This was built in a few years' time, and if his reign were short, or if
he were unable to enlarge the pyramid for other reasons, it sufficed for
his tomb. If, however, his reign seemed likely to be one of some length,
after the first plan was completed he enlarged his pyramid by building
another and a larger one around it and over it. Then again, when this
addition was finished, and the king still reigned and was in possession
of great resources, yet another coating, so to speak, was put on to the
pyramid, and so on till colossal structures like the First and Second
Pyramid of Giza, which, we know, belonged to kings who were unusually
long-lived, were completed. And finally the aged monarch died, and was
buried in the huge tomb which his long life and his great power had
enabled him to erect. This view appeared eminently reasonable at the
time, and it seemed almost as though we ought to be able to tell whether
a king had reigned long or not by the size of his pyramid, and even
to obtain a rough idea of the length of his reign by counting the
successive coats or accretions which it had received, much as we tell
the age of a tree by the rings in its bole. A pyramid seemed to have
been constructed something after the manner of an onion or a Chinese
puzzle-box.

Prof. Pétrie, however, who examined the Griza pyramids in 1881, and
carefully measured them all up and finally settled their trigonometrical
relation, came to the conclusion that Lepsius's theory was entirely
erroneous, and that every pyramid was built and now stands as it was
originally planned. Dr.

[Illustration: 111.jpg THE PYRAMIDS OF GIZA DURING THE INUNDATION.]

Borchardt, however, who is an architect by profession, has examined
the pyramids again, and has come to the conclusion that Prof. Pétrie's