikhmim, that of Semennūd, &c. The pyramids are very high, and of remarkable construction: their surface displays all sorts of inscriptions, written in the characters of the ancient nations, and of kingdoms which no longer exist. No one knows what this writing is or what it means. Those who have studied the dimensions of the pyramids estimate their height at four hundred cubits, or more, as those who have ascended it have observed; their width (at the base) roughly equals this number. Their inscriptions are related to the sciences, to the properties of bodies, to magic, and to the secrets of nature. It is said that one of the inscriptions means this: “We are the ones who built the pyramids. Let him who wishes to equal our authority, to obtain our power, and to overthrow our throne, knock down these edifices, and efface all traces of them, though it is easier to break down than to build, and to disperse materials than to unite them.” It is said that a Muslim king began the demolition of one of these pyramids, but that he spent the income of Egypt and of other countries without being able to tear away the blocks of stone and marble that served to build them.
Chapter 64
The temples whose origins go back to the ancient Greeks are three in number. [...] The second temple, in Greek antiquity, was one of the pyramids of Egypt, within sight of Fustat, from which it is separated by only a few miles.
Translated by Jason Colavito
...On the question of the construction of the pyramids: “They were,” he (the Copt) continued, “the tombs of the kings. When one of their kings died, his body was placed in a stone basin similar to what is called a djarun in Egypt and Syria; this they sealed with a lid, and they started to construct the pyramid from the base up to a certain height. The sarcophagus was deposited at the center of the building, and they continued to raise the vault up to the height you see. A door was placed under the pyramids, and it was entered through an underground corridor surmounted by a vault, which could have a length of a hundred cubits or more. Each pyramid had a door and a similar entryway.” But, he was asked, how were the pyramids built? How could the workers climb up and work on them? Using what equipment could they lift these huge stones, one of which can now be raised only with incredible effort, if it is even possible? The Copt replied: “They built the pyramids by stacking layers in degrees, like a staircase; then they polished them, scraping them from top to bottom. This was the process of a people who combined strength and admirable patience with a religious respect for their kings.” When asked why the inscriptions that cover the pyramids and temples are indecipherable, he replied, “The scholars and those who used this writing are all gone, and when Egypt was occupied in turn by foreign peoples, the alphabet and writing of the Greeks prevailed. The Copts, as they became more familiar with this writing, employed it and combined the letters with those of their own alphabet; from their contact with the Greeks emerged writing which had elements of both Greek and old Coptic, and thus they lost knowledge of the writing of their ancestors.”
[...]
The ancients, like the moderns, have spoken of the secret properties and enchantments of Egypt. The tradition related to the old queen is widespread in the country, and no one disputes it. The barabi of the Said, and the other provinces, still exist, there are various figures which, when represented on certain objects, exercise the influences fixed and determined by the Egyptians, according to their knowledge of the general laws of nature. God knows the truth better.
When I was in Ikhmim, in Upper Egypt, several people gave me the following information from Abu'l-Faïd Dū ‘l-Nūn al-Misri al-Ikhmimi, surnamed the Ascetic. He was a scholar who had laid down rules of conduct, and professed a particular religion. Very curious to know the history of the temples, he often visited them, and studied a great number of their images and inscriptions. Here is what he said: “I found in a temple an inscription which I have deciphered; it says: ‘Beware of freed slaves, of the ardor of young men, of an army composed of the indentured, and of the Nabataeans who have become Arabs.’ In another temple, I read: ‘Those whose destiny is fixed think themselves masters of their decisions, but fate laughs (at our hopes).’” He asserted that he had seen an inscription written elsewhere in the same ancient characters, and he affirmed that after studying it, he had read:
“[If one] examines the stars but knows nothing; [then] many stars do what they please.”
The people who built these temples had a taste for astrology, and they persistently probed the secrets of nature. They had learned from the study of the stars that a catastrophe threatened the land; but they were uncertain whether the world was to perish by fire, by a deluge, or if the sword were to exterminate its inhabitants. In fear lest the sciences should be annihilated with the people, they constructed these berabi (singular, berba) and disgorged their knowledge into the figures, the images, and the inscriptions which adorned them. They built them either of stone or of earth, separating these two kinds of constructions. If the foretold catastrophe, they said, is of fire, the edifices built of earth and clay will harden like stone, and our sciences will be preserved. If, on the contrary, it is a deluge, the water will carry away that which is built out of earth, but the stone will subsist. In the case of destruction by the saber, these two kinds of buildings will remain standing. According to the above, these temples were built before the Deluge. Others give them a more recent date. As to the catastrophe which the Egyptians predicted, the one they didn’t know whether it was fire, water, or sword, it is believed to have been a foreign invasion, and a king occupied Egypt and put to death all the inhabitants by the sword. According to other reports, it was an epidemic that depopulated the country. In support of this opinion we are shown mounds in the district of Tanis, which is called Abu’l Kūm, where corpses of every age and sex are crammed together, and form a high mountain. There are also in the province of Misr and in the Said, bodies piled up one upon another, in the depths of caves, ponds, tombs, and in other places, without knowing to which race they belong, for neither Christians nor Jews recognize them as their ancestors; The Muslims do not know who they are, and history tells us nothing about them. These bodies are clothed, and the ornaments which adorn them are often taken from the neighboring hills and from the mountains.
The temples of Egypt are still standing and are very curious edifices; the Berba found in the province of Ansina (Antinoe), are among the most celebrated in Egypt, the Berba of Ikhmim, that of Semennūd, &c. The pyramids are very high, and of remarkable construction: their surface displays all sorts of inscriptions, written in the characters of the ancient nations, and of kingdoms which no longer exist. No one knows what this writing is or what it means. Those who have studied the dimensions of the pyramids estimate their height at four hundred cubits, or more, as those who have ascended it have observed; their width (at the base) roughly equals this number. Their inscriptions are related to the sciences, to the properties of bodies, to magic, and to the secrets of nature. It is said that one of the inscriptions means this: “We are the ones who built the pyramids. Let him who wishes to equal our authority, to obtain our power, and to overthrow our throne, knock down these edifices, and efface all traces of them, though it is easier to break down than to build, and to disperse materials than to unite them.” It is said that a Muslim king began the demolition of one of these pyramids, but that he spent the income of Egypt and of other countries without being able to tear away the blocks of stone and marble that served to build them.
Chapter 64
The temples whose origins go back to the ancient Greeks are three in number. [...] The second temple, in Greek antiquity, was one of the pyramids of Egypt, within sight of Fustat, from which it is separated by only a few miles.
Translated by Jason Colavito
Al-Istakhri, Routes and Provinces (before 957 CE)
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William Ouseley manuscript.
Of the buildings at Fustat, on the bank of the Nile, all that are above the city are called Said, and all that are below the city are called Zeif. At the distance of two farsang from Fustat, there are some ancient structures, called al-Ahram (pyramids); of which two are very lofty piles, and called al-Haramin: these are each, in height, four hundred arms: And on the walls thereof are inscriptions written in the Greek language; and this writing is said to signify, “the building of al-Haramin and al-Nasir tair (the Swooping Vulture) in the sign Cancer.” These edifices are quadrangular, and gradually diminish towards the summits, which are about large enough for a camel to stand on; within them there are passages in which a man cannot go without some difficulty. And in al-Haramin is a cleft, or excavation, under the ground, supposed to have been, with some appearance of probability, the burial-place of the ancient sovereigns of this country. Translated by William Ouseley (adapted) |
A. D. Mordtmann German edition.
In the area of Fustat, there are large buildings located to the right of the Nile, of which none are larger across the entirety of Upper Egypt. These large buildings lie opposite Fustat at a distance of two parasangs; the largest are the two pyramids. From the base they gradually decrease to the summit, where a camel can kneel; they are furnished with Greek inscriptions. Inside there are passageways where you can climb up to the summit; there is also a passage dug inside the earth in both pyramids. I have learned that the pyramids are probably the graves of the ancient kings of this country. Translated by Jason Colavito |
Ibn al-Nadīm, Fihrist 10 (998 CE)
...It is related that for various reasons, he [Hermes] migrated to the land of Egypt, which he ruled [as king]. He had many children, among whom were Tat, Sa, Ashmun, Athrib, and Qift. He was, moreover, the wise man of his time. When he died he was buried in the building which is known in the city of Misr as Abu Hermes. The common people of Egypt know it as al-Haramayn (the Two Pyramids). One of them is his tomb while the other is the tomb of his wife, or it is said the tomb of his son, who succeeded him after his death.
In a book which fell to my lot [...] I read "[...] In Egypt there are buildings called the barabi made of large stones of excessive size. The barabi are structures of different types, in which there are places for grinding and pulverizing, dissolving, congealing, and distillation, which shows that they were used for the art of alchemy. In these structures there are carvings and writings in Chaldean and Coptic; it is not known what they are. There have also been discovered underground libraries containing scientific works written on hides treated with nurah and on the tuz used by the bowmakers, as well as on plates of gold, copper, and stone."
Translated by Bayard Dodge.
In a book which fell to my lot [...] I read "[...] In Egypt there are buildings called the barabi made of large stones of excessive size. The barabi are structures of different types, in which there are places for grinding and pulverizing, dissolving, congealing, and distillation, which shows that they were used for the art of alchemy. In these structures there are carvings and writings in Chaldean and Coptic; it is not known what they are. There have also been discovered underground libraries containing scientific works written on hides treated with nurah and on the tuz used by the bowmakers, as well as on plates of gold, copper, and stone."
Translated by Bayard Dodge.
Pseudo-Mas’udi, Akhbar al-zaman 2 (possibly 10th-13th century CE)
Chapter 1
... The first to build pyramids was Surid, son of Sahluq, who ruled Egypt three hundred years before the Flood. This king had a dream in which he felt as if the earth was overturned with all its inhabitants, the men fled in all directions, and the stars fell and clashed against each other with a terrible noise. He was moved by this dream and conceived a great fear; he nevertheless imparted his foreknowledge to no person, but he knew that some terrible event would happen in the world. Then he dreamed that the fixed stars descended on the earth in the form of white birds; these birds caught men in flight, and threw them between two high mountains which then closed over them; then the stars darkened and were eclipsed. This dream renewed his terrors. He entered the Temple of the Sun and began to pray and worship God in the dust, and wept. When morning came, he ordered the chief priests to come together from all parts of Egypt. One hundred and thirty of them met, and he secretly consulted with them on the visions he had seen. The priests praised him and glorified him, and they explained to him that a great event would occur in the world. Philemon, the high priest, spoke. He was their leader, and he lived constantly in the presence of the king; he was the priest of Ochmoun [sic for Amsus], a city of ancient Egypt. He said: “No doubt the vision of a king is a wonder because the dreams of royal personages can be neither in vain nor misleading because of the greatness of their power and elevation of their rank. Allow me to share the king a dream that I had one year, which to date I have reported to no one.” The king said, “Explain it to me, O Philemon.” “I dreamed,” he said, “that I sat with the king at the top of the lighthouse in Ochmoun; the sky lowered down close enough to touch our heads, and it formed over us a dome that enveloped us. The king raised his hands toward heaven, and the stars came down to us in a multitude of different forms. Men implored the help of the king and gathered around his palace. The king raised his hands up to his face, and he ordered me to do the same; and both of us were in great distress. Then we saw a kind of opening in the sky from which came a light, and we saw that light rise above us—it was the sun. We saw him and implored him, and he spoke to us, telling us that the heavens would return to their starting point after three hundred and sixty orbits had been made. The sky descended almost to touch the ground and then returned to its proper place. Then I awoke, filled with terror.” The king commanded the priests to measure the altitude of the stars, and analyze what they portended. They made the calculations with great care, and they spoke first of a flood and then of a fire, which would burn the entire world. Then the king ordered the construction of the pyramids, and when they were completed according to his wise plan, he transported to them the wonders and treasures of his people and the bodies of ancient kings. He ordered the priests to deposit therein the secrets of their science and precepts of their wisdom. But the most famous of the descendants of Ham, the Copts and Indians, are the wise.
Chapter 2
... Surid sat on the throne of his father. He walked in the footsteps of Sahluq in justice and fairness, attended to the development of the culture of the land, ruled his subjects with gentleness, and even shared with them his assets and those of his relatives. He was the first to establish a property tax in Egypt, and to impose one on artisans within their means; the first also who ordered welfare for the sick and infirm at the expense of the treasury. He built lighthouses, erected monuments, and fashioned talismans and temples. During his reign the empire saw the greatest prosperity it had ever experienced. The people loved him and showered him with praise.
He built a mirror of a compound substance in which he saw the climates of the world with their inhabited parts and deserted parts and everything that happened in them. This mirror was placed in a copper lighthouse in the middle of the city of Amsus. The Copts say that it was fashioned primarily in Misr. It showed all the travelers who came to Egypt from all directions, and they therefore could take precautions against them. This king was also the first who kept records, in which he wrote every day about what had happened and what he had done; he placed these sheets in his library, and at the end of each month he carried them to the treasury, with the papers of the ancient kings, after having affixed his seal. He extracted what was best in this record and had it engraved on stone. He even collected the masterpieces that were executed in his time, the marvels that were produced there; and he rewarded by generous donations that makers of these masterpieces.
In the middle of the capital he erected a statue of a woman sitting and holding a child to her breast as though to breastfeed. Any woman who had disease afflicting a part of her body could touch the corresponding portion of the body of the statue, and the malady would cease; so if her milk were to decline, she touched the statue’s breasts and it would increase; if she wanted to curry favor with her husband, she touched the statue’s face with fragrant grease, saying, “Get me this or that.” If a woman had a sick child, she did the same with the child of the statue, and it was healed; if her children had a difficult character, she touched the child’s head, and they grew sweeter. Young women also found relief, and if an adulterous woman were to put her hand on the statue, she felt a disorder so deep that despite herself she confessed her crime. [The French translator has obscured this line to avoid sexual language.] For issues that concerned the night they visited the statue at night, and for issues that concerned the day, they visited during the day. This idol performed many wonders until the time of the Flood, when it was destroyed. However, we read in a Coptic book she was only erected after the Flood and that the Egyptians of that time went to visit it and made it into a cult. Its image is reproduced in all of Egypt’s temples and painted in many colors. It is said that the creators of this idol were the disciples of Philemon the priest. It is they who also taught the Egyptians all their arts. We’ll talk about them later in this book.
Surid executed many more marvels, among them the idol called Bokras, which was composed of several substances used in medicine. This idol had the property of combatting various diseases and poisons. They knew by it which patients were likely to recover; these were treated and fed according to certain signs that appeared in the idol, and the patients returned to health. Often the treatment involved washing the part of the statue corresponding to the one in which the patient was suffering and making the patient drink the water that had been used for this ablution. This soon saw the malady end.
Surid is the builder of the two pyramids that are attributed to Shaddad ibn ’Ad. The Copts deny that either the ’Adites or the Amalekites ever invaded their country because they say the Egyptians could defend themselves with their magic against any who attacked them. Al-Harabiun says the same. Abu Ma‘shar reported this opinion in his Book of Thousands.
The reason Surid built the pyramids was the vision that we have reported in its proper place. He sent for his priests and astronomers and told them how he saw the sphere had descended to him in the guise of a woman, how the land with all its inhabitants had been overturned, and how the sun had been eclipsed. They then foretold to him the Deluge with all its circumstances.
This fact is told in a history book which was transmitted to the Copts by two brothers and found in a tomb on the chest of one of the corpses. The Copts say that these two men were the descendants of an Egyptian from ancient Egypt who escaped the rising deluge with Noah in the ark. He had believed the prophet, and he took his two sons with him. It is said he was a son of Misrâm, son of Ham; he was an eminent and highly educated person. It is written in the book that King Surid built three cities in the Sa’id and placed there many wonders. Later we will have occasion to speak again of these two brothers.
Thus, we read in this book that Surid, son of Sahluq, having had the aforementioned vision, shared it with Filemun, the chief priest, and ordered the priests to consult the stars, to determine which events threatened the greatest part of the world. They immediately began their observations; they studied the sky very carefully and discovered a prodigy coming down from heaven and up from the earth would consume almost all men: this prodigy was to be a great flood, after which nothing would remain. The king asked if this event would recur several times or if it should be finished once and for all. They observed more and replied that the human race with its empires and all things on earth would reappear as they were before. Then the king ordered the construction of temples and great monuments, for himself and his family, in order to safeguard their bodies and all their riches, which they would deposit within. He inscribed on the ceilings, on the roofs, on the walls, and on columns, all the secrets of science, in which the Egyptians excelled more than any other nation; and he had painted a picture of the great stars and lesser stars, with signs that permitted their recognition. He also engraved the names of plants and their properties, how to construct talismans, their descriptions, and the rules of mathematics and geometry. All who know the books and the language of Egypt can make use of these images and inscriptions.
The priests told the king that when the following events took place, they would occur over the whole world except for a very small part, and the time of their realization would be when the heart of the Lion would be in the first minute of the head of Cancer, with the planets occupying the following positions: the moon in conjunction with the sun would be in the first minute of Aries; Zaus [Zeus], that is to say, Jupiter, would be at 29° of Pisces; Mars 28° 5′ of the same constellation; Aphrodite or Venus at 29° 3′; Hermes or Mercury at 27°; Saturn in Libra; and the apogee of the moon at 5° and a few minutes of Leo. The King, having heard the report, said to the priests, “Now look to see whether after this event there will come another from heaven onto the earth that will be the opposite of it, I mean to say, the destruction of the world by fire.” They informed him that it would be so. “Look then,” he said, “to see when this will happen.” They resumed their observations and found that this deluge of fire would take place when the Heart of the Lion would be in the final minute of 10° of Leo; the Sun would be in the same minute in conjunction with Saturn and in trine compared to the Head; Mars would be in Leo in an oblique passage; and Mercury in the same minute as he; Siline (Selene; i.e., the Moon) in Aquarius, in conjunction with the Tail, in twelve parts; Venus opposite her on a straight path; and Mars in Leo on a straight path. At that moment the sun will cover the earth in a manner heretofore unknown. The priests brought all this to the king and said: When the Heart of the Lion will have completed two thirds of a revolution, there will be no living animal on earth that will not be stricken and die, and when it will have completed a full revolution, the system of the spheres will be destroyed.
The king ordered the construction of tall monuments, the cleaving of huge slabs, the extraction of lead from the land of the West, and the rolling in of stones from the region of Aswan; these great black rocks were drawn on chariots. He laid the foundations of the three pyramids, Eastern, Western and Colored; the last of these was entirely made of white and black colored stones. It is said that the builders had palm wood sheets covered in writing, and after having extracted every stone and having it cut, they placed over each stone one of these sheets; they then gave a blow to the stone, and it traveled far beyond the reach of sight. They came back close to it and did the same again until they had led it to its assigned place. Craftsmen then carved each slab so as to affix in the middle an iron rod; they placed over it another slab with a hole in its center, and the rod entered the hole. They then poured lead around the slab and into the hole so that the adjustment was perfect.
They decorated the pyramids with paintings, inscriptions, and figures capable of confounding the imagination. The doors were placed forty cubits underground, in subterranean passages made of lead and stone; the length of each underground passage was one hundred fifty cubits. The door of the eastern pyramid was on its east side, a distance of one hundred cubits from the middle of the face. The door of the western pyramid was on its west side, also at the distance of one hundred cubits from the middle of the face; it corresponded with the door of the subterranean passage. The door to the colored pyramid, in stones of two colors, was on its north side, one hundred cubits from the middle of its face; they dug until they reached the door of the corresponding subterranean passage and thus passed into the door of the pyramid. The height of each of the pyramids was a hundred royal cubits, equivalent to five hundred cubits today. The length of each side was a hundred cubits; the faces rose perpendicularly up to forty cubits, and they then bowed inward so as to form sharp edges which joined at the top. They began construction in a time of happiness; people gathered to see them and were amazed. When they were finished, they covered them in gaudy silk from top to bottom, and they declared a feast in their honor which all persons in the empire were required to attend.
Then the king commanded the construction of storehouses in stones of flint of various colors. He filled the western pyramid with emerald objects, images made with the substances of the stars, wonderful talismans, iron tools of outstanding quality, weapons that cannot rust, glass objects that can bend without breaking, all types of drugs (simple and compounded), deadly poisons, and a host of other things too numerous to describe. Into the eastern pyramid, he transported the idols of the stars, representations of the heavens, wonders built by his ancestors, incense to offer to the idols, books containing the history of ancient Egypt, an account of the lives of the kings and the dates of all the events that had transpired, still other books comprising a proclamation of all that would happen in Egypt until the end of time, with a description of the paths of the fixed stars and their influence at every moment. He also placed vessels containing drugs and other similar things. In the third pyramid, he deposited the bodies of the priests in black flint coffins, and with nearly every priest he placed books which recounted all that he had done and the story of his life. The priests were then ranked in order. The first order was that of the Nazarites, that is to say, the priests who had served the seven stars for seven years each. The word Nazir signified, among them, one who had mastered the totality of science. The second class consisted of priests who had served six stars, the third those who had served five, and so on; and each of these seven orders had a name. The king placed the coffins of the priests down the sides of the pyramid according to their rank, and near their bodies he placed the books they had written on gold leaf in which they had recorded the past and the future and a record of the wonders performed by each of them. On the walls he placed idols who were seen to perform all of the various arts, arranging them according to their rank and power. He wrote a description of their operations, how to accomplish them, and the utility of what had been drawn. Through engravings and images, he described the nature of all things, the science of law and the laws of all the sciences. Then he filled the pyramids with the treasures of the stars, all of the gifts that had been offered to their idols, and the treasures of the priests; the amount of wealth simply cannot be calculated.
Finally he assigned a guard to each pyramid. The guardian of the eastern pyramid was an idol striped white and black, with two open and flashing eyes. This idol was sitting on a throne and held a kind of spear. When a man looked at him, he uttered a terrible cry, which made him lose consciousness; he would fall to the ground unconscious and could no longer get up, dying on the spot. The guardian of the western pyramid was a striped flint idol: he was standing, held a kind of spear, and wore a snake on his head. If a man approached him, the snake would jump on him, entwine around his neck and choke him before returning to the head of the idol. The guardian of the colored pyramid was a small idol of an eagle standing on a pedestal. He attracted everyone who looked at him, and left them to die at his feet. When all these things had been established, King Surid entrusted surveillance to the invisible spirits and offered them sacrifices, so they would turn down anyone who would want to approach without providing the agreed-upon offerings and without performing the established rites in their honor.
The Copts say that the pyramids bear a painted inscription in Arabic whose interpretation is this: “I, Surid, the king, built these pyramids at such and such a time. I completed the building in six years. Let anyone who would come after me and believe himself a king as great as I destroy them in six years, for all know that it is easier to destroy than to build. I also covered the pyramids in silk: Let those who come after me cover them in turn.” For a very long period these monuments remained intact. As for covering them in silk, no king could do so without overspending and without possessing true madness.
A tradition also has it that when al-Ma‘mun had entered Egypt and saw the pyramids, he wanted to destroy one to know what it contained. He was told, “You cannot.” He replied, “At least we can open a breach.” And they made the gap that we still see by charring stone with fire, dousing it with vinegar, hitting it with rams, and then removing the cuttings with iron stakes. He spent a considerable sum on this work. They then found that the thickness of the wall was about twenty cubits. When they had pierced the wall, they found on the other side of the hole a green vase containing gold coins, and the weight of each dinar was one of our ounces; there were a thousand of these dinars. The workers were amazed at this discovery and did not understand the meaning of it. They informed al-Ma‘mun and brought him the gold and the vase. Al-Ma‘mun appeared amazed at the sight of the gold, noting how it was pure, bright, and red; then he said, “Show me the accounting of what you have spent in making this breach.” This was calculated, and they found it to be exactly the value of that gold, neither more nor less. And Ma‘mun and his court stood speechless that this expenditure could have been calculated so far in advance, and that they could know exactly the place where the breach would be made. These (ancient) men had truly reached a level of science that no other had done, and which we ourselves have not reached, neither we nor our fellow men. It is said that the vase in which the sum was found was made of emerald and that Ma‘mun had it carried to his treasury. This is one of the wonders he brought from Egypt.
Among the extraordinary facts of Egypt, the following is still quoted: After Ma‘mun had opened the breach in the pyramid, the workers continued to work for several years. They eventually penetrated it, and they went down along a slope that plunged into the monument. Some of them returned unharmed, but others perished. There are a host of traditions about it.
Twenty men agreed together to enter the pyramid and not to come out until they had reached the bottom, or died. They took with them food and drink for two months. They brought supplies to make fire with, candles, ropes, picks, and all the tools they might need. They entered the pyramid; they went down the first hallway and the second slope. Continuing to walk on the floor of the pyramid, they saw bats as big as eagles, which slapped at their faces. And then they came to an opening from which came a cold wind did not stop. They wanted to enter, but the wind extinguished their torches; they placed them in glass, and they returned to the opening to try to enter. Now they saw that the bottom of the hole was closed off by a great slab of a precious substance, and they understood that below were the bodies of kings, with their gold and treasures. But they did not know how to get down there. One of them said, “Tie me with ropes, and lower me down this hole until I reached the slab. Maybe I’ll find a way to raise it.” They did as he asked; his companions tied him with ropes around the middle of his body and they lowered him down in the hole; he remained there for a long time, his companions still holding the ropes; but in the end the hole closed behind him. In vain did the others make every effort to reopen it, but they could no longer reach him. They heard his bones breaking, and a terrifying voice made them fall over in a faint. When they awakened, they sought to escape. This they managed with great difficulty, several of the men, having fallen when climbing the corridors, were abandoned by the rest and perished. Those who survived finally came out of the pyramids; as they sat together at the pyramids’ feet, they saw rise up from the ground before them that one of their companions who had perished in the hole. He now seemed to be alive, and he spoke to them in a cryptic language, and said unto them words whose meaning they did not understand; but his words were explained to them later by a scholar of the Sa’id. They meant: “Such is the fate of one who covets treasures that are not for him.” After uttering these words, the man stopped talking and fell back down dead. They took away his body. They were arrested as murder suspects and brought before the wali, and there they related what had happened to them.
One may read of another tradition that some men entered the pyramids, went down to the bottom, and made a turn. They saw a path like the one through which they came in, and they found therein a type of vase from which water dripped without decreasing; they did not understand what it was. Then they came to a place that resembled a square room whose walls were made of small square stones, colorful and magnificently beautiful. One of them took one of the stones he found and put it in his mouth, and immediately his ears were deafened by the wind. He had to endure this inconvenience the whole time he was in that company. These men then came to a place where they saw large piles of gold coins, struck with extreme perfection. The value of each piece was a thousand dinars. They took one, but they were no longer able to walk or move, and they were obliged to throw it back. In another place they saw a couch on which sat a sheikh made from green granite, wrapped in a cloak and having before him statues in the shape of small boys which it seemed like he was teaching. They took one, but they could no longer move. They returned whence they came, and from another closed room came a frightening buzzing and humming; they did not enter and went on by. They entered a square room where they saw a rooster made of precious stone, standing on a green pillar, and whose eyes lit up the whole room. As soon as they approached it, it uttered a terrible cry and flapped its wings, and they left it. They passed near a white stone idol, with the figure of a woman hanging upside down; at her side, two stone lions seemed to want to devour her. They fled and continued on their way. Having walked a long time, they reached a point where they saw ahead of them a ray of light; they followed it and they reached a gateway where they came out again onto the rocks; at the gate of the hole they noticed two statues of black stone armed with javelins. This surprised them. Then they walked up a slope, and after following it for a whole day, they returned from the pyramids to the outside. This occurred in the time when ’Abd Allah, son of ’Abd al-Malik, was governor of Egypt. These men came and told him of their adventure, and he sent someone to search with them for the hole through which they had come out; but they searched for several days at the same place without being able to find it, and to their surprise they discovered neither trail nor sign that could lead them there. He who published this story found a precious stone which he sold for a large sum.
It is said that the time of Ahmed, son of Tulun, men entered the pyramids and found in the arch of one of its rooms a glass jug, which they took and brought back. A man of their company lost his way; they went looking for him, but he came to meet them naked and giggling, and said, “Do not worry for me.” Then he ran back to the entrance of the pyramid. They understood that a djinn had seized him. This adventure leaked out, or a man of the company betrayed his companions; the Sultan seized the jug and forbade anyone from entering the pyramids. The jug was weighed, and they found it contained seven ratl of white and clear glass. A scholar stood up and said, “The ancient kings did nothing in vain, so this object must have a purpose.” Then he filled it with water and weighed it again; he found that its weight remained exactly the same.
It is said that some men entered the pyramids with a young boy to use him for sex. They saw [the spirit of] a black slave armed with a cane coming at them, and he began to give them terrible blows. They fled immediately, leaving behind their food, their drinks, and some of their clothes. The same thing happened, it is said, to other men in the temple at Akhmim.
A man and a woman entered the pyramid to have sex with each other; they were thrown to the ground and seized with a furious delirium that lasted until their death.
It is said in some books of the Copts that King Surid, after hearing the priests tell him that a fire would come from beyond the sign of Leo and burn up the world, made underground passageways in the pyramids in preparation; the Nile could be brought into these underground passages and discharged from there at several points in the western territory and in the land of Sa‘id. The King filled these channels with wonders, talismans, and idols.
Some Copts say that King Surid, having heard the report of astronomers, said, “See if yet some other disaster will threaten this country.” They made observations and said, “A deluge will threaten to submerge the majority of the country, which will be devastated for several years, after which its prosperity will be reborn.” “What,” asked the king, “will be the cause of this devastation?” They said, “A king will massacre his own people and take their wealth.” “And then?” he asked. “The country’s prosperity will be reborn from the murder of the king.” “And then?” “Monstrous men will come along the side of the Nile will invade and occupy the greatest part of the land.” “And then?” “They will cross the Nile, and they will take the people into captivity.” Surid ordered their predictions inscribed on the pyramids, on monuments, and on stones.
A man from the land of the West, one of those who make a business of going on camels to carry fish to the oasis, said he had to stay overnight at the pyramids; having heard a noise and a sort of gushing that never ceased, he was afraid and went away; he then saw around the pyramid shining lights, and these he observed for a long time, until he was overcome by sleep. The next morning when he awoke, he saw other fish beside his own fish; astonished, he put the fish that he had back on his camel, and he hastened to return to Fustat, while vowing never to return to the pyramids.
The temples also have many stories too numerous to relate. There are traditions among the Copts of guardian spirits of the temples and the pyramids. According to these traditions, the spirit of the southern pyramid has the form of a naked woman, very beautiful and whose hair is divided into two. When she wishes to seize a man, she laughs in his face, then draws him near to her. When he approaches, she grabs him and he loses his reason. Many people have seen this woman wandering around the pyramid at noon or at sunset. The spirit of the other pyramid is a beardless naked yellow boy whose hair is divided into two; he is often seen to walk in circles around the monument. The spirit of the colored pyramid is shaped like a sea-sheik carrying a basket and having in his hand a censer such as those used in churches. These traditions are in in all the collections.
The temple of Akhmim, according to the belief of the people, has for its spirit guardian a young boy, black and naked. The spirit of the temple of Semenud is a sheikh of dark complexion, with long hair and a short beard. The spirit of the temple of Kobt (Coptos) has the form of a black servant carrying a little black child. The spirit of temple of Dendera has the form of a man with a lion’s head and two horns. The spirit of the temple of Busir has the form of a white sheikh, dressed as a monk and carrying a book. The spirit of the temple of the ‘Adites has the form of a shepherd equipped with a stick. The Dahshur pyramids have spirits that can see when anyone approaches from any side whatsoever and any time of day. There is, for each of these monuments, certain offerings and some incenses that allow access to their treasures, and agreements can be made between their spirits and men.
Surid reigned one hundred and seven years. The priests had made known to him in advance the time of his death. He bequeathed power to his son Hardjit with all the lessons he would need, and he ordered him to place his body in the pyramid, in the place he had prepared; he recommended that it be embalmed in camphor and they should place with him the valuable tools, arms, and instruments he had collected in advance. Hardjit executed all that his father had commanded of him, and he took in his hand the reins of power.
[…] [Lastly,] Far’ân sat on the throne and donned the tiara. No one dared resist him, and all the people remained quiet under his government, because he had power and an extraordinary courage. He dominated the earth, and his heart was filled with pride. It was during his reign that the Flood arrived. He seized the property of his subjects, and he went further on the path of injustice than any man before him. He committed countless murders, and his courtiers followed his example. The princes dreaded him; they had to submit all his demands.
This is the Far’ân who wrote to Darmashil son of Yamhawîl (Darshil ibn Lawil), king of Babel, to ask him to destroy Noah. He sent messengers throughout all the lands of his empire to inquire about their gods and idols. He was told the story of Noah and he heard that the prophet wanted to wipe out from among the people the cult of idols, and he believed in a different God from them and an invisible one; it was also added that no one believed in his claims. When Noah was set to build the ark, Far’ân wanted to give the order to kill him and burn his ship. A vizier advised him not to do it because, he said, if the predictions of Noah should be true, the king might use the vessel with his household. This view was accepted, and king rescinded his order. However, he still thought to destroy Noah, but God stopped him. Knowledge of the Flood had spread among the Egyptians, but they did not know how high the waters would rise or how long they would stay on the surface of the earth. They built subterranean passages that they fitted with plated glass and within which they imprisoned the winds. The king took Philemon, the chief priest, with him that he might serve as protection for him and those of his household. He had, however, removed or exiled the priests.
One night Philemon had a dream in which he saw the city of Amsus overthrown with all its inhabitants, and idols threw their faces against the ground. Angels descended from heaven, armed with curved sticks with which they beat the men. Philemon said, “Why do you do this, and why do you have no pity for men?” They said, “It is because they have denied the God who created them.” “And does he have for them any means of salvation?” They replied, “Yes. Whoever would be save should seek out the builder of the ark.” Philemon awoke frightened and remained undecided and sad, uncertain what to do. He had a wife and two children, a boy and a girl, and seven disciples. Together, they resolved to go find Noah. Philemon, on yet another night, had a dream in which he thought he saw a verdant garden where white birds were flying and spreading the odor of musk. While he admired the beauty of the garden, the birds began to speak to him and said: “Go and assemble the believers.” Philemon asked: “And who are these believers?” “They are,” replied the bird, “the builders of the ark.” The priest awoke, filled with confusion, and he told his vision to his parents and to his disciples, advising them to keep it secret. Then he set about reducing his possessions and selling the property he no longer needed; when he had finished the preparations in secret, he went to the king and said, “If the king wants to send me to Darmashil, I will see the man who is building the ark. I will observe and I will discuss with him this new religion that he claims to reveal to men. Therefore, I shall recognize whether his mission is real; but it is more likely that my visit will be the cause of its forfeiture and will show the futility of his claims.” The king, delighted with this speech, gave Philemon the order to leave. He handed him a letter for Darmashil. The priest left with his family and with his disciples, and ventured into the land of Babel. There he went to Noah and told him why he had come; then he asked him to explain his doctrine. Noah satisfied his desire, and Philemon believed in him and all his companions. Philemon did not go to Darmashil, nor did he give him the letter from Far’ân, and he did not even see it. Noah said: “When God wants something good for a man, nothing can stop his desire to accomplish it.” Philemon stayed with Noah, busy serving him with his children and his followers, until they went up together into the ark.
Far’ân continued to walk in the way of error and injustice, consumed in pleasures. He abandoned the temples, let wither the fruits of the soil, increased injustice, and grew the number of murders. Cultivation was abandoned, and the land everywhere became barren; men committed outrages upon each other and felt no remorse. The temples and Berba (Great Temples) were closed, their doors bricked shut. Finally the flood came, and the rain fell on Egypt for twenty-four days. Far’ân, constantly intoxicated, did not budge, until the water had risen quite high; he stood up in haste to reach the pyramids. But the earth shook under him. He returned, looking for the subterranean passages, but he lost his footing and fell on his face onto the ground. He let out moans similar to those of a bull and was finally overwhelmed by the Flood. Those of his companions who penetrated into the subterranean passages were drowned. The water reached a quarter of the way up the pyramids; its mark is still visible today.
They say that some places were free from the flood. This is the opinion of the Persians, who claim not to have known the flood, and the Indians, who say the same for them. But all historians agree in affirming that the flood spread universally over the earth.
Translated by Jason Colavito from the French edition of Baron Carra de Vaux, published as the Book of Marvels (L'abrege des merveilles).
... The first to build pyramids was Surid, son of Sahluq, who ruled Egypt three hundred years before the Flood. This king had a dream in which he felt as if the earth was overturned with all its inhabitants, the men fled in all directions, and the stars fell and clashed against each other with a terrible noise. He was moved by this dream and conceived a great fear; he nevertheless imparted his foreknowledge to no person, but he knew that some terrible event would happen in the world. Then he dreamed that the fixed stars descended on the earth in the form of white birds; these birds caught men in flight, and threw them between two high mountains which then closed over them; then the stars darkened and were eclipsed. This dream renewed his terrors. He entered the Temple of the Sun and began to pray and worship God in the dust, and wept. When morning came, he ordered the chief priests to come together from all parts of Egypt. One hundred and thirty of them met, and he secretly consulted with them on the visions he had seen. The priests praised him and glorified him, and they explained to him that a great event would occur in the world. Philemon, the high priest, spoke. He was their leader, and he lived constantly in the presence of the king; he was the priest of Ochmoun [sic for Amsus], a city of ancient Egypt. He said: “No doubt the vision of a king is a wonder because the dreams of royal personages can be neither in vain nor misleading because of the greatness of their power and elevation of their rank. Allow me to share the king a dream that I had one year, which to date I have reported to no one.” The king said, “Explain it to me, O Philemon.” “I dreamed,” he said, “that I sat with the king at the top of the lighthouse in Ochmoun; the sky lowered down close enough to touch our heads, and it formed over us a dome that enveloped us. The king raised his hands toward heaven, and the stars came down to us in a multitude of different forms. Men implored the help of the king and gathered around his palace. The king raised his hands up to his face, and he ordered me to do the same; and both of us were in great distress. Then we saw a kind of opening in the sky from which came a light, and we saw that light rise above us—it was the sun. We saw him and implored him, and he spoke to us, telling us that the heavens would return to their starting point after three hundred and sixty orbits had been made. The sky descended almost to touch the ground and then returned to its proper place. Then I awoke, filled with terror.” The king commanded the priests to measure the altitude of the stars, and analyze what they portended. They made the calculations with great care, and they spoke first of a flood and then of a fire, which would burn the entire world. Then the king ordered the construction of the pyramids, and when they were completed according to his wise plan, he transported to them the wonders and treasures of his people and the bodies of ancient kings. He ordered the priests to deposit therein the secrets of their science and precepts of their wisdom. But the most famous of the descendants of Ham, the Copts and Indians, are the wise.
Chapter 2
... Surid sat on the throne of his father. He walked in the footsteps of Sahluq in justice and fairness, attended to the development of the culture of the land, ruled his subjects with gentleness, and even shared with them his assets and those of his relatives. He was the first to establish a property tax in Egypt, and to impose one on artisans within their means; the first also who ordered welfare for the sick and infirm at the expense of the treasury. He built lighthouses, erected monuments, and fashioned talismans and temples. During his reign the empire saw the greatest prosperity it had ever experienced. The people loved him and showered him with praise.
He built a mirror of a compound substance in which he saw the climates of the world with their inhabited parts and deserted parts and everything that happened in them. This mirror was placed in a copper lighthouse in the middle of the city of Amsus. The Copts say that it was fashioned primarily in Misr. It showed all the travelers who came to Egypt from all directions, and they therefore could take precautions against them. This king was also the first who kept records, in which he wrote every day about what had happened and what he had done; he placed these sheets in his library, and at the end of each month he carried them to the treasury, with the papers of the ancient kings, after having affixed his seal. He extracted what was best in this record and had it engraved on stone. He even collected the masterpieces that were executed in his time, the marvels that were produced there; and he rewarded by generous donations that makers of these masterpieces.
In the middle of the capital he erected a statue of a woman sitting and holding a child to her breast as though to breastfeed. Any woman who had disease afflicting a part of her body could touch the corresponding portion of the body of the statue, and the malady would cease; so if her milk were to decline, she touched the statue’s breasts and it would increase; if she wanted to curry favor with her husband, she touched the statue’s face with fragrant grease, saying, “Get me this or that.” If a woman had a sick child, she did the same with the child of the statue, and it was healed; if her children had a difficult character, she touched the child’s head, and they grew sweeter. Young women also found relief, and if an adulterous woman were to put her hand on the statue, she felt a disorder so deep that despite herself she confessed her crime. [The French translator has obscured this line to avoid sexual language.] For issues that concerned the night they visited the statue at night, and for issues that concerned the day, they visited during the day. This idol performed many wonders until the time of the Flood, when it was destroyed. However, we read in a Coptic book she was only erected after the Flood and that the Egyptians of that time went to visit it and made it into a cult. Its image is reproduced in all of Egypt’s temples and painted in many colors. It is said that the creators of this idol were the disciples of Philemon the priest. It is they who also taught the Egyptians all their arts. We’ll talk about them later in this book.
Surid executed many more marvels, among them the idol called Bokras, which was composed of several substances used in medicine. This idol had the property of combatting various diseases and poisons. They knew by it which patients were likely to recover; these were treated and fed according to certain signs that appeared in the idol, and the patients returned to health. Often the treatment involved washing the part of the statue corresponding to the one in which the patient was suffering and making the patient drink the water that had been used for this ablution. This soon saw the malady end.
Surid is the builder of the two pyramids that are attributed to Shaddad ibn ’Ad. The Copts deny that either the ’Adites or the Amalekites ever invaded their country because they say the Egyptians could defend themselves with their magic against any who attacked them. Al-Harabiun says the same. Abu Ma‘shar reported this opinion in his Book of Thousands.
The reason Surid built the pyramids was the vision that we have reported in its proper place. He sent for his priests and astronomers and told them how he saw the sphere had descended to him in the guise of a woman, how the land with all its inhabitants had been overturned, and how the sun had been eclipsed. They then foretold to him the Deluge with all its circumstances.
This fact is told in a history book which was transmitted to the Copts by two brothers and found in a tomb on the chest of one of the corpses. The Copts say that these two men were the descendants of an Egyptian from ancient Egypt who escaped the rising deluge with Noah in the ark. He had believed the prophet, and he took his two sons with him. It is said he was a son of Misrâm, son of Ham; he was an eminent and highly educated person. It is written in the book that King Surid built three cities in the Sa’id and placed there many wonders. Later we will have occasion to speak again of these two brothers.
Thus, we read in this book that Surid, son of Sahluq, having had the aforementioned vision, shared it with Filemun, the chief priest, and ordered the priests to consult the stars, to determine which events threatened the greatest part of the world. They immediately began their observations; they studied the sky very carefully and discovered a prodigy coming down from heaven and up from the earth would consume almost all men: this prodigy was to be a great flood, after which nothing would remain. The king asked if this event would recur several times or if it should be finished once and for all. They observed more and replied that the human race with its empires and all things on earth would reappear as they were before. Then the king ordered the construction of temples and great monuments, for himself and his family, in order to safeguard their bodies and all their riches, which they would deposit within. He inscribed on the ceilings, on the roofs, on the walls, and on columns, all the secrets of science, in which the Egyptians excelled more than any other nation; and he had painted a picture of the great stars and lesser stars, with signs that permitted their recognition. He also engraved the names of plants and their properties, how to construct talismans, their descriptions, and the rules of mathematics and geometry. All who know the books and the language of Egypt can make use of these images and inscriptions.
The priests told the king that when the following events took place, they would occur over the whole world except for a very small part, and the time of their realization would be when the heart of the Lion would be in the first minute of the head of Cancer, with the planets occupying the following positions: the moon in conjunction with the sun would be in the first minute of Aries; Zaus [Zeus], that is to say, Jupiter, would be at 29° of Pisces; Mars 28° 5′ of the same constellation; Aphrodite or Venus at 29° 3′; Hermes or Mercury at 27°; Saturn in Libra; and the apogee of the moon at 5° and a few minutes of Leo. The King, having heard the report, said to the priests, “Now look to see whether after this event there will come another from heaven onto the earth that will be the opposite of it, I mean to say, the destruction of the world by fire.” They informed him that it would be so. “Look then,” he said, “to see when this will happen.” They resumed their observations and found that this deluge of fire would take place when the Heart of the Lion would be in the final minute of 10° of Leo; the Sun would be in the same minute in conjunction with Saturn and in trine compared to the Head; Mars would be in Leo in an oblique passage; and Mercury in the same minute as he; Siline (Selene; i.e., the Moon) in Aquarius, in conjunction with the Tail, in twelve parts; Venus opposite her on a straight path; and Mars in Leo on a straight path. At that moment the sun will cover the earth in a manner heretofore unknown. The priests brought all this to the king and said: When the Heart of the Lion will have completed two thirds of a revolution, there will be no living animal on earth that will not be stricken and die, and when it will have completed a full revolution, the system of the spheres will be destroyed.
The king ordered the construction of tall monuments, the cleaving of huge slabs, the extraction of lead from the land of the West, and the rolling in of stones from the region of Aswan; these great black rocks were drawn on chariots. He laid the foundations of the three pyramids, Eastern, Western and Colored; the last of these was entirely made of white and black colored stones. It is said that the builders had palm wood sheets covered in writing, and after having extracted every stone and having it cut, they placed over each stone one of these sheets; they then gave a blow to the stone, and it traveled far beyond the reach of sight. They came back close to it and did the same again until they had led it to its assigned place. Craftsmen then carved each slab so as to affix in the middle an iron rod; they placed over it another slab with a hole in its center, and the rod entered the hole. They then poured lead around the slab and into the hole so that the adjustment was perfect.
They decorated the pyramids with paintings, inscriptions, and figures capable of confounding the imagination. The doors were placed forty cubits underground, in subterranean passages made of lead and stone; the length of each underground passage was one hundred fifty cubits. The door of the eastern pyramid was on its east side, a distance of one hundred cubits from the middle of the face. The door of the western pyramid was on its west side, also at the distance of one hundred cubits from the middle of the face; it corresponded with the door of the subterranean passage. The door to the colored pyramid, in stones of two colors, was on its north side, one hundred cubits from the middle of its face; they dug until they reached the door of the corresponding subterranean passage and thus passed into the door of the pyramid. The height of each of the pyramids was a hundred royal cubits, equivalent to five hundred cubits today. The length of each side was a hundred cubits; the faces rose perpendicularly up to forty cubits, and they then bowed inward so as to form sharp edges which joined at the top. They began construction in a time of happiness; people gathered to see them and were amazed. When they were finished, they covered them in gaudy silk from top to bottom, and they declared a feast in their honor which all persons in the empire were required to attend.
Then the king commanded the construction of storehouses in stones of flint of various colors. He filled the western pyramid with emerald objects, images made with the substances of the stars, wonderful talismans, iron tools of outstanding quality, weapons that cannot rust, glass objects that can bend without breaking, all types of drugs (simple and compounded), deadly poisons, and a host of other things too numerous to describe. Into the eastern pyramid, he transported the idols of the stars, representations of the heavens, wonders built by his ancestors, incense to offer to the idols, books containing the history of ancient Egypt, an account of the lives of the kings and the dates of all the events that had transpired, still other books comprising a proclamation of all that would happen in Egypt until the end of time, with a description of the paths of the fixed stars and their influence at every moment. He also placed vessels containing drugs and other similar things. In the third pyramid, he deposited the bodies of the priests in black flint coffins, and with nearly every priest he placed books which recounted all that he had done and the story of his life. The priests were then ranked in order. The first order was that of the Nazarites, that is to say, the priests who had served the seven stars for seven years each. The word Nazir signified, among them, one who had mastered the totality of science. The second class consisted of priests who had served six stars, the third those who had served five, and so on; and each of these seven orders had a name. The king placed the coffins of the priests down the sides of the pyramid according to their rank, and near their bodies he placed the books they had written on gold leaf in which they had recorded the past and the future and a record of the wonders performed by each of them. On the walls he placed idols who were seen to perform all of the various arts, arranging them according to their rank and power. He wrote a description of their operations, how to accomplish them, and the utility of what had been drawn. Through engravings and images, he described the nature of all things, the science of law and the laws of all the sciences. Then he filled the pyramids with the treasures of the stars, all of the gifts that had been offered to their idols, and the treasures of the priests; the amount of wealth simply cannot be calculated.
Finally he assigned a guard to each pyramid. The guardian of the eastern pyramid was an idol striped white and black, with two open and flashing eyes. This idol was sitting on a throne and held a kind of spear. When a man looked at him, he uttered a terrible cry, which made him lose consciousness; he would fall to the ground unconscious and could no longer get up, dying on the spot. The guardian of the western pyramid was a striped flint idol: he was standing, held a kind of spear, and wore a snake on his head. If a man approached him, the snake would jump on him, entwine around his neck and choke him before returning to the head of the idol. The guardian of the colored pyramid was a small idol of an eagle standing on a pedestal. He attracted everyone who looked at him, and left them to die at his feet. When all these things had been established, King Surid entrusted surveillance to the invisible spirits and offered them sacrifices, so they would turn down anyone who would want to approach without providing the agreed-upon offerings and without performing the established rites in their honor.
The Copts say that the pyramids bear a painted inscription in Arabic whose interpretation is this: “I, Surid, the king, built these pyramids at such and such a time. I completed the building in six years. Let anyone who would come after me and believe himself a king as great as I destroy them in six years, for all know that it is easier to destroy than to build. I also covered the pyramids in silk: Let those who come after me cover them in turn.” For a very long period these monuments remained intact. As for covering them in silk, no king could do so without overspending and without possessing true madness.
A tradition also has it that when al-Ma‘mun had entered Egypt and saw the pyramids, he wanted to destroy one to know what it contained. He was told, “You cannot.” He replied, “At least we can open a breach.” And they made the gap that we still see by charring stone with fire, dousing it with vinegar, hitting it with rams, and then removing the cuttings with iron stakes. He spent a considerable sum on this work. They then found that the thickness of the wall was about twenty cubits. When they had pierced the wall, they found on the other side of the hole a green vase containing gold coins, and the weight of each dinar was one of our ounces; there were a thousand of these dinars. The workers were amazed at this discovery and did not understand the meaning of it. They informed al-Ma‘mun and brought him the gold and the vase. Al-Ma‘mun appeared amazed at the sight of the gold, noting how it was pure, bright, and red; then he said, “Show me the accounting of what you have spent in making this breach.” This was calculated, and they found it to be exactly the value of that gold, neither more nor less. And Ma‘mun and his court stood speechless that this expenditure could have been calculated so far in advance, and that they could know exactly the place where the breach would be made. These (ancient) men had truly reached a level of science that no other had done, and which we ourselves have not reached, neither we nor our fellow men. It is said that the vase in which the sum was found was made of emerald and that Ma‘mun had it carried to his treasury. This is one of the wonders he brought from Egypt.
Among the extraordinary facts of Egypt, the following is still quoted: After Ma‘mun had opened the breach in the pyramid, the workers continued to work for several years. They eventually penetrated it, and they went down along a slope that plunged into the monument. Some of them returned unharmed, but others perished. There are a host of traditions about it.
Twenty men agreed together to enter the pyramid and not to come out until they had reached the bottom, or died. They took with them food and drink for two months. They brought supplies to make fire with, candles, ropes, picks, and all the tools they might need. They entered the pyramid; they went down the first hallway and the second slope. Continuing to walk on the floor of the pyramid, they saw bats as big as eagles, which slapped at their faces. And then they came to an opening from which came a cold wind did not stop. They wanted to enter, but the wind extinguished their torches; they placed them in glass, and they returned to the opening to try to enter. Now they saw that the bottom of the hole was closed off by a great slab of a precious substance, and they understood that below were the bodies of kings, with their gold and treasures. But they did not know how to get down there. One of them said, “Tie me with ropes, and lower me down this hole until I reached the slab. Maybe I’ll find a way to raise it.” They did as he asked; his companions tied him with ropes around the middle of his body and they lowered him down in the hole; he remained there for a long time, his companions still holding the ropes; but in the end the hole closed behind him. In vain did the others make every effort to reopen it, but they could no longer reach him. They heard his bones breaking, and a terrifying voice made them fall over in a faint. When they awakened, they sought to escape. This they managed with great difficulty, several of the men, having fallen when climbing the corridors, were abandoned by the rest and perished. Those who survived finally came out of the pyramids; as they sat together at the pyramids’ feet, they saw rise up from the ground before them that one of their companions who had perished in the hole. He now seemed to be alive, and he spoke to them in a cryptic language, and said unto them words whose meaning they did not understand; but his words were explained to them later by a scholar of the Sa’id. They meant: “Such is the fate of one who covets treasures that are not for him.” After uttering these words, the man stopped talking and fell back down dead. They took away his body. They were arrested as murder suspects and brought before the wali, and there they related what had happened to them.
One may read of another tradition that some men entered the pyramids, went down to the bottom, and made a turn. They saw a path like the one through which they came in, and they found therein a type of vase from which water dripped without decreasing; they did not understand what it was. Then they came to a place that resembled a square room whose walls were made of small square stones, colorful and magnificently beautiful. One of them took one of the stones he found and put it in his mouth, and immediately his ears were deafened by the wind. He had to endure this inconvenience the whole time he was in that company. These men then came to a place where they saw large piles of gold coins, struck with extreme perfection. The value of each piece was a thousand dinars. They took one, but they were no longer able to walk or move, and they were obliged to throw it back. In another place they saw a couch on which sat a sheikh made from green granite, wrapped in a cloak and having before him statues in the shape of small boys which it seemed like he was teaching. They took one, but they could no longer move. They returned whence they came, and from another closed room came a frightening buzzing and humming; they did not enter and went on by. They entered a square room where they saw a rooster made of precious stone, standing on a green pillar, and whose eyes lit up the whole room. As soon as they approached it, it uttered a terrible cry and flapped its wings, and they left it. They passed near a white stone idol, with the figure of a woman hanging upside down; at her side, two stone lions seemed to want to devour her. They fled and continued on their way. Having walked a long time, they reached a point where they saw ahead of them a ray of light; they followed it and they reached a gateway where they came out again onto the rocks; at the gate of the hole they noticed two statues of black stone armed with javelins. This surprised them. Then they walked up a slope, and after following it for a whole day, they returned from the pyramids to the outside. This occurred in the time when ’Abd Allah, son of ’Abd al-Malik, was governor of Egypt. These men came and told him of their adventure, and he sent someone to search with them for the hole through which they had come out; but they searched for several days at the same place without being able to find it, and to their surprise they discovered neither trail nor sign that could lead them there. He who published this story found a precious stone which he sold for a large sum.
It is said that the time of Ahmed, son of Tulun, men entered the pyramids and found in the arch of one of its rooms a glass jug, which they took and brought back. A man of their company lost his way; they went looking for him, but he came to meet them naked and giggling, and said, “Do not worry for me.” Then he ran back to the entrance of the pyramid. They understood that a djinn had seized him. This adventure leaked out, or a man of the company betrayed his companions; the Sultan seized the jug and forbade anyone from entering the pyramids. The jug was weighed, and they found it contained seven ratl of white and clear glass. A scholar stood up and said, “The ancient kings did nothing in vain, so this object must have a purpose.” Then he filled it with water and weighed it again; he found that its weight remained exactly the same.
It is said that some men entered the pyramids with a young boy to use him for sex. They saw [the spirit of] a black slave armed with a cane coming at them, and he began to give them terrible blows. They fled immediately, leaving behind their food, their drinks, and some of their clothes. The same thing happened, it is said, to other men in the temple at Akhmim.
A man and a woman entered the pyramid to have sex with each other; they were thrown to the ground and seized with a furious delirium that lasted until their death.
It is said in some books of the Copts that King Surid, after hearing the priests tell him that a fire would come from beyond the sign of Leo and burn up the world, made underground passageways in the pyramids in preparation; the Nile could be brought into these underground passages and discharged from there at several points in the western territory and in the land of Sa‘id. The King filled these channels with wonders, talismans, and idols.
Some Copts say that King Surid, having heard the report of astronomers, said, “See if yet some other disaster will threaten this country.” They made observations and said, “A deluge will threaten to submerge the majority of the country, which will be devastated for several years, after which its prosperity will be reborn.” “What,” asked the king, “will be the cause of this devastation?” They said, “A king will massacre his own people and take their wealth.” “And then?” he asked. “The country’s prosperity will be reborn from the murder of the king.” “And then?” “Monstrous men will come along the side of the Nile will invade and occupy the greatest part of the land.” “And then?” “They will cross the Nile, and they will take the people into captivity.” Surid ordered their predictions inscribed on the pyramids, on monuments, and on stones.
A man from the land of the West, one of those who make a business of going on camels to carry fish to the oasis, said he had to stay overnight at the pyramids; having heard a noise and a sort of gushing that never ceased, he was afraid and went away; he then saw around the pyramid shining lights, and these he observed for a long time, until he was overcome by sleep. The next morning when he awoke, he saw other fish beside his own fish; astonished, he put the fish that he had back on his camel, and he hastened to return to Fustat, while vowing never to return to the pyramids.
The temples also have many stories too numerous to relate. There are traditions among the Copts of guardian spirits of the temples and the pyramids. According to these traditions, the spirit of the southern pyramid has the form of a naked woman, very beautiful and whose hair is divided into two. When she wishes to seize a man, she laughs in his face, then draws him near to her. When he approaches, she grabs him and he loses his reason. Many people have seen this woman wandering around the pyramid at noon or at sunset. The spirit of the other pyramid is a beardless naked yellow boy whose hair is divided into two; he is often seen to walk in circles around the monument. The spirit of the colored pyramid is shaped like a sea-sheik carrying a basket and having in his hand a censer such as those used in churches. These traditions are in in all the collections.
The temple of Akhmim, according to the belief of the people, has for its spirit guardian a young boy, black and naked. The spirit of the temple of Semenud is a sheikh of dark complexion, with long hair and a short beard. The spirit of the temple of Kobt (Coptos) has the form of a black servant carrying a little black child. The spirit of temple of Dendera has the form of a man with a lion’s head and two horns. The spirit of the temple of Busir has the form of a white sheikh, dressed as a monk and carrying a book. The spirit of the temple of the ‘Adites has the form of a shepherd equipped with a stick. The Dahshur pyramids have spirits that can see when anyone approaches from any side whatsoever and any time of day. There is, for each of these monuments, certain offerings and some incenses that allow access to their treasures, and agreements can be made between their spirits and men.
Surid reigned one hundred and seven years. The priests had made known to him in advance the time of his death. He bequeathed power to his son Hardjit with all the lessons he would need, and he ordered him to place his body in the pyramid, in the place he had prepared; he recommended that it be embalmed in camphor and they should place with him the valuable tools, arms, and instruments he had collected in advance. Hardjit executed all that his father had commanded of him, and he took in his hand the reins of power.
[…] [Lastly,] Far’ân sat on the throne and donned the tiara. No one dared resist him, and all the people remained quiet under his government, because he had power and an extraordinary courage. He dominated the earth, and his heart was filled with pride. It was during his reign that the Flood arrived. He seized the property of his subjects, and he went further on the path of injustice than any man before him. He committed countless murders, and his courtiers followed his example. The princes dreaded him; they had to submit all his demands.
This is the Far’ân who wrote to Darmashil son of Yamhawîl (Darshil ibn Lawil), king of Babel, to ask him to destroy Noah. He sent messengers throughout all the lands of his empire to inquire about their gods and idols. He was told the story of Noah and he heard that the prophet wanted to wipe out from among the people the cult of idols, and he believed in a different God from them and an invisible one; it was also added that no one believed in his claims. When Noah was set to build the ark, Far’ân wanted to give the order to kill him and burn his ship. A vizier advised him not to do it because, he said, if the predictions of Noah should be true, the king might use the vessel with his household. This view was accepted, and king rescinded his order. However, he still thought to destroy Noah, but God stopped him. Knowledge of the Flood had spread among the Egyptians, but they did not know how high the waters would rise or how long they would stay on the surface of the earth. They built subterranean passages that they fitted with plated glass and within which they imprisoned the winds. The king took Philemon, the chief priest, with him that he might serve as protection for him and those of his household. He had, however, removed or exiled the priests.
One night Philemon had a dream in which he saw the city of Amsus overthrown with all its inhabitants, and idols threw their faces against the ground. Angels descended from heaven, armed with curved sticks with which they beat the men. Philemon said, “Why do you do this, and why do you have no pity for men?” They said, “It is because they have denied the God who created them.” “And does he have for them any means of salvation?” They replied, “Yes. Whoever would be save should seek out the builder of the ark.” Philemon awoke frightened and remained undecided and sad, uncertain what to do. He had a wife and two children, a boy and a girl, and seven disciples. Together, they resolved to go find Noah. Philemon, on yet another night, had a dream in which he thought he saw a verdant garden where white birds were flying and spreading the odor of musk. While he admired the beauty of the garden, the birds began to speak to him and said: “Go and assemble the believers.” Philemon asked: “And who are these believers?” “They are,” replied the bird, “the builders of the ark.” The priest awoke, filled with confusion, and he told his vision to his parents and to his disciples, advising them to keep it secret. Then he set about reducing his possessions and selling the property he no longer needed; when he had finished the preparations in secret, he went to the king and said, “If the king wants to send me to Darmashil, I will see the man who is building the ark. I will observe and I will discuss with him this new religion that he claims to reveal to men. Therefore, I shall recognize whether his mission is real; but it is more likely that my visit will be the cause of its forfeiture and will show the futility of his claims.” The king, delighted with this speech, gave Philemon the order to leave. He handed him a letter for Darmashil. The priest left with his family and with his disciples, and ventured into the land of Babel. There he went to Noah and told him why he had come; then he asked him to explain his doctrine. Noah satisfied his desire, and Philemon believed in him and all his companions. Philemon did not go to Darmashil, nor did he give him the letter from Far’ân, and he did not even see it. Noah said: “When God wants something good for a man, nothing can stop his desire to accomplish it.” Philemon stayed with Noah, busy serving him with his children and his followers, until they went up together into the ark.
Far’ân continued to walk in the way of error and injustice, consumed in pleasures. He abandoned the temples, let wither the fruits of the soil, increased injustice, and grew the number of murders. Cultivation was abandoned, and the land everywhere became barren; men committed outrages upon each other and felt no remorse. The temples and Berba (Great Temples) were closed, their doors bricked shut. Finally the flood came, and the rain fell on Egypt for twenty-four days. Far’ân, constantly intoxicated, did not budge, until the water had risen quite high; he stood up in haste to reach the pyramids. But the earth shook under him. He returned, looking for the subterranean passages, but he lost his footing and fell on his face onto the ground. He let out moans similar to those of a bull and was finally overwhelmed by the Flood. Those of his companions who penetrated into the subterranean passages were drowned. The water reached a quarter of the way up the pyramids; its mark is still visible today.
They say that some places were free from the flood. This is the opinion of the Persians, who claim not to have known the flood, and the Indians, who say the same for them. But all historians agree in affirming that the flood spread universally over the earth.
Translated by Jason Colavito from the French edition of Baron Carra de Vaux, published as the Book of Marvels (L'abrege des merveilles).
Ibn ’Abd al-Hakam (attributed), unknown work (date unknown; medieval)
The greatest part of chronologers agree that he which built the pyramids was Saurid Ibn Salhouk, King of Egypt, who lived 300 years before the Flood. The occasion of this was because he saw in his sleep that the whole earth was turned over, with the inhabitants of it, the men lying upon their faces, and the stars falling down and striking one another with a terrible noise; and being troubled with this, he concealed it. Then, after this, he saw the fixed stars falling to the earth, in the similitude of white fowl, and they snatched up men and carried them between two great mountains, and these mountains closed upon them, and the shining stars were made dark. And he awoke with great fear, and assembled the chief priests of all the provinces of Egypt, 130 priests, the chief of them being Aclimun. He related the whole matter to them, and they took the altitude of the stars, and made their prognostications, and they foretold a deluge. The king said, ‘Will it come to our country?’ They answered, ‘Yes, and will destroy it.’ And there remained a certain number of years to come, and he commanded in the mean space to build the pyramids, and that a vault (or cistern) should be made, into which the river Nile should enter, whence it should run into the countries of the west, and into the land Al-Said.
And he filled them (the pyramids) with talismans, and with strange things, and with riches and treasures, and the like. He engraved in them all things that were told him by wise men, as, also, all profound sciences. The names of alakakirs, the uses and hurts of them, the science of astrology and of arithmetic, of geometry and physic. All these may he interpreted by him who knows their characters and language. After he had given orders for this building, they cut out great columns and wonderful stones. They fetched massy stones from the Ethiopians, and made with them the foundations of the three pyramids, fastening them together with lead and iron. (?) They built the gates of them 40 cubits under-ground, and they made the height of the pyramids 100 royal cubits, which are 500 of ours in these times. He also made each side of the pyramids 100 royal cubits. In the beginning of this building was a fortunate horoscope. After that he had finished it he covered it with coloured satin (marble) from the top to the bottom, and he appointed a solemn festival, at which were present all the inhabitants of his kingdom. Then he built in the Western Pyramid thirty treasuries, filled with store of riches and utensils, and with signatures made with precious stones, and with instruments of iron, and vessels of earth, and with a mes which rots not, and with glass that might be bent and yet not broken, and with strange spells, and with several kinds of alkakirs (query alkalis), single and double, and with deadly poisons, and with other things besides. He made, also, in the East Pyramid divers celestial spheres and stars, and what they severally operate in their aspects; and perfumes which are to be used to them, and the books which treat of these matters.
He put, also, in the Coloured Pyramid (the third) the commentaries of the priests in chests of block marble, and with every priest a book, in which were the wonders of his profession, and of his actions, and of his nature, and what was done in his time, and what is, and what shall be, from the beginning of time to the end of it. He placed in every pyramid a treasurer. The treasurer of the Westerly Pyramid was a statue of marble stone, standing upright with a lance, and upon his head a serpent writhed. He that came near it, and stood still, the serpent bit him of one side, and writhed round about his throat and killed him, and then returned to his place. He made the treasurer of the East Pyramid an idol of black agate, his eyes open and shining, sitting upon a throne with a lance. When any looked upon him he heard on one side of him a voice which took away his senses, so that he fell prostrate upon his face, and ceased not till he died. He made the treasurer of the Coloured Pyramid a statue of stone called Albut, sitting. He which looked toward it was drawn by the statue till he stuck to it, and could not be separated from it till such time as he died.
The Coptites write in their books, that there is an inscription engraven upon them, the exposition of which, in Arabic, is this: ‘I, King Saurid, built the pyramids in such and such a time, and finished them in six years: he that comes after me, and says that he is equal to me, let him destroy them in six hundred years; and yet it is known that it is easier to pluck down than to build up: I also covered them, when I had finished them, with satin; and let him cover them with mats.’
After that Almamon the Calif entered Egypt, and saw the pyramids, he desired to know what was within, and therefore would have them opened. They told him it could not possibly be done. He replied, ‘I will have it certainly done.’ And that hole was opened for him, which stands open to this day, with fire and vinegar. Two smiths prepared and sharpened the iron and engines, which they forced in, and there was a great expense in the opening of it. The thickness of the walls was found to be twenty cubits; and when they came to the end of the wall, behind the place they had digged, there was an ewer of green emerald; in it were a thousand dinars, very weighty, every dinar was an ounce of our ounces; they wondered at it, but knew not the meaning of it. Then Almamon said, ‘Cast up the account how much hath been spent in making the entrance.’ They cast it up, and lo! it was the same sum which they found; it neither exceeded nor was defective. Within they found a square well; in the square of it there were doors; every door opened into a house, (or vault,) in which there were dead bodies wrapped up in linen. They found toward the top of the pyramid a chamber, in which there was a hollow stone: in it was a statue of stone like a man, and within it a man, upon whom was a breast-plate of gold set with jewels; upon his breast was a sword of invaluable price, and at his head a carbuncle of the bigness of an egg, shining like the light of the day; and upon him were characters written with a pen: no man knows what they signify. After Almamon had opened it, men entered into it for many years, and descended by the slippery passage which is in it; and some of them came out safe, and others died.
Translated by John Greaves in Pyramidographia (1646). The text does not appear in the genuine works of the famous ninth-century historian al-Hakam. The exact provenance of this medieval text is unknown but must post-date the famous al-Hakam, who wrote not long after al-Ma'mun entered the Great Pyramid.
And he filled them (the pyramids) with talismans, and with strange things, and with riches and treasures, and the like. He engraved in them all things that were told him by wise men, as, also, all profound sciences. The names of alakakirs, the uses and hurts of them, the science of astrology and of arithmetic, of geometry and physic. All these may he interpreted by him who knows their characters and language. After he had given orders for this building, they cut out great columns and wonderful stones. They fetched massy stones from the Ethiopians, and made with them the foundations of the three pyramids, fastening them together with lead and iron. (?) They built the gates of them 40 cubits under-ground, and they made the height of the pyramids 100 royal cubits, which are 500 of ours in these times. He also made each side of the pyramids 100 royal cubits. In the beginning of this building was a fortunate horoscope. After that he had finished it he covered it with coloured satin (marble) from the top to the bottom, and he appointed a solemn festival, at which were present all the inhabitants of his kingdom. Then he built in the Western Pyramid thirty treasuries, filled with store of riches and utensils, and with signatures made with precious stones, and with instruments of iron, and vessels of earth, and with a mes which rots not, and with glass that might be bent and yet not broken, and with strange spells, and with several kinds of alkakirs (query alkalis), single and double, and with deadly poisons, and with other things besides. He made, also, in the East Pyramid divers celestial spheres and stars, and what they severally operate in their aspects; and perfumes which are to be used to them, and the books which treat of these matters.
He put, also, in the Coloured Pyramid (the third) the commentaries of the priests in chests of block marble, and with every priest a book, in which were the wonders of his profession, and of his actions, and of his nature, and what was done in his time, and what is, and what shall be, from the beginning of time to the end of it. He placed in every pyramid a treasurer. The treasurer of the Westerly Pyramid was a statue of marble stone, standing upright with a lance, and upon his head a serpent writhed. He that came near it, and stood still, the serpent bit him of one side, and writhed round about his throat and killed him, and then returned to his place. He made the treasurer of the East Pyramid an idol of black agate, his eyes open and shining, sitting upon a throne with a lance. When any looked upon him he heard on one side of him a voice which took away his senses, so that he fell prostrate upon his face, and ceased not till he died. He made the treasurer of the Coloured Pyramid a statue of stone called Albut, sitting. He which looked toward it was drawn by the statue till he stuck to it, and could not be separated from it till such time as he died.
The Coptites write in their books, that there is an inscription engraven upon them, the exposition of which, in Arabic, is this: ‘I, King Saurid, built the pyramids in such and such a time, and finished them in six years: he that comes after me, and says that he is equal to me, let him destroy them in six hundred years; and yet it is known that it is easier to pluck down than to build up: I also covered them, when I had finished them, with satin; and let him cover them with mats.’
After that Almamon the Calif entered Egypt, and saw the pyramids, he desired to know what was within, and therefore would have them opened. They told him it could not possibly be done. He replied, ‘I will have it certainly done.’ And that hole was opened for him, which stands open to this day, with fire and vinegar. Two smiths prepared and sharpened the iron and engines, which they forced in, and there was a great expense in the opening of it. The thickness of the walls was found to be twenty cubits; and when they came to the end of the wall, behind the place they had digged, there was an ewer of green emerald; in it were a thousand dinars, very weighty, every dinar was an ounce of our ounces; they wondered at it, but knew not the meaning of it. Then Almamon said, ‘Cast up the account how much hath been spent in making the entrance.’ They cast it up, and lo! it was the same sum which they found; it neither exceeded nor was defective. Within they found a square well; in the square of it there were doors; every door opened into a house, (or vault,) in which there were dead bodies wrapped up in linen. They found toward the top of the pyramid a chamber, in which there was a hollow stone: in it was a statue of stone like a man, and within it a man, upon whom was a breast-plate of gold set with jewels; upon his breast was a sword of invaluable price, and at his head a carbuncle of the bigness of an egg, shining like the light of the day; and upon him were characters written with a pen: no man knows what they signify. After Almamon had opened it, men entered into it for many years, and descended by the slippery passage which is in it; and some of them came out safe, and others died.
Translated by John Greaves in Pyramidographia (1646). The text does not appear in the genuine works of the famous ninth-century historian al-Hakam. The exact provenance of this medieval text is unknown but must post-date the famous al-Hakam, who wrote not long after al-Ma'mun entered the Great Pyramid.
Abu Rayhan al-Biruni, Chronology of Ancient Nations, p. 24 (1000 CE)
The Persians, and the great mass of the Magians, deny the Deluge altogether; they believe that the rule (of the world) has remained with them without any interruption ever since Gayomarth Gilshah, who was, according to them, the first man. In denying the Deluge, the Indians, Chinese, and the various nations of the east, concur with them. Some, however, of the Persians admit the fact of the Deluge, but they describe it in a different way from what it is described in the books of the prophets. They say, a partial deluge occurred in Syria and the west at the time of Tahmurath, but it did not extend over the whole of the then civilized world, and only a few nations were drowned in it; it did not extend beyond the peak of Hulwan, and did not reach the empires of the east. Further, they relate, that the inhabitants of the west, when they were warned by their sages, constructed buildings of the kind of the two pyramids which have been built in Egypt, saying: “If the disaster comes from heaven, we shall go into them; if it comes from the earth, we shall ascend above them.” People are of opinion, that the traces of the water of the Deluge, and the effects of the waves are still visible on these two pyramids half-way up, above which the water did not rise. Another report says, that Joseph had made them a magazine, where he deposited the bread and victuals for the years of drought.
It is related, that Tahmurath on receiving the warning of the Deluge—231 years before the Deluge—ordered his people to select a place of good air and soil in his realm. Now they did not find a place that answered better to this description than Ispahan. Thereupon, he ordered all scientific books to be preserved for posterity, and to be buried in a part of that place, least exposed to obnoxious influences. In favour of this report we may state that in our time in Jay, the city of Ispahan, there have been discovered hills, which, on being excavated, disclosed houses, filled with many loads of that tree-bark, with which arrows and shields are covered, and which is called Tuz, bearing inscriptions, of which no one was able to say what they are, and what they mean.
Translated by C. Edward Sachau.
It is related, that Tahmurath on receiving the warning of the Deluge—231 years before the Deluge—ordered his people to select a place of good air and soil in his realm. Now they did not find a place that answered better to this description than Ispahan. Thereupon, he ordered all scientific books to be preserved for posterity, and to be buried in a part of that place, least exposed to obnoxious influences. In favour of this report we may state that in our time in Jay, the city of Ispahan, there have been discovered hills, which, on being excavated, disclosed houses, filled with many loads of that tree-bark, with which arrows and shields are covered, and which is called Tuz, bearing inscriptions, of which no one was able to say what they are, and what they mean.
Translated by C. Edward Sachau.
Saʿid al-Andalusi, Al‐tarif bi-tabaqat al-umm 39.7-16 (1068 CE)
A group of scholars have reported that all the sciences known before the Flood were first taught by Hermes, who lived in Upper Egypt. This Hermes was the first to ponder celestial substances [misreading for “events”] and the movement of the stars. This Hermes is the one the Hebrews named Enoch, son of Jared, son of Mahalalel, son of Kenan, son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, peace be upon him. He is the same as the prophet Idris, peace be upon him. He was the first to build temples to worship God the Exalted. He occupied himself with science and medicine, and he wrote well-measured poems for his contemporaries about things terrestrial and celestial. It is also said that he was the first to predict the Flood and anticipate that a celestial cataclysm would befall the earth in the form of fire or water, so, fearing the destruction of knowledge and the disappearance of the arts, he built the pyramids and temples of Upper Egypt. Within these, he included representations of the arts and instruments, including engraved explanations of science, in order to pass them on to those who come after him, lest he see them disappear from the world.
Translated by Jason Colavito.
Translated by Jason Colavito.
Nicetas of Heraclea, commentary on Gregory of Nazianzus, Oration on Basil the Great 43 (11th century CE)
Pyramids, that is, some buildings skillfully constructed by Joseph, as some imagine, for the endeavor of storing grain, from which [Greek] words ἀπό τῶυ πυρῶυ (that is, “from the grain”), their name was fashioned.
Translated by Jason Colavito.
Translated by Jason Colavito.
Al-Idrisi, History of the Pyramids (c. 1150 CE)
The Pyramids are six miles from Cairo. The height of them is four hundred cubits, and the square of the bases the same. The blocks, with which they were built are five cubits high, and ten or fifteen cubits long. They diminish at the top to a space scarcely sufficient for a camel to lie down. The way to them is by a bridge, and by a town, called Dashur, where Joseph was imprisoned, a distance of three miles; and to the Pyramids is five miles; and they are the same distance from the river. These buildings were covered with inscriptions, which are nearly effaced; and in the interior of each of them there is a passage, barely allowing of an entrance. The two Great Pyramids have a subterraneous communication; and they are said to have been tombs, and previously granaries.
Translated by M. Jomard and Aloys Sprenger (1840)
[Quoting Joseph ben Gorion] Aristotle was buried in one of them [the two pyramids] and Alexander was not buried in the other.
Translated by Okasha El Daly
Translated by M. Jomard and Aloys Sprenger (1840)
[Quoting Joseph ben Gorion] Aristotle was buried in one of them [the two pyramids] and Alexander was not buried in the other.
Translated by Okasha El Daly
Murtada ibn al-‘Afif (Murtadi ibn Gaphiphus), The Prodigies of Egypt (c. 12th century)
There was a king named Saurid, the son of Sahaloc, 300 years before the Deluge, who dreamed one night that he saw the earth overturned with its inhabitants, the men cast down on their faces, the stars falling out of the heavens, and striking one against the other, and making horrid and dreadful cries as they fell. He there-upon awoke much troubled, and related not his dream to anybody, and was satisfied in himself that some great accident would happen in the world. A year after he dreamed again that he saw the fixed stars come down to the earth in the form of white birds, which carried men away, and cast them between two great mountains, which almost joined together and covered them; and then the bright, shining stars became dark and were eclipsed. He thereupon awaked, and extremely astonished, and entered into the Temple of the Sun, and beset himself to bathe his cheeks and to weep. Next morning he ordered all the princes of the priests, and magicians of all the provinces of Egypt, to meet together; which they did to the number of 130 priests and soothsayers, with whom he went and related to them his dream, which they found very important and of great consequence, and the interpretation they gave of it was that some very great accident would happen in the world.
Among others, the priest Aclimon, who was the greatest of all, and resided chiefly in the king’s Court, said thus to him:— ‘Sir, your dream is admirable, and I myself saw another about a year since which frightened me very much, and which I have not revealed to any one.’ ‘Tell me what it was,’ said the king. ‘I dreamt,’ said the priest, ‘that I was with your Majesty on the top of the mountain of fire, which is in the midst of Emsos, and that I saw the heaven sink down below its ordinary situation, so that it was near the crown of our heads, covering and surrounding us, like a great basin turned upside down; that the stars were intermingled among men in diverse figures; that the people implored your Majesty’s succour, and ran to you in multitudes as their refuge; that you lifted up your hands above your head, and endeavoured to thrust back the heaven, and keep it from coming down so low; and that I, seeing what your Majesty did, did also the same. While we were in that posture, extremely affrighted, methought we saw a certain part of heaven opening, and a bright light coming out of it; that afterwards the sun rose out of the same place, and we began to implore his assistance; whereupon he said thus to us: “The heaven will return to its ordinary situation when I shall have performed three hundred courses.” I thereupon awaked extremely affrighted.’
The priest having thus spoken, the king commanded them to take the height of the stars, and to consider what accident they portended. Whereupon they declared that they promised first the Deluge, and after that fire. Then he commanded pyramids should be built, that they might remove and secure in them what was of most esteem in their treasuries, with the bodies of the kings, and their wealth, and the aromatic roots which served them, and that they should write their wisdom upon them, that the violence of the water might not destroy it.”
Translated into English in 1672 by J. Davies.
Among others, the priest Aclimon, who was the greatest of all, and resided chiefly in the king’s Court, said thus to him:— ‘Sir, your dream is admirable, and I myself saw another about a year since which frightened me very much, and which I have not revealed to any one.’ ‘Tell me what it was,’ said the king. ‘I dreamt,’ said the priest, ‘that I was with your Majesty on the top of the mountain of fire, which is in the midst of Emsos, and that I saw the heaven sink down below its ordinary situation, so that it was near the crown of our heads, covering and surrounding us, like a great basin turned upside down; that the stars were intermingled among men in diverse figures; that the people implored your Majesty’s succour, and ran to you in multitudes as their refuge; that you lifted up your hands above your head, and endeavoured to thrust back the heaven, and keep it from coming down so low; and that I, seeing what your Majesty did, did also the same. While we were in that posture, extremely affrighted, methought we saw a certain part of heaven opening, and a bright light coming out of it; that afterwards the sun rose out of the same place, and we began to implore his assistance; whereupon he said thus to us: “The heaven will return to its ordinary situation when I shall have performed three hundred courses.” I thereupon awaked extremely affrighted.’
The priest having thus spoken, the king commanded them to take the height of the stars, and to consider what accident they portended. Whereupon they declared that they promised first the Deluge, and after that fire. Then he commanded pyramids should be built, that they might remove and secure in them what was of most esteem in their treasuries, with the bodies of the kings, and their wealth, and the aromatic roots which served them, and that they should write their wisdom upon them, that the violence of the water might not destroy it.”
Translated into English in 1672 by J. Davies.
Benjamin of Tudela, Travels (before 1173 CE)
The passage on the pyramids appears differently in different manuscripts and printings of the work. Working from the first printed editions of 1543 and 1556, Adolph Adler gives the passage in this way in 1840:
From New to Old Mitsraim is a distance of two parasangs. The latter lies in ruins, but the sites of the walls and the houses may still be traced at this day, as also the granaries of Joseph, of which there is a large number. The pyramids, which are seen here are constructed by witchcraft and in no other country or other place is any thing equal to them. They are composed of stones and cement and are very substantial.
The critical edition translated by Marcus Nathan Adler in 1907 gives the section on the pyramids thus from the British Museum manuscript, of medieval date:
From New Mizraim unto Old Mizraim is a distance of two parasangs. The latter is in ruins, and the place where walls and houses stood can be seen to the present day. The store-houses also of Joseph of blessed memory are to be found in great numbers in many places. They are built of lime and stone, and are exceedingly strong. A pillar is there of marvellous workmanship, the like of which cannot be seen throughout the world.
From New to Old Mitsraim is a distance of two parasangs. The latter lies in ruins, but the sites of the walls and the houses may still be traced at this day, as also the granaries of Joseph, of which there is a large number. The pyramids, which are seen here are constructed by witchcraft and in no other country or other place is any thing equal to them. They are composed of stones and cement and are very substantial.
The critical edition translated by Marcus Nathan Adler in 1907 gives the section on the pyramids thus from the British Museum manuscript, of medieval date:
From New Mizraim unto Old Mizraim is a distance of two parasangs. The latter is in ruins, and the place where walls and houses stood can be seen to the present day. The store-houses also of Joseph of blessed memory are to be found in great numbers in many places. They are built of lime and stone, and are exceedingly strong. A pillar is there of marvellous workmanship, the like of which cannot be seen throughout the world.
Muntahab Siwan al-hikma 184.7-13 (before 1200 CE)
[Abū-Ma‘šar also stated that] he [i.e., Hermes] knew that a heavenly ruin would befall the inhabitants of the earth after his passing from an inundation of waters and burning by fires and heat, so he and his contemporaries in the region of the west that he inhabited—in the land called Greece (Yūnān) between upper Egypt adjacent to the Sūdān and Alexandria and lower [Egypt]—built pyramids of stone on the mountain peaks and elevated places, each pyramid being between thirty and fifty cubits, broad at the top. In their construction they made two pyramids among them with higher tops.
Translated by Kevin Van Bladel (2009).
Translated by Kevin Van Bladel (2009).
Abd Al-Latif al-Baghdadi, Account of Egypt (after 1200 CE)
I have read in some of the books of the antient Sabaeans, that one of these two Pyramids is the tomb of Agathodaemon, and the other of Hermes, who are said to have been two great prophets, of whom Agathodaemon was the most famous and the most antient. It is also said, that people used to come from all parts of the world on a pilgrimage to these tombs.
Translated by Joseph White in 1801 from de Sacy's French edition.
Translated by Joseph White in 1801 from de Sacy's French edition.
Sibt ibn al-Jawzi, Mir’at al-zaman (before 1256 CE)
They differ concerning him that built the Pyramids. Some say Joseph, some say Nimrod, some Dalukah the queen, and some that the Ægyptians built them before the flood. For they foresaw that it would be, and they carried thither their treasures; but it profited them nothing. […] Coptites (or Ægyptians) report, that these two greater Pyramids, and the lesser, which is coloured, are sepulchres. In the East Pyramid is king Saurid, in the West Pyramid his brother Hougib, and in the coloured Pyramid Fazfarinoun, the son of Hougib. The Sabaeans relate, that one of them is the sepulchre of Shiit, (that is, Seth) and the second the sepulchre of Hermes, and the coloured one the sepulchre of Sab, the son of Hermes, from whom they are called Sabæans. They go in pilgrimage thither, and sacrifice at them a cock, and a black calf, and offer up incense.
Translated by John Greaves in Pyramidographia (1646).
Some of the Egyptian shaykhs say that someone who knew the Greek language deciphered one of the scripts engraved upon the Pyramids and found that the inscription read thus (in translation): “These two Pyramids were built when the Swooping Vulture stood at the sign of the Cancer.” This was thirty six thousand years before our Prophet (MUHAMMAD) (according to some), while others make it seventy six thousand years. It is said that the script engraved upon them dates four thousand years before the building of Cairo, and is no longer known to any man.
Translated by Leon Nemoy (1939).
Translated by John Greaves in Pyramidographia (1646).
Some of the Egyptian shaykhs say that someone who knew the Greek language deciphered one of the scripts engraved upon the Pyramids and found that the inscription read thus (in translation): “These two Pyramids were built when the Swooping Vulture stood at the sign of the Cancer.” This was thirty six thousand years before our Prophet (MUHAMMAD) (according to some), while others make it seventy six thousand years. It is said that the script engraved upon them dates four thousand years before the building of Cairo, and is no longer known to any man.
Translated by Leon Nemoy (1939).
Abu Al-Makarim, History of Churches and Monasteries (13th century CE)
Folio 59a
In the western part of Al-Jiziyah (Giza) are the tombs of the kings or Pharaohs, in which are their treasures, all traces of which have been effaced.
Folio 64b
The Pyramids. These were built by Hermes, the wise, the threefold in wisdom, who by his knowledge of the secrets of nature, invented the art of alchemy, and was able to make substances. His birthplace was Memphis. He is said to have been the same as Idris, who is related to have been ‘raised up to a high place’ [Qur’an 19:57]. The Sabaeans make pilgrimages to the two great pyramids, and say that Hermes is buried in one of them, and Agathodaemon [in the other]. The Sabaeans come to the pyramids from Harran, on pilgrimage. There is not on the face of the earth a structure erected by the hand [of man], stone upon stone, higher than these two pyramids, which are the tombs of Hermes and Agathodaemon. It is said that the area covered by each of the two great pyramids is twelve feddans; and in each of them there is a well, the site of which is not known.
Folio 68b
Near the town [of Memphis] are the pyramids, three in number. The height of the great pyramid is four hundred cubits. The pyramids were the landmarks and the dwelling-places built by Asghusa, the greatest of all the kings of the earth, and by Arghash, the brother of Shaddad, and by Shaddad, son of 'Ad, and Malik, son of 'Ad. and Farmashat, brother of 'Ad, whose ancestor was the king Arzakusha. He built here eight hundred courses, and then died. In these high towers, which are the two great landmarks, [these kings] placed their treasures and their tombs. The riches contained in one of them were extracted by one of the emperors of the Romans, named Severus, or the Great; and he extracted [it], after four hundred courses, during his whole reign, until he died, in the time of the author of the treatise. [There is corruption in the text, and the author referred to is missing.--J.C.]
Near these pyramids is the great image of granite [called] the Terrific [i.e., the Sphinx], sunk in the sand up to its middle.
Translated by B. T. A. Evetts in 1895.
In the western part of Al-Jiziyah (Giza) are the tombs of the kings or Pharaohs, in which are their treasures, all traces of which have been effaced.
Folio 64b
The Pyramids. These were built by Hermes, the wise, the threefold in wisdom, who by his knowledge of the secrets of nature, invented the art of alchemy, and was able to make substances. His birthplace was Memphis. He is said to have been the same as Idris, who is related to have been ‘raised up to a high place’ [Qur’an 19:57]. The Sabaeans make pilgrimages to the two great pyramids, and say that Hermes is buried in one of them, and Agathodaemon [in the other]. The Sabaeans come to the pyramids from Harran, on pilgrimage. There is not on the face of the earth a structure erected by the hand [of man], stone upon stone, higher than these two pyramids, which are the tombs of Hermes and Agathodaemon. It is said that the area covered by each of the two great pyramids is twelve feddans; and in each of them there is a well, the site of which is not known.
Folio 68b
Near the town [of Memphis] are the pyramids, three in number. The height of the great pyramid is four hundred cubits. The pyramids were the landmarks and the dwelling-places built by Asghusa, the greatest of all the kings of the earth, and by Arghash, the brother of Shaddad, and by Shaddad, son of 'Ad, and Malik, son of 'Ad. and Farmashat, brother of 'Ad, whose ancestor was the king Arzakusha. He built here eight hundred courses, and then died. In these high towers, which are the two great landmarks, [these kings] placed their treasures and their tombs. The riches contained in one of them were extracted by one of the emperors of the Romans, named Severus, or the Great; and he extracted [it], after four hundred courses, during his whole reign, until he died, in the time of the author of the treatise. [There is corruption in the text, and the author referred to is missing.--J.C.]
Near these pyramids is the great image of granite [called] the Terrific [i.e., the Sphinx], sunk in the sand up to its middle.
Translated by B. T. A. Evetts in 1895.
Marino Sanuto the Elder, Secreta Fidelium Crucis 3.14.12 (1307-1321)
About five leagues from Babylon (a fort near Cairo in Egypt) are some extremely lofty triangular Pyramids, which are said to have been the Granaries of Joseph, and near them are the ruins of the ancient city Thebes…
Adapted from the translation in Vyse’s Operations (1840).
Adapted from the translation in Vyse’s Operations (1840).
Al-Dimashqi, Cosmography 1.9 (before 1327)
Among the ancient monuments are the pyramids of Egypt [“May God protect it and watch over it with eyes that never sleep, and make of it a dwelling place of Islam until the day of the resurrection, Amen, O Lord of the universe!”]. Among the pyramids, which are monuments both large and considerable, the two pyramids of Giza in Egypt are the largest. According to historians, they 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.”
[...] Among the marvelous monuments of Egypt are the ancient temples, dwellings of the wise among the Copts. It is said that there was in every district of Egypt a temple, where the priest sat on a throne to teach the people. [...] 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.
Translated by Jason Colavito from the French edition.
[...] Among the marvelous monuments of Egypt are the ancient temples, dwellings of the wise among the Copts. It is said that there was in every district of Egypt a temple, where the priest sat on a throne to teach the people. [...] 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.
Translated by Jason Colavito from the French edition.
Abu al-Fida, Historia Ante-Islamica 5 (1329)
They (the Sabaeans) also worship the pyramids of Egypt, one of which is said to be the tomb of Seth, son of Adam, and the other that of Idris or Enoch.
Translated by Jason Colavito from the Latin edition.
Translated by Jason Colavito from the Latin edition.
Ibn Battuta, The Journey (c. 1356)
Description of the Pyramids and the Temples
These buildings are among the famous wonders of the ages. Men have given many disquisitions upon them and have engaged in research on their intended purpose and the length of their construction. They claim that all the sciences that existed before the Flood were written down by Hermes the Elder, who lived in Upper Egypt and was called Khonodkh (this is the same figure as Idris, or Enoch). In their view, he was the first who discoursed on celestial movements and the higher substances, the first who built temples and there glorified the divine. He predicted the Flood to men, and fearing the loss of science and the destruction of the arts, he built the pyramids and temples on which he represented all the industrial arts and their equipment, and recorded the sciences so that they might be preserved forever. It is said that the seat of knowledge and of royal authority in Egypt was at the city of Memphis, located at a berid (a space of four parasangs or twelve miles) from Fustat. When Alexandria was built, people moved there, and it became the seat of authority and knowledge until the advent of Islam, following which Amr, son of Al’âs, laid the foundation of the city of Fustat, which is still the capital of Egypt. The pyramids are built of hard stone, well cut; they have a very considerable elevation and are of circular shape, very extensive at the base, narrow at the summit, like a cone; they have no doors and it is unclear how they were built. Among the stories told about them, it is said that the king of Egypt, prior to the Flood, had a dream that struck terror in him, and forced him to build the pyramids on the west bank of the Nile, so that they might serve as repositories for science and for the burials of kings. They add that he asked the astrologers if some part of these pyramids would (ever) be opened; the astrologers informed him that one would be opened on the north side, designating for him the place where the opening would be made, and making known to him the amount of the expenditure it would cost for this operation. The king ordered the deposition within of a sum equal to that which the astrologers announced would be spent to make the breach. He used all his resources in this construction, and completed it in the space of sixty years. On it he had engraved the following inscription: “We built this pyramid in the space of sixty years. Let whoever wishes try to destroy it in six hundred years; and certainly it is easier to destroy than to build.”
When the sovereign authority was vested in the Caliph Ma’mun, he wanted to break into this pyramid. One of the doctors of Misr advised him not to do so; but Ma’mun persevered in his plan and ordered the opening of the (first) pyramid on the north side. A large fire was lit against this place, and then they threw vinegar. At that spot they hurled stones with a ballista, until there was opened the breach which still exists today. They found via this opening a sum of money that the caliph ordered weighed. What had been spent making the breach was also calculated; Ma’mun, having found that the two sums were equal, was very surprised at the fact. It had been found that the thickness of the wall was twenty cubits.
Translated by Jason Colavito from the 1853 French edition of Charles Defrémery and Beniamino Sanguinetti.
These buildings are among the famous wonders of the ages. Men have given many disquisitions upon them and have engaged in research on their intended purpose and the length of their construction. They claim that all the sciences that existed before the Flood were written down by Hermes the Elder, who lived in Upper Egypt and was called Khonodkh (this is the same figure as Idris, or Enoch). In their view, he was the first who discoursed on celestial movements and the higher substances, the first who built temples and there glorified the divine. He predicted the Flood to men, and fearing the loss of science and the destruction of the arts, he built the pyramids and temples on which he represented all the industrial arts and their equipment, and recorded the sciences so that they might be preserved forever. It is said that the seat of knowledge and of royal authority in Egypt was at the city of Memphis, located at a berid (a space of four parasangs or twelve miles) from Fustat. When Alexandria was built, people moved there, and it became the seat of authority and knowledge until the advent of Islam, following which Amr, son of Al’âs, laid the foundation of the city of Fustat, which is still the capital of Egypt. The pyramids are built of hard stone, well cut; they have a very considerable elevation and are of circular shape, very extensive at the base, narrow at the summit, like a cone; they have no doors and it is unclear how they were built. Among the stories told about them, it is said that the king of Egypt, prior to the Flood, had a dream that struck terror in him, and forced him to build the pyramids on the west bank of the Nile, so that they might serve as repositories for science and for the burials of kings. They add that he asked the astrologers if some part of these pyramids would (ever) be opened; the astrologers informed him that one would be opened on the north side, designating for him the place where the opening would be made, and making known to him the amount of the expenditure it would cost for this operation. The king ordered the deposition within of a sum equal to that which the astrologers announced would be spent to make the breach. He used all his resources in this construction, and completed it in the space of sixty years. On it he had engraved the following inscription: “We built this pyramid in the space of sixty years. Let whoever wishes try to destroy it in six hundred years; and certainly it is easier to destroy than to build.”
When the sovereign authority was vested in the Caliph Ma’mun, he wanted to break into this pyramid. One of the doctors of Misr advised him not to do so; but Ma’mun persevered in his plan and ordered the opening of the (first) pyramid on the north side. A large fire was lit against this place, and then they threw vinegar. At that spot they hurled stones with a ballista, until there was opened the breach which still exists today. They found via this opening a sum of money that the caliph ordered weighed. What had been spent making the breach was also calculated; Ma’mun, having found that the two sums were equal, was very surprised at the fact. It had been found that the thickness of the wall was twenty cubits.
Translated by Jason Colavito from the 1853 French edition of Charles Defrémery and Beniamino Sanguinetti.
Sir John Mandeville (pseud.), Travels, Chapter 7 (1357-1371 CE)
And now also I shall speak of another thing that is beyond Babylon, above the flood of the Nile, toward the desert between Africa and Egypt; that is to say, of the garners [= granaries] of Joseph, that he let make for to keep the grains for the peril of the dear years. And they be made of stone, full well made of masons' craft; of the which two be marvellously great and high, and the tother ne be not so great. And every garner hath a gate for to enter within, a little high from the earth; for the land is wasted and fallen since the garners were made. And within they be all full of serpents. And above the garners without be many scriptures of diverse languages. And some men say, that they be sepultures [= tombs] of great lords, that were sometime, but that is not true, for all the common rumour and speech is of all the people there, both far and near, that they be the garners of Joseph; and so find they in their scriptures, and in their chronicles. On the other part, if they were sepultures, they should not be void within, ne they should have no gates for to enter within; for ye may well know, that tombs and sepultures be not made of such greatness, nor of such highness; wherefore it is not to believe, that they be tombs or sepultures.
Fairuzabadi, Al-Qamus Al-Muhit, s.v. Haraman (late fourteenth century)
They are of the highest antiquity, and were built by Edris, to preserve there the sciences, and prevent their destruction by the Deluge; or by Sinan ben-almoschalshal, or by the first men, when informed by observation of the stars of the coming Deluge; or to preserve medicines, magic, and talismans. There is in this country a large number of small pyramids.
Adapted from the translation of James Bonwick, from a French translation (1877).
Adapted from the translation of James Bonwick, from a French translation (1877).
Bernhard von Breydenbach, Peregrinatio in terram sanctam (1486)
Latin version of 1486, folio 116 recto
Beyond the Nile we beheld many pyramids, which in ages past the kings of Egypt caused to be built over their tombs, of which the vulgar say that these are the granaries or storehouses which were built there by Joseph in order to store grain. However, this is clearly false, for these pyramids are not hollow inside.
Spanish version of 1498, folio 153 recto
On the other side of the Nile, we saw many tombs of the ancient kings of Egypt: These the vulgar call the granaries which Joseph made to gather wheat against the seven years of famine. Nevertheless, this is completely false, for these are not hollow within and therefore it seems they were placed there as tombs, as it is said.
Translated by Jason Colavito.
Beyond the Nile we beheld many pyramids, which in ages past the kings of Egypt caused to be built over their tombs, of which the vulgar say that these are the granaries or storehouses which were built there by Joseph in order to store grain. However, this is clearly false, for these pyramids are not hollow inside.
Spanish version of 1498, folio 153 recto
On the other side of the Nile, we saw many tombs of the ancient kings of Egypt: These the vulgar call the granaries which Joseph made to gather wheat against the seven years of famine. Nevertheless, this is completely false, for these are not hollow within and therefore it seems they were placed there as tombs, as it is said.
Translated by Jason Colavito.
Kâtip Çelebi (Haji Khalifa), Kashf al-zunun, ed. Fluegel vol. 1, pp. 62-63 (c. 1650)
Among those who followed Adam, the next was Idris (Enoch), the first to write with a pen, and the one who brought more learning into existence than any other. He was also called the Hermes of Hermeses, and was given triple grace. He was a prophet, king, and philosopher, and he brought forth all of that learning which had originated before the Flood, according to the opinion of many learned men. This same Hermes was first called Idris, son of Jared, son of Mahalalel, son of Enos, son of Seth, son of Adam, and he had fixed his seat in the upper reaches of Egypt, in the Said. He is also said to have been the first to have recorded the movements of the celestial bodies and the stars, the first to have built temples, and the first to have worshiped the One God within them. He was the first to contribute to the study medicinal drugs, and he composed Casaid songs on things both simple and complex for his contemporaries. He also predicted the Flood. He, too, announced the devastation that the danger from heaven would cause the earth, and he feared the destruction of all learning. He therefore built the Pyramids of the Egypt, which are so conspicuous, and he deposited all of the arts and scientific instruments therein, and he described all of the knowledge he had, to preserve it forever. Thereafter, in the Flood all men were killed, and no knowledge could withstand it, nor any vestige of it survive, except among those mortals who were then with Noah in the Ark.
Translated by Jason Colavito.
Translated by Jason Colavito.
