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Cheops reigned, the Egyptians said, fifty years, and was succeeded
at his demise by Chephren, his brother.
Chephren imitated the conduct of his predecessor, and, like him,
built a pyramid, which did not, however, equal the dimensions of his
brother's. Of this I am certain, for I measured them both myself.
It has no subterraneous apartments, nor any canal from the Nile to
supply it with water, as the other pyramid has. In that, the Nile
water, introduced through an artificial duct, surrounds an island,
where the body of Cheops is said to lie. Chephren built his pyramid
close to the great pyramid of Cheops, and of the same dimensions,
except that he lowered the height forty feet. For the basement he
employed the many-coloured stone of Ethiopia. These two pyramids
stand both on the same hill, an elevation not far short of a hundred
feet in height. The reign of Chephren lasted fifty-six years.
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