The obelisk and Freemasonry according to the discoveries of Belzoni and Commander Gorringe

225 Pages·2014·26.61 MB·English

by  John Adam Weisse

THE
OBELISK
~
AAWNDD
FREEMASONRY
AACCCCOORRDDIINNGG TTOO TTHHEE DDIISSOCOOVVEERRIIEESS
OOlfI/‘'
BELZONI AND COMMANDER GORRINGE.
AALLSSOO
EEGGYYPPTTIIAANN SSYYMMBBOOLLSS CCOOlM\IPPAARREEDD WWIITTHH TTHHOOSSEE DDIISSCCOOVVEERREEDD
IINN AAMMEERRIICCAANN MMOOUUNNDDSS..
BBYY
JOHN A. WEISSE, M.D.,
,
JAluultJhloorrooff.".Oorriiggiinn,, PPOro'oggrretlluf,aannadDDaalnlnnly/ooff1thMeEEnngg/mltl/hl, LLaannggu_agge,aannddLLlitleerraaltuurree.."",-
WITH
CCOOLLOORREEDD AANNDD PPLLAAIINN IILLLLUUSSTTRRAATTIIOO:N>SS,.TTHHEE HHIIEERROOGGLLYYPPHHSSOOFF TTHHEE
AAMMEERRIICCAANN AANNDD EENNGGLLTISSHHOOBBEELLIISSKKSS,,AANNDD TTRRAANNSBLLAATTIIOONNSS
IINNTTOO EENNGGLLIISSHH BBYY DDRR.. S8..BBIIRRCCHH..
NEW YORK:
NEW YORK:
JJ.. WW.. BOUTON, 770066 BROADWAY.
11888800..
CCOOIP''YfRRIHIGHH'IT'DBY!
JJ.. WW.. BBOOUUTTOONN,,
xnso•..‘
T'I'nnooww‘'a.
PI’mm;x.1'1T-ImNGoAarNmD BBOoOoKxBaImNDnImNGoCCOoMmPuAxNwY,,
220011--221138EEAASsT'rTTWwnEzLzFaTrrHaSSrn",
NNEEWW YYOORRKK..
"
'I
TheObeliskInitstoodLtAlexandria.
(From“Eben’Egypt?)
GoogIe
Digitizedby
GB: 1132
·~ MMAASSOONNIICC FFRRAATTEERRNNITITYY
AALLLLOOVVEERRTTHHEEGGLLOOBBEE
flflyia Qpitome iiss mchiccoatcb,
BBYY TTHHEE AAUUTTHHOORR..

PREFACE.
As Secretary of State, Mr. Evarts, considered Com-
oouurr
mmaannddeelr' lGico.rrrriin.nggee’'ss ddiissccoovveerriieess oonn tthhee Obeliskooff sufficient
VV'CHO'n,
importance ttoo ooppeenn aa correspondence bbeettwweeeenn tthhee SSttaattee
DD€e:ppaarrttumlleeInltt aanndd oouurr Consul-General,Mr. Farman,wwee ffeeeell
eenncc:ooUulr'aaggEe!ddtthhaattthemanuscripts,drawings,etc.,presented ttoo
us by Mrs. Belzoni,at Brussels, 1850,wwiillllccoorrrroobboorraattee Com-
mander Gorringe’s opinions, and pprroovvee tthhaattaann iiDnsEtitiittuuttiiloDnn,,
similarto Ffl/i'',eeee1mJ'a/,as,0<mw~//,_t:elI/,,eexxiisstteedd iinn Egypt beforepyramids
and obelt'sks,' because the MMaassoonniicc tools, peipemlicular,
square, compass,plummet,etc., were required to construct
Egypt’s aarrcchhiitteeccttuurraall wwoounddlearrss,, and must therefore have an-
tteeddaatteedd tthhoosseewwoonuddeerrss.. Moreover, these implements must
have bbeeeenn uusseedd in building Babel, Nineveh, and Babe1’s
Toweriinn tthheevalleyof theEuphrates. The articleon Bel-
zoni’s manuscripts and drawings, published by the New
YorkHerald, February 16, 1880, attracted much attention
and elicited letters from thefarWest; did Consul Far-
so
mmaann'’sseerruuddiittee aanndd ggrr:alpplhliiccpaper, now in the State Depart-
ment,aammoonnggtthheennaattiioonnaallaarr(clhhiivveess; it waspublishedbythe
NewYYoorrkkWorld, April21, 1880.
IInn tthhiisseeppiittooImllee we shall quote Be1zoni’s manuscriptson
Egyptian Freemasonry,illustrated by ccoollmor-eedd drawings, as
found theWallsof the rock-excavated Masonic Temple,
on rock-excavated jUasonic
constructed by Pharaoh Seti I. (0s_y1namZ¢'cw) and his
I. and his ssoonn
RamesesII. (Sesostris). Anyoonneewwhhoo wwiillllttaakkee tthhee ttrroouubbllee
ttooread tthhiissepitomeaanndd ccoonnssiiddeerriittss illustrations,wwiillllrreeaalliizzee
thatsseeccrreett ssoocciieettiieesslliikkee Freemasonryeexxiisstteedd iinn rreemmoottee aann-·
44 PPRREEIF!'AACCEE..
ttiiQquuiitt'vy.,aanndd‘ wweerree tthheepprrte,rrOolgi!a:attiivvee ooff kings, hhiieerrooIpI!hlaalnrlttss,,aanndd
magnates.
'
'\\VVee mmuusstt nnoott oommiitt ttooexpressoouurrheartfelt thanksttoothose
wwhhoosseeWorks,lectures,aannddccoonnvveerrssaattiioonnsseennaabblleedduuss ttoo wwrriittee
tthhiiss eeppitiOtoITmlee: Champollion, Dr. Young, Spohn, Bunsen,
Gliddon,Lepsius,DeRouge,Wilkinson,Poole,Ebers,Birch,
Chabas, Brugsch, Mariette,Maspéro, M-acoy,Rawson,Ame»
liaEdwards, London Athenaeum,Spohn’s pupil, Seyffarth,‘
who has been among us in New York for many years,
and Mackenzie,whose1303/allfasonicC’;/clo_29wde'a,*recently
publishedby J. WV. Bouton, of New York, furnished
us
most valuable information.
.F1r"ereeemlnaalssoornlrryy,,aass ccoonnnneecctteeddwwiitthhBBeellzzOoJn[lii’'es grand M]l.;aIassoonniicc
Templeffoouunndd iinn 1818, aanndd wwiitthh Commander Grorringe’s
discovery of MMaassoonniicceemmbblleemmss aannddRsyVmlnbhoollfsl on theobelisk
nnooww (June 16, 1880)oonn iittss wwaayy ttoo New York,will be oouurr
cchhiieeffaaiimm..
We sshhaallll aallssoo mmeennttiioonn the 55 oobbeelliisskkss yet standing iinn
Egypt, aannddrreellaattee tthheeaaddvveennttuurreess ooff the1111 nnooww iinn RRoommee;; 33
eellsseewwhheerree iinn Italy;; 22 iinn Constantinople;; 22 iinn France;; 66 iinn
England; 11 oonn iittss wwaayy ttoo America;; aanndd ooff tthhee oonnee iinn
Germany, which, though tthhee ssmmaalllleesstt ooff tthhee 30, iiss tthhee
oldest, beingcoeval with the FifthManethonianDynasty,
the Fifth Manethonian
which, accordingto Brugsc..hh_,t1'reigned "“ 33770000 ttoo 333300001B2.C.0.."”
AAss iinn Egypt, Pharaohs, princes, hierophants,aanndd mmaagg--
nnaatteesswweerree mmaassoonnss,,eennggUinleeEelrrSs,, aanndd aarr(cJhhiitteecc:ttss,, F'rreeIe3mmaaSs(o)lnlSsooff
oouurr day mmaayyllooookkwwiitthhpride ttoowwaarrdd tthhee ccrraaddllee ooff cciivviilliizzaa--
tion,ooff wwhhiicchh tthheecomingoobbeelliisskkwwiillllbbeeaa wwoorrtbthlyyr'reepp:rreess1eenn~-
ttaattiivvee iinn tthheeNew WlVoo1rI'ldd..
JJOOHHNN AA.. WWEEIISSSSEE,, MM.DD..
3300WWEESSTTFFI1FF'l''lE‘EEENN'l'THIISSTTRREEEETT,,
NNEeWwYYOoRnKx,, JJuunnee1166,,11888800..
,*.TThhiiss ooccttaavveo ooff 778822 ppaaggeess iiss rreeaallllyyaa TThheessaauurruuss,,nnoott oonnllyyffoorr FFrreeee--
mmaassoonnss,,bbuuttffoorrsscchhoollaarrssggeenneerraalllJly'..
t4}.“,HHiissttoorryyooffEEggyypptt,,""pp.. 6688..
INTRODUCTION.
TTHHEE OOBBEELLIISSKK..
Tms word is derived from Greek oBeMa‘Icog (spit
or
broac/L),whence also Latin obeliscus, Frenchobélisgue, Ger-
man obclislc,etc. Under the earliestPharaohs the Egyp-
tian or(Coptic)word for obeliskwas Z111,‘/zen,' but after the
Twenty-second Dynasty it was called Jllen, which meant
stability. AnotherancientEgyptian term for obelisk was
DjcmiAnsc/eat,w/viola, “'wrz'ttm column,” appella-
mcazzs an
tion quite significantand sacredin theCopticlanguage.
tion sacred in from
AA1n1 oobbeelliisskkiiss aa ffoouurr--ssiiddeedd pillar tapering the base,
andterminating,nnoott iinll aa. ffllaattssuurrffaaccee,, but in apyramid-Eon,
which is theddiimmiinnuuttiivvee ffoorr ppyyrraalmllii(dl.. It is usua1l1ly\. ooff oonnee
piece, styledmonolit/t(one stone). Originally these
Or'igi.llally these mmoonnoo--
lithswere used as ffumnleerr:aall Um1o0InLuUml1QeCnl1ttss,,aanndd wweerree eeiitthheerr ooff
sandstone,limestone,orgranite. Latertheywweerreeooffrroossee--ccooll--
oorreedd ggrraa,nmittee,, composedof (q/'/u11a'1r1t'z[4,.fef;4l(,hl.<rg1J)naIr',,aanndd !/wto)m"nzlJb'lelclim'aele..
Thisgranite named33/cm'tc,from iS'_1/me, city in U
w:an:lte wwaass named from aa
-
per Egypt, wwhheerree tthhoossee bbeeaauutitfifuullmmoonnoolliitthhsswweerree qonuma'rlrriiteeld'L.
Theywere placedon ppee(dieess1ttaallss bbeeffoorreegatewaysooff tthhee prin-
cipal templcs in Egypt, oonnee oonn eeaacchhssiiddee ooff tthhee ddoooorr;; thus,
aann oobbeelliisskk ccoonnssiissttss of aapedestal, slzqft, '‘aanndd‘'p'Pg/!r/a''rJ7'a2zm2'l(,Zd2io'on7a,,
wwhhiicchh tteerrmmiinnaatteessiinn aann aappeexx..
The aarrttiissttiicc 1ru11le1ess ffoorr tthhee ccoonnssttrrnuccttiioonn ooff aann Egyptian
oobbeelliisskkaarree:: tthheelengthooff oonnee ooff tthheefour bbaassee lliinneess mmeeaass--
uurreess oonnee--tteenntthhof thelengthooff tthheesshhaafftt;; ssoo tthhee ppyyrraalml1uidliioonn
iiss one-tenthof theshaft, andforms aa graceful top ffoorr tthhee
66 IINNTTRROODDUUCCTTIIOONN..
wholestructure, all in keepingwiththe tapering shaft aanndd
pedestal, which slightly projects beyond tthhee bbaassee of tthhee
shaft. The Egyptians had observed, tthhaatt tthhee play ooff tthhee
Oh.IAl'';'A(L
sunbeamson a polished surfacemade iitt aappppeeaarr ccoonnccaavvee,, aall--
thoughit was perfectlylevel and ssmm:oooottbh,,aanndd ggaavvee ttoo tthhee
faceaccmonwveexx2ittyyexactlyppJrl'oOplJoiOrrtlitoionlrlaaft:ee ttoo tthhaattopticaliilllluussiioonn..
Theconvexityof theobeliskof Luxor, in Paris, wwhhiicchh aapp--
pears absolutelylevel, iiss 1166 lliinneess iinn tthhee cceennttrree.. TThhiisssimple
detail clearly shows a minute observation aanndd aa vveerryy aadd--
vancedart. Thustheir slightlyccoonncveewx ssiiddeess iinnccrreeaassee tthheeiirr
apparentheight. Theppyyrraa;mmiiddii(o)nn,,oorr aappeexx,, wwaass mmaaddee mmoorree
ppOoilnnttee:dd iinn ssoommeeoobbeelliisskksstthhaanniinnootthheerrss..
Most Egyptian obelisks bear hieroglyphic inscriptions:
Most
tthhee four facesoorr ssiiddeess aarree engravedwwiitthh care, despite the
hardness of thesyenite,wwhhiicchh mmunsstthhaavvee pprr'eesseemntteeddiimmmmeennssee
difficulties, especially wwhheenn wwee consider, thattheyhhaadd nnoo
ttoooollss aanndd ffaacciilliittiieessaass wwee have. Hieroglyphsaarree ullRs1uHal.lllliyv
engraved oonn ffoouurr ssiiddeess from the top downward. There
aarree tthhrreeee perpendicularrroowwss on_ each side, the middle one
ooff wwhhiicchhiiss rreeaaddffiirrsstt;; tthheenntheone on theright; and next
the theleft. Thus, thetranslatorsof obelistichiero-
oonneeoonn the
glyphsppaassss ffrroomm ssiiddee ttoo side and then adjust the whole.
OOnn tthheeoobbeelliisskkooff Luxor, iinn Paris,the medialinscriptionof
tthhrreeeeooff tthheessiiddeess iiss ddeeddiiccaatteeddttoo Rameses IIII.. ;; whereas the
ttwwoo llaatteerraallooff tthheesseetthhrreeee sides aanndd tthhee ffoouurrtthh eennttiirree side
aarree aabboouutt Rameses III., who ccaauusseedd the wwoorrkk ttoo bbee ccoomm--
pleted. TThhee wwoorrkkooff tthheeeennggrraavveerraallssoo ddiiffffeerrss:: tthhee iInnSscCrrilpl)--
I
ttiioonnss ooff the umuiudud.l"e, ccoollmumnnn aarree deeplyccnutt;; wwhheerreeaass tthhoossee
of tthhee llaatteerraall columns hhaavvee lleessss depth by one-half. This
aarrlr'aannggeelm:neenntt,, tthhuuss contrived, iiss ooff aa hhaarrmmoonniioouuss ssyymmmmee--
n.)..*
The gracefullyproportionedpillar,styledobelisk,
ObellSK, wwaass ccoo»-
éval with budding Egyptian art; for we find iilt. ffrroomm tthhee
**WWee ggiivvee tthheessee ddeettaaiillss ttoo eennaabbllee rreeaaddeerrss ttoo uunnddeerrssttaanndd tthhee mmOodOuuss
ooppeerraannddii ooff EEggyyppttoollooggiissttss,, wwhhoo ttrraalnlis\llaattee tthhee iinnssccrriippttiioonnss oonn oobbeelliisskkss..
MMoorreeoovveerr,,wwhheenntthheeyyggllaanncceeaattaann oobbeelliisskk,,tthheeyywwiillllkknnoowwhhoowwtthheeEEggyypp--
ttiiaannssrreewaddaaggeessaa;g5oo..
.. INTRODUCLIION.
INTRODUCTION. '77
FourthaannddFFiifftthhMMaanneetthhoonnjiaannDDy.ynnaass,ttiieelss((33700ttoo33330000B.o.*)
ttoo tthhee RRoommaann sswwaayy under Domitian,AAJ.n).. 113322.. OObbeelliisskkss
wweerree nnoott onlyuusseedd aass mmoonnuummeennttssttoo tthheegods aanndd tthhee dead,
bbuutt ffoorr recording the ddeeeeddss aanndd reigns ooff Phai-aohs; but,
bbeessiiddeess these ddeevvoottiioonnaall ppuurrppoosseess,, theyhhaadd aa practical oobb--
ject, aanndd sseerrvveedd aass ggnnoommoonnss oorr bands,wwhhoossee sshhaaddooww wwaags
mmaaddee ttoo indicate tthhee hhoouurrss of tthhee day,+aasswwiillll aappppeeaarr iinn
theccoouurrssee ooff tthhiisseeppii.ttoomlnee..
In thefirst century of oouurr eerraa Pliny wrote: “Monarchs
eenntteerreedd into a kindof rivalry in forming elongated blocks
ooff tthhiiss stone, known as obelisks, and consecrated them to
thedivinityof themm. Theblockshad thisform given to
themin resemblanceto theraysof thatluminary,which are
calledin theEgyptianlanguage.” The Romanarcheolo~
so
gist littledreamed that,nineteen centuries after he penned
theselines,modern savantswould decipherfrom hieroglyphs
Sati,which is the of Egyptiangoddess, and
name an means
sun-beam.
Thus we realize,thattheoobbleeiliisskkwwaassccoonnnneecctteeddwwiitthh sHumn--
worship. The Greek stelaa and Romanccoolluummnnsswweerree prob-
i'\JIU<lU
ablyddeerriivveedd therefrom. Solomon’sttwwoo pillars,Jac/tinand
Boas,wweerree bbuuttaann iimmiittaattiioonnooff ttwwoo oobbeelliisskkssaatt theeennttrraannccee
of Egyptian temples; ssoo aarree the ttwwoo ttoowweerrss oonn GGootthhiicc
ccaatthheeddrraallss and two steeples oonn cchhuurrcchheess.. P1-e'"r.h·1a"p."s" OOvviidd’'ss
"“PPhhiilleemmoonn and Baucz'.9” wweerree bboorrrroowweedd ffrroomm SSoolloommoonn’'ss
-Ut,f,U,:;Uj"
Temple, Baucis being only linguistic namesake of
aa namesake of
BBooaazz?.5’
No wonderobelisks,cherishedduringfourthousandyears,
nnooww aaddoorrnn (Gil'(r!e(!ejVn/,wwoooo<di,, Auburn.AllSouls, Pére la C/taiee,
wwhheerree tthheeiirreettlhleerr,eeaall123/7'a77u'(Zz'o7tsarelegion. NewYorkers
**BBrrunggsscchh‘'ss"“HHiissttoorryyooff EEggyypptt,,"" pp.. 6688..
t1-VVoollttaaiirree,,ssppeeaakkiinngg ooff aanncciieennttIzorology,oobbsseerrvveess;: "“BBuuttoouurrmmeemrikdlziaunaiss
(atlr'ee mmoorreejjuussttttlhwa.nntthhoosseeooffaannttiiqqzutiittyy.."” HHaaddtthheeaauutthhoorrooff .“.CChhaarrlekssXXIILI"”
aanndd"“ZZazi'lirree""tthhoouugghhttbbeeffoorreehheeppeennnneeddtthhiisssseenntteennccee,,hheewwoouullddhhaavveerreeaall--
iizzeedd,,tthhaatthheewwaasstteelllliinnggtthheewwoorrllddnnootthhiinnggnneewwoorrssttrriikkiinngg;; ffoorrmmaannkkiinndd
hhaadd aabboouutt ttwwoo tthhoouussaannddyyeeaarrss ttoopprrooggrreessss iinn ggeeooggrraapphhyy,,mmeerriiddiiaannss,,aanndd
IalsSttrroonnoommyy..