[16] The base of the great pyramid has been stated to be equal in size to the area of Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields; but a “plan showing the comparative areas of the great pyramid and Lincoln’s-Inn-Fields,” drawn by Mr. Bonomi, of the Soane Museum, proves that this statement is correct only in respect of the long diameter of the square; for whilst one side of the base of the pyramid would extend westward from the wall of Lincoln’s Inn (along the face of the houses on the _north_ side of the square) to the middle of Gate Street, the southern boundary would overlap the buildings on the south side of the square, and take in the houses for some distance behind them, in the direction of the New Law Courts. A magnificent mausoleum! It is said that 100,000 men were employed for thirty years in its construction. [17] Built by Ouenephes, the fourth king of the first dynasty. Mr. Bayle St. John says of it:—“This structure has a very peculiar form, and as it rises on its vast pedestal of rocky desert, seems totally distinct in character from all the other pyramids that break the horizon to the north and south. It has five steps only, five vast steps, that together rise to the height of nearly 300 feet. It looks like a citadel with a quintuple wall, five towers of gradually increasing elevation, one within the other.” [Illustration: The Sphynx, with the great pyramid of Chafra, Susuphis or Chephren in the background.] A quarter of a mile to the south and east of the great pyramid is the colossal statue of the Sphynx, carved out of the summit of a rock, which crops up like an island in the midst of the sandy desert. The statue represents the couching body of a lion, with the head of a man, the union of power with intelligence, and is typical of royalty. The face, thirty feet in length by fourteen in breadth, has been much mutilated; its entire height is 100 feet, and its paws, which are fifty feet long, embrace a considerable area, having in its centre a sacrificial altar, and a space for religious worship. This huge memento of the past dates back to a period antecedent to the pyramids themselves, and marks the spot where two ancient temples formerly stood, one dedicated to Isis, the other to Osiris; both of which Cheops declares, on a tablet preserved in the museum at Boulak, were purified and restored by himself; whilst a neighbouring site was selected for the foundation of his own pyramid. The paws of the Sphynx are covered with inscriptions, among which is the following very interesting one, transcribed and translated by the distinguished Egyptologist, Dr. Thomas Young:—