Upper Egypt. 84-90.
Lower Egypt. 90-92.
A Glossary of names and terms occurring in this book and
pertaining to Egyptological subjects. 93-154
List of the Egyptian dynasties. 108-111.
The Coptic alphabet. 113.
The Demotic alphabet. 116.
The Hieratic alphabet. 124.
A Glossary of hieroglyphs occurring in this book, together
with their pronunciation and determinative value. 155-173
A Glossary of the Egyptian words occurring on the New York
Obelisk. 174-190
Index of Proper Names. 191-202
{v}EXPLANATION OF THE VIGNETTES AT THE HEAD OF THE CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER I. (Page 1.) The goddess of victory in the form of a vulture
holding a flabellum or fan of feathers and a signet-ring in each claw.
CHAPTER II. (Page 12.) The goddess Nekheb, the tutelary deity of kings,
represented as a vulture carrying the Atef-crown on its head and holding
a flabellum or fan of feathers and a signet-ring in each claw.
CHAPTER III. (Page 18.) The winged Uræus-snake or cobra, the tutelary
goddess of Upper and Lower Egypt.
CHAPTER IV. (Page 26.) The symbol of the god Horus of Edfu, represented
as the winged disk of the sun encircled by two Uræus-snakes or cobras.
CHAPTER V. (Page 35.) Ancient Alexandria reconstructed.
{vii}PREFATORY.
The oldest nation on the globe sends her greeting to her youngest sister.
The "Setting Sun" has shed its last rays on the Old World from Egypt's
sunny land and now appears on this western shore as a brilliant "Rising
Sun". In the metropolis of the Western Hemisphere one of Egypt's grandest
treasures meets our eyes and, though silent, reminds us of her former
greatness. Here stands a monument of two of her greatest Pharaohs, lords
and conquerors, scourges of their people, and a terror to their foes. It
tells the story of serfs and teems with cringing words and the praise of
despots. Yet it was a glorious time when this monument was erected and
inscribed, a time of power, pride, learning, greatness, conquest for the
lords, but for the people a time of abject subjection, misery, and
hardships. Pharaoh was master of all. But the sun of his grandeur has set
and vanished, and our obelisk, that proud monument of Pharaonic times, now
sees a spectacle which the greatest flight of fancy could not have pictured
to any man of those by-gone days.
Here in the western land the obsequious adoration of one man is no more.
Here the people are not under the lash and miserable; they are, with all
their cares and labors, a happy and contented people. The realm is not, as
in those former days, the result of a despot's triumphant march, but a
grand, harmonious union of friends.
{viii}On such a picture our obelisk looks down from its lofty pedestal. Had
it a tongue, it could tell us many a tale of the past, when Thothmes III.
erected it with pomp and festivities, when Ramses II. engraved his name
upon it, and the law-giver Moses, the Israelite, played and studied in its
view, how it escaped the fury of the demoniac ravager Cambyses, was
transported by the Romans to Alexandria, escaped Mohammedan fanaticism, and
was at last conveyed as a precious prize from its sunny home to our fitful
climate. It seems oddly out of place here, and its coat of paraffine will
not protect it wholly from bleak winds and rain, and winter's ice and snow.
It has lived its longest time on earth, and at the advanced age of
thirty-four centuries it must decline, until it will totter and fall. Then
having so long symbolized the "Rising Sun" in all its beauty, and having
greeted its glorious advent with every dawn and break of day, the "Setting
Sun" will shroud it for the last time in its light, but the new sun of
morning will seek its old friend in vain. It will fade away, but its memory
will last much longer than inscriptions on stone which must perish sooner
or later. Let us, however, the children of a new era, learn from it the
greatness of its authors!
{1}[Illustration]
CHAPTER I
OBELISKS--WHERE FOUND, AND WHEN, AND BY WHOM ERECTED.
§1. Obelisks have been found in various localities of the ancient Egyptian
empire. Possibly almost every city of some prominence will have boasted of
some, no matter how small, especially such cities as became for a time the
residence of the Pharaoh. They would also be placed in cities in which
grand temples had been erected for the worship of some prominent deity, and
if we can rely upon the reports of travelers, they are even found in the
adjacent Sinaitic Peninsula to serve as monuments to the praise of some
king's achievements. Unfortunately, however, for any deductions, most of
the obelisks which were certainly erected in various places are completely
gone either through the violence of foes, the ravages of a Cambyses, or
else the internal dissensions of the people and the subsequent ruin, and
the ruthless sand of the desert. Of the obelisks, which formerly must have
been counted by hundreds, we can scarcely find fifty, and of these only a
few are perfect or of purely Egyptian origin.
As far as can be ascertained from the obelisks of the present day, most of
them point as the original place of their erection to that city
preëminently called the "City of Obelisks" in Lower Egypt, the Heliopolis
of the ancients, at present [Arabic: MTRYH] _Matariyeh_, near Cairo. They
were here placed around and in front of the temple of the sun, {2}which was
the principal sanctuary of the city. From this fact Heliopolis received the
name "house of the sun", or [Hebrew: BEIT SHEMESH] [bêth shêmesh], as
mentioned in the Bible. These obelisks formed the leading attraction at
that remote time and undoubtedly remained such until the city's utter
destruction. Their fame spread far and wide, for in Jeremiah xliii:13 we
find the prophet mentioning the "upright stones" [[Hebrew: MATSVWOT]
mazzebhôth] of Heliopolis, which were doomed to perish. Heliopolis, in the
days of its power, must have presented a glorious picture to the observer,
no less when Joseph wedded a daughter of the high-priest, as when, some
centuries later, the law-giver Moses was a student at Egypt's foremost
university in this city.
Another city, however, claims our attention as on an almost equal footing
with Heliopolis as regards obelisks. Thebes in Upper Egypt, the famous city
of one hundred gates, as Homer calls it, the largest city of the ancient
world, had besides its many grand temples and palaces a number of the
largest obelisks extant. Four of them still tower above the piles of ruins
scattered on all sides, while a still larger number must lie buried deep in
the ground. It was quite appropriate that here in the metropolis of Upper
Egypt, where Pharaoh passed much of his time and where he was crowned with
all the pomp and magnificence of a victor, a number of obelisks should
proclaim his praise. They were made for the living to gaze upon, and were
therefore erected on the eastern bank of the Nile where the city proper
stood, while the western bank was wholly surrendered to the dead. The
modern villages of Karnak ([Arabic: QRNAQ]) and Luxor ([Arabic: AQSR]) now
mark the spot where Thebes was situated. However, if we are to believe a
traveler, Villiers Stuart, who found two prostrate obelisks of an old
dynasty in the necropolis or cemetery on the western bank of the Nile, and
take into account that Lepsius found his obelisk at Gizeh, the necropolis
of Memphis, also on the western bank of the Nile, we must infer that the
oldest obelisks were not always set up with a view to being admired by the
living, but simply served as head-stones for the dead.
{3}[Illustration: Ruins of THEBES, at present KARNAK, in Upper Egypt.]
{4}[Illustration: Obelisk of Ramses II. in Luxor (Thebes).]
The majority of all extant obelisks was erected at Heliopolis and Thebes.
Others, however, have been discovered in different places: some as far
north as Saïs and Tanis, and as far south as the boundary of Egypt on the
island of Philæ, called Elephantinê by the ancients. The limit in the
opposite directions seems to have been the Fayoom on the west, and the
Sinaitic Peninsula on the east. Outside of Egypt and Africa other Egyptian
and some pseudo-Egyptian obelisks are to be found. They {5}are the work of
Roman emperors. These, jealous of the great achievements of the Pharaohs
and desirous of adding to the many Pharaonic obelisks in Rome some of their
own making and inscribed with their own name, had the stone quarried in
Syene and transported to Rome. Domitian and Hadrian erected such to their
honor in the "Eternal City".
§2. The obelisk is certainly a very early invention of the Egyptians. As a
matter of fact, it was at first of small size and could hardly have been
used as an ornament of temples, which purpose it served in later times. We
find very little of the commonplace laudatory titles on the earliest
specimens of obelisks, and, as mentioned above, some of them were even
found in the necropolis or cemetery, apparently to serve as mementos or
head-stones. A passage on the monuments, mentioning that a certain Merab
([glyphs] "_love-heart_") was priest of Khufu's obelisk, points to the
fact, that as early as the fourth dynasty (about 3100 B. C.) the form of
the obelisk was known. In the inscriptions of the fifth dynasty we meet
with the hieroglyphic sign of the obelisk [glyphs]. The XIth dynasty has
bequeathed to us three obelisks. It was not, however, until the XIIth
dynasty that the true beauty of the obelisk was fully appreciated.
Usertesen I. (2371 B. C., according to Lepsius) may be considered to have
been the first to erect obelisks of large dimensions, as is well
illustrated by the obelisk at present standing in Matarîyeh near Cairo,
though another of his obelisks at Bejij, or the ancient Crocodilopolis, in
the Fayoom has more of the appearance of a stelé with a rounded top.
From this time until the beginning of the XVIIIth dynasty we possess no
obelisks. A new era then began for Egypt. It ushered in its golden age.
Thothmes I. was the first to claim for himself equal honor with Usertesen.
{6}He erected two magnificent obelisks in Karnak, where they are still
conspicuous. Here his daughter, queen Hatasu, co-regent with her brothers
Thothmes II. and III., also erected two obelisks. It is true her name does
not appear on them, but it is a well established fact, that her great
brother Thothmes III., mighty as he was, showed an ignoble jealousy of his
valiant sister and, on coming to power, erased her name from the monuments
and substituted his own instead. As he had, however, left the feminine
pronouns and endings in the inscriptions, his knavery was readily
discovered. Notwithstanding this serious defect in his character, he
celebrated his many victories by the erection of obelisks of his own. To
him belongs the palm in this line of monumental structures. Besides him,
one other Pharaoh of this dynasty, Amenophis II., seems to have erected one
small obelisk.
[Illustration: Queen HATASU or MAKARA.]
After the death of Thothmes III. there was a comparative quiet in the
erection of obelisks, although one of his obelisks was finished, inscribed,
and then erected by Thothmes IV. The great Pharaoh was praised for his
imposing monuments, but none dared emulate him until with a new dynasty a
new line of rulers came to Egypt. Of Seti I. two excellent obelisks have
come down to us, {7}both being at present in Rome. The name, however, most
frequently mentioned on the obelisks is that of Ramses II. (1200 B. C.).
Although he erected comparatively few obelisks, he inscribed his name and
deeds on those of his predecessors, thereby engaging in no legitimate
business. He considered himself the equal of Thothmes III., and therefore
chose the obelisks of the latter, which had but one--the central--column
inscribed, and put two more columns on each side with vainglorious praise
of himself. With him the erection of large obelisks seems to have ceased
for a time.
[Illustration: Ramses II. in his youth.]
It was not until the reign of king Psametik II. that we come across another
large obelisk of superior workmanship. This is at present in Rome. Ptolemy
Euergetes II. and Cleopatra II. have left us a fine obelisk on the island
of Philæ, and this represents the last of a long line of truly Egyptian
monoliths. The Roman emperors who erected obelisks of their own were
Hadrian and Domitian. Since their time obelisks with hieroglyphic
inscriptions have neither been quarried nor erected.
§3. It fell to the lot of the greater number of Egyptian obelisks to be
transported from their native land and to serve as objects of curiosity to
the multitudes, which had and still have no conception of what they
represent. This was due to foreigners; for there is no case on record where
the obelisk of one Pharaoh has been transported to a different place by
another. Not until the Romans invaded Egypt and carried off its grain and
gold, did it occur to {8}man's mind to despoil it of some of its wonders.
The first to adorn Rome and Alexandria with them was the emperor Augustus,
who carried off two to Rome and left two in Alexandria,--the London and New
York Obelisks. Caligula (40 A. D.) and Claudius (41-54 A. D.) followed his
example, and about 90 A. D. Domitian removed two to Rome and two to
Benevento in Italy. Constantine the Great (306--337 A. D.), after
establishing himself in Byzantium [Constantinople], transported a large
obelisk to this city, but left a second one, which he had begun to remove
in 330, in Alexandria, until Constantius brought it over to Constantinople
in 357. During the Middle Ages and up to the present century the other
obelisks still remaining in Egypt were left undisturbed. In 1832-1833 the
French removed the Luxor Obelisk to Paris, the English the prostrate
Alexandrian Obelisk in 1877-1878 to London, and the Americans the erect
Obelisk of Alexandria, commonly called "_Cleopatra's Needle_" in 1880-1881
to New York.
[Illustration: Head of the mummy of Ramses II. discovered in 1881.]
§4. It would be quite impossible to give an absolutely {9}correct list of
all obelisks existing at the present time, since with regard to some of
them we must take the word of travelers, who were not acquainted with
Egyptian studies and would therefore easily have been imposed upon, or else
the books of reference describing them are in some cases very much at
variance. The following list is as near correct as it can at present be
made.
I. ERECT OBELISKS.
Where erected: By whom erected: Height:
_In Egypt_:
1. Karnak Thebes Thothmes I. 71 ft. 7 in.
2. Karnak Thebes Hatasu 97 " 6 "
3. Luxor Thebes Ramses II. 82 " - "
4. Heliopolis Heliopolis Usertesen I. 67 " - "
5. Philæ [frag.] Philæ Ptolemies 33 " - "
6. 7. Karnak Thebes Thothmes III. 19 " - "
8. Sarbut-el-Khedem[?] Sinaitic Peninsula ? ?
9. Drah-abul-Neggah Thebes Antef [XI. dyn.] 11 " - "
_In Constantinople_:
10. Atmeidan Heliopol. ? Thothmes III. 55 " 4 "
11. Prioli ? Nectanebo I. ? 35 " - "
_In Rome_:
12. Lateran Thebes Th'th. III. IV. 105 " 6 "
13. Vatican _not inscribed._ 83 " 1½ "
14. Flaminian Heliopolis Seti I. 78 " 6 "
15. Campensis Heliopolis Psametik II. ? 71 " 5 "
16. Pamphilian Rome Domitian 54 " 3 "
17. S^a. Maria Magg. Heliopol. ? _not inscribed._ 48 " 5 "
18. Mt. Cavallo Heliopol. ? _not inscribed._ 45 " - "
19. Sallustian Rome _Copy of Seti I._ 43 " 6 "
20. Barberini Rome Hadrian 30 " - "
21. Mahutean Heliopolis Ramses II. 20 " - "
22. Piazza della Sais? Psametik II.? 17 " 7 "
Minerva
23. Villa Mattei ? Ramses II. 8 " 3 "
_In other parts of Italy and Sicily_:
24. Boboli Gardens, Heliopolis Ramses II.? 16 " 1 "
Florence
25. Florence ? ? 7 " - "
26. Florence ? ? 5 " 10 "
27. 28. Benevento Benevento Domitian 9 " - "
29. Borgian, Naples ? Domitian? 6 " 7 "
30. Catania Catania _Roman copy?_ 12 " 4 "
_In France_:
31. Luxor, [Paris] Thebes Ramses II. 74 " 11 "
32. Arles Arles Constantine? 56 " 9 "
_In England_:
33. Alexandrian Heliopolis Thothmes III. 68 " 5½ "
[in London]
34. Alnwick Castle ? Amenophis II. 7 " 3 "
or Sion House?
35. 36. Amyrtæus ? Amyrtæus [465] 19 " 9 "
British Mus.
37. Corfe Castle Philæ Ptol. Euerg. II. 22 " 1½ "
_In Germany_:
38. Albani Munich ? Domitian? ?
39. Lepsius Berlin Memphis IV. or V. dyn. 2 " 1½ "
_In the United States_:
40. Cleopatra's Heliopolis Thothmes III. 69 " 6 "
Needle
II. PROSTRATE OBELISKS.
1. Karnak Thebes Thothmes I. ?
2. Karnak Thebes Hatasu ?
3. Bejij Crocodilop. Usertesen I. 42 " 9 "
4-7. Sân Tanis Ramses II. ?
8. Assuân _still in the quarry._ 95 " - "
9. Nahasb Sinaitic ? 7 " 11 "
Peninsula
10. 11. Drah-abul-Neggah Thebes Antef [XI. dyn.] ?
Besides the above, we are told that there were in Rome in 1676 four
fragments of obelisks, which have since disappeared. Another obelisk is
said to have been near the Porta del Popolo in Rome, in the burial place of
Nero, which was only a Roman imitation, called the Esmeade Obelisk. Zoëga
states that a fragment of an obelisk was brought to Wanstead, England. It
was 2½ ft. high, and comprised only a part of the pyramidion. Another
fragment of an obelisk is mentioned as having been at Cairo, Egypt. Bonomi
calls attention to one at Soughton Hall, England. None of these, however,
can now be traced.
[Illustration: Pharaoh with the double crown of Egypt bringing offerings to
the gods.]
{12}[Illustration]
CHAPTER II
THE QUARRYING, TRANSPORTING, AND RAISING OF OBELISKS.
§1. Egypt is undoubtedly in every respect a land of wonders. At the most
remote period of its history we observe that it was already in such an
advanced state of civilization, as would appear to us to be wholly
incompatible with its venerable age. When Greece first began to issue from
its times of heroes and demi-gods and advance on a path of civilization,
Egypt had already for at least twenty centuries possessed everything that
enlightened Greece could boast of. The first objects among the many wonders
that still remain in Egypt to catch the eye of a traveler, are the grand
monuments set up in honor of various divinities or as proud guide-posts for
future generations. Among these obelisks and pyramids rank first. We marvel
at the enormous stones which our modern steam-engines would lift with
difficulty, yet which the ancient Egyptians quarried, transported, and
erected in their proper places, not only setting them on the ground, but
even lifting them some hundred feet, as in the case of the Pyramids. We
look upon the greater number of obelisks, each made of one unbroken piece
of stone, and are forced to admire the workmanship and engineering skill
which they exhibit. We may endeavor to grasp this wonderful achievement,
but must continually ask: how was it done, and how was it possible to do so
at that time, when even now with all our many inventions and
{13}contrivances we should perhaps fail. Unfortunately we receive no
definite answer. It is so long ago since the Egyptian stone-cutters plied
their chisels and the engineers built their machines, and no papyrus or
inscription tells us directly how the work was accomplished. A relic of
indomitable labor and uncompleted work still lies in the quarry at Assuan.
It is an obelisk of 95 feet still cleaving on its fourth side to the native
rock. This may throw some light on the mystery.
We notice the nicety and precision with which the stone-cutter went to work
in hewing out and polishing the monument. His art was one that had been
brought to the highest state of perfection in Egypt; and no wonder, for in
a country where timber was scarce and hardly one tree was suitable for
wood-work, men had to fall back on their natural supply which the mountains
rising on both sides of the valley yielded. Stone was there in abundance.
Hence from the earliest times of Egyptian history the stone-cutter receives
a prominent place. The implements he employed must have had a wonderful
degree of hardness to chip and polish the tenacious rock of Syene.
With regard to the quarrying of the rock, that is, how, after having
selected a properly-sized piece of rock without a flaw and having carefully
marked it, the stone-cutters were able to detach 50-100 feet of it without
a break--that has given rise to many conjectures. Belzoni held, that after
a groove of about two inches had been cut along the line, the blow of some
machine must have separated the pieces of rock, as glass when cut by a
diamond. Others believe that a saw was employed to sever the rock. Sir J.
F. Herschel prefers to accept the theory that the separation of the rocks
was caused by fire, a method still employed in India. He calls attention to
the fact, that after the workmen there have cut a groove into the rock they
kindle a small fire on top of this line, and that {14}after the rock is
thoroughly heated they suddenly pour cold water on it, causing the rock to
split with a clean fracture. It is, however, more probable that the
Egyptians made use of wooden wedges to accomplish their purpose. We
frequently find not only grooves in the rock but also wedge-holes inside
these grooves. Wedges with their slow and steady pressure would insure a
good fracture. Possibly, as Wilkinson surmises, the grooves themselves may
have carried water to the wooden wedges which, being kept continually moist
and thereby expanding, would have caused the rock to split. The saw was
undoubtedly used for the last cutting to separate the piece from the native
rock.
[Illustration: Stone-cutters smoothing a block of granite.]
[Illustration: Stone-cutter at work.]
The blocks having been quarried, the stone-cutters cut them exactly to the
required shape and polished them almost as smooth as glass with the chisel
and incessant rubbing. The accompanying pictures fully illustrate and
explain this. In the accurate chiseling and planing of the angles the
Egyptians have never been surpassed. As for the material used in the
manufacture of the tools that were to cut the hard Egyptian rock which
bends even our iron and steel tools of to-day and makes {15}them useless,
we must profess a deep ignorance. Either the Egyptians employed chemical
compounds and emery, or else they possessed a wonderful knowledge of
tempering bronze and iron tools which has been completely lost. It still
remains for our advanced civilization to rediscover what the ancient
Egyptians already knew.
[Illustration: Chiseling, planing, polishing, and inscribing statues.]
[Illustration: Transportation of a colossus.]
§2. We know almost less about the transportation than the quarrying of
obelisks. We have only one picture on the monuments, at Bersheh, to guide
us. In this the dragging of a colossus by workmen is represented in vivid
outlines. The accompanying picture shows the man in charge of the work, the
servant greasing the runners of the sledge, and the multitude of toiling
people, but it {16}tells us very little about the manner of transportation
for a distance of more than one thousand miles between Syene and Lower
Egypt. That the removal of such monoliths from the quarry to the place of
erection was a matter of some importance is fully brought out by many
inscriptions, where this task is intrusted by Pharaoh to a loyal subject,
and where the latter expresses his gratification that his mission was
completed to the satisfaction of his master, who rewarded him quite
handsomely. From some inscriptions it would appear that the blocks, when
ready for transportation, were rolled to the river's edge, or perhaps
placed on rollers and then pushed or else dragged down on an inclined
plane. The Nile, ever ready to extend his welcome help to the children of
his soil, aided them again in their efforts. Large barges or rather floats
were built where the water of the inundation would reach the blocks, and
where they, when once on the floats, would be carried on that great
Egyptian highway to any part of the vast empire. Many monuments, however,
were transported overland, in which case the aid of the Nile must have been
dispensed with. The Colossi at Thebes, the two statues of Amenophis III.,
and the statue of Ramses II. in the Memnonium at Thebes, which weighed as
much as 1,800,000 pounds, are instances of this. Such masses of rock were
moved along on sledges by human hands, as shown in the above picture. The
inscription of Hammamât makes mention of the men who died while handling
such sledges with their enormous loads. Possibly the Egyptians already used
besides rollers and levers also pulleys to facilitate their work. At all
events the transportation by human hands of obelisks and other monoliths of
enormous size and weight without the most powerful appliances of modern
times is such a wonderful feat, that we cannot at present fully comprehend
it. All we know {17}for certain is the fact that those men of old have
succeeded, and therefore accomplished what we would regard as almost
impossible.
§3. The method employed by the Egyptians in the erection of obelisks has to
this day remained a profound mystery. Of course, just as with regard to the
quarrying and transporting them, many conjectures have been advanced which,
however plausible they may seem, give us no definite solution of this
problem. That the Egyptians must have possessed some mechanical means, with
which to lift these colossi into their exact place, cannot be disputed:
otherwise the time consumed in setting them up would have been equal to
that of quarrying them. They had undoubtedly some unknown facilities for
doing work of this kind, and being great mathematicians, they may have
constructed agents more powerful than those of the present day.
{18}[Illustration]
CHAPTER III
THE FORM, NAME, DIMENSIONS, INVENTION, MATERIAL, AND USE OF OBELISKS.
§1. Obelisks are monoliths, that is, they are made of _one_ piece of rock
only. Pieces set up in the form of an obelisk are never considered one. The
lofty shaft at Washington, D. C., cannot, therefore, be styled an obelisk.
In addition to being composed of one piece only, all obelisks are
quadrangular, the sides sloping gradually and perceptibly but right-angled
all the way to the top, where they are surmounted by a miniature pyramid or
trapezium. They were, as far as we know, commonly erected in pairs at the
entrance of the temples, evidently serving there in the capacity of
guardians. The stone was polished to a high state of perfection, and the
inscriptions added in intaglio-relievo by skilled stone-cutters under the
direction of scribes. Whether the figures of these inscriptions were filled
out with copper or gold, as some maintain, is extremely doubtful.
With the pyramidion it was different. While its usual dedicatory
inscriptions remained undoubtedly as they were chiseled, the point or apex
seems to have been surmounted by gold or gilded bronze. The sun would
naturally in the early morning first touch with its rays this point and
bathe it in splendor. It would appear from extant obelisks that, in order
to have the gold added, the {19}stone apex was not brought out to a fine
point, but left rugged and incomplete. Yet this unevenness may also have
been the result of time and the abrasion caused by the sand of the desert.
We know of the Obelisk of Karnak, erected by queen Hatasu, that the apex of
its pyramidion was covered with "pure gold", as the inscription on the
obelisk itself states. Others, again, were covered with copper; for
instance, the two obelisks of Heliopolis, of which but one remains now,
which were seen in this condition by St. Ephraim Syrus (308 A. D.), Denys
of Telmahre (840 A. D.), and a number of Arabic writers.
It is a very interesting fact, that in the inscriptions of the vth and vith
dynasties in Memphis the obelisk has a curious shape, being represented by
a short and singularly unproportional shaft on a high and wide pedestal,
and crowned at the point of the pyramidion by a large disk of the sun. This
figure, in the first place, closely resembles a pyramid or a combination of
the pyramid and the obelisk, almost forcing on us the assumption that the
obelisk grew out of the pyramid, and, in the second place, the disk of the
sun plainly refers to the mystic sun-worship for which the obelisk
primarily served as an index finger.
The sides of the obelisk were always intended to be inscribed, for they
were to record the deeds and praise of a Pharaoh. That some obelisks have
come down to our days without inscriptions is due to the fact, that the
monarch who ordered them died, and his successor either would not spend the
money on the monument of a predecessor to have it inscribed, or deemed it
sacrilegious to put his own name on what did not belong to him. We find
filial piety displayed only by Thothmes IV., who would not allow the
monument of his great predecessor, Thothmes III., to lie half-finished in
the {20}quarry, but erected it, not, however, without succumbing to the
sore temptation of adding his own name and using two thirds of the space of
the whole obelisk. This is at present the Lateran Obelisk in Rome. Whether
the obelisks were inscribed before being erected, or vice versa, cannot now
be determined. From some uninscribed specimens we should infer that they
were inscribed when in their proper position, while from the Lateran
Obelisk we could draw the conclusion that they were first completed in all
details before they were erected.
[Illustration: A pair of obelisks, on pedestals, in front of the pylon, or
entrance-gateway, of a temple.]
The obelisks, as soon as they had been finished to the satisfaction of
Pharaoh, were placed in pairs on pedestals in front of the pylons or lofty
entrances of the temples. The pedestals were either, as in the case of the
New York Obelisk, composed of one solid block of stone, or else of a
foundation of closely fitting blocks or a layer of stones.
One effect of the removal of the obelisks by the Romans was to break off
the edges at the bottom, so that {21}there was reason to fear that
re-erection would not make them safe. To obviate this danger, they placed
bronze crabs at each corner to fill out the gaps. Why they should have hit
upon the form of the crab or scorpion is not very evident. Perhaps they
chose the crab from a religious point of view, in order to conform to the
curious religious doctrines and superstitious notions entertained by the
Egyptians under the Ptolemies, and elucidated by the inscriptions and
papyri of that time.
§2. The word "obelisk" comes from the Greek signifying a "pointed
instrument", and is, in turn, derived from another Greek word _obelos_ "a
spit". Afterwards this name was applied to a "pointed pillar", on account
of the latter's resemblance to a spit. By the Egyptians the obelisk was
called [glyphs] _tekhen_. This word occurs quite frequently in
inscriptions, especially on the obelisks themselves, where the
"determinative" [glyphs] alone is given without the literal complement,
that is, the spelling.
The pyramidion of the obelisk, on the other hand, was called _benben_ by
the Egyptians. The prominent part played by it in the mysteries of
sun-worship is attested by the inscription of king Piankhi (about 700 B.
C.), for in it is mentioned the [glyphs] (_ha-t benben-t_), "the temple of
the pyramidion" in Heliopolis. The inscription tells us in this connection
the following story: "_His majesty entered the temple of Ra and his divine
sanctuary with profound veneration. The first high-priest offered up a
prayer to god in the star-chamber to ward off misfortune from the king,
placed on his brow the fillet, and purified him with frankincense and holy
water. Flowers of the temple of the pyramidion were brought to him and
blossoms were given to him. He ascended the stairs to the grand niche to
see the god Ra in the temple of the pyramidion. Such was done by the king
himself. His {22}chieftains stood apart, while he drew back the bolt,
opened the door, and saw his father Ra in the temple of the pyramidion
resting in the Maad-boat of Ra and the Sektet-boat of Tum. He then closed
the doors and put on them clay and sealed them with the king's own ring._"
The frequent mention of the pyramidion and the evident importance attached
by the king to his visit to this sanctuary plainly show that there was a
deep signification lying hidden beneath the strange upper part of the
obelisk. In it the Rising Sun, Râ, and the Setting Sun, Tum, find their
mutual points of contact.
§3. The dimensions of the obelisks which have come down to us vary very
much. By consulting the list on pages 9-11 it will be seen that at present
the height ranges between 2 to 105 feet. As has already been mentioned, the
largest obelisks date back to the time when Egypt entered upon, or was
already in, its golden age, that having been the time when the Pharaohs
could erect monuments worthy of their reign. Before that time, when they
served as grave-stones, the obelisks were of a comparatively small size.
Still we find some very large specimens under later dynasties, as for
instance that of Psametik II. on the Monte Citorio in Rome, which is 71
feet high, while that of the Ptolemies in Philæ, which is only a fragment,
measures 33 feet. The Romans also erected large monoliths, Domitian's
obelisk on the Piazza Navona in Rome being 54 feet, and that of Hadrian on
the Monte Pincio 30 feet high. Constantine the Great erected the large
obelisk at Arles in France, measuring 56 feet, which may have possibly been
taken out of a French quarry.
There must have been some fixed rule for determining the thickness of an
obelisk when the length was given. According to a measurement of all the
obelisks we may state, that the base was generally 1/9 to 1/11 of {23}the
entire length. Thus the New York Obelisk is 7 ft. 9¼ in. by 7 ft. 8¼ in. at
the base, which is about 1/9 of the entire length (69½ ft.). The obelisk of
Hatasu is of a somewhat different proportion, the thickness at the base
being only 1/13 of the total length. The obelisk with the thickest base is
that which is still in the quarry at Assuan, the base measuring 11 ft. 1½
in. by 11 ft. 1½ in.
That monuments of such height and thickness weigh a great deal is
self-evident. Our New York Obelisk would tip an adequate scale at the
figure: 448,000 pounds. Eight of the extant obelisks, however, weigh still
more, the heaviest being that of Assuan which, if it had ever been erected,
would weigh 1,540,000 pounds, having for a second the Lateran Obelisk in
Rome with 1,020,000 pounds.
§4. The material of which the obelisks are made is the granite of Syene. It
was preferred by the Egyptians on account of its wonderful hardness,
durability, lack of flaws (the so-called _maladie de granite_), and its
reddish color. It is really the amphibole-granite, but is commonly called
Syenite from the name of the place where it is found. Although flaws in it
are of rare occurrence, they nevertheless sometimes appear in the obelisks.
Whenever they were discovered after the block was detached from the native
rock, they did not render the stone by any means worthless, as the Luxor
Obelisk in Paris has proved. This had a crack in it at the base from the
day of its erection in Thebes, which, when pinned by the Egyptians with a
wooden plug at that early time, has not since then interfered in the least
with the strength or stability of the obelisk.
The supply of this hard granite was and is still inexhaustible, being
massed up in immense mountains in various parts of Egypt. It is found in
the eastern desert near Thebes. Egyptian monuments also record the
quarrying of stone at Hammamât, on the road to Kossêr. {24}It is, however,
found best in the vicinity of the First Cataract and, as the name "Syenite"
indicates, especially at Syene (Assuan). This city, of some importance
under the Pharaohs, was called Syêné by the Romans, and [glyphs] _Sun-t_ by
the Egyptians. It is situated opposite the island of Elephantine, called by
the Egyptians [glyphs] _Âbu-t_ ("the ivory-city"), the most northerly
island in the First Cataract, forming the southern boundary of ancient and
modern Egypt. Where the chisel and the tools of the stone-cutters were kept
in constant use, where men formerly battled with the stubborn rock, and
most of Egypt's monuments were cut and embellished--no sound now greets the
traveler. The place is deserted, itself a monument of an ancient people's
diligence and perseverance.
§5. The question as to the invention of that wonderful, simple, yet strange
figure we call obelisk, can be answered without hesitation. The invention
belongs wholly to the Egyptians. As has been pointed out before, the people
of the IVth and Vth dynasties already made use of this form of monument.
Perhaps its first appearance dates back even further, although no such old
obelisks exist to warrant this assumption.
The next question to be answered is: to what use were the obelisks put? The
ancient dynasties did not use them for ornament's sake, as the tomb would
hardly be a suitable place for works of art that were to be admired. They
originally served as memorial tablets and tomb-stones. Afterwards their
surpassing beauty as monuments of art was perceived, and they were placed
in pairs in front of the gates and pylons of the temples for ornament. They
broke the monotony of the straight and peculiar Egyptian style of building,
and by their apparently thin and column-like appearance set off to
{25}advantage the massive and ponderous structures round about. A position
in front of the temples was certainly the very best which could be assigned
to them, and it can therefore be no matter of surprise, that the Pharaoh
sought to commemorate his victories and virtues on such splendid tablets.
We find the king in most cases use all the available space on the obelisk,
and whenever he did not use all of it, another would be sure to add his own
glorious name and deeds to those of some predecessor. We consequently find
some obelisks that bear the inscriptions of as many as three different
rulers; for instance, the Lateran, London, and New York Obelisks. These
inscriptions would effectually serve the purpose of history, if they
recorded events of vast political importance, but, unfortunately, of
obelisk-inscriptions still extant, none are dated after the manner of other
historical monuments.
The Romans immediately recognized the artistic merits of the obelisks,
though they were perhaps more struck by their grandeur and elegance than
anything else, and carried off many of them as trophies to sunny Italy.
They adorned Rome with them, where, with all their rents and fractures, and
after all the injury by the hand of man and havoc of the elements, the
obelisks still baffle the ravages of time in the "City of the Seven Hills".
As a "smart" people, however, the Romans tried to utilize them in some way:
so they hit upon the idea to make them serve as sun-dials. Augustus
experimented to this end with the obelisk now on the Monte Citorio in Rome,
but, as he was not successful, this project was entirely abandoned.
{26}[Illustration]
CHAPTER IV
THE SIGNIFICATION OF THE OBELISK AND THE WORSHIP OF THE SUN.
The most interesting point to be touched upon in our further investigation
concerning obelisks is undoubtedly that with regard to their meaning and
signification, or, in other words, what the mind of the Egyptian priest saw
expressed under the figure of an obelisk. This leads us into the religion
and mythology of a nation that had some very lofty conceptions of life,
death, and eternity. The objects which called forth such thoughts were
pre-eminently the obelisk and the pyramid, the former representing life in
the sunshine of glory, the latter death in the darkness of passing night.
In the cosmogony of the Egyptians the Sun plays the most important part.
Its birth is thus aptly described from the monuments by Prof. Dr. H.
Brugsch: "_In the beginning there was no heaven or earth. A boundless
water, shrouded in dense darkness, made up the universe. This held in its
bosom the male and female germs or beginnings of the future world. The
divine primeval spirit, inseparable from the matter of the primitive water,
felt a longing after creative power, and his word called into being the
world, whose figure and variegated form had already manifested themselves
to him. Its corporeal outlines and colors corresponded, in consequence of
their derivation, to Truth, that is, to the exact intention of the divine
spirit with reference to his future work. The {27}first act of creation
consisted in the formation out of the primitive water of an egg, from which
the light of day (Ra 'the sun') proceeded, which animated everything in the
world. In this rising sun is embodied the almighty divinity in its grandest
manifestation_".
This new-born deity was destined to become greater than its parent, and to
receive adoration in all its many phases. The path of the sun was
frequently compared to the life of a man from infancy to old age. Hence the
sun was called a _boy_ in the morning, a _youth_ in the midday, and an _old
man_ in the evening ([glyphs] _khrud_ "boy", [glyphs] _hunnu_ "youth",
[glyphs] _aau_ "old man"). The most common names of the sun, however, which
constantly recur on the innumerable Egyptian monuments are [glyphs] _Ra_
and [glyphs] _Tum_, the former representing the sun in all its glory in the
morning and at noon, the latter the sun when it has completed [_tum_] its
course and leaves the earth in darkness. Thus the inscriptions frequently
speak of [glyphs] (_Ra em ubenef_) "Râ when he rises" [whence perhaps the
royal title in the stelé of Abusimbel: [glyphs] (_uben_) "the glorious
rising sun"], and of [glyphs] (_Tum em hotepef_) "Tum when he sets".
[Illustration: The sun-god RA.]
The obelisk was erected in honor of the sun in _all_ its phases, both when
rising and when about to set. The pyramids, on the other hand, symbolizing
the sun after it had set, were always built in the region of darkness and
death on the western bank of the Nile, and had only to do with Tum, the
setting sun. Here, in the domain {28}of Tum, the bodies of the departed
were to rest securely until the light of an eternal morning should wake
them again and endow them with the splendor of the rising sun, which also
set in the west, entered the lower regions and bowels of the earth or Hades
(the Egyptian [glyphs] _A-menti_), and again victoriously left its dark
dungeon to break forth in its usual glory.
[Illustration: The sun-god TUM.]
[Illustration: Kheper, the night-sun: winter solstice.]
[Illustration: Ra-Hor-Khuti, the morning-sun: vernal equinox.]
[Illustration: Tum, the evening-sun: autumnal equinox.]
[Illustration: Horus, the noon-sun: summer solstice.]
The various phases of the sun in its passage over the heavens are even
represented by pictures on the monuments. The sun of morning is pictured as
a hawk-faced deity (Horus) crowned with the snake-encircled disk of the
sun, called _Ra-Hor-Khuti_; {29}the sun of noon as the same deity wearing
the double crown of Egypt, called _Hor_ or _Hor-Khuti_; the sun of evening
as a human-faced deity with the double crown of Egypt, called _Tum_ or
_Atum_; and the invisible sun of night as a human-faced deity with the
sacred scarab above it, called _Kheper_ or _Ptah-Sokar-Osiris_. These four
deities also represented the beginning of the four seasons of the year: the
vernal equinox, the summer solstice, the autumnal equinox, and the winter
solstice. Some other names and forms under which the sun was worshiped are,
besides the above, _Amen-Ra_ (in Thebes), _Sebek-Ra_ (in Ombos), and
_Khnum-Ra_ (in Elephantine).
[Illustration: Sebek-Ra.]
[Illustration: Khnum-Ra.]
All this proves the vast and supreme importance attached to the sun by the
ancient Egyptians. But why should they have selected the sun as their
principal deity? All the pictures, in which the sun or the sun-god is
represented, give us the answer. On them it will be noticed that each deity
holds in one of its hands the sign [glyphs] (_ankh_) meaning "life", and in
a tomb at Tel-el-Amarna we find the sun represented with rays terminating
in human hands and touching the lips of Amenophis IV. and his wife with the
sign [glyphs]. As all nature receives its life from the light of the sun,
so all human beings obtain their life and their subsistence from the same
source. Therefore Pharaoh and his people would {30}turn to the heavenly orb
each day with prayer and adoration, asking of it the blessing and gift of
life here on earth, and the life to come in Amenti or Hades. The sun is to
them the giver of life, strength, health, existence, and all happiness. It
is for this reason, that the finest productions of the Egyptian scribes are
the grand hymns addressed to the sun, the tutelary god of Egypt.
[Illustration: Ra bestowing "life" on Amenophis IV. and his wife.]
Having called attention to the belief of the ancient Egyptians in the sun
as their guiding and illuminating deity, it will now be necessary to
consider the place the obelisk occupies with regard to it. The first thing
that greets our eyes on most obelisks is the figure of a bird on the top of
each column of hieroglyphs. This represents the god Horus in the form of a
sparrow-hawk ([glyphs]), and gives him the usual insignia, namely the crown
of Upper and Lower Egypt; thus, [glyphs]. Horus was a form or hypostasis of
Râ, the sun, in his midday power, and is often found in the mysterious
combination as Hor-Râ [glyphs] and Râ-Hor-Khuti [glyphs] or Hor-em-khuti
[glyphs].
Why did the Egyptians choose the hawk as the {31}embodiment of their
highest god? Perhaps on account of the lofty flight of the bird, or else
because of its keen vision. In the "victory-stelé" of Thothmes III. the
deity says to the king: [glyphs] [glyphs] [Pronounced: du·a ma sen hen·k em
neb dema·t thet em degag·t·f er merer·f] "_I let them behold your majesty
like the lord of flight_ (hawk), _grasping with his glance whatever he
desires_", thus combining in one verse the two explanations given above.
The grandest sanctuary in which Horus was worshiped was in Edfu, where he
was called [glyphs] Hor-Hud·t. Horus and Râ were generally united into one
deity and then represented as a hawk-faced man with the disk of the sun on
his head ([glyphs]). In order to proclaim this deity a ruler over the earth
as well as the heavens, the picture of the hawk frequently has the double
crown of Egypt ([glyphs] being the white crown--[glyphs] _hez_--of Upper
Egypt and the red crown--[glyphs] _desher_--of Lower Egypt) added to it
([glyphs]), to signify that Horus is the lord of the universe.
[Illustration: Horus of Edfu.]
In common with the belief of all the ancient nations, the king was
considered by the Egyptians not only as a mortal but also, by reason of his
exalted rank, as a god on earth. He was the essence of the divinity and
styled himself "the offspring of the gods" ([glyphs] _mes nuter·u_) or more
in particular "Râ's son" or "son of the sun" ([glyphs] _sa Ra_). Being or
pretending to be the sun's son, he demanded and received the homage of his
subjects as a {32}god. His person was inviolable, his command was absolute,
his power was unlimited. His first act each day was to offer up sacrifice
and prayer to his father, the sun, and impress this worship on his
subjects.
[Illustration: The king offering up libation to himself in the form of a
sphinx.]
The obelisk which was erected in honor of the sun could therefore also be
used by the sun's offspring, the king, to promulgate his own worship.
Inscriptions commemorating both the deity in heaven and his deputy on earth
continually blend the two, the god and the king, together into one person,
that we can easily find in the obelisk traces of a decided king-worship. If
the enlightened age of an Alexander the Great or a Divus ("divine") Cæsar
Augustus could tolerate such a thing, why should we feign surprise when we
find the same thing to have happened some thousand years before their time
in Egypt? It is just this one fact, the barefaced king-worship represented
by the obelisk, that gives its translation such a repulsive sound to modern
ears. No wonder that otherwise well-read and intelligent men turn about in
amazement and ask: Can this really be the correct translation of the
obelisk, why, this would turn those ancient kings of glorious renown into
mere "vainglorious fools"? This conclusion is perfectly true, and
consequently it is to be regretted that just such monuments as obelisks,
which are a great source of attraction for the multitude, should display
the poorest inscriptions that we meet with in the entire Egyptian
literature. Under no circumstances must we base our estimate of the
Egyptian literature on the inscriptions of the obelisks; for, on looking
over the writings of this wonderful people, we would not only find
ourselves most agreeably surprised, but would be constrained to admit that
there is no ancient people which can boast of an equally grand and sublime
literature as the Egyptian.
{33}[Illustration: A portion of the "Book of the Dead" (Chap. I.). Two
obelisks represented on a mummy-cloth. From the author's collection.]
{34}Summing up, we find the obelisks erected in honor of the sun-god by his
son, the king, and used by him to further his own ambitious designs,
glorify his own name, and turn the worship of his subjects both to himself
and his sire above.
NOTE. Besides the frequent mention of the obelisk in the countless Egyptian
inscriptions on stone, wood, leather, and papyrus, dating back to the
earliest dynasties, we find the picture of two obelisks in many copies of
the sacred writings of the Egyptians, the so-called "Book of the Dead" or
the Egyptian Ritual. It forms part of the vignette of the first division of
this book (1-15 chap.), which has mostly to do with hymns, prayers, and
incantations addressed to the sun-god. No mention is made of the obelisk in
the text of the Ritual. On the preceding page will be found the picture of
the two obelisks on a piece of mummy-cloth in the possession of the author.
The Hieratic words below the vignette form a portion of the first chapter
of the Ritual.
{35}[Illustration]
CHAPTER V
THE HISTORY OF THE NEW YORK OBELISK, AND ITS REMOVAL FROM ALEXANDRIA.
[Illustration: King Thothmes III.]
§1. The obelisk in Central Park antedates our Christian era by more than
fifteen centuries. The central columns of the four sides, being the first
that were inscribed, record as the author of this monument, Thothmes III.,
called the Great, the greatest sovereign of that period (about 1600 B. C.).
A warrior of wonderful prowess and a ruler of the highest intelligence, he
put aside at an early date the leading-strings of his famous sister and
co-regent, Hatasu, surnamed Makarâ, and constituted himself sole regent and
law-giver. He heads the list of the kings of the XVIIIth dynasty. From the
beginning to the end of his reign the inscriptions record his victories
over foreign nations. He claims it as his order from the god Amen to extend
the boundaries of Egypt. He subdues the prince of Kadesh in Upper
{36}Palestine at Megiddo, and overpowers the Kharu [Syrian] and Kheta
[Hittite] tribes. The Rotennu [Syrians of Mesopotamia] are conquered,
Damascus falls, and Carkhemish is taken. He reaches Nineveh, the Tigris,
and the Orontes, and is everywhere victorious. He claims as his own and in
vassalage all of the then known world. It is he whom Pliny calls Mesphres,
and of whom he says that he erected a pair of obelisks, commemorating his
valiant deeds. These obelisks are at present in London and New York.
[Illustration: Cartouche of Thothmes III. "The king of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Men-Kheper-Ra, the son of Ra, Thoth-Meses".]
The exact time of the erection of these two obelisks cannot be determined,
as they bear no date, but it must have been in the earlier part of the
reign of Thothmes III., which extended from 1591 to 1565 B. C. (according
to Lepsius). He ordered them at the quarry in Syene and erected them in
front of the temple of the sun in Heliopolis or the Egyptian [glyphs], AN.
The site of this once prosperous city is now at the village of Matarîyeh
near Cairo, which has no antiquities to boast of, except one erect obelisk
of Usertesen I., the only vestige of the famous "City of the Sun". Here the
obelisks stood for many centuries amid wonderful surroundings, guarding as
it were the entrance to the sanctuary of the deity, to whom they were
sacred.
[Illustration: Cartouche of Ramses II. "The king of Upper and Lower Egypt,
User-Ma-Ra-Sotep-en-Ra, the son of Ra, Amen-Mer-Ra-Meses-Su."]
[Illustration: King Ramses II.]
They were not allowed to remain intact for a very long time, for a century
is an insignificant matter when we deal with Egyptian history. Almost three
centuries had passed, when a new conqueror arose, who was emulous of his
great predecessor's deeds, and who envied him his renown. This was Ramses
II., surnamed "the Great", {37}the "Pharaoh of the Oppression", who reigned
from 1388 to 1322 B. C. (according to Lepsius). Not only in his monuments
but also in his deeds he carries off equal honors with Thothmes the Great.
We find the wars of former days fought over again, and always successfully,
and we see his exploits recorded not only on impassive monuments of stone
but also in the writings on fragile papyrus. A second Iliad by the poet
Pentaûr recalls some wonderful hymns addressed amid the din of battle to
his guardian deities, in particular to Amen-Râ, and gives us such a vivid
picture of war as to surpass in many respects even old Homer. Ramses' most
stubborn opponents were the Kheta (Hittites) with whom he negotiated a most
favorable treaty after many years of war. But with all his good qualities
he had one great fault, vainglory. Not satisfied with erecting obelisks,
stelé, and temples with his name inscribed on them in large letters, and
seeing {38}his works recorded over all the known world, he even
appropriated the monuments of his predecessors and, though not guilty of
erasing their names and substituting his own instead, as Thothmes III. had
done on his sister's obelisk and monuments, yet he crowded his name and the
story of his deeds within all the available space left uninscribed on these
monuments. He had the two outside columns on each side of our obelisk
inscribed, leaving to Thothmes III. besides the pyramidion only about one
third of the obelisk's surface. This, of course, gave him an advantage over
his predecessors, and he thereby saved the large expense and the time that
would have been required for quarrying and erecting monuments of his own.
He died at an advanced age after having ruled over Egypt for 67 years. His
mummy, discovered in 1881, now rests in the Museum of Bulak at Cairo.
[Illustration: Cartouche of Osarkon I. "The king of Upper and Lower Egypt,
Kherp-Kheper-Ra-Sotep-en-Ra, the son of Ra, Amen-Mer-Usarken."]
[Illustration: Cartouche of the emperor Augustus Cæsar. "The divine lord of
the world, Autokrator, the son of Ra, lord of the diadems,
Cæsar-Ankh-Zeta-Ptah-Ast-Mer."]
The four sides of the obelisk were now filled, and it would appear
impossible for another king to have used any other part of it for his own
purpose. Such is, however, not the case. Osarkon I. had chiseled into the
stone at the very edges of each side in diminutive characters his own name.
He was a Pharaoh of the xxiid dynasty, who lived about 960 B. C., and
represents the decline of the ancient Egyptian empire.
[Illustration: Cleopatra VI. (From an ancient coin.)]
[Illustration: Cartouche of queen Cleopatra VI. "The queen and mistress of
the world, Cleopatra."]
Of the history of our obelisk since that time very little would be known
except for the inscriptions found on the brass crabs at the base. From them
we learn that the obelisk was taken away from its position in front of the
temple of Heliopolis in the XVIIIth year of the reign of {39}Augustus Cæsar
(12 B. C.) by Pontius during the prefecture of Barbarus. It was then
transported to Alexandria and placed in front of the Cæsareum, the temple
of the Cæsars, with the obelisk at present in London. During the
transportation a large portion of the edges at the base was very badly
damaged. Four large bronze crabs were then placed under the obelisk to keep
it from falling over. Since this time of their erection in Alexandria
tradition has associated one of them, the New York Obelisk, with the name
of the monster-queen Cleopatra VI. She had, however, nothing {40}whatever
to do with the removal of the obelisks as she and all her predecessors of
the same name had been dead long before these were erected in Alexandria.
Here both remained for many centuries until one--the present London
Obelisk--fell prostrate and was left to lie half-hidden in the ground. It
was subsequently taken in 1877 to England, while the other obelisk remained
standing in Alexandria until 1880, when it was lowered into the steamer
Dessoug, brought over to our country, and presented to New York City
through the munificence of the late Mr. William H. Vanderbilt.
[Illustration: Cleopatra VI. (From Egyptian monuments.)]
§2.[1] At the time of the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 the Khedive
Ishmaël first suggested the removal of {41}the standing obelisk at
Alexandria to the United States. This suggestion was soon spread abroad and
it was estimated that for $60,000 the obelisk could be removed. As the late
Mr. William H. Vanderbilt had agreed to furnish this sum, negotiations were
opened with the Egyptian government in 1877 for the definite gift of the
obelisk. These proved successful. Bids were then requested for its removal
and the bid of the late Commander Henry H. Gorringe, U. S. N., was
accepted. Mr. Gorringe went to work immediately but clearly saw that he
would not be able to proceed in the same manner as others had done before
him in the removal of the Luxor Obelisk to Paris or the Alexandrian to
London. These were taken in tow and in this manner reached their
destination. This plan could not be adopted for bringing the obelisk across
the ocean. When the work of transporting the obelisk to the harbor of
Alexandria was accomplished, the steamer Dessoug was purchased from the
Egyptian government and in it the obelisk was carried to New York.
{42}[Illustration: "Cleopatra's Needle" as it stood in Alexandria before
its removal to New York in 1880.]
{43}As soon as the news of the presentation by the Egyptian government of
Cleopatra's Needle to the United States reached the ears of the foreign
residents of Alexandria, a most disgraceful agitation was begun against
Commander Gorringe. Everything was tried and done to embarrass him in his
work, and all sorts of obstacles were put in his way. But the man at the
head of the undertaking could not be intimidated. On October 27, 1879 work
was begun by the removal of the earth that had accumulated around the base
of the obelisk. The latter was next incased to protect its many
inscriptions, and on December 6th of the same year everything was ready for
turning the great monolith. This was successfully effected. Another
difficulty now presented itself, how to get the obelisk to the harbor, this
being on the other side of the city. The foreign residents had forbidden
the use of the paved streets, by which route the obelisk would have been
easily transported, and Commander Gorringe was now obliged to undertake the
difficult task of bringing the obelisk around the whole city over the
shallow water and the sandbanks. This he accomplished by means of a
caisson. However, an unobstructed channel through the water to the dry-dock
was first necessary. Divers were hired until March 1880 and employed in
removing about 170 tons of granite, being the débris of former Alexandrian
monumental structures. While the obelisk was being lowered the spite of the
European residents was again painfully felt. Nevertheless, although with
vastly increased expenses, Commander Gorringe here succeeded in his work.
By this enforced method of transportation he incurred an extra expense of
$21,000. When the Egyptian steamer Dessoug had been purchased and, after
many delays, brought into the dry-dock, an aperture was made in its side,
large enough to admit of the incased obelisk being pushed into the hold of
the vessel. The side was then closed, the steamer was ready for its voyage,
and the tedious work of the brave and indefatigable Commander was at an end
as far as Egypt was concerned. On June 1, 1880 the vessel steamed out of
the harbor with the Stars and Stripes floating in the breeze, carrying the
obelisk, the pedestal, and the stones for the foundation.
On July 19, 1880 the Dessoug arrived in New York. The site where the
obelisk was to stand, namely Graywacke Knoll opposite the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in Central Park, had already been selected. The foundation
was completed on October 10. The large square pedestal was carted from the
North River and 51st St. to the Park, and then pushed on greased planks to
the place of erection. The disembarking of the obelisk, however, presented
many difficulties, the most humiliating {44}being the greed of certain rich
men, who refused to place their dry-docks at the disposal of the Commander
for a high price which he offered, and compelled him to try Lawler's Marine
Railway on Staten Island. His experiment with this was quite successfully
carried out on August 21, 1880. On September 14th the obelisk was once more
afloat on pontoons. On September 16th the steamer Manhattan towed the
pontoons with the obelisk to the North River and 96th St. Then the
land-journey began. The obelisk passed as far as the West Boulevard, down
to 86th St., then through the Transverse Road No. 3 in Central Park, issued
from the Park at Fifth Avenue and 85th St., and was then taken down to 82d
St. Here a trestle-work was built up to Graywacke Knoll, the final
resting-place of the obelisk. On December 22, 1880 the point of the obelisk
was turned up this trestle-work, and on January 22, 1881 everything was
ready for placing it in position on the pedestal. The crabs had been recast
in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and perfectly fitted to the uneven base of the
obelisk. The latter easily swung and revolved on the turning-structure, and
at noon of the same day it stood in the identical position as at
Alexandria. On February 22, 1881 the obelisk was formally presented in
behalf of the Khedive of Egypt, through the liberality of Mr. William H.
Vanderbilt, to the city of New York.
The total cost of the removal of the obelisk was: for material and labor
$86,603 and for incidental expenses $15,973, a sum total of $102,576. Mr.
W. H. Vanderbilt paid the whole amount out of his own purse. The Congress
of the United States took due notice of the wonderful feat of procuring for
our country such a grand specimen of Egyptian monuments, and fitting
resolutions were passed by both the Senate and the House of
Representatives. And certainly a sincere vote of thanks {45}will be given
for his munificent gift to our late illustrious fellow citizen, William H.
Vanderbilt, by everyone having at heart the honor and advancement of our
city and country.
[Illustration: Ruins of Tanis.]
{46}CHAPTER VI
THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE NEW YORK OBELISK.
_I. Inscriptions of Thothmes III._
The inscriptions of Thothmes III. comprise the four sides of the pyramidion
and the central columns of the four faces of the obelisk.
THE PYRAMIDION.
The pictures of the four sides of the pyramidion here given are reproduced
from the squeezes taken under the direction of Mr. Gorringe as published in
his "Egyptian Obelisks". They are, however, given in their correct form, as
the squeezes seem to have been taken by an inexperienced hand and a person
unacquainted with Egyptological subjects. The figures seated in the squares
are the gods Râ-Hor-Khuti and Tum, representing the rising and the setting
sun. The former is the hawk-faced god seated on a throne, holding in his
right hand the staff of power [glyphs] (US "_power_"), and handing it to
the king with the usual sign [glyphs] (ÂNKH "_life_"). Besides this the
disk of the sun [glyphs] (RÂ "_sun_") reclines on his head. The god Tum, on
the other hand, is represented in his human form, bearded and wearing a
king's head-dress [glyphs], and holding in his hands the identical symbols
of [glyphs] "_life_" and [glyphs] "_power_". In front of the gods we find
in each case the king represented as an androsphinx ([glyphs]) in the act
of offering libation to the divinity. It must be noted that this kind of
sphinx being human-faced and bearded, is always the representation of
Pharaoh as the essence of the godhead.
{47}East Face of the Pyramidion.
[Illustration]
The three vertical columns to the left above and the two below the sphinx
refer to the sphinx-king, the remainder to the god RÂ-HOR-KHUTI (_i. e._
"the sun, Horus in the horizon") and the libation in the hands of the
sphinx.
The three columns above the sphinx are:
nuter nefer neb taui Men-kheper-Râ
The god · good · lord (of · the) two countries · Thothmes III. ·
du ânkh zeta
giving · life · forever.
_i. e._ This is _Thothmes III., the gracious god, the lord of the two
countries [Egypt], who gives eternal life_.
Below the sphinx we read:
qa nekht khâ em Us {48}
The bull · powerful · glorious · in · Thebes ·
sa Râ Men-kheper-Râ
son (of) · Râ · Thothmes III.
_i. e._ This is _the powerful_ and _glorious bull_ [king] _in Thebes, the
Sun's offspring, Thothmes III._
The term [glyphs] NEB TAUI "lord of the two countries" is the usual title
of Pharaoh. The two countries referred to are Upper and Lower Egypt, which
are still and have been from time immemorial the two provinces of Egypt.
The word seems, however, to imply still more. In the pompous wording of the
Pharaonic monuments it expresses the grand title of the Roman emperors:
lord of the Universe.--The [glyphs] DU ÂNKH ZETA "who gives eternal life"
calls attention to the king's power over the life and death of all his
subjects. As he himself received life from the gods, so he bestowed it on
his people at pleasure.--[glyphs] QA NEKHT "the powerful bull" is a truly
Oriental expression for "the mighty hero", the bull being a symbol of
strength and power. The same king is addressed by the deity in his
victory-stelé, already alluded to on page 31, in the following words:
[glyphs] DU·A MA SEN HEN·K EM QA RENP MEN AB SPUT ÂBUI NEN HAN·TU·F "_I let
them behold your majesty like a young and stout-hearted bull whetting his
horns; none can escape him._"--[glyphs] US "Thebes" was the capital of
Upper Egypt and the seat of government at that time.--[glyphs] SA RÂ "the
son of Râ" is the usual title of Pharaoh which has already been explained
on page 31.
The four columns to the right above the god bear the following legend:
du ânkh· f neb Râ-Hor-khuti {49}
giving · life · him · all · Râ-Hor-Khuti ·
nuter â neb taui (neb ta neb ta)
the god · great · lord (of the) two countries.
_i. e._ This is _Ra-Hor-Khuti, the great god, the lord of the two
countries_ [Egypt], _who gives him_ [the king] _all life_.
Between the god and the sphinx-king we read these words referring to the
libation brought by the king:
er du·t arp
for · a gift · wine.
_i. e._ _As a gift_ (the king brings an offering of) _wine._
[glyphs] RÂ-HOR-KHUTI "_the sun, the hawk of the horizon_" is the name of
the sun-god when in his full power at noon (see page 30).--The names of all
kings are always written in oval rings called _cartouches_, to distinguish
them more readily from other words and names in the inscriptions. The usual
"divine" title of Thothmes III. is [glyphs] MEN-KHEPER-RÂ (the first sign
being read last), which means "_the stable_ and _creative sun_". His family
name, in its simplest form, is [glyphs] DEHUTI-MESES "_child of Thoth_".
There are as many as 12 variants (or different readings) of this cartouche,
prominent and somewhat odd among them being the following:
Dehuti-meses-nefer-kheperu Dehuti-meses-heq-Us Dehuti-mes
Thoth's child, of beautiful Thoth's child, lord of Thoth's child.
form. Thebes.
The most singular cartouche of Thothmes III., however, is found on our New
York Obelisk on the East Face and central column (see page 56).
{50}South Pace of the Pyramidion.
[Illustration]
The three columns above to the left refer to the sphinx-king and are
identical with those of the East pyramidion (page 47): [glyphs] NUTER NEFER
NEB TAUI MEN-KHEPER-RÂ DU ÂNKH ZETA "This is _Thothmes III., the gracious
god, the lord of the two countries_ [Egypt], _who gives eternal life_".
The hieroglyphs below the sphinx-king are totally destroyed, but must have
been the same as those on the East pyramidion (page 48): [glyphs] QA NEKHT
KHÂ EM US SA RÂ MEN-KHEPER-RÂ "This is _the powerful and glorious bull_
[king] _in Thebes, the Sun's offspring, Thothmes III_".
{51}The four columns above to the right refer to the god Tum, the setting
sun, seated on a throne beneath. The inscription is:
du ânkh· f neb Tum neb taui
Giving · life · him · all · Tum · lord (of · the) two countries ·
heq An nuter â neb ha·t
prince (of) · Heliopolis · the god · great · lord (of · the) temple.
_i. e._ This is _Tum, the lord of the two countries_ [Egypt], _the prince
of Heliopolis, the great god, the lord of_ his _temple, who gives him_ [the
king] _all life_.
[glyphs] HEQ AN "_the prince of Heliopolis_" signifies as much as "the
tutelary divinity of Heliopolis". This famous city was the capital of the
XIIIth _nome_ or province of Lower (Northern) Egypt bearing the same name.
The name it received from the Greeks and Romans means "City of the
Sun".--[glyphs] TUM "_Tum_" was the god of the setting sun. The word is
derived from the Egyptian verb [glyphs] TUM "_to close, finish_", and when
referring to the sun "_to set_" (cf. page 27). A fuller form of the name is
Atum.--[glyphs] ÂNKH NEB literally "_all life_" is a very concise
expression for "_all manner of life_" and embraces every visible act of
life, such as breath, animation, motion, thought, speech, pleasure, &c. The
hieroglyph [glyphs], always pronounced NEB, has, as can be seen from this
sentence, two different meanings, "_all_" and "_lord_", which result from
the primitive idea of "possession".
The inscription between the god and the sphinx-king is destroyed with the
exception of the letter [glyphs] [R] at the top. It must have been,
however, the same as on the East pyramidion, namely: [glyphs] ER DU·T ARP
"_As a gift_ (the king brings an offering of) _wine_".
{52}West Face of the Pyramidion.
[Illustration]
The four columns above to the right (the last one being destroyed) refer to
the sphinx-king and read as follows:
nuter nefer heq An suten kaut?
The god · gracious · prince of · Heliopolis · king of Upper and Lower
neb taui Men-kheper-Râ du ânkh
Egypt · lord (of · the) two countries · Thothmes III. · giving · life ·
zeta
forever.
_i. e._ This is _the gracious god, the prince of Heliopolis, the king of
Upper and Lower Egypt, the lord of the two countries_ [Egypt], _Thothmes
III., who gives eternal life_.
{53}[glyphs] SUTEN-KAUT (pronunciation doubtful!) "the king of Upper and
Lower Egypt" is the official title of the Egyptian kings and conveys the
same meaning as the [glyphs] NEB TAUI "_the lord of the two countries_"
mentioned so frequently above. Another name of the king, and one that has
been embodied into our language, is [glyphs] PER Â "_Pharaoh_", which is,
literally translated, "_the great house_"; a title bearing the closest
resemblance to the modern "Sublime Porte" of the Turkish sultan.
Below the sphinx is the same inscription as on the East pyramidion:
[glyphs] QA NEKHT KHÂ EM US SA RÂ MEN-KHEPER-RÂ "This is _the powerful_ and
_glorious bull_ [king] _in Thebes, the Sun's offspring, Thothmes III_".
The three columns above to the left refer to the god Tum, who is seated
below, and read:
du ânkh ded us Tum neb An
Giving · life · stability · strength · Tum · lord of · Heliopolis ·
nuter nefer â neb en ha · t
the god · gracious · great · lord · of · the temple.
_i. e._ This is _Tum, the lord of Heliopolis, the gracious_ and _great god,
the lord of_ his _temple, who gives life, stability_, and _strength_.
The inscription between the god and the sphinx-king differs from that of
the preceding pyramidions; it is:
er du·t qebeh ar ef du ânkh
For · a gift · libation · to make · him · give · life.
_i. e._ The king _pours out a libation_ of water _in order to receive from
him_ [the god] _life_.
{54}North Face of the Pyramidion.
[Illustration]
The four columns above to the left refer to the sphinx-king and read:
nuter nefer neb ar khet suten kaut?
The god · gracious · lord · maker of · things · king of Upper and Lower
neb taui Men-kheper-Râ du ânkh
Egypt · lord (of ·the) two countries · Thothmes III. · giving · life ·
zeta
forever.
_i. e._ This is _the gracious god, the lord_ and _maker of everything, the
king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the lord of the two countries_ [Egypt],
_Thothmes III., who gives eternal life_.
{55}The inscription below the sphinx is identical with the one on the East
pyramidion; namely, [glyphs] [glyphs] QA NEKHT KHÂ EM US SA RÂ
MEN-KHEPER-RÂ "This is _the powerful_ and _glorious bull_ [king] _in
Thebes, the Sun's offspring, Thothmes III_".
The three columns above to the right refer to the sun-god Râ seated below,
and read:
du ânkh ef neb Râ-Hor- khuti neb
Giving · life · him · all · Râ-Horus in the horizon · lord (of ·
taui
the) two countries.
_i. e._ This is _Ra-Hor-khuti, the lord of the two countries_ [Egypt], _who
gives him_ [the king] _all life_.
[glyphs] RÂ-HOR-KHUTI "Râ-Horus in the horizon" is the title of the
morning-sun, to which attention has already been called on page 30. The
last sign is very frequently written [glyphs] KHU·T, the [glyphs] showing
the disk of the sun between two mountains and in the act of rising, and the
[glyphs] signifying "a house" or "a place". The whole group means "the
house of the rising sun" or "the source of light", which is usually
translated by the general term "horizon". The whole title, therefore,
stands for the rising or eastern sun (cf. the picture on page 28).
The inscription between the god and the sphinx-king is partially destroyed,
leaving, however, enough traces to show that it must have been identical
with the one on the West pyramidion: [glyphs] ER DU·T QEBEH AR·F DU ÂNKH
"The king _pours out a libation_ of water _in order to receive from him_
[the god] _life_".
{56}THE OBELISK PROPER.
On the obelisk proper the inscriptions of Thothmes III. are contained in
the central column of each face. At the top of each column, immediately
below the pyramidion, we find the sign [glyphs], literally PET "heaven",
which may either be taken with the next sign [glyphs] HOR "Horus" so as to
signify "the heavenly Horus", or else it may be regarded to express the
wish of the Pharaoh, that heaven would protect his obelisk and proclaim its
inscriptions as of heavenly origin.
EAST FACE [CENTRAL COLUMN].
Hor-pet qa nekht khâ em Us
The heavenly Horus · bull · powerful · glorious · in · Thebes ·
neb mut _or_ sheta neb ârâ _or_ mehen · t
lord of the Vulture diadem · lord of the Uræus-snake diadem ·
ûah suten ma Râ em pet Tum neb · t en An
placed · king · like · Râ · in · heaven · Tum · lord · of · Heliopolis ·
meses sa en kha · t ef meses nef Dehuti qema en
begotten · son · of · womb · his · born · him · Thoth · created · by ·
sen em hat-â em neferu hâu sen rekh
them · in · great-temple · in · beauty of · limbs · their · knowing ·
enti ar · f sutenî · t ûah kher neheh suten-kaut?
what · he should do · kingdom · placed · for · eternity · king of Upper
and Lower Egypt
Men-kheper-Râ Tum nuter â henâ pau · t nuteru · f
Thothmes III. · Tum · god · great · with · circle · (of) gods · his ·
merî du ânkh ded us neb ma Râ {57}
beloved · giving · life · stability · strength · all · like · Râ ·
zeta
forever.
_i. e._ Behold Pharaoh! He is _the heavenly Horus, the powerful_ and
_glorious bull_ [king] _in Thebes_.[2] He is _the lord of the Vulture_ and
_Uræus diadems_[3], and his _kingdom is established_ as firmly _as the sun
in the heavens_. His name is[4]: "_He whom Tum, the lord of Heliopolis, has
begotten_, and who is _the son of his loins, whom Thoth has brought
forth_"[5], who _was created by them_ [the gods] _in the great temple_ of
Heliopolis _in the beauty of their limbs,_ and _who knew_ beforehand _what
he would do to establish_ for himself _an eternal kingdom_. He is _Thothmes
III., the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, beloved of the great god Tum and
his circle of gods, who gives all life, stability, and strength now and for
ever!_
{58}SOUTH FACE [CENTRAL COLUMN].
Almost the entire column on this side is in a very poor condition, the
hieroglyphs being hardly discernible. The following, however, may prove to
be a correct restoration of the inscription.
Hor-pet qa nekht Râ mer suten-kaut?
The heavenly Horus · bull · powerful · Râ · beloved · king of Upper and
Men-kheper-Râ ar nef em mennu · f
Lower Egypt · Thothmes III. · made · by him · for · monument · his ·
en tef neb An s · âhâ nef
for · father · lord of · Heliopolis · caused to erect · by him ·
tekhenui ûrui benben · t em usem em sep
two obelisks · large · the pyramidion · of · gold-metal · at · time ·
tep sed-heb .......... nen
first (of) · the thirty-year-period · ... _illegible!_ ... · not ·
ar nef sa Râ Dehuti-meses-nefer-kheperu
(as) done by him · the son of Râ · Thothmes III. ·
Râ-Hor-khuti merî zeta
Râ-Hor-Khuti · beloved · forever.
_i. e._ Behold Pharaoh! He is _the heavenly Horus, the powerful bull,
beloved of Ra_. He is _Thothmes III., the king of Upper and Lower Egypt,
who has made_ this to be _his monument_ in honor _of_ his _father_ Tum,
_the lord of Heliopolis_, and who _has set up for him two[6] large
obelisks, the pyramidion_ being covered _with gold-metal,[7] on the first
day[8] of the thirty-year festival[9] ..........[10] No one_ has ever done
what _he did, the Sun's offspring_, {59}_Thothmes III., the beloved of
Ra-Hor-Khuti_, who lives _forever_.
WEST FACE [CENTRAL COLUMN].
The abrasion caused by the sand of the Libyan desert has effaced almost
every hieroglyph on this side of the obelisk. All that can be seen is given
below.
Hor-pet qa nekht khâ em Us
The heavenly Horus · bull · powerful · glorious · in · Thebes ·
suten-kaut? Men-kheper-Râ s · menkh
king of Upper and Lower Egypt · Thothmes III. · causing to be adorned ·
per en meses am · f ..........
the house · of · birth · there · his · ...._illegible!_.... ·
sa Râ Dehuti-meses-nefer-kheperu Râ-Hor-khuti {60}
the son of Râ · Thothmes III. · Râ-Hor-Khuti ·
merî zeta
beloved · forever.
_i. e._ Behold Pharaoh! He is _the heavenly Horus, the powerful_ and
_glorious bull_ [king] _in Thebes_. He is _the king of Upper and Lower
Egypt, Thothmes III., who has embellished the house where he was born,
.........., the Sun's offspring, Thothmes III., the beloved of
Ra-Hor-Khuti_, who lives _forever_.
NORTH FACE [CENTRAL COLUMN].
Hor-pet hez qa Râ mer
The heavenly Horus · the white crown · lifting · Râ · beloved · king of
suten-kaut? Men-kheper-Râ Hor-nub har
Upper and Lower Egypt · Thothmes III. · the golden Horus · rejoicing in ·
nekht hu hequ men · tu? pehu su
strength · smiting · the princes (of) · the countries · distant · they ·
khatf utu nef tef Râ nekhtu er ta
because · ordered · for him · father · Râ · victories · over · land ·
neb dem·t ent khepesh em ru dedui ·
all · completeness · of · power · at · the end of · the two hands ·
f er s·usekh tash·tu Qem · t
his · in order to · cause to be extended · the boundaries of · Egypt ·
sa Râ Dehuti-meses-nefer-kheperu du ânkh neb zeta
the son of · Râ · Thothmes III. · giving · life · all · forever.
{61}_i.e._ Behold Pharaoh! He is _the heavenly Horus, who has crowned_[11]
himself _with the white crown_[12], _beloved of Ra_. He is _Thothmes III.,
the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the golden Horus_[13], _rejoicing in_
his _strength, the vanquisher of the princes of the countries which are
distant_. He did this _because_ his _father Ra had_ so _commanded him_, and
had then given him _victories over the entire world_, and had placed _an
abundance of power on his arm, so that he_ [the king] _might enlarge the
boundaries of Egypt_. This was done by _the Sun's offspring, Thothmes III.,
who gives all life forever_.
{62}_II. Inscriptions of Ramses II._
The inscriptions of Ramses II. are found in the two vertical columns to the
right and left of the central column of each face and the two horizontal
lines at the base of each face of the obelisk. The inscriptions are in a
much better condition than those of Thothmes III., and can be more readily
deciphered. They were engraved on the stone not quite three centuries after
the pyramidions and the central columns were inscribed. Even a casual
observer will notice that the hawk at the top of each central column is
larger than those to the right and left of it, these being crowded into the
remaining space.
EAST FACE [NORTHERN COLUMN].
Hor-pet qa nekht Râ mer suten-kaut?
The heavenly Horus · bull · powerful · Râ · beloved · king of Upper and
User-Mâ-Râ-sotep-en-Râ Râ meses nuteru ger
Lower Egypt · Ramses II. · the Sun · born of · the gods · possessing ·
taui sa Râ Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su hun shepes
the two worlds · the son of Râ · Ramses II. · a child · glorious ·
merîti ma Aten pesed· f em khu·t neb
beloved · like · Aten · shines · he · in · the horizon · lord · of the
taui User-Mâ-Râ-sotep-en-Râ sa Râ
two countries · Ramses II. · son of Râ ·
Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su khu en Râ du ânkh {63}
Ramses II. · the glory · of · Râ · giving · life.
_i. e._ Behold Pharaoh! He is _the heavenly Horus, the powerful bull,
beloved of Ra_. He is _Ramses II._[14], _the king of Upper and Lower Egypt,
the Sun_ himself, and _the child of the gods_. He is _master of the two
countries_ [Egypt], _the Sun's offspring, Ramses II._[15] He is _a youth
glorious_ and _beloved like Aten_[16], _when he shines in the horizon_. He
is _the lord of the two countries_ [Egypt], _Ramses II._[14], _the Sun's
offspring, Ramses II._[15], _the glorious_ image _of Ra, who gives life_.
{64}EAST FACE [SOUTHERN COLUMN].
Hor-pet qa nekht khepera sa suten-kaut?
The heavenly Horus· bull · powerful · Khepera's · son · king of Upper
User-Mâ-Râ-sotep-en-Râ Hor-nub user renpe·tu
and Lower Egypt · Ramses II. · the golden Horus · abounding in · years ·
â en nekhtu sa Râ Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su per en
great · in · victories · the son of Râ · Ramses II. · going out · by ·
ef em kha·t er shep khâu en Râ meses
him · from · womb · to · obtain · diadems · of · Râ · begetting ·
su er neb uâ neb taui
himself · as · lord · only · lord of · the two countries ·
User-Mâ-Râ-sotep-en-Râ sa Râ Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su khu en
Ramses II. · son of Râ · Ramses II. the glory · of ·
Râ ma Râ
Râ · to-day (_literally_: like Râ).
_i. e._ Behold Pharaoh! He is _the heavenly Horus, the powerful bull, the
son of Khepera_[17]. He is _Ramses II., the king of Upper and Lower Egypt,
the golden Horus, who abounds in years_ and _is great in victories_. He is
_the Sun's offspring, Ramses II., who issued from the_ Sun's _loins to
receive the diadems of Ra_. It is he _who brought forth himself[18] as sole
ruler_ and _lord of the two countries_ [Egypt], _Ramses II., the Sun's
offspring, Ramses II., the glorious_ image _of Ra, now_ and forever.
{65}SOUTH FACE [EASTERN COLUMN].
Hor-pet qa nekht Mâ mer suten-kaut?
The heavenly Horus · bull · powerful · Truth · beloved · king of Upper
and Lower Egypt ·
User-Mâ-Râ-sotep-en-Râ neb heb ma tef · f
Ramses II. · lord of · festival · like · father · his ·
Ptah-tathunen sa Râ Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su nuter nuteri
Ptah-tatunen · the son of Râ · Ramses II. · god · morning
dûa taui rekh hapu shef · t em
star of · the two countries · knowing · the laws · awe inspiring · in ·
arî · tu neb taui User-Mâ-Râ-sotep-en-Râ sa Râ
(his) works · the lord of · the two countries · Ramses II. · son of Râ ·
Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su du ânkh
Ramses II. · giving · life.
_i. e._ Behold Pharaoh! He is _the heavenly Horus, the powerful bull,
beloved of Ma_.[19] He is _Ramses II., the king of Upper and Lower Egypt,
the lord of festivals_, who is _like his father Ptah of Memphis_.[20] He is
_the Sun's offspring, Ramses II., a god_ himself, _the morning-star of the
two countries_, who is well _versed in the laws_ and _awe inspiring in_ his
_works_. He is _the lord of the two countries_ [Egypt], _Ramses II., the
Sun's offspring Ramses II., who gives life_.
{66}SOUTH FACE [WESTERN COLUMN].
Hor-pet qa nekht Râ sa suten-kaut?
The heavenly Horus · bull · powerful · Râ's · son · king of Upper and
User-Mâ-Râ-sotep-en-Râ neb mut _or_ sheta neb ârâ _or_ mehen · t
Lower Egypt · Ramses II. · lord of the Vulture lord of the Uræus-snake
diadem · diadem ·
mâk Qem · t uâf men · tu? sa Râ
protector of · Egypt · smiter of · the countries · the son of Râ ·
Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su suten menkh ma Râ .......... neb taui
Ramses II. · king · kind · like · Râ · _illegible!_ · lord of the
two countries ·
User-Mâ-Râ-sotep-en-Râ sa Râ Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su ma Râ
Ramses II. · the son of Râ · Ramses II. · to-day
(_literally_: like Râ).
_i. e._ Behold Pharaoh! He is _the heavenly Horus, the powerful bull, the
son of Ra_. He is _Ramses II., the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the lord
of the Vulture_ and _Uræus diadems, who protects Egypt_ and _smites the_
foreign _nations_. He is _the Sun's offspring, Ramses II., a kind ruler
like Ra, .......... the lord of the two countries_ [Egypt], _Ramses II.,
the Sun's offspring, Ramses II., now_ and forever.
{67}WEST FACE [NORTHERN COLUMN].
Hor-pet qa nekht Râ mer suten-kaut?
The heavenly Horus · bull · powerful · Râ · beloved · king of Upper and
User-Mâ-Râ-sotep-en-Râ Râ meses nuteru ger
Lower Egypt · Ramses II. · the Sun · born of · the gods · possessing ·
taui sa Râ Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su ..........
the two countries · the son of Râ · Ramses II. · _illegible!_
nen ar ar· f em per tef· f
not · (was) done · (what) did · he · in · the house of · father · his ·
neb taui User-Mâ-Râ-sotep-en-Râ sa Râ
lord of · the two countries · Ramses II. · son of Râ ·
Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su du ânkh
Ramses II. · giving · life.
_i. e._ Behold Pharaoh! He is _the heavenly Horus, the powerful bull,
beloved of Ra_. He is _Ramses II., the king of Upper and Lower Egypt_, who
is _the Sun_ himself and _child of the gods_. He is _master of the two
countries_ [Egypt], _the Sun's offspring, Ramses II. .......... No one has
done_ what _he did in his father's_ [Tum's] _house_. He is _the lord of the
two countries_ [Egypt], _Ramses II., the Sun's offspring, Ramses II., who
gives life_.
{68}WEST FACE [SOUTHERN COLUMN].
Hor-pet qa nekht Râ sa suten-kaut?
The heavenly Horus · bull · powerful · Râ's · son · king of Upper and
User-Mâ-Râ-sotep-en-Râ Hor-nub user renpe·tu
Lower Egypt · Ramses II. · the golden Horus · abounding in · years ·
â en nekhtu sa Râ Amen-mer-Râ-meses ..........
great · in · victories ·son of Râ · Ramses II. · _illegible!_
neb taui User-Mâ-Râ-sotep-en-R sa Râ Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su ma Râ
lord of the two Ramses II. · son of Râ · Ramses II. · to-day.
countries ·
_i. e._ Behold Pharaoh! He is _the heavenly Horus, the powerful bull, the
son of Ra_. He is _Ramses II., the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the
golden Horus, who abounds in years_ and _is great in victories_. He is _the
Sun's offspring, Ramses II._, .......... He is _the lord of the two
countries_ [Egypt], _Ramses II., the Sun's offspring, Ramses II., now_ and
forever.
NORTH FACE [EASTERN COLUMN].
Hor-pet qa nekht Mâ mer suten-kaut?
The heavenly Horus · bull · powerful · Mâ · beloved · king of Upper and
User-Mâ-Râ-sotep-en-Râ neb hebu ma tef· f {69}
Lower Egypt · Ramses II. · lord of · festivals · like · father · his ·
Ptah sa Râ Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su meses en Râ er
Ptah · son of Râ · Ramses II. · begotten · by · Râ · in order to ·
s·heb An er s·zef
cause to be glad · Heliopolis ·in order to · cause to be filled ·
peru meses su neb taui
the sanctuaries · begetting · himself · lord of · the two countries ·
User-Mâ-Râ-sotep-en-Râ sa Râ Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su du
Ramses II. · the son of Râ · Ramses II. · giving ·
ânkh neb ma Râ
life · all · to-day (_literally_: like Râ).
_i. e._ Behold Pharaoh! He is _the heavenly Horus, the powerful bull,
beloved of Ma_ [Truth]. He is _Ramses II., the king of Upper and Lower
Egypt, the lord of the festivals like his father Ptah_. He is _the Sun's
offspring, Ramses II._, whom _Ra has begotten in order to gladden
Heliopolis_ and _fill_ her _sanctuaries_ with treasures. It is he _who
brought forth himself_ as _lord of the two countries_ [Egypt], _Ramses II.,
the Sun's offspring, Ramses II., who gives all life now_ and forever.
{70}NORTH FACE [WESTERN COLUMN].
Hor-pet qa nekht Râ sa suten-kaut?
The heavenly Horus · bull · powerful · Râ's · son · king of Upper and
User-Mâ-Râ-sotep-en-Râ neb mut _or_ sheta neb ârâ _or_ mehen·t
Lower Egypt · Ramses II. · lord of the Vulture lord of the Uræus-snake
diadem · diadem ·
mâk Qem·t uâf men·tu? sa Râ
protector of · Egypt · smiter of · the countries · son of Râ ·
Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su suten qen ar em dedui· f
Ramses II. · king · triumph · made · at · the two hands · his ·
khatf her ta neb dem neb taui
in · the face of · the land · all · entire · lord of the two countries ·
User-Mâ-Râ-sotep-en-Râ sa Râ Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su du ânkh neb
Ramses II. · son of Ra· Ramses II. · giving · life · all ·
ma Râ
to-day (_literally_: like Râ).
_i. e._ Behold Pharaoh! He is _the heavenly Horus, the powerful bull, the
son of Ra_. He is _Ramses II., the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the lord
of the Vulture_ and _Uræus diadems, who protects Egypt_ and _smites the_
foreign _nations_. He is _the Sun's offspring, Ramses II., a king_ whose
_hands have done warlike deeds in full view of the entire world_. He is
_the lord of the two countries_ [Egypt], _Ramses II., the Sun's offspring,
Ramses II., who gives all life now_ and forever.
{71}THE BASE [EAST, SOUTH, WEST, NORTH].
At the bottom of each of the four faces of the obelisk are two horizontal
lines of almost totally destroyed hieroglyphs. They bear the cartouches of
Ramses II., and are so written as to read from the centre each way. The
inscription is
Râ-en-sotep-Râ-Mâ-User nefer nuter ânkh nuter nefer Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su
Râ-en-sotep-Râ-Mâ-User nefer nuter ânkh nuter nefer Amen-mer-Râ-meses-su
Ramses II. · gracious · god · life · god · gracious · Ramses II.
Ramses II. · gracious · god · life · god · gracious · Ramses II.
_i. e._ Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II._!
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II._!
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II._!
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II._!
_III. Inscriptions of Osarkon I._
Besides the three columns of hieroglyphs on each face of our obelisk, all
chiseled in large and bold characters, we find at the lower end of each
face near each edge inscriptions by a later king. The hieroglyphs of these
inscriptions are so minute and so mutilated as to be scarcely legible. They
seem to have started at the first of the lower cartouches and to have
extended to the two {72}horizontal lines at the bottom of the obelisk. As
each face has two of these columns, there are eight of these inscriptions
on the obelisk. The last half of the inscriptions is destroyed in each case
and may have been different on every column. The eastern column on the
south face is the most legible one and presumably reads thus
suten-kaut? kherp-kheper-Râ-sotep-en-Râ sa Râ
The king of Upper Osarkon I. · the son of Râ ·
and Lower Egypt ·
Amen-mer-Ûsarken ..........
Osarkon I. · .........._illegible!_..........
_i. e._ _The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Osarkon I., the Sun's
offspring, Osarkon I._, ..........
_IV. Inscriptions of Augustus._
There is no name of any other Egyptian ruler, except the three mentioned
above, inscribed on our obelisk. When the emperor Augustus, however, had
the London and New York Obelisks transported to Alexandria in 12 B. C., he
caused his name to be engraved on the crabs which supported them. Only two
of these crabs have come down to us and are preserved in the Metropolitan
Museum of Art in Central Park. On the only remaining claw of one of the
crabs are two inscriptions; on the one side in Greek and on the other in
Latin, which give the names of the emperor, prefect or governor, and
architect. Prof. Augustus Merriam of Columbia College has devoted some time
to the study of these inscriptions and has made some very remarkable
discoveries, which fix {73}the eighteenth year of the reign of Augustus as
the time of the reërection of the London and New York Obelisks in
Alexandria. The inscriptions are herewith given in fac-simile.
The Greek inscription reads
[Illustration]
which looks like this in regular Greek types:
L [Greek: IÊ KAISAROS] In the year · 18 · of Cæsar
[Greek: BARBAROS ANETHÊKE] Barbarus · erected (it).
[Greek: ARCHITEKTONOUNTOS] The architect being
[Greek: PONTIOU] Pontius.
_i. e._ The governor _Barbarus erected_ this obelisk _in the eighteenth
year of_ the reign of _the emperor_ Augustus (12 B. C.). _Pontius was the
architect._
The Latin inscription reads
[Illustration]
{74}which is in regular Latin types:
ANNO XVIII CÆSARIS In the year · 18 · of Cæsar
BARBARVS PRÆF Barbarus · the prefect
ÆGYPTI POSVIT of Egypt · erected (it).
ARCHITECTANTE PONTIO The architect being · Pontius.
_i. e._ _Barbarus, governor of Egypt, erected_ this obelisk _in the
eighteenth year of_ the reign of _the emperor_ Augustus (12 B. C.).
_Pontius was the architect._
The Greek letter _Psi_ ([Greek: Ps]) in the first line of the Latin text
seems to have been the initial of the engraver's name, who must have been a
Greek, if we can draw this inference from the beautiful Greek and the poor
Latin form of the letters in the inscriptions.
THE FULL TRANSLATION OF THE OBELISK.
As a recapitulation of the translation of the Egyptian inscriptions on our
obelisk, which has been given in the preceding pages, we now place the
complete translation of each face of the obelisk in a very compact and
simple form before our readers. The English translation will be found to
correspond to the hieroglyphs, and each word can be easily picked out on
the three columns of the original. All the words in _Italics_ are to be
found in the Egyptian text, while those in common Roman types are supplied
so as to render the inscriptions intelligible to the reader.
_Thothmes III., gracious _Râ-Hor-Khuti, the {75}
god, lord of great god, the lord
the two countries, of the two countries,
giving eternal life._ giving him all life._
_The powerful and _Wine:
glorious bull in as a
Thebes, the Sun's gift._
offspring, Thothmes III._
Behold Pharaoh! He Behold Pharaoh! He Behold Pharaoh! He
is _the heavenly is _the heavenly is _the heavenly
Horus, the powerful Horus, the powerful_ Horus, the powerful
bull, the son of and _glorious bull bull, beloved of
Khepera._ in Thebes._ Râ._
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
He is _the king of He is _the lord of the He is _the King of
Upper and Lower Vulture_ and _Uræus diadems_, Upper and Lower
Egypt, Ramses II., and his _kingdom is estab- Egypt, Ramses II.,
the golden Horus, lished_ as firmly _as the the Sun_ himself,
who abounds in sun in the heavens._ His and _the child of
years_ and _is great name is: "_He whom Tum, the the gods._ He is
in victories._ He is lord of Heliopolis, has be- _master of the two
_the Sun's offspring, gotten_ and who is _the son countries, the Sun's
Ramses II., who of his loins, whom Thoth has offspring, Ramses
issued from the_ brought forth_", who _was II._ He is _a youth
Sun's _loins to created by them in the great glorious_ and _be-
receive the diadems temple_ of Heliopolis _in loved like Aten,
of Râ._ It is he the beauty of their limbs_, when he shines in
_who brought forth and _who knew_ beforehand the horizon._ He is
himself as sole _what he would do to estab- _the lord of the two
ruler_ and _lord of lish_ for himself _an etern- countries, Ramses
the two countries, al kingdom._ He is _Thothmes II., the Sun's off-
Ramses II., the III., the king of Upper and spring, Ramses II.,
Sun's offspring, Lower Egypt, beloved of the the glorious_ image
Ramses II., the great god Tum and his circle _of Râ, who gives
glorious_ image _of of gods who gives all life, life._
Râ, now_ and forever. stability and strength now
and forever._
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II_!
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II_!
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II_!
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II_!
_Thothmes III., gracious _Tum, lord of the two {76}
god, lord of the two countries, lord of Helio-
countries, giving eternal polis, the great god, the
life._ lord of_ his _temple,
giving him all life._
_The powerful_ and
_glorious bull in _Wine:
Thebes, the Sun's as a
offspring, Thothmes gift._
III._
Behold Pharaoh! He is Behold Pharaoh! He is Behold Pharaoh! He is
_the heavenly Horus, _the heavenly Horus, _the heavenly Horus,
the powerful bull, the the powerful bull, the powerful bull,
son of Râ_. beloved of Râ_. beloved of Mâ_.
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
He is _the king of He is _the king of He is _the king of
Upper and Lower Egypt, Upper and Lower Egypt, Upper and Lower Egypt,
Ramses II., the lord Thothmes III., who has Ramses II., the lord
of the Vulture_ and made_ this to be _his of festivals_, who is
_Uræus diadems, who monument_ in honor _like his father Ptah
protects Egypt_ and _of_ his _father_ Tum, of Memphis_. He is
_smites_ all _the_ _the lord of Helio- _the Sun's offspring,
foreign _nations_. He polis_, and who _has Ramses II., a god_
is _the Sun's off- set up for him two himself, _the morning-
spring, Ramses II., a large obelisks, the star of the two coun-
kind ruler like Râ, pyramidion_ being cov- tries_, who is well
................... ered _with gold-metal, _versed in the laws_
................... on the first day of and _awe inspiring in_
................... the thirty-year fest- his _works_. He is
................... ival.... No one_ has _the lord of the two
the lord of the two ever done what _he countries, Ramses II.,
countries, Ramses II., did, the Sun's off- the Sun's offspring,
the Sun's offspring, spring, Thothmes III., Ramses II., who gives
Ramses II., now_ and the beloved of Râ-Hor- life_.
forever. Khuti_, who lives
_forever_.
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II_!
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II_!
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II_!
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II_!
_Tum, lord of Helio- _The gracious god, {77}
polis, the gracious_ and prince of Heliopolis,
_great god, lord of_ his king, lord of the two
_temple, giving life, countries, Thothmes III.,
stability_, and giving eternal life._
_strength._
_The powerful and
glorious bull in Thebes,
_Pouring out libation to the Sun's offspring,
receive from him life._ Thothmes III._
Behold Pharaoh! He is Behold Pharaoh! He is Behold Pharaoh! He is
_the heavenly Horus, _the heavenly Horus, _the heavenly Horus,
the powerful bull, the powerful_ and the powerful bull, the
beloved of Râ._ _glorious bull in son of Râ._
Thebes._
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
He is _the king of He is _the king of He is _the king of
Upper and Lower Egypt, Upper and Lower Egypt, Upper and Lower Egypt,
Ramses II.,_ who is Thothmes III., who has Ramses II., the golden
_the Sun_ himself and embellished the house Horus, who abounds in
_the child of the where he was born, years_ and _is great
gods._ He is _master ................... in victories._ He is
of the two countries, ................... _the Sun's offspring,
the Sun's offspring, ................... Ramses II._,
Ramses II. ........ ................... ...................
................... ................... ...................
................... ................... ...................
No one has done_ what ................... ...................
_he did in his ................... He is _the lord of the
father's house._ He is ..................., two countries, Ramses
_the lord of the two the Sun's offspring, II., the Sun's off-
countries, Ramses II., Thothmes III., the be- spring, Ramses II.,
the Sun's offspring, loved of Râ-Hor-Khuti,_ now_ and forever.
Ramses II., who gives who lives _forever._
life._
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II_!
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II_!
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II_!
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II_!
_The gracious god, lord_ {78}
and _maker of things, _Râ-Hor-Khuti, the lord
king, lord of the two of the two countries,
countries, Thothmes III., giving him all life._
giving eternal life._
_The powerful_ and
_glorious bull in Thebes, _Pouring out libation to
the Sun's offspring, receive from him life._
Thothmes III._
Behold Pharaoh! He is Behold Pharaoh! He is Behold Pharaoh! He is
_the heavenly Horus, _the heavenly Horus, _the heavenly Horus,
the powerful bull, lifting the white the powerful bull, the
beloved of Mâ._ crown, beloved of Râ._ son of Râ._
---------------- ---------------- ----------------
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |
He is _the king of He is _the king of He is _the king of
Upper and Lower Egypt, Upper and Lower Egypt, Upper and Lower Egypt,
Ramses II., the lord Thothmes III., the Ramses II., the lord
of the festivals like golden Horus, rejoic- of the Vulture_ and
his father Ptah._ He ing in_ his _strength, _Uræus diadems, who
is _the Sun's off- the vanquisher of the protects Egypt_ and
spring, Ramses II._ princes of the count- _smites_ all _the_
whom _Râ has begotten ries which are dist- foreign _nations._ He
in order to gladden ant._ He did this is _the Sun's off-
Heliopolis_ and _fill_ _because_ his _father spring, Ramses II.,
her _sanctuaries_ with Râ had_ so _commanded a king_ whose _hands
treasures. It is he him,_ and had given have done warlike
_who brought forth him _victories over deeds in full view of
himself_ as _lord of the entire world_, and the entire world._ He
the two countries, had placed _an abund- is _the lord of the
Ramses II., the Sun's ance of power on his two countries, Ramses
offspring. Ramses II., arm, so that he might II., the Sun's off-
who gives all life enlarge the boundaries spring, Ramses II.,
now_ and forever. of Egypt._ This was who gives all life
done by _the Sun's now_ and forever.
offspring, Thothmes
III., who gives all
life forever._
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II_!
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II_!
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II_!
Long _life_ to _the gracious god, Ramses II_!
{79}CHAPTER VII
NOTES ON THE TRANSLATION AND THE CRABS.
§1. On looking over the translation of our obelisk, as set forth in the
preceding pages, the reader will perhaps feel disappointed in the substance
of its inscriptions. These contain, as has already been stated, only
laudatory phrases and vainglorious titles, and furnish us with no
historical data nor anything that would be of value to scholars. People
have for many centuries suspected them of an utterly different meaning, and
have given them the most fanciful and ludicrous explanations. For instance,
Athanasius Kircher in his "_Oedipus_" (published in 1650), when speaking of
our obelisk, says: "_It_ [the New York Obelisk] _sets forth the activity
and functions of the twelve solar genii in the world's government, which
result from their protection and presence, and with what rites and
ceremonies each of them must be propitiated; for each in his tour around
each of the four sides keeps watch over his particular quarter of the
world, which he both guards against the attack of the evil genii and
preserves_". All this, of course, is sheer nonsense. Besides this
ridiculous explanation Kircher mentions that at the base of our obelisk
were engraved the words [Arabic: MSLH FR`WN] "_Pharaoh's Needle_", which is
both improbable and impossible, though, as a matter of fact, the obelisk
always went by that name among the Arabs.
The most silly guess at a translation, however, is probably that of the
Mohammedan writer Ibn-el-Vardi, who visited Alexandria and saw our obelisk
there in 1340. He writes of it as follows:
{80}"_This is on it_ [the obelisk]: '_I, Ya`mer-ben-Shaddad, have founded
this city, when old age did not yet overtake nor death disturb nor gray
hairs trouble me, when stones were here in abundance, and men did not
acknowledge masters. I have built its porticoes, and dug its canals, and
planted its trees, and desired to embellish it with wonderful monuments and
amazing structures. I have sent my servant El·Thabut-ben-Marrat, the
`Adite, and Maqdam-ibn-El·`Amr-ben-abi-Re`al, the Thamudite, the caliph, to
Mount Tarim, the red mountain, and they cut out of it two rocks and carried
them both on their shoulders. Then one of the ribs of El·Thabut having been
crushed, I caused the people of my kingdom to make reparation. Now these
two_ [obelisks] _were erected for me by El·Fatan-ibn-Jarud, the Mutafakite,
on an auspicious day._'"
[Illustration]
The same writer then states: "_And this is the very obelisk which is in the
corner of the city looking toward the East, while the other is seen further
in the interior of the city._"
{81}This translation of our obelisk reads very strange and was, of course,
only drawn by that ancient author from his own fertile imagination. Still
it shows how much importance was even at that early time attached to our
monolith. Almost every traveler of note mentions it and gives a description
of it. All their scattered notices help us to trace the history of our
obelisk through the last few centuries, without, however, our gaining any
new or important knowledge from them.
NOTE. It may be of some interest to know that all the old writers agree in
calling the _erect_ obelisk in Alexandria "_Cleopatra's Needle_"; in other
words, this epithet was _only_ applied to the New York Obelisk in Central
Park. The claim of the English that their obelisk in London was ever named
after the famous queen rests on no foundation whatever.
§2. When the Romans transported our obelisk to Alexandria, its base was
badly damaged. That it might still be erected without planing off the
surface of the stone, they filled up the cavities with lead and put bronze
crabs in the corners. The reason why they should have selected the crab or
scorpion ([glyphs]) cannot be definitely given. It may have been due to the
strange superstition of the Egyptians of the Ptolemaic period. The figure
of the scorpion, the evil genius, plays an important part in the
astrological and mythological inscriptions of that time. From what the
Romans heard of this evil deity, and from a desire to propitiate it, they
thought the crab the most appropriate ornament for the obelisk. They wished
to convey a double meaning; first, that the obelisk, the emblem of the good
god of light, should restrain and keep down the evil deity of darkness, and
secondly, they made it appear, in order to flatter the evil genius, as
though it was he who sustained the good god's throne and kept his
{82}monument in proper position. Still, whatever the reason may have been,
the crabs are altogether out of place beneath our monolith.
The crabs at present supporting the obelisk are new, and were cast at the
Brooklyn Navy Yard. What is left of the old ones is preserved in the
Metropolitan Museum of Art in Central Park (cf. page 72). The following
inscriptions were engraved on the eight claws:
FIRST CRAB, FIRST CLAW:
L. [Greek: Ê KAISAROS] _ANNO VIII_
[Greek: BARBAROS ANETHÊKE] _AVGVSTI CAESARIS_
[Greek: ARCHITEKTON OUNTOS] _BARBARVS PRAEF_
[Greek: PONTIOU] _AEGYPTI POSVIT_
_ARCHITECTANTE PONTIO_
[The corrected form and the translation of these inscriptions are given
on page 73 and 74.]
FIRST CRAB, SECOND CLAW:
QUARRIED AT SYENE, EGYPT; ERECTED AT
[glyph] HELIOPOLIS, EGYPT, BY THOTHMES III IN THE
SIXTEENTH CENTURY B. C.
SECOND CRAB, FIRST CLAW:
REMOVED TO ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT, AND ERECTED
THERE B. C. 22 BY THE ROMANS.
[The date should be B. C. 12. Cf. page 73.]
SECOND CRAB, SECOND CLAW:
REMOVED TO THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA A. D.
1880, AND ERECTED IN NEW YORK CITY JANUARY 22,
1881.
THIRD CRAB, FIRST CLAW:
PRESENTED TO THE UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT
BY ISMAIL, KHEDIVE OF EGYPT.
{83}THIRD CRAB, SECOND CLAW:
RUTHERFORD BURCHARD HAYES, PRESIDENT; WILLIAM
MAXWELL EVARTS, SECRETARY OF STATE OF THE
UNITED STATES.
FOURTH CRAB, FIRST CLAW:
THE COST OF REMOVING FROM EGYPT AND PLACING
ON THIS SPOT THIS OBELISK, PEDESTAL, AND BASE,
WAS BORNE BY WILLIAM H. VANDERBILT.
FOURTH CRAB, SECOND CLAW:
LIEUTENANT-COMMANDER HENRY H. GORRINGE,
UNITED STATES NAVY, DESIGNED THE PLANS FOR AND
SUPERINTENDED THE REMOVAL AND RE-ERECTION.
{84}CHAPTER VIII.
EGYPT: ITS GEOGRAPHICAL DIVISIONS AND ITS CITIES.
Egypt, called by its former inhabitants [glyphs] QEM·T, "_the black land_",
on account of the richness and color of its soil, and by the Greeks [Greek:
Aiguptos] [Aiguptos], has been correctly and appropriately described by the
ancients as "a gift of the river Nile", which flows throughout its entire
length. Lying between two vast tracts of desert land, and encompassed by
immense ranges of mountains, the Nile is its only source of life and means
of support. The country was divided from time immemorial into two large
sections, Upper and Lower Egypt. The Hebrew name of Egypt, [Hebrew:
MITSRAYIM] [Mizrayim], being a dual form, forcibly reminds us of this
division. These two sections were at various times of Egyptian history
independent principalities, and governed by different Pharaohs. Whenever
the two sections had one and the same ruler, he was always called [glyphs]
SUTEN-KAUT?, "_the king of Upper and Lower Egypt_", Upper Egypt as the more
important of the two always being mentioned first. These sections were
again subdivided into "_nomes_" (from the Greek word [Greek: nomos] [nomos]
"_a province_"), and each of them had its capital, governor, local deities,
sacred animals, and sacred trees.
{85}[Illustration]
{86}UPPER EGYPT, called by the Egyptians [glyphs] PA TA RES "_the land of
the South_", began in the south at the island of Philæ and extended as far
as the Delta in the north. It is called "Upper", being bounded by mountains
and highlands, as opposed to the low land of the north or "Lower" Egypt.
This section of the country comprised 22 nomes. Following the course of the
Nile some of the principal places and cities are:
_Philæ_, in Egyptian [glyphs] AAREQ·T or [glyphs] PIREQ, one of the
southern islands of the First Cataract, with the ruins of the magnificent
temple of the goddess Isis, the fragment of an obelisk, and other
monumental structures.
_Elephantine_, in Egyptian [glyphs] ÂB·T "_the ivory-island_", the
northernmost island in the First Cataract, opposite the modern Assuân. On
it was situated the capital bearing the same name, ÂB, with the famous
Nilometer and a splendid temple of Khnum, the local deity of the island.
_Syene_, in Egyptian [glyphs] SUN·T, now Assuân, which was the site of
the vast quarries, from which were taken most of the obelisks and statues
scattered throughout Egypt.
_Ombos_, in Egyptian [glyphs] NUBI·T, "_the gold-city_", with the road
leading to the Nubian gold mines, was noted for its temple of the
crocodile-headed god Sebek-Râ, its local deity. The modern name is
Kôm-Omboo.
_Silsilis_, the old Egyptian [glyphs] KHENNU, "_the sailor-city_", is
known for its tombs which are cut into the mountain-side, its quarries,
and its annual festivals in honor of the rise of the Nile at the time of
inundation. The modern name of this part of the country is Jebel
Selseleh.
_Redesieh_, a modern village, was formerly the starting-point of an
important road leading to Asia and the Red Sea. On this road is a temple
of Seti I. and a {87}famous well, [glyphs] TA KHNUM·T MÂ-MEN-RÂ "_the
well of Seti I._", constructed by order of the same Pharaoh.
_Edfu_, in Egyptian [glyphs] DEB·T, "_the city of transfixion_"
(referring to the legend of the battle between Horus and Set, the devil,
in which the latter was pierced by the avenging spear of the son of
Osiris), was the renowned city of the sun-god Horus. Because of his
supreme worship it was also called [glyphs] HUD·T "_the city of the
winged sun-disk_ [[glyphs]]". Here are to be found in a tolerably good
state of preservation some of the grandest temple-buildings of Egypt. The
temple of the hawk-faced sun-god, Horus, rivals in magnificence that of
any other god.
_El-Kab_, near the ancient city of [glyphs] NEKHEB·T, the Eileithyiapolis
of the Greeks, contains the many dedicatory inscriptions to Nekheb, an
otherwise rarely mentioned goddess, and a number of tombs.
_Esneh_, in Egyptian [glyphs] SENI·T, was the seat of the Khnum-worship,
and still contains the ruins of the temple of the ram-headed god
([glyphs]).
_Hermonthis_, in Egyptian [glyphs] AN-MENTH, the modern village of
Erment, was at one time a most important city of Egypt, surpassing even
Thebes. Now we find here only a few ruins of the temple of the sun-god
Menthu, the local deity of the place.
_Thebes_, in Egyptian [glyphs] US·T "_the city of the Us-sceptre_", or
[glyphs] NU·T AMEN "_the city of_ the god _Amen_", was situated on the
land occupied at present by {88}the villages of Karnak and Luxor on the
east, and Drah-abul-Neggah, Dêr-el-baheri, Qurnah, Medinet-Habu, and
others on the west bank of the Nile. It was undoubtedly the largest city
of the ancient world, and the principal seat of the worship of Amen or
Amen-Râ. During the greater part of Egyptian history it was the capital
of all Egypt. Nowhere on the face of the earth are so many ancient
monuments gathered together as here. Suffice it to mention the wonderful
temples of Karnak and Luxor in the city proper, which was called [glyphs]
APIU·T "_the city of thrones_" (from which with the prefixed feminine
article TA the word "Thebes" is derived) and a number of obelisks, and
the Tombs of the Kings with their mausolea, especially the Memnonium of
Ramses II., the monster statues of Amenophis III., and many other
monuments in western Thebes.
_Coptos_, in Egyptian [glyphs] QEBTI·T, the modern Kuft, at the end of
the road leading from Kossêr on the Red Sea, was formerly a place of
great commercial activity, and became a mart for the products of Arabia
and the far East. On this road to Kossêr are the extensive quarries of
Hammamât, the ancient [glyphs] DU EN BEKHEN "_the mountain of the
bekhen-stone_".
_Denderah_, in Egyptian [glyphs] AN·T, "_the city of pillars_", or
[glyphs] TA-EN-TA-RER·T, with the grand and well-preserved temple of
Hathor, [glyphs].
_Abydos_, in Egyptian [glyphs] ABDU or [glyphs] ABDU·T, was especially
famous for the temple of Seti I. Here also was said to be the tomb of the
god Osiris near which it was the highest honor to be buried.
{89}_El-Khargeh_, in Egyptian [glyphs] KENEM·TI, an oasis to the west of
Thebes, at one time belonging to the VIIth nome of Upper Egypt.
_Thinis_, in Egyptian [glyphs] THENI·T, was according to tradition the
home of the first Egyptian Pharaoh, Menes. Its site is now probably
occupied by the village of El-Tineh.
_Panopolis_, the Greek designation for the city called [glyphs]
PER-KHEM·T, "_the city of the temple of the god Khem_", the modern
Akhmîm, was the seat of the worship of Khem whose festivals were
conducted with various gymnastic exercises, especially that of climbing
smooth poles represented thus: [glyphs].
_Sioot_, the modern name of the ancient [glyphs] SAÎU·T, is at present
the largest city of Upper Egypt. A number of rock-tombs are in the
neighborhood. Its local deity was the jackal-headed god Anubis.
_Tel-el-Amarna_ is the present site of a city founded by Amenophis IV.,
which he named [glyphs] KHU EN ATEN, "_the glorious house of the sun-god
Aten_". It was this king who introduced the sole worship of the sun-disk
and was ever after considered a heretic. Cf. the picture on page 30.
_Bersheh_ is a modern village with the remnants of some tombs. In one of
them is the picture showing the mode of transporting a colossus (cf. page
15).
_Beni-Hassan_ is noteworthy for its beautiful sepulchral grottoes of the
XIIth dynasty.
_The Fayoom_ is a large tract of fertile land {90}extending into the
Libyan desert. It was called [glyphs] TA SHETI, "_the land of the sea_",
and the present name is derived from the Coptic word [Coptic: phiom]
[phiyom], "_a sea_". In it was the world-famous Lake Moeris, which the
Egyptians named [glyphs] MER ÛR, "_the great sea_" (whence the name
"Moeris"). This was really a large reservoir constructed by Amenemhât
III. Besides this we find here the ruins of the so-called Labyrinth, the
palace of the same king, not far from the pyramid of El-Lahoon. The
Greeks called the place Crocodilopolis from the crocodile-headed god
Sebek, who was its local deity.
_Meydoom_ is situated on the site of the ancient [glyphs] MER-TUM·T,
"_the favorite city of the god Tum_", and is famous for its quaintly
terraced pyramid.
LOWER EGYPT, called by the Egyptians [glyphs] TA MEHηT, "_the land of the
flax plant_" or only simply [glyphs] MEH·T, "_the north_", comprises the
so-called Delta from the city of Cairo to the Mediterranean Sea. The Delta,
intersected by the seven arms of the river Nile, was called [glyphs] PA TA
MERA·T, "_the land of the inundation_", and was so named from its
resemblance to the Greek letter Delta, [Greek: D], our D. It was composed
of 20 nomes or provinces.
The following are the principal cities of Lower Egypt:
_Memphis_, in Egyptian [glyphs] MEN-NEFER·T, "_the good place of rest_",
which became in Coptic [Coptic: memphi] [Memphi], has left us hardly any
vestige of its former greatness. It was the capital of Lower Egypt and
the main seat of the worship of the god Ptah. Nothing remains to mark the
site of the famous Memphis of old {91}except the colossus of Ramses II.
at the village of Mîtrahîneh and the mighty pyramids. The latter consist
of the following groups: 1) the three great Pyramids, namely, the Great
Pyramid, "the Splendid", of king Kheops; the Second Pyramid, "the Great",
of king Khefren; the Third Pyramid, "the Superior", of king Mycerinus:
all these being at Gizeh: 2) the Pyramids of Abûsîr, four in number; 3)
the Pyramids of Saccarah, the largest of which is called the Pyramid of
the Steps on account of its strange form; 4) the Pyramids of Lisht and
Dashûr. These pyramids served as mausolea or tombs of the kings who
erected them. The stones of ancient Memphis were converted into
building-stones for modern Cairo.
_Tura_, the present site of the quarries of Memphis from which the stone
for the pyramids was taken. It received the name of Troja [Troy] from the
Greeks.
_Heliopolis_, the ancient [glyphs] AN and the modern Matarîyeh, was the
famous city of the Sun or the "City of Obelisks". Here stood the New York
Obelisk in front of the temple of the Sun [Râ]. The only monument to be
seen there still is the obelisk of Usertesen I.
_Alexandria_, the famous city founded by Alexander the Great on the site
of the ancient [glyphs] RÂQEDηT, the Rhakôtis of the Greeks, is situated
near the north-west corner of Egypt. To the south of it is the Lake
Mareotis, in Egyptian [glyphs] MERηT. Alexandria can boast of no ancient
monument whatever, as its two obelisks have been conveyed to London and
New York, and Pompey's Pillar is not of Egyptian workmanship.
_Rosetta_ is a considerable town at the mouth of the Rosetta branch of
the Nile. Its world-wide fame is due {92}to the fact that here a French
engineer, Boussard, discovered in 1799 the stone which furnished the key
for the interpretation of the Egyptian hieroglyphs.
_Sais_, in Egyptian [glyphs] SA·T, whose site is at present marked by the
lofty mounds of Sa-el-Hajar, was the seat of the worship of the goddess
Neith, and the capital of all Egypt under three dynasties of kings.
_Busiris_, in Egyptian [glyphs] PER-USAR·T, "_the house of Osiris_", now
Abu-Sîr, was situated on the Damietta branch of the Nile and had Osiris
for its local deity.
_Tanis_, in Egyptian [glyphs] ZÂN·T, was situated to the south of Lake
Menzaleh. At present there are only a few remnants of the many
magnificent temples left to mark the site of that ancient city. It was
the favorite residence of the Shepherd Kings or Hyksos.
_Mendes_, in Egyptian [glyphs] PER-BA-NEB-DED·T, "_the house of the ram,
the lord of stability_", was the seat of government under one dynasty of
kings. Its sacred animal was the ram, which was the Egyptian emblem of
the soul.
_Bubastis_, in Egyptian [glyphs] PER-BAS·T, was the principal seat of the
worship of the lion-faced goddess Bast or Pasht ([glyphs]). The ruins of
her grand temple can still be partially seen near the present Tel-Basta.
_Pelusium_ lies at the mouth of the most easterly branch of the Nile and
was built either on or else near the site of the ancient Avaris, the
Egyptian [glyphs] HA·T-ÛAR·T. This was the last stronghold of the Hyksos
before they were driven out of Egypt.
{93}A GLOSSARY
OF NAMES AND TERMS OCCURRING IN THIS BOOK AND PERTAINING TO EGYPTOLOGICAL
SUBJECTS.
_The small numerals at the end of each item refer to the pages of the
book._
AAREQ·T. The Egyptian name of the island of Philæ. ^{86}
ÂB, ÂB·T, or ÂBU·T. The Egyptian name of the city and island of
Elephantine. ^{24 86}
ABDU or ABDU·T. The Egyptian name of Abydos. ^{88}
ABUSIMBEL. Also called Ipsambul. The ancient Aboccis or Abuncis. A place in
Nubia, situated on the Nile, and famous for its stupendous rock-temple of
Ramses II., the largest in the world. Each of the four statues at the
entrance represents the king himself, and is about seventy feet high. ^{27}
ABÛSÎR. A village near the site of ancient Memphis. Here we find four
pyramids, one built by Sahurâ, and another by Userenrâ, kings of the vth
dynasty. This place must not be confounded with that of the same name in
the Delta. ^{91}
ABU-SÎR. The modern name of the ancient Busiris. ^{92}
ABYDOS [pronounced ábidos]. The capital of the VIIIth nome of Upper Egypt.
^{88}
A. D. The Latin _Anno Domini_ "in the year of our Lord".
`ÂDITE. A person belonging to the ancient Arabic tribe of Âd. [The first
sign ` is an Arabic gutteral which cannot be pronounced in English.] ^{80}
AKHMÎM. The present site of the ancient Panopolis. ^{89}
ALBANI OBELISK. A small obelisk of Roman workmanship, formerly in the Villa
Albani near Rome, and at {94}present preserved in the _Glyptothek_ at
Munich, Germany. On it and its companion in Naples, the Borgian Obelisk, we
read the Roman names Tacitus ([glyphs]), Sextus ([glyphs]), and Africanus
([glyphs]). It was probably erected in the time of Domitian. ^{10}
ALEXANDER THE GREAT, or Alexander III. The son of Philip II., king of
Macedon. He was born B. C. 356 and died B. C. 323, and was one of the
greatest military conquerors the world has ever seen. His triumphant entry
into Egypt took place in 332, when he was welcomed by the Egyptians as
their liberator from the Persian yoke. He died while preparing for an
expedition against Arabia. His name in Egyptian is ^{32 91}
suten-kaut? Amen-mer-sotep-en-Râ sa Râ Aleksandres
The king of Upper "The beloved of Amen, the Sun's
and Lower Egypt, the chosen of the Sun", offspring, Alexander.
ALEXANDRIA. The modern name of Rhakôtis, founded by Alexander the Great in
B. C. 332. Its main attractions were the tomb of Alexander, the palace of
the Ptolemies, a museum, the temple of Serapis (a Græco-Egyptian deity, a
combination of Osiris and the bull Apis), the world-famous Library, and the
Pharos or light-house, which was 400 feet high and one of the seven wonders
of the world. The city flourished until the Mohammedans gained possession
of it A. D. 650. On December 22d of that year the Library was burned by
Amru, the general of the caliph Omar. All antiquities in the city were then
destroyed except the two obelisks and Pompey's Pillar, which have come down
to us, the latter, however, being the only object of interest still in
Alexandria. The city at present has nothing to attract the antiquarian as
it is altogether too modern in appearance. ^{8 39 40 41 42 43 72 73 79 81
82 91}
{95}ALEXANDRIAN OBELISK. The former name of the obelisk at present in
London. It was the _prostrate_ one at Alexandria, which had been presented
to the English as early as 1820, but was removed in 1877, arriving in
London on January 20, 1878. The money for its removal, amounting to £10
000, was furnished by Prof. Erasmus Wilson, of London. ^{8 10 41 81}
ALNWICK CASTLE OBELISK. Perhaps the same as the Sion House Obelisk. It was
erected by Amenophis II., and only one face bears an inscription. It was
brought to England in 1840.--Alnwick Castle is situated to the north-west
of the town of Alnwick in Northumberland, England. ^{10}
AMEN. In Egyptian [glyphs] AMEN, "_the hidden god_". The Latinized form is
Ammon. He was the tutelary god of Thebes, and was addressed as "_the king
of the gods_". As such the Romans identified him with their Jupiter. He was
worshiped only in Upper Egypt, and is represented on the monuments with a
head-dress of two plumes or feathers, called SHENTI; thus [glyphs].
Although at first the invisible or hidden deity, he was afterwards merged
into Amen-Râ (which see). ^{35 63 87 88}
AMENEMHÂT III. A powerful king of the XIIth dynasty. To guard against a
time of drought and excessive inundation, he converted the Fayoom into a
vast reservoir of fresh water, which was known to the ancients as Lake
Moeris. Besides this he built two pyramids and a palace, the so-called
Labyrinth, near this lake. His name in Egyptian is ^{90}
suten-kaut? Râ-en-Mâ·t sa Râ Amen-em-hâ·t
The king of Upper "The Sun the Sun's "Resolute of
and Lower Egypt, of Truth", offspring, purpose".
{96}AMEN-MER-RÂ-MESES-SU. The family name of Ramses II. ^{7 62 63 64 65 66
67 68 69 70 71}
AMEN-MER-ÛSARKEN. The family name of Osarkon I. ^{38 72}
AMENÔPHIS II. A king of the XVIIIth dynasty, the son and successor of
Thothmes III. He reigned for about seven years, at one time besieged
Nineveh, made an expedition into Mesopotamia, and conquered the
desert-tribes of Asia. His tomb is at Abd-el-Qurnah in Thebes. In Egyptian
his name reads ^{6 10}
suten-kaut? Râ-â-kheperu sa Râ Amen-hotep-nuter-heq-An
The king of Upper "The Sun, great in the Sun's "The peace of Amen,
and Lower Egypt, transformations", offspring, the god, the prince
of Heliopolis".
AMENÔPHIS III. The successor of Thothmes IV, a king of the XVIIIth dynasty,
a great warrior, a bold lion-hunter, and the builder of the two large
figures (colossi) of himself in the desert to the west of Thebes, one of
which was called by the Greeks the Vocal Memnon. His name in Egyptian is
written ^{16 88}
suten-kaut? Râ-Mâ-neb sa Râ Amen-hotep-heq-Us
The king of Upper "The Sun, the the Sun's "The peace of Amen, the
and Lower Egypt, lord of Truth", offspring, prince of Thebes".
AMENÔPHIS IV. A king of the XVIIIth dynasty, the son and successor of
Amenophis III. The worship of the Sun under the form of ATEN or ATEN-RÂ was
forcibly introduced by him. His temple at Tel-el-Amarna was torn down by
his successors, who considered him a heretic. His name in Egyptian is ^{29
30}
suten-kaut? Râ-nefer-kheperu-uâ-en-Râ sa Râ Amen-hotep-nuter-heq-Us
The king of "The Sun, beautiful in the Sun's "The peace of Amen,
Upper and transformations, the one offspring, the god, the prince
Lower Egypt, Sun", of Thebes."
This he changed, after introducing the Aten-worship, to
suten-kaut? Râ-nefer-kheperu-uâ-en-Râ sa Râ {97}
Khu-en-Aten
The king of Upper "The Sun, beautiful in the Sun's "The glory
and lower Egypt, transformations, the offspring, of Aten".
one sun",
AMEN-RÂ. In Egyptian [glyphs] AMEN-RÂ, "_the hidden Sun_". The supreme
deity of the Egyptians and really identical with the sun-god Râ. Before the
time of the XVIIIth dynasty he was worshiped as AMEN simply, and especially
at Thebes. Some of the grandest hymns in the Egyptian literature are
addressed to this god. In painted inscriptions his body is generally
colored light-blue. Cf. above under Amen. ^{29 37 88}
AMENTI. In Egyptian [glyphs] AMENTI, "_the concealed land_", and
undoubtedly related to [glyphs] AMENTI, "_the West_", as the Egyptians
thought that the Lower World lay toward the west where the sun set. It is
the region below the earth or Hades, where the departed spirits assembled,
and was said to be the dominion of the god Osiris. It was divided into "the
field of the blessed", called [glyphs] AANURU or AAHLU (the Greek Elysium),
"the place of rest", called [glyphs] KHER-NUTER, and "the place of the
condemned", called [glyphs] RUSETI. In "the hall of the two Truths" the
deceased was brought before Osiris, his heart weighed, and judgment
pronounced on him. Besides the various gods, such as Osiris, Horus, Thoth,
and Anubis, we also find here the four genii of Hades, [glyphs] AMSETH
(with the head of a man), [glyphs] HEPI (with the head of a monkey),
[glyphs] DÛAMUTF (with the head of a jackal), [glyphs] QEBEHSENEF (with the
head of a hawk). To these were attached "the forty-two assessors",
generally represented with the heads of various animals, who typified the
negation of the forty-two {98}sins [cf. Negative Confession] of the
Egyptian moral code. The book which treats in full of everything pertaining
to the Egyptian Hades is the so-called Book of the Dead or the Ritual,
which has been found in innumerable copies in the tombs and with the
mummies. ^{28 30}
AMYRTAEUS OBELISKS. Two small obelisks of a king of the XXVIIIth dynasty,
who revolted against Artaxerxes I., the king of Persia, but was conquered
and driven into the Delta. His two obelisks, which are made of dark green
basalt, are at present in the British Museum. His name in Egyptian is ^{10}
nuter nefer User-mâ·t-Râ-sotep-en-Amen neb taui Amen-rud-Amen-mer
The gracious "Strong in Truth, the Sun, the lord of "Amyrtæus, beloved
god, chosen of Amen", the two of Amen".
countries,
AN. The Egyptian name of Heliopolis. ^{51 52 53 56 58 69 91}
ANDROSPHINX. A Greek word ([Greek: Androsphinx]), which means "man-sphinx".
This is the figure of a lion with the head of a man, and typifies the
Pharaoh as the incarnation of divine wisdom. The Egyptian figure of the
androsphinx is [glyphs]. ^{46}
ANIMALS, SACRED. Zoölotria or animal-worship was carried on extensively in
Egypt from the earliest times down to the Christian era. The Apis-bull was
sacred to Ptah, the Mnevis-bull to Osiris, the cat to Bast, the cobra or
Uræus-snake to all deities, the cow to Hathor, the crocodile to Sebek, the
cynocephalus-monkey and the ibis to Thoth, the eel to Tum, the latus-fish
to Isis, the frog to Heqet, the hippopotamus to Taûrt, the jackal to
Anubis, the lapwing to Osiris, the lion to Sekhet, the ram to Ptah and
Khnum, the scarabæus-beetle to Kheper-Râ, the scorpion to Selq, the
sparrow-hawk to Horus, the shrew-mouse to Buto, and the vulture to {99}Mut.
The worship of these animals was in some instances, however, confined to a
province or city, for while an animal would be worshiped in one district,
it would be hunted down and killed in another. Some of these sacred animals
were also embalmed as mummies, especially the Apis-bull, the ibis, and the
cat.
ÂNKH. The Egyptian word for "life", written [glyphs]. This refers to
terrestrial as well as celestial life and carries with it our notion of
"eternal life". The sign resembles the St. Anthony's cross, and is called
the _crux ansata_ "the cross with a handle"). It occurs in almost every
Egyptian inscription and is represented as the most precious gift of the
gods to man. ^{29 46}
AN-MENTH. The Egyptian name of Hermonthis. ^{87}
AN·T. The Egyptian name of Denderah. ^{88}
ANTEF THE GREAT. A king of the XIth dynasty of whom we know almost nothing.
He erected a few small obelisks and was buried at El-Assasîf in Thebes. He
was a great hunter and delighted in dogs. His name in Egyptian, according
to Lepsius, is ^{9 11}
suten-kaut? Sekhem-Râ-ap-mâ·t sa Râ Antef-â
The king of Upper "The image of the Sun, the Sun's "Antef the
and Lower Egypt, the proclaimer of Truth", offspring, Great".
ANUBIS. In Egyptian [glyphs] ANPU. He was one of the chief gods in the
Lower World and was represented as a jackal-headed man. He was the deity of
the embalmers and the guardian of the mummies of the dead and their tomb,
whence his picture [glyphs]. The Book of the Dead in the chapter on the
"last judgment" portrays him in the act of weighing a person's heart on a
scale with reference to Truth ([glyphs] MÂ). If it was found {100}wanting,
the person was condemned to return to the earth as an unclean beast; if
found truthful, he enters into "the fields of the blessed". The sacred
animal of Anubis was the jackal. ^{89}
APIS. In Egyptian [glyphs] HEP. This bull was the sacred animal of Ptah
[others say Osiris], and was worshiped in Memphis. Its color was black, but
on the forehead was a white spot, on its back a mark like a sickle, and
under its tongue a lump of flesh similar to the sacred beetle ([glyphs]) or
scarab. It was worshiped for twenty-five years, when it was drowned and
another Apis sought. When found, it was escorted to the temple by the
priests and the rejoicing multitudes. The Apeium was the name of the temple
in which it was worshiped, and the Serapeum that of the building where its
sarcophagi were stored.
APIU·T. The Egyptian designation of the eastern part of Thebes or "_the
throne_" of Amen-Râ. It was the city proper, while the western part was
given up totally to the dead. Out of this word, with the prefixed feminine
article [glyphs] TA [TA APIU·T], the Greeks formed the word Thebes. ^{88}
ARABIA. This country was well known to the ancient Egyptians, especially
the southern part, which they called [glyphs] PUN·T. In the inscriptions of
queen Mâkarâ, published by Dümichen, we find the country and its precious
product of spices mentioned. An active trade was carried on between it and
Egypt from the earliest times. ^{88}
ARLES OBELISK. This obelisk at Arles, a city in southern France, is
uninscribed. Zoëga conjectures that it was brought to Arles by order of
Constantine the Great in A. D. 315. It is very doubtful, whether this
obelisk is {101}of Egyptian workmanship at all, as the rock resembles that
of the quarries near by. It is now in front of the City Hall at Arles, and
only contains inscriptions in honor of Louis XIV. and Napoleon III. ^{10
22}
ASIA. This has no Egyptian name. The Asiatic tribes, however, gave no end
of trouble to the Egyptian kings, and a continual warfare was kept up
against them. Prominent among them were the Kharu, the Rotennu, the Zahi,
and the Kheta or Hittites. The Hyksos were perhaps also Asiatics. ^{86}
ASSUÂN. The modern name of the ancient Syene, near the southern boundary of
Egypt, and situated on the First Cataract. Most of the Egyptian granite was
taken from its famous quarries. Its Egyptian name is [glyphs] SUN·T which
may be rendered "the city which _gives entrance_ into Egypt". ^{11 13 23 24
86}
ASSUÂN OBELISK. The monster-obelisk still in the quarry of Syene and not
yet detached from its native rock. It would have been the largest obelisk
in existence. Three of its sides are finished, but have no inscriptions.
^{11}
ATEN or ATEN-RÂ. In Egyptian [glyphs] ATEN, "the sun's disk". This deity
was represented as the sun stretching out many hands which carried the
symbol of life, [glyphs] ÂNKH. At one time, under Amenhotep IV. and his
queen Thiî, it became for a short time the supreme deity of Egypt, but
after that was worshiped as only a form of Râ, and sank back to a secondary
place. ^{62 63 89}
ATMEIDAN OBELISK. It was erected by Thothmes III., perhaps in Heliopolis. A
single column of hieroglyphs extends down each face, and the lower end is
broken off. Constantine the Great [A. D. 306-337] seems to have had it
removed to Alexandria, where it remained until its transportation to
Constantinople in the reign of {102}Theodosius the Great [A. D. 379-395].
It is now in the Atmeidan or Hippodrome in Constantinople. ^{9}
ATUM. In Egyptian [glyphs] ATUM (the last sign being here only a
determinative). Another form of Tum. ^{29 51}
AUGUSTUS CAESAR. The first Roman emperor whose full name was Caius Julius
Cæsar Octavianus. He reigned from B. C. 30 to A. D. 14, and, besides his
many grand achievements, ordered the two obelisks in Heliopolis (at present
in London and New York) to be erected in Alexandria. His name in Egyptian
is ^{8 25 32 39 72 73 74 82}
nuter neb taui Auteqreder sa Râ neb khâu
The god, the lord of "Autocrator," the Sun's the lord of
the two countries, offspring, diadems,