About fifty miles from the mouth of the Atbara, and, of course, on the eastern bank of the Nile, stand the pyramids of Meroe. They consist of three groups, and there are, in all, about eighty pyramids. The presumption is that they represent the old sepulchers of the kings of Meroe. Candance, Queen of the Ethiopians, mentioned in Acts, chap. viii., v. 27, is supposed to have belonged to Meroe, that being the name also of the capital, which is understood to have been somewhere not far distant from the sepulchers. These pyramids of Meroe possess one marked feature, distinguishing them from the pyramids of Egypt proper--that is, they have an external doorway or porch. As there is no entrance to the pyramid at these porticoes, it is quite possible that they were temples for worship or making offerings to the dead. By comparing them with the pyramids of Ghizeh, it will be seen that they are also taller in proportion to their base. Another important point in these porches or temples is the existence of the arch; and that, too, an arch in principle, with a keystone.

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