Study of the New York Obelisk as a Decoyed Boulder. 119 



Thebes, for still longer periods. The present Obelisk of An has 

 remained on its site, only a few rods distant from that of our 

 Obelisk, for at least 700 years longer, since about 2300 B. C, and 

 the condition of its surface may throw light on the present ques- 

 tion. In 1743, a traveller reports:' "It is discolored by the water 

 to the height of near seven feet. It is well preserved, except that, 

 on the west side, it is scaled away for about fifteen feet high." 



In 1755, Capt. Norden states:'^ " I have represented the western 

 side of this obelisk, because it is the best preserved. I should further 

 state that the bottom of the obelisk on the east is almost entirely 

 ruined, to such an extent, that almost no trace of a hieroglyph can 

 be distinguished upon it." 



In 1787, Savary remarks ■} " The obelisk is in good preservation 

 except toward the southwest, where the granite is chipped to a 

 certain height." These travellers show the usual careless designa- 

 tion of the decayed side ; Niebuhr found that the sides faced N.N.E., 

 E.S.E., S.S.W., and W.N W. No evidences of present decay and 

 scaling are on record, after an exposure of 43 centuries. 



As to the obelisks at Luxor, erected about 1350 B. C, before the 

 pylon of that Temple, and fronting N. W., Pococke reported :* "The 

 hieroglyphics are cut in with a flat bottom, an inch and a half deep; 

 and the granite has perfectly retained its polish, which is the finest 

 I ever saw. . . . They are exceedingly well preserved, except that 

 about half the pyramid of the western obelisk is broke off, and the 

 southwest corner of the eastern one is a little battered for about 

 six feet high." The one still at Luxor, and also that of Queen 

 Hatasu at Karnak, remain renowned for the perfect sharpness and 

 exquisite polish of their hieroglyphs, even on the sides which have 

 faced the afternoon sun, undisturbed, for 32 to 35 centuries. 



In regard to the stela of Begig, in the Fayoum, which lies, fallen 

 and broken, about 43 feet in length, erected also by Usertesen I, 

 Pococke observed,'* that " the obelisk is much decayed all around, 

 for ten feet high, but mostly on the south side ; the west side is 

 almost entirely defaced." 



(c). Attrition by the whirling sands of the desert. On this, a 

 writer remarked, in 1847: "The obelisk that is still erect among 

 the ruins of Alexandria retains much of the freshness, sharpness, 



1 Pococke, idem, I, 23. 2 Norden, op. cit., I, 104. 



3 Savary, idem, I, 123. ' * Idem, I, 107. 



5 Long, idem, 319. 



