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The lost Egyptian labyrinth
Sean Rigby investigates the mysterious monument that impressed Classical writers more than the Great Pyramid.
Egypt has an incredible number of surviving monuments, many still standing to a substantial height, but there are many others that have little or no trace remaining. One such is the so-called ‘Labyrinth’ (or maze). It has almost disappeared, but clearly impressed Classical writers. Herodotus (c.484-425 BC) and Strabo (c.64 BC-AD 24) both declared the monument to be equal to or greater than the pyramids in grandeur.
I have seen it myself, and indeed words cannot describe it…Though the pyramids beggar description and each one of them is a match for many great monuments built by Greeks, this maze surpasses even the pyramids.(Herodotus, Histories 2.148.1-3)
the Labyrinth, a work equa
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