CHAPTER VI

Cleopatra VI. (From Egyptian monuments.)

§2.[1]At the time of the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 the Khedive Ishmaël first suggested the removal ofthe standing obelisk at Alexandria to the United States. This suggestion was soon spread abroad and it was estimated that for $60,000 the obelisk could be removed. As the late Mr. William H. Vanderbilt had agreed to furnish this sum, negotiations were opened with the Egyptian government in 1877 for the definite gift of the obelisk. These proved successful. Bids were then requested for its removal and the bid of the late Commander Henry H. Gorringe, U. S. N., was accepted. Mr. Gorringe went to work immediately but clearly saw that he would not be able to proceed in the same manner as others had done before him in the removal of the Luxor Obelisk to Paris or the Alexandrian to London. These were taken in tow and in this manner reached their destination. This plan could not be adopted for bringing the obelisk across the ocean. When the work of transporting the obelisk to the harbor of Alexandria was accomplished, the steamer Dessoug was purchased from the Egyptian government and in it the obelisk was carried to New York.

"Cleopatra's Needle" as it stood in Alexandria before its removal to New York in 1880.

As soon as the news of the presentation by the Egyptian government of Cleopatra's Needle to the United States reached the ears of the foreign residents of Alexandria, a most disgraceful agitation was begun against Commander Gorringe. Everything was tried and done to embarrass him in his work, and all sorts of obstacles were put in his way. But the man at the head of the undertaking could not be intimidated. On October 27, 1879 work was begun by the removal of the earth that had accumulated around the base of the obelisk. The latter was next incased to protect its many inscriptions, and on December 6th of the same year everything was ready for turning the great monolith. This was successfully effected. Another difficulty now presented itself, how to get the obelisk to the harbor, this being on the other side of the city. The foreign residents had forbidden the use of the paved streets, by which route the obelisk would have been easily transported, and Commander Gorringe was now obliged to undertake the difficult task of bringing the obelisk around the whole city over the shallow water and the sandbanks. This he accomplished by means of a caisson. However, an unobstructed channel through the water to the dry-dock was first necessary. Divers were hired until March 1880 and employed in removing about 170 tons of granite, being the débris of former Alexandrian monumental structures. While the obelisk was being lowered the spite of the European residents was again painfully felt. Nevertheless, although with vastly increased expenses, Commander Gorringe here succeeded in his work. By this enforced method of transportation he incurred an extra expense of $21,000. When the Egyptian steamer Dessoug had been purchased and, after many delays, brought into the dry-dock, an aperture was made in its side, large enough to admit of the incased obelisk being pushed into the hold of the vessel. The side was then closed, the steamer was ready for its voyage, and the tedious work of the brave and indefatigable Commander was at an end as far as Egypt was concerned. On June 1, 1880 the vessel steamed out of the harbor with the Stars and Stripes floating in the breeze, carrying the obelisk, the pedestal, and the stones for the foundation.

On July 19, 1880 the Dessoug arrived in New York. The site where the obelisk was to stand, namely Graywacke Knoll opposite the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Central Park, had already been selected. The foundation was completed on October 10. The large square pedestal was carted from the North River and 51st St. to the Park, and then pushed on greased planks to the place of erection. The disembarking of the obelisk, however, presented many difficulties, the most humiliatingbeing the greed of certain rich men, who refused to place their dry-docks at the disposal of the Commander for a high price which he offered, and compelled him to try Lawler's Marine Railway on Staten Island. His experiment with this was quite successfully carried out on August 21, 1880. On September 14th the obelisk was once more afloat on pontoons. On September 16th the steamer Manhattan towed the pontoons with the obelisk to the North River and 96th St. Then the land-journey began. The obelisk passed as far as the West Boulevard, down to 86th St., then through the Transverse Road No. 3 in Central Park, issued from the Park at Fifth Avenue and 85th St., and was then taken down to 82d St. Here a trestle-work was built up to Graywacke Knoll, the final resting-place of the obelisk. On December 22, 1880 the point of the obelisk was turned up this trestle-work, and on January 22, 1881 everything was ready for placing it in position on the pedestal. The crabs had been recast in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and perfectly fitted to the uneven base of the obelisk. The latter easily swung and revolved on the turning-structure, and at noon of the same day it stood in the identical position as at Alexandria. On February 22, 1881 the obelisk was formally presented in behalf of the Khedive of Egypt, through the liberality of Mr. William H. Vanderbilt, to the city of New York.

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 thankswill 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.

Ruins of Tanis.

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(us"power"), and handing it to the king with the usual sign(ânkh"life"). Besides this the disk of the sun(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, and holding in his hands the identical symbols of"life" and"power". In front of the gods we find in each case the king represented as an androsphinx () 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.

East Face of the Pyramidion.

The three vertical columns to the left above and the two below the sphinx refer to the sphinx-king, the remainder to the godRâ-Ḥor-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:

i. e.This isThothmes III., the gracious god, the lord of the two countries [Egypt], who gives eternal life.

Below the sphinx we read:

i. e.This isthe powerfulandglorious bull[king]in Thebes, the Sun's offspring, Thothmes III.

The termneb taui"lord of the two countries" is the usual title of Pharaoh. The two countries referred to are Upper and Lower Egypt, which are still and have been from time immemorial the two provinces of Egypt. The word seems, however, to imply still more. In the pompous wording of the Pharaonic monuments it expresses the grand title of the Roman emperors: lord of the Universe.—Thedu ânkh zeta"who gives eternal life" calls attention to the king's power over the life and death of all his subjects. As he himself received life from the gods, so he bestowed it on his people at pleasure.—qa nekht"the powerful bull" is a truly Oriental expression for "the mighty hero", the bull being a symbol of strength and power. The same king is addressed by the deity in his victory-stelé, already alluded to on page31, in the following words:du·ȧ ma sen hen·k em qa renp men ȧb sput âbui nen han·tu·f"I let them behold your majesty like a young and stout-hearted bull whetting his horns; none can escape him."—Us"Thebes" was the capital of Upper Egypt and the seat of government at that time.—sa Râ"the son of Râ" is the usual title of Pharaoh which has already been explained on page31.

The four columns to the right above the god bear the following legend:

i. e.This isRā-Hor-Khuti, the great god, the lord of the two countries[Egypt],who gives him[the king]all life.

Between the god and the sphinx-king we read these words referring to the libation brought by the king:

i. e.As a gift(the king brings an offering of)wine.

Râ-Ḥor-khuti"the sun, the hawk of the horizon" is the name of the sun-god when in his full power at noon (see page30).—The names of all kings are always written in oval rings calledcartouches, to distinguish them more readily from other words and names in the inscriptions. The usual "divine" title of Thothmes III. isMen-kheper-Râ(the first sign being read last), which means "the stableandcreative sun". His family name, in its simplest form, isDeḥuti-meses"child of Thoth". There are as many as 12 variants (or different readings) of this cartouche, prominent and somewhat odd among them being the following:

The most singular cartouche of Thothmes III., however, is found on our New York Obelisk on the East Face and central column (see page56).

South Pace of the Pyramidion.

The three columns above to the left refer to the sphinx-king and are identical with those of the East pyramidion (page47):nuter nefer neb taui Men-kheper-Râ du ânkh zeta"This isThothmes III., the gracious god, the lord of the two countries[Egypt],who gives eternal life".

The hieroglyphs below the sphinx-king are totally destroyed, but must have been the same as those on the East pyramidion (page48):qa nekht khâ em Us sa Râ Men-kheper-Râ"This isthe powerful and glorious bull[king]in Thebes, the Sun's offspring, Thothmes III".

The four columns above to the right refer to the god Tum, the setting sun, seated on a throne beneath. The inscription is:

i. e.This isTum, the lord of the two countries[Egypt],the prince of Heliopolis, the great god, the lord ofhistemple, who gives him[the king]all life.

ḥeq Ȧn"the prince of Heliopolis" signifies as much as "the tutelary divinity of Heliopolis". This famous city was the capital of theXIIIthnomeor province of Lower (Northern) Egypt bearing the same name. The name it received from the Greeks and Romans means "City of the Sun".—Tum"Tum" was the god of the setting sun. The word is derived from the Egyptian verbtum"to close, finish", and when referring to the sun "to set" (cf. page27). A fuller form of the name is Atum.—ânkh nebliterally "all life" is a very concise expression for "all manner of life" and embraces every visible act of life, such as breath, animation, motion, thought, speech, pleasure, &c. The hieroglyph, always pronouncedneb, has, as can be seen from this sentence, two different meanings, "all" and "lord", which result from the primitive idea of "possession".

The inscription between the god and the sphinx-king is destroyed with the exception of the letter[r] at the top. It must have been, however, the same as on the East pyramidion, namely:er du·t ȧrp"As a gift(the king brings an offering of)wine".

West Face of the Pyramidion.

The four columns above to the right (the last one being destroyed) refer to the sphinx-king and read as follows:

i. e.This isthe gracious god, the prince of Heliopolis, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the lord of the two countries[Egypt],Thothmes III., who gives eternal life.

suten-kaut(pronunciation doubtful!) "the king of Upper and Lower Egypt" is the official title of the Egyptian kings and conveys the same meaning as theneb taui"the lord of the two countries" mentioned so frequently above. Another name of the king, and one that has been embodied into our language, isper â"Pharaoh", which is, literally translated, "the great house"; a title bearing the closest resemblance to the modern "Sublime Porte" of the Turkish sultan.

Below the sphinx is the same inscription as on the East pyramidion:qa nekht khâ em Us sa Râ Men-kheper-Râ"This isthe powerfulandglorious bull[king]in Thebes, the Sun's offspring, Thothmes III".

The three columns above to the left refer to the god Tum, who is seated below, and read:

i. e.This isTum, the lord of Heliopolis, the graciousandgreat god, the lord ofhistemple, who gives life, stability, andstrength.

The inscription between the god and the sphinx-king differs from that of the preceding pyramidions; it is:

i. e.The kingpours out a libationof waterin order to receive from him[the god]life.

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