Fig. 8.
Position of

atshepsôwet’s obelisk on its pedestal.

Figure 8 shews the position of this obelisk as it now stands on its pedestal, the position taken up being C⁠D⁠E⁠F instead of C′⁠D′⁠E′⁠F′. The corners E and F have split badly owing to the great weight and have been rounded to cover up the defect. In this case the inner side of the slot, A⁠B, as far as can now be seen, is still sharp. In all the other pedestals I have examined, where the obelisks have apparently come down so as to bear on the inner edge of the slot, the edge is very distinctly crushed.

(41) Before the obelisk was pulled upright, the space in front of the obelisk, and between it and the wall B, might well be filled up with halfa and reeds, to make a kind of cushion, and to damp any tendency to rock backwards and forwards. The notch would prevent any twist before it engaged with the reed cushion. If the obelisk twisted, it was because the reed cushion was not sufficiently tightly packed, the twist taking place after it had rocked over to its further edge.

If the obelisk was on a sledge, I should think that it was removed before introducing it into the mouth of the funnel; the removal of the rollers would be automatic.

The raising of the obelisk without the aid of an embankment is proposed by Choisy in L’Art de bâtir chez les Égyptiens. He assumes that the obelisk was raised by a series of levers used horizontally on a fulcrum, and that it was heaved up simultaneously from both sides and packed from below after each heave, the obelisk and levers rising together till the obelisk was sufficiently high to lower on to the pedestal (cf. section [50] and fig. [11]).

Let us assume that this method was to be used for the Aswân obelisk. I think that the largest levers practicable would be 15 metre tree-trunks used with a mechanical advantage of 10 to 1. Not more than 30 levers could be used on each side of the obelisk. The number of men required to raise the obelisk can be found to be about 56 per lever, assuming that they all heave at the end. I hardly see how such a number can be put on a horizontal lever unless we assume that a cross-baulk is attached along the ends of the levers and the whole loaded with stones. The levers would have to be dismounted at each heave and the time taken would be considerable. The method, however, is a possibility, so I include it as an alternative to the embankment. {42}

(42) Before leaving this subject, it is as well to ascertain if the obelisk is strong enough to bear the internal strain due to its own weight when it is supported at its centre of gravity.