(8.) This[2525] stone is called “alabastrites”[2526] by some, and is hollowed out into vessels for holding unguents, it having the reputation of preserving them from corruption[2527] better than anything else. In a calcined state, it is a good ingredient for plaisters.[2528] It is found in the vicinity of Thebes in Egypt and of Damascus in Syria, that of Damascus being whiter than the others. The most esteemed kind, however, is that of Carmania, the next being the produce of India, and then, those of Syria and Asia. The worst in quality is that of Cappadocia, it being utterly destitute of lustre. That which is of a honey colour is the most esteemed, covered with spots curling in whirls,[2529] and not transparent. Alabastrites is considered defective, when it is of a white or horn colour, or approaching to glass in appearance.
CHAP. 13.—LYGDINUS; CORALLITIC STONE; STONE OF ALABANDA; STONE OF THEBAIS; STONE OF SYENE.
Little inferior to it for the preservation of unguents, in the opinion of many, is the stone, called “lygdinus,”[2530] that is found in Paros, and never of a larger size than to admit of a dish or goblet being made of it. In former times, it was only imported from Arabia, being remarkable for its extreme whiteness.
Great value is placed also upon two other kinds of stone, of quite a contrary nature; corallitic[2531] stone, found in Asia, in blocks not more than two cubits in thickness, and of a white somewhat approaching that of ivory, and in some degree resembling it; and Alabandic stone, which, on the other hand, is black, and is so called from the district[2532] which produces it: though it is also to be found at Miletus, where, however, it verges somewhat more upon the purple. It admits of being melted by the action of fire, and is fused for the preparation of glass.
Thebaic stone, which is sprinkled all over with spots like gold, is found in Africa, on the side of it which lies adjacent to Egypt; the small hones which it supplies being peculiarly adapted, from their natural properties, for grinding the ingredients used in preparations for the eyes. In the neighbourhood of Syene, too, in Thebais, there is a stone found that is now known as “syenites,”[2533] but was formerly called “pyrrhopœcilon.”[2534]
CHAP. 14.—OBELISKS.
Monarchs, too, have entered into a sort of rivalry with one another in forming elongated blocks of this stone, known as “obelisks,”[2535] and consecrated to the divinity of the Sun. The blocks had this form given to them in resemblance to the rays of that luminary, which are so called[2536] in the Egyptian language.
Mesphres,[2537] who reigned in the City of the Sun,[2538] was the first who erected one of these obelisks, being warned to do so in a dream; indeed, there is an inscription upon the obelisk to this effect; for the sculptures and figures which we still see engraved thereon are no other than Egyptian letters.[2539]
At a later period other kings had these obelisks hewn. Sesosthes[2540] erected four of them in the above-named city, forty-eight cubits in height. Rhamsesis,[2541] too, who was reigning at the time of the capture of Troy, erected one, a hundred and forty cubits high. Having quitted the spot where the palace of Mnevis[2542] stood, this monarch erected another obelisk,[2543] one hundred and twenty cubits in height, but of prodigious thickness, the sides being no less than eleven cubits in breadth. (9.) It is said that one hundred and twenty thousand men were employed upon this work;[2543] and that the king, when it was on the point of being elevated, being apprehensive that the machinery employed might not prove strong enough for the weight, with the view of increasing the peril that might be entailed by due want of precaution on the part of the workmen, had his own son fastened to the summit; in order that the safety of the prince might at the same time ensure the safety of the mass of stone. It was in his admiration of this work, that, when King Cambyses took the city by storm, and the conflagration had already reached the very foot of the obelisk, he ordered the fire to be extinguished; he entertaining a respect for this stupendous erection which he had not entertained for the city itself.
There are also two other obelisks, one of them erected by Zmarres,[2544] and the other by Phius;[2545] both of them without inscriptions, and forty-eight cubits in height. Ptolemæus Philadelphus had one erected at Alexandria, eighty cubits high, which had been prepared by order of King Necthebis:[2546] it was without any inscription, and cost far more trouble in its carriage and elevation, than had been originally expended in quarrying it. Some writers inform us that it was conveyed on a raft, under the inspection of the architect Satyrus; but Callixenus[2547] gives the name of Phœnix. For this purpose, a canal was dug from the river Nilus to the spot where the obelisk lay; and two broad vessels, laden with blocks of similar stone a foot square, the cargo of each amounting to double the size, and consequently double the weight, of the obelisk, were brought beneath it; the extremities, of the obelisk remaining supported by the opposite sides of the canal. The blocks of stone were then removed, and the vessels, being thus gradually lightened, received their burden. It was erected upon a basis of six square blocks, quarried from the same mountain, and the artist was rewarded with the sum of fifty talents.[2548] This obelisk was placed by the king above-mentioned in the Arsinoœum,[2549] in testimony of his affection for his wife and sister Arsinoë. At a later period, as it was found to be an inconvenience to the docks, Maximus, the then præfect of Egypt, had it transferred to the Forum there, after removing the summit for the purpose of substituting a gilded point; an intention which was ultimately abandoned.