SECTION II.

Of the Antiquities of Egypt, viz. of the Obelisks, Pyramids, Sphinx, Catacombs, and Mummies.

2000

Of the Obelisks.

EXCEPTING the Isiac table*, and a few other Egyptian antiquities, the obelisks that are still preserved in Egypt, or which have been removed from thence to Rome and other places, are the principal surviving archives and repositories †, to which the sacred writing, treated of in the foregoing chapter, has been committed. The obelisks, notwithstanding the extraordinary length of several of them, have been hewn out of the quarry, not only without the least interruption, either from the perpendicular or horizontal sutures, so common elsewhere in other much lesser masses of marble, but even without the least flaw or imperfection. All of them likewise that I have seen, were of a reddish granite (vgλ) marble,

This is likewise called the Tabula Bembina, from being once in the possession of Cardinal Bembo. It has been published by Pignorius, Herwart, and others, and is now in the possession of the Dukes of Savoy. Vid. Kirch. Oed. Ægypt. in mensa Isiaca.

+Jamblichus instruct us, [sect. 1. c. ii. de Mysteriis Ægypt.] that Plato and Pythagoras learned their philosophy from thence. This philosophy is also taken notice of by Pliny, 1. xxxvi. c. 9. Inscripti (Obelisci) rerum naturæ interpretationem Ægyptiorum opera philosophiae continent.

marble, finely polished, though the hieroglyphical characters, engraved sometimes to the depth of two inches upon them, are all of them rough and uneven; no attempt at least seems to have been ever made to polish them. Now, as we see no traces of the chissel, either upon the obelisks themselves, or in the hieroglyphical sculpture, it is probable that the latter was performed by a drill*; whilst the obelisks themselves might receive both their figure and polish from friction. They were all of them cut from quarries of the upper Thebais, to which a branch of the Nile was conducted; and being laid upon floats (xii), were brought at the time of the inundation, and left upon the very spot where they were afterwards to be erected. Lesser stones, we are told, were drawn upon chamulci or sledges.

These obelisks consist of two parts, viz. the shaft and the pyramidion †. As for their pedestals, (I mean of those two that continue standing, the one at Alexandria, the other at Mattareal), they lie so concealed under soil and rubbish, that I had not an opportunity to see them. However,

*This is called by Pausanias [in Attic.] Tigergov or Tura, and was the invention of Callimachus. Steel brought from India, oidnger ’Ivdıxov, [Arrian. Perip. Mar. Eryth.] being the hardest, was what they made use of for their instruments, (oidngin asxeya), other steel not being of a sufficient temper to cut these Egyptian marbles.

+ Obelisci altitudinem in decupla proportione constituerunt ad latus quadratæ basis inferioris. Sic si obelisci cujusquam latus sit decem palmarum, altitudo erit centum. Pyramidion vero, terminans obeliscum, altitudine sua æquabat latitudinem inferiorem, sive latus basis infimæ obelisci. Kirch. Ob. Pamph. p. 52.

However, when the bottom of the former was laid open some years ago, by Mr. Consul Le Maire, they found the pedestal of it to be eight French feet in height, and in the like fashion with those of the Grecian and Roman architecture. The shaft is in a decuple proportion of its greatest breadth; as the whole figure is nothing more than the frustrum of a pyramid, whose sides incline towards each other in an angle of about one degree. This frustum terminates in a point, that is usually made up (by the inclination) of equilateral planes, as in the common pyramids, from whence it has received the name of the pyramidion, or little pyramid. It has likewise been observed, that the height of this part is equal to the greatest breadth of the obelisk; but this, I presume, will not always hold true, otherwise it would be of great importance, as will be shewn hereafter, in estimating the particular quantity or portion of these pillars that lie buried under ground. But the basis, or foot, may perhaps be the most remarkable part of these obelisks; especially if that at Alexandria is to instruct us. For this, as the late worthy person above mentioned informed me, was not square, but hemispherical, and received (in this manner) into a correspondent cavity in the pedestal; upon which likewise were inscribed these odd characters, such as the

capreos

wheel-like capreo

* Vid. preceding note.

lated

lated ones of Apuleius may be supposed to have been. It is certain that these obelisks, by being thus rounded at the bottom, would bear a nearer resemblance to darts and missive weapons, than if they were square; and consequently would be more expressive of the rays of the sun, which they were supposed to represent, as it was the sun itself to which they were dedicated t. It may likewise be presumed, as the pyramids, which are obelisks only in obtuser angles, were equally emblematical of fire, or the sun, so they may be considered under the same religious view to have been no less consecrated to the same deity.

The obelisks which I have mentioned at Alex

andria

* De opertis adyti profert quosdam libros, literis ignorabilibus prænotatos; partim figuris cujusmodi animalium, concepti sermonis compendiosa verba suggerentes; partim nodosis et in modum rotæ tortuosis, capreolatimque condensis aspicibus, a curiosa profanorum lectione munita. Apul. Met. 1. xi. p. 268.

+ Obelisci enormitas Soli prostituta. Hermut. apud Tertull. de spect. c. 3. Trabes ex eo fecere reges quodam certamine, Obeliscos vocantes, Solis numini sacratos. Radiorum ejus argumentum in effigie est ; et ita significatur nomine Ægyptio. Plin. 1. xxxvi. c. 8. (лтебрн forsan, i. e. digitus Solis. Kirch. Obel. Pamph. p. 44.) Mesphres---duos Obeliscos Soli consecravit. Isid. 1. xviii. c. 31. Finis denique principalis, quem Ægyp tii in Obeliscorum erectione habebant, erat, ut Osiridem et Isidem, hoc est, Solem et Lunam in his figuris, veluti mystica quadam radiorum repræsentatione colerent, quasi hoc honore tacite beneficiorum, per hujusmodi secundorum Deorum radios acceptorum, magnitudinem insinuantes. Kirch. p. 161. ut supra. Other deities likewise, viz. Jupiter, Venus, Apollo, &c. were worshipped under the forms of obelisks and pyramids. Vid. Pausan. ini Corinth. p. 102. Max. Tyr. Aλež. An. Διαλεξ. λη. We learn from Clemens Alex. (Strom. 1. i. p. 418.) that this method of worshipping pillars was of great antiquity. Vid. Suid. in voce.

Vid. Porphyr. apud Euseb. Præp. Evang. p. 60.