* * * * *
THE PYRAMIDS OF MEROE.
About fifty miles from the mouth of the Atbara, and, of course, on the
eastern bank of the Nile, stand the pyramids of Meroe. They consist
of three groups, and there are, in all, about eighty pyramids. The
presumption is that they represent the old sepulchers of the kings of
Meroe. Candance, Queen of the Ethiopians, mentioned in Acts, chap.
viii., v. 27, is supposed to have belonged to Meroe, that being the name
also of the capital, which is understood to have been somewhere not far
distant from the sepulchers. These pyramids of Meroe possess one marked
feature, distinguishing them from the pyramids of Egypt proper--that is,
they have an external doorway or porch. As there is no entrance to the
pyramid at these porticoes, it is quite possible that they were temples
for worship or making offerings to the dead. By comparing them with
the pyramids of Ghizeh, it will be seen that they are also taller in
proportion to their base. Another important point in these porches
or temples is the existence of the arch; and that, too, an arch in
principle, with a keystone.
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