In that transplantation of which the Ptolemies first set the example, the obelisk at Paris was deprived of its original pedestal, as we have seen; it was erected in an open space of such extent that its dimensions seem almost insignificant; it was placed upon a pedestal which, neither in dimensions nor design, has anything Egyptian about it: and finally it was deprived of its metal finial. It can therefore give but little idea of the effect which the obelisks produced while they still remained in the places for which they were designed. The artistic instinct of Théophile Gautier was quite alive to this fact when he penned his fanciful but charming lines on the _Nostalgie d'Obélisque_. A curious fact has been ascertained in connection with the obelisks of Luxor. Their faces present a slight convexity, the total protuberance at the base being rather more than an inch and three-tenths. It is probable that the same arrangement would be found in other obelisks if they were carefully examined. Its explanation is easy. If the surfaces had been absolute planes they would have been made to appear concave by the sharpness of the corners. It was necessary, therefore, to give them a gentle entasis which should gradually diminish towards the summit, completely disappearing by the time the pyramidion was reached.[159] [159] _Description_, _Antiquités_, vol. ii. p. 369.--CHARLES BLANC, _Voyage dans la Haute-Égypte_, p. 150. The obelisk at Beggig, in the Fayoum, offers a singular variant upon the type which we have described. It was formerly a monolith about 43 feet high; it is now overthrown and broken into two pieces. It bears the ovals of Ousourtesen I., and would seem, therefore, to be contemporary with the obelisk at Heliopolis.[160] Its peculiarity consists in its shape. It is a rectangular oblong, instead of a square, on plan. Two of its sides are 6 feet 9 inches wide, and the other two about 4 feet. It has no pyramidion. The summit is rounded from front to back, forming a ridge, and the upper part of its principal faces are filled with sculptures in low relief (Fig 170). All this makes it resemble a gigantic stele rather than an obelisk (Fig. 169). [160] For an interesting description of the present state and curious situation of this obelisk, see _The Land of Khemi_, by LAURENCE OLIPHANT, pp. 98-100, (Blackwood. 1882).--ED. [Illustration: FIG. 169.--The obelisk of Beggig. From the elevation of Lepsius.[161]] [161] _Denkmæler_, part ii. pl. 119. [Illustration: FIG. 170.--Upper part of the obelisk at Beggig. From the elevation of Lepsius.]