Obeliscus Pamphilius
He commissioned Kircher to lead the relocation and interpretation of the monument,[5] and Gian Lorenzo Bernini to design a fountain above which the obelisk was to be placed, known today as the Fontana dei Quattro Fiumi.
[4]: 199 Kircher's self-described method of translation was first to make an accurate copy of each individual hieroglyphs, then think about suitable actions for each figure, and finally conclude the mystical meaning contained in each one of them.
This Kircher translated as: 'To the triform Divinity Hemptha - first Mind, motor of all things, second Mind, craftsman, pantamorphic Spirit - Triune Divinity, eternal, having no beginning or end, Origin of the secondary Gods, which, diffused out of the Monad as from a certain apex into the breadth of the mundane pyramid, confers its goodness first to the intellectual world of the Genies, who, under the Guardian Ruler of the Southern Choir and through swift, effective and resolute followers Genies who partake in no simple or material substance, communicate their participated virtue and power to the lower World...[4]: 200 Kircher's erroneous translations were carved in granite and fixed to the sides of the obelisk's pedestal, above Bernini's fountain, where they still stand today.
[10]: 53 One of Kircher's aims in publishing Obeliscus Pamphylius was to raise interest in his planned major work, Oedipus Aegyptiacus, and find sponsors for it.
He secured funding from the Pope, the Holy Roman Emperor Frederick III and Ferdinando II de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany to produce Obeliscus Pamphylius and hoped that they would be interested in the larger project as well.
According to Kircher the monument had been commissioned by Pharaoh Sothis, son of Amenophis, who had restored Egypt to its original strength after the departure of Moses and the Israelites.
[2]: 50 The frontispiece, designed by Giovanni Angelo Canini and executed by Cornelis Bloemaert,[2]: 51 depicts Father Time with a scythe poised on the base of a toppled obelisk.
She rests her elbow on a pile of volumes labelled Egyptian wisdom, Pythagorean mathematics and Chaldean astrology, implying that Kircher's work ranks with these and builds upon them.
Beneath her foot is a cubic block carrying a symbol that combines a mason's square crossed with a curved trumpet and a staff with the head of a hoopoe.
In front of her is a cherub representing Harpocrates, god of silence, who sits in the shade and holds the edge of the manuscript; the full meaning of the hieroglyphs is not to be revealed in Obeliscus Pamphylius, but in Kircher's long anticipated major work Oedipus Aegiptiacus.
