Human beings have always associated stones and huge rocks with God or various gods, as if they were the natural homes of supernatural beings. The larger the stone, the more sacred. Throughout time and all over the planet, countless offerings have been left at the bases of stones by those who believe that spirits inhabit them.
When a stone was believed to be the dwelling place of an ancestor of a particular tribe, offerings were brought to it and prayers made to it. In doing so, the devotees wished to perpetuate the life of the spirit inside the stone.
This brings to mind that huge statues on Easter Island. To this day, the inhabitants forbid anyone to step on any of the moai, even the ones that are face down in the quarry. They believe that a different spirit inhabits each one, and that they must not be insulted or degraded in any way. When we were on the island, we were grimly told a story about a man who died directly following his involvement in the excavating of one of the statues.
The shaft of an obelisk is often considered an offering of a standing stone or pillar in honor of the Sun god. The pyramid part on top of the obelisk is the symbol of the rays of the sun spreading out on their way to Earth.
The whole obelisk was sacred to the Sun-god. It is on the top pyramid that inscriptions are found which show a king worshipping and making offerings to the god Ra or Amen-Ra. (Amenhotep dedicated the two obelisks at Karnak to Amen-Ra.)
The inscriptions on the obelisks indicate the name of the god worshipped.
The Obelisk in New York City
The inscriptions on the obelisk read as follows:
FRONT. Horus [name]. Mighty Bull, beloved of Ra. Nesubati [name]. Men-kheper-Ra. He made [them] as his monument to Father Tem, Lord of Anu. He set up two great obelisks [with] pyramidions of electrum. The son of Ra, Thothmes. . . .the ever-living did [this].
