=5. The Change of the Nile Channel at Memphis.=—Although such obscure accounts as can be gathered in connection with the founding of the city of Memphis are so shadowy as to be largely legendary, it has been established beyond much if any doubt that prior to its building the reigning Egyptian monarch determined to change the course of the Nile so as to make it flow on the easterly side of the valley instead of the westerly. This was for the purpose of securing ample space for his city on the west of the river, and, also, that the latter might furnish a defence towards the east, from which direction invading enemies usually approached. He accordingly formed an immense dam or dike across the Nile as it then existed, and compelled it to change its course near the foot of the Libyan Hills on the west and seek a new channel nearer the easterly side of the valley. This must have been an engineering work of almost appalling magnitude in those early times, yet even with the crude means and limited resources of that early period, possibly, if not probably, at least 5000 B.C., the work was successfully accomplished. =6. The Pyramids.=—Among the most prominent ancient structural works are the pyramids of Egypt, those royal tombs of which so much has been written. These are found chiefly in the immediate vicinity of Memphis on the Nile. There are sixty or seventy of them in all, the first of which was built by the Egyptian king Khufu and is known as the “Great Pyramid” or the “First Pyramid of Ghizeh.” They have been called “the most prodigious of all human constructions.” Their ages are uncertain, but they probably date from about 4000 B.C. to about 2500 B.C. These are antedated, however, by two Egyptian pyramidal constructions of still more ancient character whose ages cannot be determined, one at Meydoum and the other at Saccarah. [Illustration: A Corner of the Great Pyramid. (Copyright by S. S. McClure Co., 1902. Courtesy of _McClure’s Magazine_.)] [Illustration: FIG. 2.—Section of the Great Pyramid.] [Illustration: FIG. 3.]