obelisks, exclusively of the pedestals, are mostly from 50 to 100 feet
high, and of a red polished granite (sienite); a few of the later ones
are of white marble and other kinds of stone. At their base, they
commonly occupy a space of from 4½ to 12 feet square, and often more.
Some are adorned on all sides, and some on fewer, with hieroglyphics cut
in them, sometimes to the depth of two inches, divided into little
squares and sections, and filled with paint: sometimes they are striped
with various colors. Some are entirely plain and without hieroglyphics.
The foot of the obelisk stands upon a quadrangular base, commonly two or
three feet broader than the obelisk, with a socket, in which it rests.
They were commonly hewn out of a single stone, in the quarries of Upper
Egypt, and brought on canals, fed by the Nile, to the place of their
erection.

The Romans carried many of them from Egypt to Rome, Arles, and
Constantinople, most of which were afterwards overturned, but have been
put together and replaced in modern times. Augustus, for instance, had
two large obelisks brought from Heliopolis to Rome, one of which he
placed in the Campus Martius. The other stood upon the Spina, in the
Circus Maximus, and is said to have been the same which king
Semneserteus (according to Pliny) erected. At the sack of Rome by the
barbarians, it was thrown down, and remained, broken in three pieces,
amidst the rubbish, until, in 1589, Sixtus V. had it restored by the
architect Domenico Fontana, and placed near the church Madonna del
Popolo. Under Caligula, another large obelisk was brought from
Heliopolis to Rome, and placed in the Circus Vaticanus. It has stood,
since 1586, before St. Peter's church: it is without hieroglyphics; and,
with the cross and pedestal, measures 126 feet in height. It is the only
one in Rome which has remained entire. Its weight is estimated at 10,000
cwt. Claudius had two obelisks brought from Egypt, which stood before