[Illustration: Fig. 109.--Obelisk of Ûsertesen I., Begig, Fayûm.]

Obelisks were almost always square, with the faces slightly convex, and a
slight slope from top to bottom. The pedestal was formed of a single square
block adorned with inscriptions, or with cynocephali in high relief,
adoring the sun. The point was cut as a pyramidion, and sometimes covered
with bronze or gilt copper. Scenes of offerings to Ra Harmakhis, Hor, Tûm,
or Amen are engraved on the sides of the pyramidion and on the upper part
of the prism. The four upright faces are generally decorated with only
vertical lines of inscription in praise of the king (Note 11). Such is the
usual type of obelisk; but we here and there meet with exceptions. That of
Begig in the Fayûm (fig. 109) is in shape a rectangular oblong, with a
blunt top. A groove upon it shows that it was surmounted by some emblem in
metal, perhaps a hawk, like the obelisk represented on a funerary stela in
the Gizeh Museum. This form, which like the first is a survival of the
menhir, was in vogue till the last days of Egyptian art. It is even found
at Axûm, in the middle of Ethiopia, dating from about the fourth century of
our era, at a time when in Egypt the ancient obelisks were being carried
out of the country, and none dreamed of erecting new ones. Such was the
accessory decoration of the pylon. The inner courts and hypostyle halls of
the temple contained more colossi. Some, placed with their backs against
the outer sides of pillars or walls, were half engaged in the masonry, and
built up in courses. At Luxor under the peristyle, and at Karnak between
each column of the great nave, were also placed statues of Pharaoh; but
these were statues of Pharaoh the victor, clad in his robe of state. The
right of consecrating a statue in the temple was above all a royal
prerogative; yet the king sometimes permitted private persons to dedicate
their statues by the side of his own. This was, however, a special favour,
and such monuments always bear an inscription stating that it is "by the