Monolith. A monument made of one stone only. [7] [18]
Monte Cavallo Obelisk. This is at present in front of the Quirinal in Rome, and is the companion of the Sta. Maria Maggiore Obelisk. As it is uninscribed, it is impossible to tell by whom or when it was erected. Perhaps the emperor Claudius [41-54 A. D.] had it removed to Rome. It was re-erected by Pius VI. in 1789. [9]
Monte Citorio Obelisk, or the Campensis Obelisk, which see. [22] [25]
Monte Pincio Obelisk, or the Barberini Obelisk, which see. [22]
Moses. The Jewish law-giver, who studied at the university in Heliopolis, was brought up at the court of the Pharaohs, and afterwards led the Israelites out of Egypt. He lived in the time of Ramses II., and departed with his people under Menephthah I. His name has not yet been found on the Egyptian monuments or in the papyri. [2]
Mummies. The bodies of the Egyptian dead which were preserved in a mixture of salt, bitumen, cedar oil, &c. The bodies were prepared for embalming by the parakhistæ or tarakheutæ, who disemboweled them, wound linen bandages around them, placed with them chapters from the Book of the Dead (which see), and then deposited them in a sarcophagus of stone or wood, according to the means of the deceased. The purpose of this embalming was that the soul, on its return to the earth, would again find its body and reanimate it. Everything was, therefore, done by the ancient Egyptians to protect their mummies against decomposition and robbers, some of the Pharaohs even building the monster-pyramids for their reception. [8] [33] [34]
Mycerinus. The Greek form of the Egyptian Men-kau-Râ, a king of the fourth dynasty and the builder of the third Great Pyramid. His sarcophagus and a part of his mummy are in the British Museum. His name is written
Nahasb Obelisk. A small and prostrate obelisk about 70 miles south-east of Suez, in the Sinaitic Peninsula. It was discovered by a German traveler in 1817, but nothing further is known of it. The place where it is standing is also called Wâdi Nasb. [11]