The obelisks, as soon as they had been finished to the satisfaction of Pharaoh, were placed in pairs on pedestals in front of the pylons or lofty entrances of the temples. The pedestals were either, as in the case of the New York Obelisk, composed of one solid block of stone, or else of a foundation of closely fitting blocks or a layer of stones. One effect of the removal of the obelisks by the Romans was to break off the edges at the bottom, so that {21}there was reason to fear that re-erection would not make them safe. To obviate this danger, they placed bronze crabs at each corner to fill out the gaps. Why they should have hit upon the form of the crab or scorpion is not very evident. Perhaps they chose the crab from a religious point of view, in order to conform to the curious religious doctrines and superstitious notions entertained by the Egyptians under the Ptolemies, and elucidated by the inscriptions and papyri of that time. §2. The word "obelisk" comes from the Greek signifying a "pointed instrument", and is, in turn, derived from another Greek word _obelos_ "a spit". Afterwards this name was applied to a "pointed pillar", on account of the latter's resemblance to a spit. By the Egyptians the obelisk was called [glyphs] _tekhen_. This word occurs quite frequently in inscriptions, especially on the obelisks themselves, where the "determinative" [glyphs] alone is given without the literal complement, that is, the spelling. The pyramidion of the obelisk, on the other hand, was called _benben_ by the Egyptians. The prominent part played by it in the mysteries of sun-worship is attested by the inscription of king Piankhi (about 700 B. C.), for in it is mentioned the [glyphs] (_ha-t benben-t_), "the temple of the pyramidion" in Heliopolis. The inscription tells us in this connection the following story: "_His majesty entered the temple of Ra and his divine sanctuary with profound veneration. The first high-priest offered up a prayer to god in the star-chamber to ward off misfortune from the king, placed on his brow the fillet, and purified him with frankincense and holy water. Flowers of the temple of the pyramidion were brought to him and blossoms were given to him. He ascended the stairs to the grand niche to see the god Ra in the temple of the pyramidion. Such was done by the king himself. His {22}chieftains stood apart, while he drew back the bolt, opened the door, and saw his father Ra in the temple of the pyramidion resting in the Maad-boat of Ra and the Sektet-boat of Tum. He then closed the doors and put on them clay and sealed them with the king's own ring._" The frequent mention of the pyramidion and the evident importance attached by the king to his visit to this sanctuary plainly show that there was a deep signification lying hidden beneath the strange upper part of the obelisk. In it the Rising Sun, Râ, and the Setting Sun, Tum, find their mutual points of contact.