Athanasi Kircheri ... Obeliscvs Pamphilivs: Hoc Est, Interpretatio Noua & hucusque intentata Obelisci Hieroglyphici, Quem non ita pridem ex Veteri Hippodromo Antonini Caracallae Caesaris, in Agonale Forum transtulit, integritati restituit, & in Vrbis Aeternae ornamentum erexit Innocentivs X. Pont.
Athanasius Kircher's 1650 Latin treatise Obeliscus Pamphilius offers a speculative reading of Egyptian hieroglyphs on a Roman obelisk, printed for scholars and the Church in Rome. The plates are tall vertical strips of small woodcut hieroglyphs (birds, serpents, ankhs, sun discs, and lotus-like forms) set in rows like a column of type, which suggests a designer could use stacked symbol bands as ornamental borders or dividers.
