The total cost of the removal of the obelisk was: for material and labor $86,603 and for incidental expenses $15,973, a sum total of $102,576. Mr. W. H. Vanderbilt paid the whole amount out of his own purse. The Congress of the United States took due notice of the wonderful feat of procuring for our country such a grand specimen of Egyptian monuments, and fitting resolutions were passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives. And certainly a sincere vote of thanks {45}will be given for his munificent gift to our late illustrious fellow citizen, William H. Vanderbilt, by everyone having at heart the honor and advancement of our city and country. [Illustration: Ruins of Tanis.] {46}CHAPTER VI THE INSCRIPTIONS OF THE NEW YORK OBELISK. _I. Inscriptions of Thothmes III._ The inscriptions of Thothmes III. comprise the four sides of the pyramidion and the central columns of the four faces of the obelisk. THE PYRAMIDION. The pictures of the four sides of the pyramidion here given are reproduced from the squeezes taken under the direction of Mr. Gorringe as published in his "Egyptian Obelisks". They are, however, given in their correct form, as the squeezes seem to have been taken by an inexperienced hand and a person unacquainted with Egyptological subjects. The figures seated in the squares are the gods Râ-Hor-Khuti and Tum, representing the rising and the setting sun. The former is the hawk-faced god seated on a throne, holding in his right hand the staff of power [glyphs] (US "_power_"), and handing it to the king with the usual sign [glyphs] (ÂNKH "_life_"). Besides this the disk of the sun [glyphs] (RÂ "_sun_") reclines on his head. The god Tum, on the other hand, is represented in his human form, bearded and wearing a king's head-dress [glyphs], and holding in his hands the identical symbols of [glyphs] "_life_" and [glyphs] "_power_". In front of the gods we find in each case the king represented as an androsphinx ([glyphs]) in the act of offering libation to the divinity. It must be noted that this kind of sphinx being human-faced and bearded, is always the representation of Pharaoh as the essence of the godhead. {47}East Face of the Pyramidion. [Illustration] The three vertical columns to the left above and the two below the sphinx refer to the sphinx-king, the remainder to the god RÂ-HOR-KHUTI (_i. e._ "the sun, Horus in the horizon") and the libation in the hands of the sphinx. The three columns above the sphinx are: nuter nefer neb taui Men-kheper-Râ The god · good · lord (of · the) two countries · Thothmes III. · du ânkh zeta giving · life · forever. _i. e._ This is _Thothmes III., the gracious god, the lord of the two countries [Egypt], who gives eternal life_. Below the sphinx we read: qa nekht khâ em Us {48} The bull · powerful · glorious · in · Thebes ·