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THE NEW YORK OBELISK

Cleopatra's Needle

_WITH A PRELIMINARY SKETCH OF THE HISTORY
ERECTION, USES, AND SIGNIFICATION
OF OBELISKS_


BY

CHARLES E. MOLDENKE, A.M., PH.D.


NEW YORK

ANSON D. F. RANDOLPH AND CO.

38 WEST TWENTY-THIRD STREET

1891




_Copyright_, 1891,
BY CHARLES E. MOLDENKE.

University Press:
PRESSWORK BY
JOHN WILSON AND SON, CAMBRIDGE.

{iii}TABLE OF CONTENTS.


  Chapter I. Obelisks--where found, and when, and by whom
    erected.                                                           1-11

        §1. The present site of obelisks. 1-5.
        §2. By whom obelisks were erected. 5-7.
        §3. By whom obelisks were ransported. 7-8.
        §4. List of obelisks. 8-11.
          I. Erect Obelisks. 9-10. II. Prostrate Obelisks. 10-11.

  Chapter II. The quarrying, transporting, and raising of obelisks.   12-17

        §1. How obelisks were quarried. 12-15.
        §2. How obelisks were transported. 15-17.
        §3. How obelisks were raised. 17.

  Chapter III. The form, name, dimensions, invention, material,
    and use of obelisks.                                              18-25

        §1. The form of the obelisk and the pyramidion. 18-21.
        §2. The derivation of the name "obelisk". 21-22.
        §3. The dimensions of obelisks. 22-23.
        §4. The material of obelisks. 23-24.
        §5. The invention of obelisks and the use they were put to.
                                                            24-25.

  Chapter IV. The signification of the obelisk and the worship
    of the sun.                                                       26-34

  Chapter V. The history of the New York Obelisk, and its removal
    from Alexandria.                                                  35-45

        §1. History of the New York Obelisk. 35-40.
        §2. The removal of the obelisk to New York City. 40-45.

  Chapter VI. The inscriptions of the New York Obelisk.               46-78

        I. Inscriptions of Thothmes III. 46-61.
          The Pyramidion. 46-55. The Obelisk Proper. 56-61.
        II. Inscriptions of Ramses II. 62-71.                        {iv}
          Vertical columns. 62-70. The base. 71.
        III. Inscriptions of Osarkon I. 71-72.
        IV. Inscriptions of Augustus. 72-74.
        The full translation of the obelisk. 74-78.

  Chapter VII. Notes on the translation and the crabs.                79-83

        §1. Arabic and other translations of the New York Obelisk.
                                                            79-81.
        §2. The crabs of the obelisk and the inscriptions on them.
                                                            81-83.

  Chapter VIII. Egypt: its geographical divisions and its cities.     84-92

        Upper Egypt. 84-90.
        Lower Egypt. 90-92.

  A Glossary of names and terms occurring in this book and
    pertaining to Egyptological subjects.                            93-154

        List of the Egyptian dynasties. 108-111.
        The Coptic alphabet. 113.
        The Demotic alphabet. 116.
        The Hieratic alphabet. 124.

  A Glossary of hieroglyphs occurring in this book, together
    with their pronunciation and determinative value.               155-173

  A Glossary of the Egyptian words occurring on the New York
    Obelisk.                                                        174-190

  Index of Proper Names.                                            191-202




{v}EXPLANATION OF THE VIGNETTES AT THE HEAD OF THE CHAPTERS.


  CHAPTER I. (Page 1.) The goddess of victory in the form of a vulture
  holding a flabellum or fan of feathers and a signet-ring in each claw.

  CHAPTER II. (Page 12.) The goddess Nekheb, the tutelary deity of kings,
  represented as a vulture carrying the Atef-crown on its head and holding
  a flabellum or fan of feathers and a signet-ring in each claw.

  CHAPTER III. (Page 18.) The winged Uræus-snake or cobra, the tutelary
  goddess of Upper and Lower Egypt.

  CHAPTER IV. (Page 26.) The symbol of the god Horus of Edfu, represented
  as the winged disk of the sun encircled by two Uræus-snakes or cobras.

  CHAPTER V. (Page 35.) Ancient Alexandria reconstructed.




{vii}PREFATORY.


The oldest nation on the globe sends her greeting to her youngest sister.
The "Setting Sun" has shed its last rays on the Old World from Egypt's
sunny land and now appears on this western shore as a brilliant "Rising
Sun". In the metropolis of the Western Hemisphere one of Egypt's grandest
treasures meets our eyes and, though silent, reminds us of her former
greatness. Here stands a monument of two of her greatest Pharaohs, lords
and conquerors, scourges