Still one of the largest pieces of architecture ever constructed, the Great Pyramid has long been the subject of wonder as to when it was built, by whom, and most importantly, why. The conventional explanation is that it was built during the reign of the Pharaoh Khufu by skilled Egyptian labourers as a funerary monument. In the 19th century, in the absence of hard information other than detailed studies of its dimensions, a whole class of speculation grew up which has been called ‘pyramidology.’ The pyramidologists came to believe that the Great Pyramid encoded advanced knowledge of the physical universe, and the course of human history. This book is one of the primary texts of pyramidology.
In addition to pyramidology, Joseph Seiss was a Christian dispensationalist, a 19th century millennialist school of thought. The dispensationalists viewed human history as a series of covenants with God. They were certain that the end of days could be pinpointed using Biblical prophecy. This was the origin of a set of beliefs widely accepted by contemporary evangelical Christians.