North Face of the Pyramidion.
The four columns above to the left refer to the sphinx-king and read:
i. e.This isthe gracious god, the lordandmaker of everything, the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, the lord of the two countries[Egypt],Thothmes III., who gives eternal life.
The inscription below the sphinx is identical with the one on the East pyramidion; namely,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 right refer to the sun-god Râ seated below, and read:
i. e.This isRā-Hor-khuti, the lord of the two countries[Egypt],who gives him[the king]all life.
Râ-Ḥor-khuti"Râ-Horus in the horizon" is the title of the morning-sun, to which attention has already been called on page30. The last sign is very frequently writtenkhu·t, theshowing the disk of the sun between two mountains and in the act of rising, and thesignifying "a house" or "a place". The whole group means "the house of the rising sun" or "the source of light", which is usually translated by the general term "horizon". The whole title, therefore, stands for the rising or eastern sun (cf. the picture on page28).
The inscription between the god and the sphinx-king is partially destroyed, leaving, however, enough traces to show that it must have been identical with the one on the West pyramidion:er du·t qebeḥ ȧr·f du ânkh"The kingpours out a libationof waterin order to receive from him[the god]life".
The Obelisk Proper.
On the obelisk proper the inscriptions of Thothmes III. are contained in the central column of each face. At the top of each column, immediately below the pyramidion, we find the sign, literallypet"heaven", which may either be taken with the next signḤor"Horus" so as to signify "the heavenly Horus", or else it may be regarded to express the wish of the Pharaoh, that heaven would protect his obelisk and proclaim its inscriptions as of heavenly origin.
East Face [central column].
i. e.Behold Pharaoh! He isthe heavenly Horus, the powerfulandglorious bull[king]in Thebes.[2]He isthe lord of the VultureandUræus diadems[3], and hiskingdom is establishedas firmlyas the sun in the heavens. His name is[4]: "He whom Tum, the lord of Heliopolis, has begotten, and who isthe son of his loins, whom Thoth has brought forth"[5], whowas created by them[the gods]in the great templeof Heliopolisin the beauty of their limbs,andwho knewbeforehandwhat he would do to establishfor himselfan eternal kingdom. He isThothmes III., the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, beloved of the great god Tum and his circle of gods, who gives all life, stability, and strength now and for ever!
South Face [central column].
Almost the entire column on this side is in a very poor condition, the hieroglyphs being hardly discernible. The following, however, may prove to be a correct restoration of the inscription.
i. e.Behold Pharaoh! He isthe heavenly Horus, the powerful bull, beloved of Rā. He isThothmes III., the king of Upper and Lower Egypt, who has madethis to behis monumentin honorofhisfatherTum,the lord of Heliopolis, and whohas set up for him two[6]large obelisks, the pyramidionbeing coveredwith gold-metal,[7]on the first day[8]of the thirty-year festival[9]..........[10]No onehas ever done whathe did, the Sun's offspring,Thothmes III., the beloved of Rā-Hor-Khuti, who livesforever.
West Face[CENTRAL COLUMN].
The abrasion caused by the sand of the Libyan desert has effaced almost every hieroglyph on this side of the obelisk. All that can be seen is given below.