{81}This translation of our obelisk reads very strange and was, of course, only drawn by that ancient author from his own fertile imagination. Still it shows how much importance was even at that early time attached to our monolith. Almost every traveler of note mentions it and gives a description of it. All their scattered notices help us to trace the history of our obelisk through the last few centuries, without, however, our gaining any new or important knowledge from them. NOTE. It may be of some interest to know that all the old writers agree in calling the _erect_ obelisk in Alexandria "_Cleopatra's Needle_"; in other words, this epithet was _only_ applied to the New York Obelisk in Central Park. The claim of the English that their obelisk in London was ever named after the famous queen rests on no foundation whatever. §2. When the Romans transported our obelisk to Alexandria, its base was badly damaged. That it might still be erected without planing off the surface of the stone, they filled up the cavities with lead and put bronze crabs in the corners. The reason why they should have selected the crab or scorpion ([glyphs]) cannot be definitely given. It may have been due to the strange superstition of the Egyptians of the Ptolemaic period. The figure of the scorpion, the evil genius, plays an important part in the astrological and mythological inscriptions of that time. From what the Romans heard of this evil deity, and from a desire to propitiate it, they thought the crab the most appropriate ornament for the obelisk. They wished to convey a double meaning; first, that the obelisk, the emblem of the good god of light, should restrain and keep down the evil deity of darkness, and secondly, they made it appear, in order to flatter the evil genius, as though it was he who sustained the good god's throne and kept his {82}monument in proper position. Still, whatever the reason may have been, the crabs are altogether out of place beneath our monolith. The crabs at present supporting the obelisk are new, and were cast at the Brooklyn Navy Yard. What is left of the old ones is preserved in the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Central Park (cf. page 72). The following inscriptions were engraved on the eight claws: FIRST CRAB, FIRST CLAW: L. [Greek: Ê KAISAROS] _ANNO VIII_ [Greek: BARBAROS ANETHÊKE] _AVGVSTI CAESARIS_ [Greek: ARCHITEKTON OUNTOS] _BARBARVS PRAEF_ [Greek: PONTIOU] _AEGYPTI POSVIT_ _ARCHITECTANTE PONTIO_ [The corrected form and the translation of these inscriptions are given on page 73 and 74.] FIRST CRAB, SECOND CLAW: QUARRIED AT SYENE, EGYPT; ERECTED AT [glyph] HELIOPOLIS, EGYPT, BY THOTHMES III IN THE SIXTEENTH CENTURY B. C. SECOND CRAB, FIRST CLAW: REMOVED TO ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT, AND ERECTED THERE B. C. 22 BY THE ROMANS. [The date should be B. C. 12. Cf. page 73.] SECOND CRAB, SECOND CLAW: