ΑΙ ο Thyfical and M'lfcellaneous 



This Sacred If wc cxccpt the Iftac Table \ and a few other Egyptian 

 Jyed^iJfly Aiitiquities, the Obelisks, that ftill remain in Egypf^ or have 

 Ss. "' been removed from thence to Rome, are the principal Archives 

 and Repofitories ' , to which this Sacred Writing hath been 

 committed. Thefe Pillars, notwithftanding the extraordinary 

 Length of feveral of them, have been hewn out of the Parent 

 Rock without the leaft Flaw or Imperfedtion : all of them like- 

 wife that I have feen, were of a rQdd'iih Grai'iaie ( TrupoTroiWov ) 

 Marble, finely poliilied : ύΎουφύι^ HierogfypMcal Chcirz^evs, 

 that are engraved, fometimesto the Depth of two Inches, upon 

 them, are rough and uneven : no Attempt, at leaft, feems to 

 have been ever made to poliih them. Now as there are no 

 Traces of the ChiiTel to be feen either upon the Obelisks them- 

 felves, or the Hierogfyphical Wnt'mg', it is probable, that 

 the latter was performed by a Drill, whilft the Obelisk itfelf 

 might receive both it's Figure and Poliih from Fridion. 

 Theshapeand Thc Pillars 1 am fpeaking of, confift of two Parts, the Shaft, 

 th.fe obe- and the Tyramidion. As for the Pedeftals, (I mean of thofe two 

 that continue ftanding, the one at Alexandria, the other at 

 Matta-reah^ they lye fo concealed under Soil and Rubbiili, that 

 r/ifPedciiaj. J \y^^ no Opportunity to fee them. I have been told indeed, 

 that when the Pedeftal of the former was fome Years ago laid 

 open by M'. Conful LeMaire, they found it to be eight {French) 

 Foot high, and in the like Faihion, with thofe of the Gnecian 

 and Roman Architedlure. But this perhaps will require a further 

 Examination ; although the Draught, which I had the Perufal 

 of (and from whence 1 borrowed the Charaders in the fol- 

 io w^ing Page,) was agreeable to fuch Ornaments and Proportions. 

 To reaffume therefore the Defcription of what is more in View : 

 The Shaft, it is obferved ', that the Shaft is in a decuple Proportion of it's 

 greateft Breadth •, as the whole Figure is nothing more than the 

 Eruftum of a Tyramid, whofe Sides incline towards each other 



1 This is likewife called the TabuLt Bembhia, from being once in the Pofleffion of 

 Cardinal Bcmbo. It has been publirtied by Pignorius, Henvart and others, and is now in the 

 Pofleifion of the Oukes of Savoy. Vid. Kirch. OEd. J€gypt. in menfa Ifiaca. 2 lamblichus in- 

 llrufts us (Scd.i. cap. 2. de Myfteriisyfi^jpf.) thiiPlato and Pythagoras learned their Philo- 

 ibphy from thence. Φίλόαϊφοίί ί"' iv >a€s^^>t,(is Ι^άτημΛ, ίΊοαρινΖμίν σοι 19 nn κατ» 7a< ΐξμ» mxajis 

 ^hti{, if Πλάτων >)<Λ) lois^r i^ Πνθ«^όρ{ΐ{ S'layv'otjif, φιλοσνρΐ"^' mmmvn. This Philoiophy is alfo ta- 

 ken Notice oihy Pliny (1. 36. cap. 9.) Inicripti (Obelifci) return nature interpretationem 

 /Egyptiorum opera philofophis continent. 3 Obelifci altitudo in decupla proportione con- 

 llituetunt, ad latus quadrats bafis inferioris. Sic fi Oif/i/fj cujulquam latus fit 10 palma- 

 ■rum, altitudo erit loo. Pyramidioii veto terminans Obelifcuni altitudine fua aequabat latitu- 

 dinem inferiorem live latus bafis infimie Obelifci. Kirch, Ob. Pamph. p. j2. 



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