[153] In the _Dictionnaire d'Archéologie Égyptienne_ of M. PIERRET, a translation of the hieroglyphics upon one side of the Paris obelisk will be found under the word _Obélisque_. The _Athenæum_ for October 27, 1877, contains a complete translation of the inscription upon the London obelisk, by DR. BIRCH.--ED. [Illustration: FIG. 166.--Funerary obelisk in the Necropolis of Thebes. From Mariette.[154]] [154] _Monuments Divers_, pl. 50. The two obelisks erected by Rameses II. in front of the first pylon at Luxor were slightly unequal in height. One was 83 feet 4 inches, the other 78 feet 5 inches. To hide this difference to some extent they were set upon bases also of unequal height, and the shorter was placed slightly in advance of its companion, _i.e._ slightly nearer to the spectator approaching the temple by the dromos.[155] By these means they hoped to make the difference between the two less conspicuous. This difference may have been caused by any slight accident, or by the discovery of a flaw in the granite during the operation of cutting it in the quarry. In dealing with huge blocks like these, such _contretemps_ must have been frequent. [155] _Description, Antiquites_, vol. ii. pp. 371-373. In our view of Luxor on page 345 we have restored the base of the larger obelisk after that belonging to the one now at Paris. We were without any other means of ascertaining its form. The smaller of the two obelisks was chosen for transport to Paris in 1836. In its present situation on the Place de la Concorde it is separated from the sculptured base upon which it stood at Luxor. The northern and southern faces of that pedestal were each ornamented with four cynocephali adoring the rising sun; the other two had figures of the god Nile presenting offerings to Amen (Fig. 168).