The Pyramids of Giza

The Two Pyramids: two pyramids about six miles from Egypt. Al-Idrisi says they are built of large stones, which he describes as marble, that they rise about four hundred cubits, and that inside each pyramid there are inscriptions, some of which have been read. ¹

Ibn Khurradadhbih transmits a chained text about the two pyramids, in which whoever claims strength in his rule should demolish them. He reports, on the authority of the secretary of Ahmad ibn Tulun, that they opened one of the smaller pyramids and found in it three hundred and sixty-six statues in the likeness of people, and jars of agate filled with mummies. ²

Ibn Fadl Allah al-Umari reports that the largest of them was opened in the time of al-Ma'mun, and that it was rumoured that gold was found in it. But when he checked the histories he found nothing of the kind for al-Ma'mun. He says that he climbed them many times and saw that some were built of brick, and that the removal of their stones for use in buildings had already begun in his own time. ³