their architecture. They all have their sides accurately adapted
to the four cardinal points.
"In six of them which have been opened, the principal passage
preserves the same inclination of 26 degrees to the horizon,
being directed toward the polar star. . . . Their obliquity
being so adjusted as to make the north side coincide with the
obliquity of the sun's rays at the summer's solstice, has,
combined with the former particulars, led some to suppose they
were solely intended for astronomical uses; and certainly, if not
altogether true, it bespeaks, at all events, an intimate
acquaintance with astronomical rules, as well as a due regard to
the principles of geometry. Others have fancied them intended
for sepulchres; and as the Egyptians, taught by their ancient
Chaldean victors, connected astronomy with their funereal and
religious ceremonies, they seem in this to be not far astray, if
we but extend the application to their sacred bulls and other
animals, and not merely to their kings, as Herodotus would have
us suppose."[55]
[55] The Round Towers of Ireland, p. 159.
According to the testimony of Inman, the pyramid is an emblem of
the Trinity--three in one. The triangle typifies the flame of
sacred fire emerging from the holy lamp. With its base upwards it
typifies the Delta, or the door through which all come into the
world. With its apex uppermost, it is an emblem of the phallic
triad. The union of these triangles typifies the male and female
principles uniting with each other, thus producing a new figure,
a star, while each retains its own identity.[56]
[56] Ancient Faiths, vol. i., p. 145.
Thus the primary significance of the pyramid was religious, and
in its peculiar architectural construction was manifested the
prevailing conception of the Deity worshipped; namely, the
fructifying energies in the sun. We are informed that "all
nations have at one time or another passed through violent stages
of pyrolatry, a word which reminds us that fire and phallic cult
flourished around the pyramids. . . . Every town in Greece
had a Pyrtano."[57]
[57] Forlong, Rivers of Life, or Faiths of Man in All Lands, vol.
i., p. 325.
As not alone the sun but the stars also had come to be venerated
as agencies in reproduction, the worship of these objects was, as
we have seen, closely interwoven with that of the generative
processes throughout Nature. The attempt to solve the great
