OBELISK

From Agepedia

OBELISK (dfieXicrKog, and djfoXo?). OBELISKs belong to the oldest and most simple monuments of Egyptian architecture, and are high foursided pillars, diminishing as they ascend, and terminating in a small pyramid. Herodotus speaks of them, and Pliny gives a particular account of them. The latter mentions king Mesphres, or Mestres, of Thebes, as the first builder of OBELISKs, but does not give the time; nor is this king noticed either by Herodotus or Diodorus. It is probable that these monuments were first built before the time of Moses, at least two centuries before the Trojan war. There are still several obelisks in Egypt: there is one erect, and another fallen, at Alexandria, between the new city and the lighthouse ; one at Matarea, among the ruins of old Heliopolis; one in the territory of Fajum, near ancient Arsinoe ; eight or ten among the ruins of Thebes; the two finest at Luxor, at the entrance of the temple, &c. These obelisks, exclusively of the pedestals, are mostly from 50 to 100 feet high, and of a red polished granite (sienite); a few of the later ones are of white marble and other lands of stone. At their base, they com monly occupy a space of from 4£ to 12 feet square, and often more. Some are adorned on all sides, and some on fewer with hieroglyphics cut in them, sometimes to the depth of two inches, divided into little squares and sections, and filled with paint: sometimes they are striped with various colors. Some are entirely plain, and without hieroglyphics. The foot of the obelisk stands upon a quadrangular base, commonly two or three feet broader than the obelisk, with a socket, in which it rests. They were commonly hewn out of a single stone, in the quarries of Upper Egypt, and brought on canals, fed by the Nile, to the place of their erection. Several learned men have doubted this, and others have sought to prove it; but, according to the accounts of travellers, there are still to be found, in Upper Egypt, old quarries with obelisks already hewn out, or with places whence monuments of this form must evidently have been taken. Of their origin we know nothing with certainty. Perhaps the first images of the gods, which, at an early period, were nothing but stones of a pyramidal form, gave occasion to them. Thus the ancient image of Venus, at Paphos, was a pyramid of white marble. According to Herodotus, they were first raised in honor of the sun, and meant to represent its rays. This is confirmed by their name and their form. They might also have been raised to perpetuate the memory of certain events, since the hieroglyphics contained the praises of their gods and their kings, or inscriptions relating to their religious notions. It is not probable that they were intended for sundials, because their point did not throw a distinct shadow. They were afterwards, however, used for that purpose, and balls were placed upon the points of some, as was the case with that which Augustus had brought to Rome, and which he placed in the field of Mars, under the direction of the astronomer Manilius, in such a position that it could be used for a dial. It is well known that, among the ancient Egyptians, they made a principal ornament of the open squares and the temples, before the large gates of which two or more were commonly placed. For this purpose, they used only obelisks of considerable height. After the conquest of Egypt by the Persians, no more were erected, and the successors of Lagus adorned Alexandria with the obelisks of the ancient kings. The Roman emperors carried several of them from Egypt to Rome, Aries and Constantinople, most of which were afterwards overturned, but have been put together and replaced in modern times. Augustus, for instance, had two large obelisks brought from Heliopolis to Rome. One of them we have already spoken of. The other stood upon the Spina, in the Circus Maximus, and is said to have been the same which king Semneserteus (according to Pliny) erected. At the sack of Rome by the barbarians, it was thrown down, and remained broken, in three pieces, amidst the rubbish, until, in 1589, Sixtus V had it restored by the architect Domenico Fontana, and placed near the church Madonna del Popolo. Under Caligula, another large obelisk was brought from Heliopolis to Rome, and placed in the Circus Vaticanus. It has stood, since 1586, before St. Peter's church: it is without hieroglyphics ; and, with the cross and pedestal, measures 126 feet in height. It is the only one in Rome which has remained entire. Its weight is estimated at 10,000 cwt. Claudius had two obelisks brought from Egypt, which stood before the entrance of the Mausoleum of Augustus, and one of which was restored in 1567, and placed near the church of Santa Maria Maggiore. Caracalla also procured an Egyptian obelisk for his circus, and for the Appian Way. The largest obelisk (probably erected by Rameses) was placed, by the emperor Constantius II, in the Circus Maximus at Rome. In the fifth century, it was thrown down by the barbarians, and lay in pieces upon the ground, until Sixtus V, in 1588, had it raised upon the square, before St. John's church of the Lateran, thence called the Lateran OBELISK. It is beautifully adorned with sculpture. Its weight is more than 13,000 cwt.; its height, exclusive of the pedestal, 140 feet; with the pedestal, 179. Several others have been erected by succeeding popes. The famous obelisk, called Cleopatra's Needle, was presented by the pacha of Egypt to the king of England, in 1820. It was erected in Waterloo place, in London.See Zoega, De Origine el Usu Obeliscorum, etc. (Rome, 1797, seq.). Champollion, Jr., has published, in Rome, copperplate engravings of obelisks, with his explanations of the hieroglyphics. A. Fea has written a history of these monuments, with an account of their erection, to accompany Champollion's work.