of Amun. Such is the subject of the inscription which is in the middle of each face of the obelisk; and though the name of the same king and the same events are repeated on the four sides, there exists in the four texts, when compared, some difference, either in the invocation to the particular divinities or in the titles of the king. Every obelisk had, in its original form, but a single inscription on each face, and of the same period of the king who had erected it; but a king who came after him, adding a court, a portico, or colonnade to the temple or palace, had another inscription relative to his addition, with his name engraved on the original obelisk; thus, every obelisk adorned with many inscriptions is of several periods. The pyramidion which terminates them generally represents in its sculptures the king who erected the obelisk making different offerings to the principal deity of the temple, and to other divinities. Sometimes also the offering is of the obelisk itself. The short inscriptions of the pyramidion bear the oval of the king and the name of the divinity. By these ovals can be known the names of the kings who erected the obelisks still existing, whether in Egypt or elsewhere. The largest obelisk known is that of St. John Lateran, Rome. It was brought from Heliopolis to Alexandria by the emperor Constantine, and was conveyed to Rome by Constantius, who erected it in the Circus Maximus. The height of the shaft is 105 feet 7 inches. The sides are of unequal breadth at the base, two measure 9 feet 8 inches, the other two only 9 feet. It bears the name of Thotmes III., in the central, and that of Thotmes IV. in the lateral lines, kings of the eighteenth dynasty, in the fifteenth century B.C. The two obelisks at Luxor were erected by the king Rameses II., of the nineteenth dynasty, 1311 B.C. (Wilkinson). One of these has been taken to Paris. The obelisk of Heliopolis bears the name of Osirtasen I., 2020 B.C. (Wilkinson), and is consequently the most ancient. It is about 67 feet high. The obelisks at Alexandria are supposed to have been brought from Heliopolis. They bear the name of Thotmes III. In the lateral lines are the ovals of Rameses the Great. They are of red granite of Syene. One is still standing, the other has been thrown down. The standing obelisk, which bears the name of Cleopatra's Needle, is about 70 feet high, with a diameter at its base of 7 feet 7 inches. The obelisk of the Piazza del Popolo claims greater interest, as it once stood before the temple of the Sun at

Heliopolis. Lepsius attributes it to Meneptha. It was removed to Rome by Augustus, B.c. 19, to ornament the Circus Maximus. The obelisk in front of St. Peter's was brought to Rome by Caligula, and placed on the Vatican in the Circus of Caligula. It is about 83 feet high. There are several other Egyptian obelisks in Rome. Nothing can afford a greater idea of the skill of the Egyptians, and of their wonderful knowledge of mechanism, than the erection of these monoliths.

Greek.-The Greeks never made obelisks out of Egypt. The Macedonian kings, or Ptolemies, who reigned in that country, from Alexander to Augustus, erected, terminated, or enlarged many monuments, but always according to Egyptian rules. Egyptian artists executed obelisks for their Greek princes, but

they did not depart, any more than in the other monuments, from their ancient customs. The Egyptian style and proportions are always to be recognized, and the inscriptions are also traced in hieroglyphics. The obelisk found at Phila was erected in honour of Ptolemy Evergetes II. and of Cleopatra, his sister, or Cleopatra, his wife, and placed on a base bearing a Greek inscription relating the reason and occasion of this monument. It was removed from Philæ by Belzoni, and has been now erected at Kingston Hall, Dorset, by Mr. Bankes. It is very far from equalling the Pharaonic obelisks in dimensions, it being only 22 feet high.

Roman.-After the Romans had made of Egypt a Roman province, they carried away some of its obelisks. Augustus was the first who conceived the idea of transporting these immense blocks to Rome; he was imitated by Caligula, Constantine, and others. They were generally erected in some circus. Thirteen remain at the present day at Rome, some of which are of the time of the Roman domination in Egypt. The Romans had obelisks made in honour of their princes, but the material and the workmanship of the inscriptions cause them to be easily distinguished from the more ancient obelisks. The Barberini obelisk, on the Monte Pincio, is of this number; it bears the names of Adrian, of Sabina his wife, and of Antinous his favourite. The obelisk of the Piazza Navona, from the style of its hieroglyphics, is supposed to be a Roman work of the time of Domitian. The name of Santus Rufus can be read on the Albani obelisk, now at Munich, and as there are two Roman prefects of Egypt known of that name, it was, therefore, one of these magistrates, who had executed in that country these monuments in honour of the reigning emperors, and then had them sent to Rome. The Romans also attempted to make obelisks at Rome; such is the obelisk of the Trinita de' Monti, which formerly stood in the Circus of Sallust. It is a bad copy of that of the Porta del Popolo. The Roman emperors in the east had also some Egyptian obelisks transported to Constantinople. Fragments of two of these monuments have been found in Sicily, at Catania; one of them has eight sides, but it is probably not a genuine Egyptian work. The use of the obelisk as a gnomon, and the erection of it on a high base in the centre of an open space, were only introduced on the removal of single obelisks to Rome.

SECTION VII.-PYRAMIDS.

In the earliest ages the tumulus, or mound of earth, was the simplest form of sepulture for heroes and kings. The pyramid of stone was afterwards adopted by nations as the most lasting form of sepulture for their kings. Many nations have raised pyramids. The form of the pyramid is well known. It was evidently built, not as some suppose, as a symbol of the sun or creative principle, but as the most lasting and permanent form which could be given to an erection intended for lengthened

duration. There is, however, this difference in the form, that some pyramids are raised with steps, others with inclined plane surfaces. The most celebrated are those of Egypt; the Etruscans have also erected some, and the Romans imitated them. Some suppose the word Tuрaμs to be derived from πʊp, fire; others from the Egyptian "pehram," ""the sacred place:" the Greeks, adopting the native name, and adding a termination of their own, it was converted into the Greek word Pyramis.”* Egyptian name for pyramid appears to be mer or abmer.

The

* Mr. Kenrick gives a more obvious and judicious derivation; according to him it is probably Greek, on the following authority, "Etym. M. voc. Πυραμίς, ἡ ἐκ πύρων καὶ μέλιτος ὥσπερ σησαμὶς, ἡ ἐκ σησαμῶν καὶ μέλιτος.” The Tupauis was a pointed cake used in Bacchic rites.

That

Egyptian.-All antiquity has admired the pyramids of the environs of Memphis. They are distinctly mentioned by the oldest Greek historian, Herodotus; and the three largest are ascribed by him to Cheops, Chephren, and Mycerinus, three Pharaohs who succeeded each other. There has been much discussion with regard to their destination, but at the present day there are no further doubts on the subject-the pyramids were tombs. The faces of three pyramids stand exactly opposite to the four cardinal points. They are built of nummulitic limestone, partly from the neighbouring hills. Granite was also employed for some portion of the outer part. The principal chamber in one of them is of granite. It was there that the sarcophagus of the owner of the tomb was found, in which his mummy was formerly enclosed. Many chambers and passages in different directions have been discovered in those which have been entered. The entrance of the pyramid was carefully concealed by an interior casing, and was on the north side. In the interior the passages communicated sometimes with wells and deep subterranean passages excavated in the rock on which the pyramid was erected. It seems that some of them were covered over with stucco or marble, and that religious and historical subjects, and hieroglyphical inscriptions, were sculptured on them, but no trace of them remains at the present day. The environs of Memphis not having, like those of Thebes, high mountains in which they could excavate the tombs of the kings, these factitious mountains were raised, and this explains their real destination. The larger pyramid at Memphis, called that of Cheops, or Khufu, rises in a series of platforms, each smaller than the one on which it rests, thus presenting the appearance of steps. Of these steps there are 203. On the top the area is about 10 feet square. The length of each face, when entire, was 764 feet. Its present base is 732 feet. Its perpendicular height, when entire, was 480. The present height 460 feet. The external slope of the outer angles is about 51° 50′. It covered an area of about 571,536 square feet, or 13 acres. To form an idea of the great pyramid, the reader has only to suppose the vast square of Lincoln's Inn Fields, the dimensions of which are the

the name, he adds, of the mathematical solid was derived from an object of common life, and not vice versa, may be argued from analogy: σpaîpa was a hand ball; Kúẞos, a die for gaming; kavos, a boy's top; kúλwvdoos, a husbandman's or gardener's roller.