PYRAMIDS OF NURI being only about eight feet square at the base, whilst one measures at least one hundred and sixteen feet at the base. They all appear to have been truncated, and the height of the largest is, so far as could be made out, about ninety feet ; the fallen stones and drift-sand which lie at their bases make the taking of accurate measurements impossible. As to the number of the pyramids at Nuri authorities differ; Hoskins counted the remains of thirty-five, Lepsius twenty-five, and I saw remains of only seventeen or eighteen. This variation is probably to be explained by the fact that PYRAMIDS AT NURI.

for the last eighty years the pyramids have served as quarries for the natives, who have used the stones of which they are formed to build the foundations of their water-wheels, graves, &c. Hundreds of graves lined and covered over with pyramid stones may be seen in every part of the Sudan which is near a pyramid field, and their existence explains the disappearance of scores of pyramids. Nearly all the Sildan pyramids are formed of masses of loose stones of a comparatively small size, with well-built stone casings ; when once the casing is removed from a pyramid the wind alone will complete its ruin.

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