* No satisfactory etymon for the word _pyramid_, has as yet been proposed: the least far-fetched is that put forward by Cantor-Eisenlohr, according to which _pyramid_ is the Greek form, irupauç, of the compound term “piri-m-ûisi,” which in Egyptian mathematical phraseology designates the _salient angle_, the ridge or height of the pyramid. ** The brick pyramids of Abydos were all built for private persons. The word “mirit,” which designates a pyramid in the texts, is elsewhere applied to the tombs of nobles and commoners as well as to those of kings. The fashion of burying in a pyramid was not adopted in the environs of Memphis until tolerably late times, and the Pharaohs of the primitive dynasties were interred, as their subjects were, in sepulchral chambers of mastabas. Zosiri was the only exception, if the step-pyramid of Saqqâra, as is probable, served for his tomb.* * It is difficult to admit that a pyramid of considerable dimensions could have disappeared without leaving any traces behind, especially when we see the enormous masses of masonry which still mark the sites of those which have been most injured; besides, the inscriptions connect none of the predecessors of Snofrûi with a pyramid, unless it be Zosiri. The step-pyramid of Saqqâra, which is attributed to the latter, belongs to the same type as that of Mêdûm; so does also the pyramid of Rigah, whose occupant is unknown. If we admit that this last-mentioned pyramid served as a tomb to some intermediate Pharaoh between Zosiri and Snofrûi--for instance, Hûni--the use of pyramids would be merely exceptional for sovereigns anterior to the IVth dynasty.