Centre Democrat. [volume] (Bellefonte, Pa.) 1848-1989, 1880-08-26
THE OBELIsE.
The Historic yvsnder in View York-Its
True story-What These Monoitths Are
--Contempor with Mosea

/ ~~OontEnDuFaES Win Hs 0sEh
The Christian al Work, published in
New York, has an interesting article on
the great historic obelisk, known as
Cleopatra's Needle. presented 10 the
United States by Ismael Pasha, and
brought TO New York by Captain Cor
ringe on board the steamer Dessoug.
Obelisks belong to the Oldest and most
simple monuments of Egyptian archi-
lecture, and are high four-sided pillars,
diminishing as they ascend, and
terminating in small pyramid. He
rodotus speaks of them, and Piiny gives
a particular account of them. The lat
ter mentions King Mesphres. or Mestres,
of Thebes, as the first builder of them.
1t is probable that these monuments
were first bull. before the time of Moses,
at least two centuries before the Trojan
war. There are still several obelisks in
Egypt. These exclusive of the pedes-
tails, arc mostly from fifty TO 100 feet
high, and OF a red polished granite; a
few later ones are of white marble and
other kinds of stone. Some are adorned
on all sides, and some on fewer, with
hieroglyphics cut in them, sometimes TO
the depth of two inches, divided into
little squares and sections, and filed
with paint. Some are entirely plain
and without hieroglyphics. The foot of
the obelisk stands upon = quadrangular
base, commonly two or three feet
broader than the obelisk, with socket,
/ in which 70 The.
monty hewn out of single stone, in the
quarries of Upper Egypt, and brought
on canals fed by the Nile, to the place of
their erection. According TO the nc
counts of travellers, there are still TO be
found in Upper Egypt, old quarries with
obelisks already hewn out, or with
places whence monuments of this form
must evidently have been taken.
OF their origin nothing is known
with certainty. Perhaps the first images
Of the gods, which at an early period
were nothing but stones of a pyramidal
form, gave occasion 10 them. Accord
ing to Herodotus they were first raised
il honor OF the sun, and meant 20 repre-
sent its rays. They might also have
been raised TO perpetuate the memory
of certain events, since the HERO
glyphics contained the praises of their
gods and their kings, or inscriptions
relating to their religious notions. After
the conquest of Egypt by the Persians
no more were erected, and the success
sors of Lagus adorned Alexandria with
the obelisks OF the ancient kings, from
whence the Roman emperors carried
several of them TO Rome, Aries and
Constantinople, most of which were
aterward overturned, but have been
put together and replaced in modern
times.
Captain Gorringe has rectified little
mistake of 500 years that the American
press made in estimating the age of their
obelisk. He produced authorities who
distinctly remember that the obelisk
was constructed in the rein of Thothmes
II.,about $50 years before the Christian
era, and not twenty-three years before,
as the American public was led to be-
lieve. Something did happen to the
obelisk at the latter date. however,
viz, its removal from the Temple of
ANEW, at Heliopolis. to the Temple OF
C@sariem, at Alexandria, by order of
the conqueror, Augustus Cesar, and in
the eighth year of his reign.
What long and wonderful story this
obelisk could tell More than fifteen
centuries before Christ was born there
reigned in Egypt one of its greatest
kings, Thothmes. the second of that
title. He was such brave and success
ful warrior that no nation OF either !
Africa or Asia could stand against him. |
He brought even the far off King of |
Nineveh into subiection and compelled |
him TO pay heavy tribute. He was also |
n noted hunter, and a painting shows |
him in the act Of slaughtering 100 ele- |
phants. So proud became Thothmes
through his unbroken career of sue
cesses, that he had his name engraven
in one of the temples as 1.-THE living
good god, lord of the upper and lower
world, the lord OF diademsp' At his
order, hundreds ofmen were set TO work
to hew two obelisks out of the hard
granite rocks at Syene, in Southern
Egypt, near whero the Nile dashes
the cataracts. He was deter
mined that the memory of his victories
and OF his greatness should be preserved
forever on these pillars of stone. After
the patient labor of many months the
huge monoliths lay finally separated
from the bed rock in the quarry. They
were then transported distance of 500
miles TO Heliopolis, or On, the City of the
Sun, near the delta of the Nile. So the
stone was moved across inclined plat
forms to a raft, which had been brought
to the edge of the quarry through a
canal. and then 1t was fioated down the
Nile during AN inundation On ita ar |