The daily Cairo bulletin. (Cairo, Ill.) 1878-1???, 1881-03-16
THE OBELIsKs STORY.
New York Times

clatlOn Tor tne Advancement Oh oclencc
and Art, in the Brick Church, at Fifth
avenue and Thirty-seyenth street, re-
Gently. Thirty-ive centuries have.
passed, he said, since the obelisk was
severed from its natural surroundings
by the hand of man and wrought into
its present form. On the banks of the
Nile, about $50 miles from the sea, is
an immense mass of granite, known as
syenite, noted for its freedom from
cracks, veins, or foreign substances,
and the beautiful polish of which it is
susceptible. An obelisk now standing
at Heliopolis, five miles from Cairo
taken from this quarry, was erected
more than 1000 years ago; and 1000
years ago priest quarried from this
place, and transported 600 miles Shaft
weighing $50 tons, which was so highly
polished that the polish still remains.
With all the science Of our own day it
would tax the most skillful workmen to
reproduce the figures cut upon that
shaft, and then give the surface such
lasting polish.
son the base of the obelisk of Hata-
son." continued the speaker, sit is re-
corded that only seven months elapsed
from the time she gave the order TO
quarry the stone to the date of its final
completion. To me, this record means
that the ancient Egyptians were pos
sessed of mechanical appliances supe-
rior to those in use at the present day.
BY taking time enough, and employing
men enough, there is hardly limit to
the weight that can be moved, but in
the creation, transportation, and cree
ton of an obelisk, the number of men
is limited to comparatively few, and |
am quite sure that there is no man liv-
ing who would undertake in seven
months, at the penalty Of his life, to
quarry, transport 600 miles, erect, carve,
and polish a shaft 100 feet long, weigh
ing $50 tons, such rs that of Queen Hat
ason at Karnak. dwell on this fact so
that you may realize that in spite of the
wonderful progress made in the me-
chanical arts in this country we are,
perhaps, only on the very threshold of
the knowledge possessed by the ancient
Egyptians thirty-hve centuries ago. In
my opinion, an obelisk is simply the
representation of the creative power; it
was unquestionably designed to stand
before temple; the proportions be-
tween its height and that of the wall or
pylon against which it was seen project
ed, were invariably such that from every
point of view the pyramidion of the ODE
lisk was seen above the top of the tenn
pie. Obeisks were always erected in
pairs; unfortunately, we have but one,
and it is not reasonable to expect that
we can get another one from Egypt; in
fact, | have good ground for assuring
you that there is not the least hope of
our getting another Egyptian obelisk
| unless we can buy one from the Euro
pean residents of Egypt But can see
no reason for not having another ODE
lisk, cut out of the beautiful red granite
of Connecticut, and erected on neigh
boring knoll, on which there could be
cut brief historical record"
He had been requested, the speaker
said, to write n detailed history of the
obelsk for publication in school book,
but had declined He then gave an ex-
tended account Of the hieroglyphics,
which have before been fully described,
and gave some facts about Thothmes
ILL.,, Rameses, Thebes, Memphis, and
| Lucus Verus. "lhothmes was enabled
to conquer Asia and exact tribute from
the most powerful Asiatic Kingdoms.
He built new temples and restored 9TH
ers that had been destroyed by the Ash
attic conquerors Among the latter was
the Temple of On at Heliopolis. Before
that temple he erected pair of ODE
| lisks, of which ours is one. have a
model of that temple, which is as inter-
esting as the obelisk itself. 1t is the
oldest model or plan in existence. 1t
was found at Heliopolis by an eminent
German archmologist, who sold it to a
Californian, who sold his collection at
auction in this city, where it was pur-
chased for $50, during my absence in
Egypt | knew of the existence of this
exceptionally interesting object, and on
my return home promptly purchased it. ="
Rameses built ship canal from the
Mediterranean to the Red Sea thirty
two centuries before M. de Lesseps was
born. This canal lasted for more than
a thousand years, SO it must be consid-
cred success. Traces of il are still to
be seen.
There are good reasons for believ-
ing that the exodus took place in the
latter part of the reign of Rameses H.,
and that his were the hosts that were
swallowed up in the Red Sea while in
pursuit of the fugitive lsraelites. The
Biblical record does not state that the
Pharaoh was drowned, and had he been
drowned it certainly would have been
stated. Kings in those days, as in these,
did not lead the van or their armies.
From an Egyptian standpoint there was
nothing more remarkable in the flight
of the Israelites than there would be to-
day in the sudden departure from one
of our Indian Agencies of discomfort.
ed tribe, led by some ambitious Chief
it would be a matter of considerable i'm.
portance TO the Indians, but of remote
interest to the inhabitants of the sea
board. There is nothing startling in
the fact that the lsraelites crossed dry
shod while the Egyptians were drowned.
A combination Of low spring tides, with
winds from certain directions, causes
the waters of many estuaries, and nota-
bly, those of the Red Sea, to flow out
so as to leave dry passages across them;
this combination is generally followed
a A A - Il