The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1877-11-03
Our 0lio.
oBRL1sKs FROM EGYPT.

no OBELIsKs FROM EGYPT.
cite he prospect Of having a voritable Egyp-
gcd obelisk brought to New York in q
her IT time has already caused lively dis
you sion as to its proper location and archi-
you sural treatment. It becomes matter
tie, interest to know how the ancient makers
M monoliths treated these products of their
bat mense lahors. The Saturday Revierc,
if iCh in common with all England, is
led by expecting the arrival Of similar
I a re4sr furnishes something pertinent to
y. 2 subject. To the ancient Egyptians,
on the age Of the Pyramid builders to
ie at Of the Roman emperors, the size Of
ed e materials Of which a building was to
ia made was great consideration. I'm
ss ucseonably they secured stability. The
re lifieulty of moving Cleopatras Needle
y IVES us reason why so many obelisks
!. ad temples are still standing. There are
! stones at Karnao forty feet long. On the
!. roof Of Che temple at Edfou there arc
stones twenty feet by twelve, and more
? Chan three feet thick Such roof may
fall of itself; but there is probably no en-
gineer in Egypt who could pull it down
without gunpowder or steam. The won
Ger Of the obelisk il that it consists of
single stone, 1t had dlittle other claim on
pur regard, { we except its antiquity
It may b worth while to inquire how
the Egyptiais placed their obelisks. There
5, Fortunately, no doubt at all on this head.
Cleopatra'S Needle, which is now on its
way to England, was removed in the reign
Of Augustus, together with its companion,
which is still standing, from HeliOpolis,
about one hundred and twenty miles in
land, to tie waters edge at Alexandra.
Previously, no doubt, the pair stood, like
other obtlisks, in temple. A single ex-
ample still remains at Heliopolis, and still
stands a. it stood when il was placed in
front ofhis temple by the King 0sirtasen,
who livid, according to NJ. Mariette and
others, shout four thousand nine hundred
years agD. 1t is the oldest in Egypt, and
is about sixty-eight feet high, or two feet
higher than the Needle, and three feet
lower ttan the obelisk still erect at Alex
andria. There was probably fourth
near the same spot Of similar dimensions.
The place itself was the courtyard of the
temple, surrounded by lofty wall and
close to buildings Of great size. -Four
obelisks were also placed within the tenn
pie at Karnac, and two are stiil standing.
Here, again we find them, not ina wide,
open space, nor among buildings which
they oyertop, but in narrow courts. The
taller of the two is the tallest now remain
ing perfect II measures ninety-two feet
fiom the ground, and its companion is not
much less, being about scyeniy.dye. At
Luxor, few miles off, another pair re.
NAMED till lately; but one Of them now
cruces the Place de Ia Concorde. These
two we're in wider space than the four at
Karnac, but they were close to the face Of
the great propylous, by which it might
have been expected that they would be
completely dwarfed. Bot the ancient
builders knew better. Tho wall behind
them is composed Of enormous blocks Of
sandstone. Yet this single piece Of gran
ite reaches nearly to the top of the wall.
Such is the reflection suggested by their
sitontion. At Karnac you sec the point
Of the tall pillar appearing above the tops
of the palms, and of the gigantic buildings
close to il; but you see only the point until
you are near enough to recognize that it
Is monolith. The whole world cannot
show such another block, yet it is small
thing, considered merely as a building.
TO see it Alright you must, said its design
Iers, see il near; or, if any Of it is to be
revealed to the world at large, it must be
Ehe extremity only, and that surrounded
BY great columns and lofty gates, SO that
scale is ready to assist your eye in esti-
mating its size when at length you enter
he narrow precincts Of the court from
lEhose floor II shoots up into tho blue sky
hbove your head. This evidently was the
dea Of the obelisk.makers, and they were
Undoubtedly right. An obelisk built up
kf little bits of stone is not really an obe-
tsk; and at Paris the great open place, the
untains, the bridge, the distant portico,
N go not to enhance the obelisk, but to
hstroy it.
There arc very few references alnong
III the Inscriptions deciphored orf the
great Egyptian monuments to the agni-
sas xcFkk asaaertakqn. But ,e Of.
lem is on the base Of the larger obclisk
Karnac. 1t tells us that the Queen
munoohet, or Hatason, the daughter and
ccessor of Thomas l., king of tho
ghteenth dynasty, erected il as memo
81 to her father, aud itrecords the length
time consumed in bringing Il from the
narries. When we consider that it had
be brought from the quarry at Syene,
Perhaps two miles 70 the rivers edge, then
Ae hundred and thirty-ive milas, prOba-
HI BY boat, 10 Karnac, and then from the
pore about two hundred yards through
h.