410 Thjfxcal mid Mtfcellmeous 



This Sacred If ^vc exccpt the IJiac Table ', and a few other Egyptian 

 Zeyld^ch,7fiy Antiqiutics, the Obelisks, that ftill remain in Egyp, or have 

 ifsks. '^ 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 Imperfe6lion : all of them like- 

 wife that I have feen, were of a reddiih Grana/e ( Tn/poTroiWov ) 

 Marble, finely poliflied : thoughtheHierogfypMcalChai'n&ier^, 

 that are engraved, fometimes to the Depth of two Inches, upon 

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

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

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

 felves, or thQ Hierogljphical Wntm§,\ it is probable , that 

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

 might receive both it's Figure and Polifli from Fri6lion. 

 Thesh^feavd xhc Pillars 1 am fpeaking of, confift of two Parts, the Shaft, 

 tLfe obc- 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 Rubbifli, that 

 r/&fPedeiia]. J j-j^J no Opportunity to fee them. I have been told indeed, 

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

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

 Foot high, and in the like Fafhion, with thofe of the Grecian 

 and Roman Architedture. But this perhaps will require a further 

 Examination ; although the Draught, which 1 had the Perufal 

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

 lowing Page,) was agreeable to fuch Ornaments and Proportions. 

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

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

 greateft Breadth; as the whole Figure is nothing more than the 

 Frufium of a Tyramid, whofe Sides incline towards each other 



I This is likewife called the Tabula Bemb\n.ii from being once in the Pofleflion of 

 Cardinal Bembo. It has been publifhed by Flgnorius, Herwart and others, and is now in tlie 

 Poileffion of the Dukes o{ Savoy. Vid. Kirch. OEd. y£g)pt. in menia Ifiaca. 2 lamblichus in- 

 ftruds us (Sed.i. cap.z. de My fieri jsy£^j/>f.) thmPUto and Pythagoras learned their Philo- 

 fbphy from thence. */Ao(7b?ov i^' wtj i!s^ii.'>i\fii i^dviiM, S'lanfivvfAv uot 19 tSto wtTiJ "tb? Eff/S TiaKeuis 

 nf^at, its UhiTav itefi) (jsej^r 1^ Uu^ayliftti S'tayviyjif, phoavpew cvtinajtvn. This Philofophy is alfo ta- 

 ken Notice of by P/J«y (1.3(5. cap. 9.) Infcripti (Obelifci) return nature interpretationem 

 .£gyptiorum opera philofophis continent. 3 Obelifci altitudo in decupla proportione con- 

 ftituerunt, ad latus quadratae bafis inferioris. Sic fi Obelifci cujufquam latus fit 10 palma- 

 rum, altitudo erit 100. Pyramidion vero terminans Obelifcum altitudine fua,. sequabat latitu- 

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



in 



