The Polish journalist and novelist Bolesław Prus described his 1878 visit to the salt mine in a remarkable series of three articles, ""Kartki z podróży (Wieliczka)"" ["Travel Notes (Wieliczka)"], in "Kurier Warszawski" (The Warsaw Courier), 1878, nos. 36–38. The great Prus scholar Zygmunt Szweykowski writes: "The power of the Labyrinth scenes Prus' 1895 historical novel, "Pharaoh" stems, among other things, from the fact that they echo Prus' own experiences when visiting Wieliczka." The Wieliczka Salt Mine indeed helped inspire "Pharaoh". Prus combined his powerful impressions of the salt mine with the description of the ancient Egyptian Labyrinth, in Book II of Herodotus' "Histories", to produce the remarkable scenes found in chapters 56 and 63 of his novel.