Cleopatra's needle : $b with brief notes on Egypt and Egyptian obelisksWilson, Erasmus, Sir
History
Cleopatra's needle : $b with brief notes on Egypt and Egyptian obelisks
Wilson, Erasmus, Sir
Cleopatra's Needle (London, England); Obelisks
Next below the square compartment is another of oblong figure, divided
into three stripes, corresponding with the three columns which descend
the rest of the shaft down to its base. The upper part of the oblong
space is occupied by the sacred hawk, capped with the helmet-shaped
double crown of Egypt, and emblematical of the god Horus. Then follows
the standard of the king in the form of a banner representing a
bull, the emblem of power and moderation, together with the special
attributes of the king. The inscription in the oblong compartment
will therefore read as follows:—The Horus, the powerful; then, in the
case of Seti; sanctified by truth and justice; the piercer of foreign
countries by his victories; the beloved of the sun and justice. Whilst
the legend of Rameses styles him:—The beloved of the sun; the son of
Noubti or Seth; the beloved of justice; the son of Ptha-Totonen; and
the son of Athom.
The vertical columns commemorative of Seti are as follows:—The Horus,
the powerful, sanctified by truth and justice, &c. Lord of the diadems
of Upper and Lower Egypt, Month or Mandou of the world; possessor of
Egypt; the resplendent Horus, the Osiris, the divine priest of Thoré;
the king, Pharaoh, establisher of justice, who renders illustrious the
everlasting edifices of Heliopolis, by foundations fit for the support
of the heaven; who has established, honoured, and adorned the Temple
of the Sun and the rest of the gods; which has been sanctified by him,
the son of the sun, Menephtha-Sethai, the beloved of the spirits of
Heliopolis, everlasting like the sun.
The variations in other columns speak of Seti as “the establisher of
everlasting edifices, making his sanctuary in the sun, who loves him,
the adorner of Heliopolis, who makes libations to the sun and the rest
of the lords of the heavenly world, who gives delight by his rejoicings
and by his eyes: beloved of Horus, the lord of the two worlds:”—“The
scourge of foreign countries, piercer of the shepherds, who fills
Heliopolis with obelisks to illumine with their rays the Temple of the
Sun; who like the Phœnix fills with good things the great temple of the
gods, causing it to overflow with rejoicing.”
The vertical columns in praise of Rameses proclaim as follows:—“The
Horus, the powerful, the beloved of the sun, the Ra, the offspring of
the gods, the subjugator of the world, the king, the Pharaoh, guardian
of justice, approved of the sun; son of the sun, Ammon-mai Rameses; who
gives joy to the region of Heliopolis when it beholds the radiance of
the solar mountain. He who does this is lord of the world; the Pharaoh,
guardian of justice, approved of the sun, son of the sun, Ammon-mai
Rameses, giving life like the sun.”
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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