IV. 
14G HELIOPOLIS. 
CHAP. Egyptian monuments : accordingly, he com- 
/ pletely restored the figure of the beetle, making 
it appear as a more perfect representation of 
what he had seen elsewhere'. Norden also did 
the same^ Possibly they were right in their 
conjectures as to the figure intended by the 
antient artist; but one proof of the great anti- 
quity of this monument rests upon the style of 
the workmanship; and to misrepresent this, in 
copying the hieroglyphics, by any aim at superior 
delineation, is as barbarous as to exhibit an 
archaic inscription in modern characters'. 
The reader's curiosity to become acquainted 
with the hidden meaning of the symbols upon 
this obelisk is perhaps quite equal to that of the 
author; and if all that Kircher has written for 
its illustration be adequate to this effect, no- 
thing is easier than to transcribe his observa- 
tions*. Butlsis long ago declared, that no mortal 
(1) See the Plate facing p. 365, in Shaw's Travels. Lond. 1757. 
(2) iV(»</ewV Travels, Plate facinjj p. 14. Lond. V,ol. 
(3) If the reader believe Hasselquist, he was able to distinguish 
every species of bird upon this pillar, which he calls the handsomest 
obelisk in Egypt. " I could know," says he, '* a strix (owl) which 
stood uppermost on the top of the obelisk." See Trav. to the East, 
p. 99. Loud. 1766. — All other authors, ;nid among these Kucher, have 
made the slrix of Hassclquist a vulture. 
(4) (Edipus Mgyptiacus, p. 330. Romcc, lGo4. 
