If asked to name any one thing which more than any other typified
Egypt, the average boy or girl would at once reply, "The pyramids,"
and rightly, for though pyramids have been built in other countries,
this particular form of structure has always been regarded as
peculiarly Egyptian, and was selected by the designers of its first
postage stamp as the emblem of the country.

[Illustration: THE PYRAMIDS OF GHIZEH FROM THE DESERT.]

In speaking of the pyramids it is always the pyramids of Ghizeh which
are meant, for though there are a great many other pyramids in Egypt
these are the largest, and being built upon the desert plateau, form
such a commanding group that they dominate the landscape for miles
around. All visitors to Egypt, moreover, are not able to go up the
Nile or become acquainted with the temples, but everyone sees the
pyramids and sphinx, which are close to Cairo, and easily reached by
electric car, so to the great majority of people who visit the country
they represent not only the antiquity of Egypt, but of the world.

The great pyramid of Cheops, though commenced in 3733 B.C.,
is not the oldest monument in Egypt; the step pyramid of Sakkara is of
earlier date, while the origin of the sphinx is lost in obscurity. The
pyramid, however, is of immense size, and leaves an abiding
impression upon the minds of everyone who has seen it, or climbed its
rugged sides. Figures convey little, I am afraid, but when I tell you
that each of its sides was originally 755 feet in length and its
height 481 feet, or 60 feet higher than the cross of St. Paul's, and
that gangs of men, 100,000 in each, were engaged for twenty years in
its construction, some idea of its immensity may be formed. At one
time the pyramids were covered with polished stone, but this has all