known, and he is chiefly famous as the builder of the Third Pyramid at Gizah, which the Egyptians called "Her"

This pyramid is between 210 and 215 feet high, and

the length of each side at the base is about 350 feet. The illustration on page 202 shows the position of the corridors and the mummy chamber, which is 60 feet below the surface of the ground, and also indicates the damage which was done to the pyramid by the Khalifa Al-Mâmûn, who, believing that it was full of gold and precious stones, tried to demolish it. The pyramid was originally cased with slabs of granite, many of which still remain in position. In the mummy chamber were discovered a stone sarcophagus, a wooden coffin, the cover of which was inscribed with the king's names and titles and an extract from a religious text, and the remains of a mummy wrapped in a cloth. These were despatched by ship to England in 1838, but the ship was wrecked, and the sarcophagus was lost; the fragments of the coffin and the mummy were recovered, and are now exhibited in Case B in the First Egyptian Room. In the reign of Men-kau-Ra certain Chapters of the Book of the Dead were revised or composed by Heruṭāṭāf, a son of Khufu, or Cheops, who was renowned for his learning. A cast of a statue of Men-kau-Rā, and a sepulchral stele of Khennu, a “royal kinsman" and councillor of the king, are exhibited in the Egyptian Vestibule, Nos. 30 and 31.

In the reign of Men-kau-Rā was born a child to whom the name of Ptaḥ-Shepses was given, and who was a playfellow of the princes and princesses in the palace. In the reign of the next king, Shepseskaf, he married the royal

princess Maat-khā

and lived on through the

He

reigns of Userkaf, Sahu-Ra, Nefer-ari-ka-Ra, and two or three other kings of the Vth dynasty. Under each king he filled a number of important offices, and at his death was probably considerably more than 100 years old. was buried in a fine large mastaba tomb at Sakkârah, from which the great door in the Egyptian Vestibule, No. 32, was taken. The façade is inscribed in fine bold. hieroglyphics, and the sculptured decorations on the sides are good examples of the best funerary reliefs of the period. The upper parts of each of the main perpendicular lines of text contained the name of a king, but of these only two now remain.

An Egyptian official of the IVth dynasty. Cast of the wooden statue of the Shêkh al-Balad, or " Shêkh of the Village."

[Egyptian Vestibule, No. 35.]

The beauty of the statues of the IVth dynasty is well illustrated by the painted limestone portrait statue of An-kheft-ka, a royal kinsman, which was found at Dahshûr (Bay 1, No. 33), and the headless statue of an official found at Gizah (Vestibule, No. 34). The standing figures of the Shekh al-Balad (see Plate XXI) and the Scribe are wonderful examples of fidelity to nature (see the casts in the Egyptian Vestibule, Nos. 35 and 36). The finest bas-relief of the period is that from the tomb of Ra-ḥetep at Mêdûm (Egyptian Vestibule, No. 40); and the wall decorations of the ordinary mastaba tomb of this time are illustrated by the sculptured slabs from the tombs of Ari (Egyptian Vestibule, Nos. 41-43), and Áfá, a steward and head-gardener (No. 44), and Ankh-ḥaf, the scribe (No. 45), etc.

Fifth Dynasty. From Elephantine.

About B.C. 3566.

The kings of this dynasty are: Userkaf, Saḥu-Rā, Kakaȧ, Nefer-ari-ka-Ra, Shepses-ka-Rā, Khā-nefer-Rā, User-en-Ra Àn, Men-kau-Heru, Teṭ-ka-Rā Àssȧ, Unȧs. The reigns of all these kings, from a historical point of view, are comparatively unimportant. During the reign of Userkaf a great development of the cult of Ra took place in Egypt, and the worship of the Sun-god, according to the form established by the priests of Heliopolis, became dominant in the land. In the reign of Userkaf, or in that of one of his immediate successors, the title of son of Ra" was added to the other royal titles, and, as the son of the Sun-god, the king took a special name. Userkaf built at Abû-Şîr the pyramid called "Ab-ȧst"

Saḥu-Rā appears to have

made a raid into Sinai, for he is represented in a rock-relief at Wâdî Maghârah in the traditional attitude of clubbing a native of the country. He built, at Abu-Sir, the pyramid called "Khã-ba". For an alabaster vase inscribed with the Horus name of this king, Neb-khau, see Wall-case 138, No. 58; and there is in the British Museum also a cylinder seal inscribed with his name (No. 48,023). The next important king of this dynasty is User-en-Rā, whose name, as son of Ra, was An. He carried on mining operations in Sinai, and probably suppressed