Page:A History of Art in Ancient Egypt Vol 2.djvu/199

The Ohklisks, /o The obelisk at Beo^gig, in the F"ayoum, offers a singular variant upon the type which we have described. It was formerly a monolith about 43 feet high ; it is now overthrown and broken into two pieces. It bears the ovals of Ousourtesen I., and would seem, therefore, to be contemporary with the obelisk at Heliopolis.^ Its peculiarity consists in its shape. It is a rectangular oblong, instead of a square, on plan. Two of its sides are 6 feet 9 inches wide, and the other two about 4 feet. It has no pyramidion. The sum.mit is rounded from front to back. mM 13.^ ,?4i,«i J -..-I'll .; '■' > A )'l Fig. 169. — The obelisk of Beggig. From the elevation of Lepsius.- FiG. 170. — Upper part of the obelisk at Beggig. From the elevation of Lepsius. forming a ridge, and the upper part of its principal faces are filled with sculptures in low relief (Fig 170). All this makes it resemble a gigantic stele rather than an obelisk (Fig. 169). Whatever may have been the origin of this form it never became popular in Egypt. In Nubia alone do we find the type 1 For an interesting description of the present state and curious situation of this obelisk, see T/ie Land of K/icmi, by Laurkn'CE Oliphant, pp. 98- 100, (Blackwood. 1882). — Ed. - Dcukmcder, part ii. pi. iiq.