160 HELIOPOLIS. 
CHAP, elevation assisrned by him to each of the four 
IV. * -' 
y -»-. > obehsks erected here by Sochis, so nearly cor- 
responds with the measure of the one which 
now remains, that, making allowance for its 
pedestal, its height would be the same '. Owing* 
to this circumstance, Pococke^ and Shaw^ con- 
sider it as one of the four mentioned by Pliny. 
Diodorus relates*, that two other obelisks were 
erected at Heliopolis by Sesostris; but each of 
these was one hundred and twenty cubits in 
height, and eight in breadth ; an elevation, 
therefore, much too considerable to correspond 
with the present appearance of this pillar. 
After leaving this place, the author w^as so 
much exhausted by fatigue, that he returned to 
Cairo, across the sandy plain of the desert 
which lies east of the city, and extends all the 
way from the Nile to the Red Sea. Mr. Cripps, 
(0 That is to say, 48 cuhits; and atlinittin^ the Emnnn cubit to 
etiual 18 inches, tlie whole height of the ol)eli-:k would he 72 feet. 
Pocucke found tlie height of tliat part of the obeli'^k which is above 
the surface of the soil to equal (jT feet, lueasuriug it by a quadrant. 
S'Aatff took its elevation '^ hy the proporlion of .shndnu's" aud made it 
only sixty-four feet; thereby allowing eight feet for the pedestal. 
Pococke'a mensuration allows ou]\ Jiie. 
(?) Descript. of the £</a/, vol.1, p. 2,1. Land. 1743, 
(;?) Travels, p. 35C. Lond. 1757. 
(4) Z>wc/. Sio. BIblioth. lib. i. \^. :ii. Hanoi; 1604. 
