There are three chambers within the Great Pyramid of the Pharaoh Khufu: the upper, placed in the centre of the pyramid, is called the King’s Chamber, and is entered by a passage-way leading off the end of the huge interior ‘Grand Gallery’. This Chamber is around 34 feet long, east to west, a little over 17 feet wide and 19 feet high. It is lined with well finished granite brought down river from Aswan, 500 miles to the south. Within the chamber stands a stone sarcophagus – also of Aswan granite - but whether Khufu, or anyone else, was ever interred in it remains a mystery.
    Nevertheless, all seems conventional enough until we study the sarcophagus: for a start it is too large – by one inch - to be carried up the initial internal passage of the Pyramid. It must, therefore, have been placed in position during the building of the pyramid, before the chamber itself was finished. And in an additional curiosity, the sarcophagus itself is unfinished: the top is still rough with visible saw and chisel marks. In this, it stands in stark contrast to the finely smoothed walls of the chamber itself.
    Naturally an explanation has been advanced: that the original smoothed sarcophagus was dropped in the Nile or broken. In the subsequent panic to supply a replacement before the chamber was finished another was hurriedly prepared and placed inside, unfinished! As an explanation, it is rather weak. The interior of the King’s Chamber is well smoothed and finished. The sarcophagus too could easily have been finished while inside the chamber. There is no structural or logistical necessity for it to have been delivered completed. In addition, such was the skill and precision of the ancient Egyptians that had they wished to finish the sarcophagus, they most certainly would have managed it, especially since the Pharaoh was undoubtedly still alive at the time and keen that his work should be completed to the highest standard. We are left facing the possibility that the sarcophagus’ rough and unfinished state is deliberate.
    Could this indeed be the case? And if so, what might that mean? But first, what other examples of the rough and the smooth, juxtaposed, can be found in Egypt?

The Temple of Edfu

The best preserved of all the ancient Egyptian Temples is that at Edfu, dedicated to Horus in his role as warrior and avenger of his father, Osiris. Work on the temple began in 237 BC by Ptolemy III but it replaced and included parts of an earlier one on the same site which may have dated back to 1500 BC.
    As is common with Egyptian temples, in the innermost third section, stands the sanctum sanctorum. Within this is a large, exquisitely carved and polished granite naos. This is an ornate stone shrine in which was held a statue of the god behind small doors which were opened each morning by the high priest. Its carvings express the very beginning of the creation of Egypt.
    This stands about two feet out from the back wall of the chamber. A quick investigation reveals that while the front and sides are ornately carved and highly polished, the back of it has been left rough and unformed, but interestingly, left in this state while at the same time allowing access to it. Of relevance is that this naos is older than the present temple. It is a remnant from the earlier temple, undoubtedly preserved in order to ensure continuity between the old and new constructions.
    Again, the conventional explanation is that this edifice was left unfinished because the rear was not seen, in other words, for reasons of expediency. But the Egyptians undertook the most extraordinary feats of labour without resorting to any short-cuts or omissions. And given that it stands in the inner sanctum of the god to whom the entire temple was dedicated it would seem unlikely that here, of all places, expediency would rule – over the several hundred years that this temple was in use. Again we are drawn inexorably to the possibility that the rear of the naos was deliberately left rough. Perhaps to show the beauty of creation having emerged from original chaos?
    Given that the temple at Edfu has, carved on its walls, one of the original creation myths of the Egyptians describing how the first temple came into existence at the beginning of the world, this explanation is not so far-fetched. However, what is important to us is this distinction between the rough and the smooth and the use of it as a dynamic and spiritually instructive symbol.

The Valley of the Kings

Among the eighty or so known tombs carved deep down into the rock in the Valley of the Kings, and one of a small group at the very head of the valley, is a tomb which is little visited and little known outside archaeological circles: that of Sa Ptah (Siptar) who reigned around 1200 BC. This construction is very curious indeed.
    Like all the tombs in the Valley it begins with a large open doorway. The great funerary ramp plunges down into the rock at a steep angle. The walls of this shaft are brightly, extensively and skilfully decorated with scenes and passages from sacred literature. After some way, the decline of the shaft ceases and the passage becomes horizontal. Simultaneously both the decoration and the finishing of the passage walls also ceases and the tomb appears almost primeval. A rough and unfinished passage leads into a huge rough and undecorated burial chamber. Here stands a vast stone sarcophagus with finely finished and decorated sides. The contrast is striking.
    Leaving this burial chamber is a very interesting experience: one first travels along the level but very rough passage until the beginning of the burial shaft is reached. Then, one looks upwards to see light pouring in from the top of the shaft far above making the brightly coloured walls glisten. We are suddenly in the world of mankind and the need for the ascent to the Light. Certainly the transition from rough to smooth at this point is dramatic. Was this supposed to remind the dead king’s spirit of its other-world destiny in accordance with the texts of the Book of the Dead? Was the transition from rough to smooth an important symbol in this ascent to the light? For those who have walked the passage with this in mind such conclusions seem plausible.
    Nevertheless, we could still be influenced by wishful thinking. We still lack proof that the contrast between the rough and the smooth stone-work was a definite symbol, deliberately used. But that will come: we must move to the great temple of Philae.

Aswan and the Temple of Philae

The temple of Philae, dedicated to the goddess Isis, sits on its own island in Lake Nasser, just south of Aswan. At the east end of the island stands a construction built in Roman times, the so-called ‘Kiosk’ of Trajan. This is rectangular, with fourteen columns linked by walls. Its roof has long disappeared. It is thought that it formed a formal gate into the main temple, but there is something very curious about its construction: one half of the outside walls are built of smooth ashlars, the other half of rough. This pattern is repeated inside the building as well as outside; it is an integral and deliberate part of its design. No one knows why.
    Egyptologists confess to being mystified by the deliberate contrast. Here is proof that in ancient Egypt the contrast between rough and smooth stonework was deliberate and part of their spiritual symbolism. But there are no texts which elucidate the meaning of this pattern. Perhaps Freemasonry, containing, as it does, many residues of ancient symbolic thought, can help the Egyptologists? What, according to the teaching of Freemasonry, might these mean?

The Rough and Smooth Ashlars in Freemasonry

Every masonic Lodge contains a pair of cubic stones: one rough and unformed, one smooth and well finished. To every Freemason, these rough and smooth ashlars are a simple and well understood symbol. They symbolise the masonic journey; beyond this, they are symbolic of any spiritual journey: from the rough, rude, ignorant, state of being, to that which is complete, which has gained knowledge and wisdom. And, in the masonic context, towards that which can help shoulder the burden of society as a well formed ashlar helps support the weight of a building.
    In Freemasonry, the rough and smooth ashlars symbolise a journey towards completion, towards knowledge, towards wisdom and ultimately, towards the Creator and Sustainer of all life. I think it not unreasonable to suppose that this was at least a part of the ancient Egyptian’s understanding of this symbol as well.