/ 
j « , 
_ *Whomfome rocke by *Semmefertets,king of Egypt, in the time of whofe raine, Pythagoras fojournedin E- G 
Na 4 gypt: atid the fame containeth a hundred and five ahd twentic foot and nineinches, befides the — 
; foor ot bafe of the faid ftone.As for the other which ftandeth in vers field; being nine foot lower 
than it,hewed and {quared it wasby commaundementfrom Sefofiris king of Egypt.In the chara- 
éters engraven in both of them, aman may {ee all the Philofophie andreligion of the Agypti- _ 
¥ ” 
(596 | The fix andthirtieth Booke 
| ans, for they containe the interpretation of Nature. . . 
; a ; 7 1, 4 tAdiny iw P ys eda biete T 7 
Cuap, Mocs nail gon j POT earain BOs 16 g 
O& Of that Obeliske at Rome which flandeth in Mars field, andfer- °° 
veth for aGnomon, at, Seite 
a eday « 
coon 
Nd as for that Obeliske which ftandeth in Mars field, Auguffus CefartheEmperour.deviz 
fed a wonderfull meanes that it fhould ferve to marke out the noonetide,with the length of 
day and night,according to the fhaddowes that the Sunne doth yeeld by it: for heplaced 
underneath at the foot of the faid Obeliske,according to the bigneffe and length therof,a pave- 
ment of broad {tone ;wherein aman might knowthefixt houre or themiddayatRome, when 
the {haddow was equall to the Obeliske; and how by little and little according to certaine. rules 
(which are lines of braffe,inlaid within the faid ftone) the daies doe encreafe or decreafe: A thing” 
no doubr worth the knowledge, and an invention proceeding from a pregnant wit. Manlau,are- 
nowned Mathematician and Aftronomer, put unto thetop of the faid Obeliskea guildedball, 
in fuch fort,thatall the fhaddow which it gave fell upon the Obelisk,andthis caftother fhaddows J 
mote or leffe, different from the head or top of the Obeliske aforefaid. The reafon whereof (they 
fay)was underftood from the fiundrie fhaddows that a mans head doth yeeld. Butfurely for thefe 
thirtie yeares paft or thereabout,the ule of this quadrant aforefaid hath norbeen found true: and 
whatthe reafon thereof{hould be, [know not,whesher the courfe of the Sunne in it felfe bee nor 
the fame that heretofore, or be alrered by {ome difpofition of the heavens;or whether the whole 
earth be fomewhat removed from the true centre in the middeft of the world(which I hearefay is 
found tobe fo in other places;)or that it proceed byoccafion of the earthquakes which have fha- 
ken thecitie of Rome,and fo haply wrefted the Gnomon from the old place; or laft of all, whether 
by reafon of many innundations of Tiberis,this huge and weightie Obeliske hath fecled & funke 
downe lower(and yet it is faid that the foundation was laid as deep under ground, asthe Obelisk K 
it felfe is above the ground.) 
Cuar. Xt 
e& The third obeliske at Rome in the Vaticane. 
: 7 Hereis a thitd Obeliske at Rome,ftanding within the cirque or fhewplace of thetwoem- 
° perours,C.Caligula and Nero : and this is the onely Obeliske knowne to have beene broken 
in the rearing. This was hewen and erected in Agypt by Nancoress,the fonne of Scfoftris : 
which Nancorews caufed another to bee fet up of a hundred cubits in height,and confecrated it 
unto the Sunne,after he had recovered his fight upon blindnefle, according ashe was advertiféd 
by the Oracle,which remaineth at this day. : Wd 
Cuap, x11. 
e& of rhe Beyptian Pyramides and of Sphinx. 
Aving thus difcourfed of the Obelisks, it were good to fay fomewhat of the Pyramides al- 
“| foin Agypt:a thing I affure youthat bewraieth the foolith vaine- glorie of the kings in 
that countrey who abounding in wealth,could not tell what to doe with their money,but 
{pent itin fuch idle and necdleffe vanities, And verely moft writers doe report, That the princi-_ 
pall motives which induced them to build thefe Pyramides, was partly to keepe thecommon 
people from idleneffe,partly alfo becaufe they would not have much treafure lying by them,leaft 
either their heiresapparent, or other ambitious perfons who afpired to be higheft, fhould take 
occafion thereby to play falfe and praGtife treafons.Certes, a man may obierve the great follies 
of thofe princes herein, That they began many of thefe Pyramides,and left chem unfinifhed; as 
. may 
