600 



OBELISK. 



time of the capture of Troy, erected one 140 

 cubits high, etc. When Cambyses took Heli- 

 opolis by storm, and when the conflagration had 

 reached the foot of the obelisk, he ordered the 

 fire to be extinguished, entertaining a respect 

 for this stupendous work that he had not en- 

 tertained for the city itself." As the Persians 

 were sun- and fire-worshipers, their monarch 

 would of course respect a monument to Mithra. 

 Thus far no really practical use has been 

 assigned to obelisks; because Pliny mentions 

 one, we quote: "The obelisk erected in the 

 Campus Martius has been applied t* a singular 

 purpose by the late Emperor Augustus: that 

 of marking the shadows projected by the sun, 

 and so measuring the. length of the days and 

 nights. "With this object, a stone pavement 

 was laid, the extreme end of which correspond- 

 ed exactly with the length of the shadow 

 thrown by the obelisk at the sixth hour on 

 the day of the winter solstice. After this pe- 

 riod the shadow would go on, day by day, grad- 

 ually decreasing, and then again would as 

 gradually increase correspondingly with certain 

 lines of brass that were inserted in the stone 

 a device well deserving to be known, and due 

 to the ingenuity of Facundus Novus, the math- 

 ematician." 



We read in Tacitus (B. II, 59) : " Germani- 

 cus proceeded to the magnificent ruins of 

 Thebes, where still was to be seen on an an- 

 cient obelisk a pompous description in hiero- 

 glyphs, which an elderly priest translated thus: 

 4 Khamsis called forth from Thebes 700,000 men 

 capable of bearing arms.' " 



In Oh abas' s translation of the inscription on 

 the Constantinople obelisk we find : " Thoth- 

 mes, etc., who has gone through the great 

 circuit of Naharana, etc., who has set his 

 boundary, etc., at the extremities of Nahara- 

 na," etc. (Naharaim, Psa. Ix, 1). Here Assy- 

 rian Naharana and Hebrew Naharaim mean in 

 Greek Mesopotamia, all three signifying " be- 

 tween rivers." Egyptologists say that Thoth- 

 mes III (18th dynasty, 1591-1565 B. o.) con- 

 quered Mesopotamia and Assyria, and carried 

 his arms as far as India. 



In George Smith's translation of cuneiform 

 inscriptions occurs " Assurbanipal," who says, 

 "Two lofty obelisks, covered with beautiful 

 carving, I removed and brought to Assyria." 

 Lately, Arabs have told European explorers, 

 that obelisks have been seen near Hillah, not 

 far from the site of ancient Babylon. 



Such is the history, geography, and symbol- 

 ism of obelisks. Not only has the objective 

 obelisk spread over the globe, but its sound, 

 spelling, and word have entered the world's 

 leading language: Gr. O/3fAt<ncos, from o/3fXos 

 (a spit); Lat., obeliscus; Eng., obelisk; Germ., 

 obelisk; Fr., obelisque, etc. In ancient Egyp- 

 tian it was first tekken ; next wen (stability), 

 and later djeri anschai, quite a sacred object 

 and word among the Copts now. 



We can not close this essay without allusion 

 to the numerous obelistic fragments in and 



around the humble Egyptian village of San, on 

 the site of the Hebrew Zoan, which was found- 

 ed about the time when Hebron in Palestine 

 was built, 1913 B. o. (Num. xiii, 22). Zoan 

 (Greek, Tanis) was the capital of Manetho's 

 Hyksos, shepherd kings. It also became one 

 of the favorite places of Kamses II, Sesostris, 

 (19th dynasty, 1388-1322 B. o.), whose name 

 and cartouche occur in the inscriptions of those 

 fragments, which have one, two, and three 

 columns of heiroglyphs. Late explorers say 

 the fragments, if collected and restored, would 

 constitute ten or twelve obelisks, each fifty or 

 sixty feet high. 



As those that see the New York obelisk will 

 ask the meaning of the brazen crabs under the 

 four corners, let us try to give an explanation, 

 as far as can be done nineteen centuries after 

 its erection at Alexandria. S. A. Zola, Grand 

 Master of the National Lodge of Egypt, made 

 the report on the Masonic signs, emblems, and 

 symbols, discovered in the foundation of the 

 obelisk. Dr. J. A. Weisse wrote " The Obe- 

 lisk and Freemasonry," Grand-Master Anthony 

 delivered the address at the laying of the cor- 

 ner-stone, Oct. 9, 1880, and Secretary Evarts 

 made the eloquent presentation speech, Jan. 

 22, 1881 ; but none of these authors and speak- 

 ers accounts for the mysterious crabs. None 

 of the other Egyptian obelisks have crabs. No 

 doubt Pontius, the architect, mentioned in the 

 inscription on the crab's claw, had some mo- 

 tive or design. We read in mythology that 

 Hercules, while crushing the head of the Hydra, 

 was clawed and bitten by a huge crab, which 

 he killed. This aid to the weaker was prob- 

 ably the reason for transporting the represent- 

 ative of the crustacean family to the starry 

 heavens, and naming a constellation Cancer 

 (crab), which ancient astronomy included in 

 the twelve signs of the Zodiac. Eratosthenes 

 and Hipparchus adopted Cancer (crab) as the 

 first sign of their Zodiac. In later astronomy, 

 the constellation Cancer is the fourth sign, in 

 or near which the sun seems to stand still, 

 June 22, at a point called solstice ; also the 

 parallel, named Tropic of Cancer, is in or near 

 this important sign of the Zodiac. Cancer was 

 considered the house or sign of the moon. 

 Diana was sometimes represented with the fig- 

 ure of a crab. 



Manilius, who, under Augustus (22 B. O.-A. D. 

 14), wrote the famous astrologic poem called 

 " Astronomica," says those born under Can- 

 cer 



" Shall sail through seas and dangers tost, 

 To reap the riches of a foreign coast, 

 That thrifty Nature has but thinly sown 

 In many countries, they shall bring to one, etc. 

 Their bodies shall be strong, inured to pain, 

 Their wits contriving and intent on gain, etc." 



The poet also intimates, throughout his five 

 books, that events happening under this eign 

 would have important results. A work on a 

 subject so novel caused quite a sensation at 

 Rome. Sun-worship was indicated by the 



