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OBELISK (Gr. b/3EXivrcos, diminutive ...

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Originally appearing in Volume V19, Page 946 of the 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica.
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OBELISK (Gr. b/3EXivrcos, diminutive of OEMs, a See also:spit) , a See also:form of monumental See also:pillar; and also the See also:term for a See also:bibliographical reference-See also:mark in the form of a See also:dagger. The typical See also:Egyptian obelisk is an upright monolith of nearly square See also:section, generally to diameters in height, the sides slightly See also:convex, tapering up-wards very gradually and evenly, and terminated by a See also:pyramidion whose faces are inclined at an See also:angle of 6o°. Obelisks were usually raised on pedestals of cubical form resting on one or two steps, and were set up in pairs in front of the entrance of temples. Small obelisks have been found in tombs of the See also:age of the Old See also:Kingdom. The earliest See also:temple obelisk still in position is that of Senwosri I. of the XIIth See also:Dynasty at See also:Heliopolis (68 ft. high). A pair of See also:Rameses II. (77 and 75 ft. high respectively) stood at See also:Luxor until one of them was taken to See also:Paris in 1831. Single ones of Tethmosis I. and Hatshepsut (109 ft. high) still stand at See also:Karnak and remains of others exist there and elsewhere in See also:Egypt. See also:Colossal See also:granite obelisks were erected by only a few See also:kings, Senwosri I. in the See also:Middle Kingdom and Tethmosis I., Hatshepsut, Tethmosis III. and Rameses II. of the See also:Empire. Smaller obelisks were made in the Saite See also:period. The See also:Romans admired them, and the emperors carried off some from their See also:original sites and caused others to be made in See also:imitation (e.g. that for See also:Antinous at See also:Benevento): twelve are at See also:Rome, one in See also:Constantinople; two, originally set up by Tethmosis III. at Heliopolis, were taken by See also:Augustus to adorn the Caesareum at See also:Alexandria: one of these, " See also:Cleopatra's See also:Needle," was removed in 1877 to See also:London, the other in 1879 to New See also:York. Such obelisks were probably more than See also:mere embellishments of the temples.

The pyramidions were sheathed in See also:

bright See also:metal, catching and reflecting the See also:sun's rays as if they were thrones of the sunlight. They were dedicated to See also:solar deities, and were especially numerous at Heliopolis, where there was probably a single one sacred to the sun of immemorial antiquity. The See also:principal See also:part of the sun-temple at Abusir built by Neuserre of the Vth Dynasty appears to have been in the shape of a stumpy obelisk on a vast See also:scale, only the See also:base now remains, but hieroglyphic pictures indicate this form. The hieroglyph of some other See also:early sun- temples shows a disk on the pyramidion The material employed for the See also:great obelisks was a See also:pink granite from the quarries of Syene, and in these quarries there still remains, partially detached, an example 70 to 8o ft. See also:long. The largest obelisk known is that in the piazza of St See also:John Lateran at Rome; this had been set up by Tethmosis III. at Heliopolis in the 15th See also:century B.C., was brought over from Egypt by See also:Constantine the Great and erected in the See also:Circus See also:Maximus, being ultimately re-erected in 1552 by See also:Pope See also:Sixtus V. It was 105 ft. q in. high, including the pyramidion, and its sides measured 9 ft. ro in. and 9 ft. 8 in. respectively. On the base of the magnificent obelisk of Hatshepsut at Karnak, 97 ft. 6 in. high, there is an inscription stating that it and its See also:fellow were made within the See also:short space of seven months. In consequence of the breaking away of the See also:lower part of " Cleopatra's Needles " when removed to Alexandria and re-erected, the See also:Roman See also:engineers supported the angles on See also:bronze crabs, one of which with three reproductions now supports the angles of the obelisk on the See also:Thames See also:Embankment. There was another form of obelisk, also tapering, but more squat than the usual type, with two of the sides narrow and terminating in a rounded See also:top. One such of Senwosri I., covered with See also:sculpture and See also:inscriptions, lies at Ebgig in the See also:Fayum.

Stelae, inscribed with the names of the kings, occurred in pairs in the royal tombs of the Ist Dynasty at See also:

Abydos, and pairs of small obelisks are said to have been found in private tombs of the IVth Dynasty. The origin of the obelisk may be sought in sacred upright stones set up in See also:honour of gods and dead, like the menhirs, and the Semitic Massebahs and bethels. In See also:Abyssinia, at Axum and elsewhere, there is a marvellous See also:series of obelisk-like monuments, probably sepulchral. They range from See also:rude menhirs a few feet high to elaborately sculptured monoliths of See also:loo ft. The loftiest of those still See also:standing at Axum is about 6o ft. high, 8 ft. 7 in. wide, and about 18 in. thick, and is terminated by a rounded See also:apex See also:united by a necking to the See also:shaft. The back of the obelisk is See also:plain, but the front and sides are subdivided into storeys by a series of bands and plates, each See also:storey having panels sunk into it which seem to represent windows with mullions and See also:transom. These architectural decorations are derived from a See also:style of See also:building found by the See also:recent See also:German expedition extant in an See also:ancient See also:church; courses of See also:stone here alternate in the walls (both inside and out) with beams of See also:wood held by circular clamps. In front of the best-preserved obelisk is a raised See also:altar with holes sunk in it apparently to receive the See also:blood of the See also:sacrifice to the ancestors. Most of these must date before the See also:adoption of See also:Christianity as the See also:state See also:religion in the 6th century. See G. See also:Maspero, L'Archeologie egyptienne (new ed., Paris, 1907), p.

105 ; H. H. Gorringe, Egyptian Obelisks (New York, 1882; London, 1885, &c.); F. W. von Bissing and L. Borchardt, Das Re-Heiligtum See also:

des Konigs Ne-woser-Re (See also:Berlin, 1905) ; on the ancient method of raising obelisks, L. Borchardt, " Zur Baugeschichte des Amonstempel von Karnak," in Sethe's Untersuchungen zur Geschichte and Altertumskunde Aegyptens, v. 15. For the Abyssinian obelisks see especially E. Littmann and D. Krencker, Vorbericht der deutschen Aksum Expedition (Berlin, 1906). (F. LL.

End of Article: OBELISK (Gr. b/3EXivrcos, diminutive of OEMs, a spit)

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