obelisk Copyright © The Master's Table What is an Obelisk and where did they come from? After studying this paper a Christian might ask should we accept the obelisks such as these in Rome, London, New York, and Washington? You will find they did not come from Christianity. You might want to read the statement at the end of this study. Author/Webmaster of the Master's table. An obelisk is a monolithic stone monument whose four sides, which generally carry inscriptions, gently taper into a pyramidion at the top. The ancient Egyptians usually erected them in pairs and associated them with the rays of the Sun, which increase in width as they reach the Earth. The earliest known examples, excavated at Abu Sir, Egypt, date from the Old Kingdom during the reign of Neuserre (2449-2417 BC). The unfinished obelisk in the quarry at Aswan shows how these monuments, some more than 32 m (105 ft) long, were cut as single pieces of red granite. Their transport on barges down the Nile is depicted on relief sculptures. So popular were these monuments among the Roman emperors that 13 of them were taken to Rome.

Today, in addition to CLEOPATRA's NEEDLES in London and New York, historic Egyptian examples stand in Paris, Florence, and Rome. Cleopatra's Needles, named for the famous Egyptian queen, are two ancient OBELISKS presented by the khedive of Egypt to Great Britain (1878) and the United States (1880). The British monument, 20.9 m (68.5 ft) high, is located on the Thames Embankment in London. The American one, 21.2 m (69.5 ft) high, stands in New York City's Central Park. They were originally erected c.1500 BC in the city of HELIOPOLIS by THUTMOSE III. In 14 BC, Augustus ordered their removal to Alexandria to grace the grounds of the Caesareum. The British installed their obelisk at its present location in 1878; the Americans did so in 1881. Carved from rose-colored Syrene granite and inscribed with HIEROGLYPHICS, each weighs approximately 200 tons.

In recent years, the surfaces of the obelisks have eroded because of moist air and urban pollution. The Obelisk you see below was brought from Egypt and erected at the Vatican. The Italian architect Domenico Fontana, 1543-1607, traveled to Rome from his native Lugano in 1563, accompanied by his older brother Giovanni, who later became a celebrated engineer. Fontana was commissioned in 1585 by Cardinal Felice Peretti to design a chapel in the Basilica of Santa Maria Maggiore, and when the cardinal was elected Pope Sixtus V in the same year, Fontana became the architect to the papacy. During the 5-year reign of Sixtus, the city of Rome was extensively rebuilt under Fontana's direction; it took on the baroque form that survives to this day. Fontana's part in this large project included the designs of the Vatican, Lateran, and Quirinal palaces (see VATICAN PALACE), the Vatican Library, and completion of the dome of SAINT PETER'S BASILICA, all of which were executed between 1585 and 1590.

In 1586, Fontana removed an ancient Egyptian obelisk from the side of the Vatican to its present position in front of Saint Peter's, where it distracts from the effect of Giovanni Lorenzo BERNINI's colonnades. For this, as for almost all his other work, Fontana has been denigrated by modern architectural historians, who have characterized his talent as uninspired and mediocre. Fontana was deprived of his post by Pope Clement VIII in 1592. He was obliged to move to Naples, were he built the Palazzo Reale (1600-02). Howard Batchelor - Bibliography: Giedion, S., Space, Time, and Architecture (1954); Heydenreich, Ludwig, and Lotz, Wolfgang, Architecture in Italy: 1400-1600 (1967) ............. Obelisk of Ramses II on the left and a 3/4 view on the right. The obelisk in front of the Pylon, left side in the picture on the right is the "Ramses II Obelisk" which is shown on your left.

Also you will notice the foundation stone at right side in front of the Pylon. This is the site for the obelisk which was shipped off to Paris in the 19th century. Obelisk of Ramses II History The Obelisk above on the left is the Obelisk of Ramses II who was one of the greatest pharaohs in Ancient Egypt, and also called "Ramses the Great". He built many magnificent memorials. Abu Simbel, with their four colossal statues of Ramses II, is the most magnificent and the best known. He erected more obelisks than any other pharaohs. In fact, 9 obelisks still remain. See here for the details. He was a competent administrator, and successfully governed a vast Empire territory from Syria in North to Sudan in South. He ruled for 67 or 68 years, and lived until he was 92, and it is said that he got 162 sons and daughters.

(Source: "Ramses der Grosse" by Philipp Vandenberg, 1977 Scherz Verlag) Most of Ramses' obelisks are relatively small, but the two that stood before the 1st pylon of the Luxor Temple are quite large. This is the 2nd largest one among existing obelisks in Egypt, followed to Queen Hatshepsut Obelisk. At the base of the obelisk, there is a relief of four animals. They are baboons (a kind of monkey). The people at that time believed it raises their front feet in adoration of the sun when it rises in the morning from east horizon. Inscriptions: Each of the four sides of this obelisk has at the top the scenes of Ramses making offerings to the god Amun-Re, beneath which are three columns of hieroglyph.

On the northern face, the column on the right deems Ramses "splendid of statues, great of monuments in the Southern Opet [Luxor]...making monuments in Thebes for the One." The left-hand column meanwhile, proclaims the pharaoh "the sovereign, great of Jubilees like Tatenen, making monuments in Karnak for his father Amun-Re who placed him upon his throne...." Present State: As one of the pair was lost, now only one remains. Leslie Greener (the artist and historian of Egyptology) says about the Luxor Temple, "Its imposing pylon gate will always have the bereft appearance of an elephant with one tusk missing." (Source: "The Obelisk of Egypt" by Labib Habachi, 1977 Charles Scribner's Sons) Even if it's only one, the obelisk with a great pylon is must to see. Luxor was called "Thebes" in ancient Egypt. Historic sites in Luxor district were registered as UNESCO's World Heritage in 1979. Cleopatra's Needles: There are three Cleopatra's Needles: in London, Paris and New York City.

Each obelisk is made of red granite, stands about 68 feet high, weighs about 180 tons and is inscribed with hieroglyphs. Although the needles are genuine Ancient Egyptian obelisks, they are somewhat misnamed as they have no inscriptions associated with queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt. They were originally erected in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis on the orders of Thutmose III, around 1450 B.C.E. The quarry from which the red granite was obtained was near Aswan. The inscriptions were added about 200 years later by Ramses II to commemorate his military victories. The obelisks were later moved to Alexandria and set up in the Caesarium ï¿½ a temple built by Cleopatra (hence the name Cleopatra's Needle) in honor of Mark Antony ï¿½ by the Romans, during the reign of Augustus Caesar, but were later toppled. The knocking down of the obelisks allowed them to be buried in sand, which helped preserve them from local weathering.

It is included in this section (Weathering) of the Earth Science Image Archive because it emphasizes the concept of the rate of weathering for the same rock type in different climates. Unfortunately I do not have any "before pictures", just "after pictures" that show significant weathering effects. London ("Cleopatra's Needles") This "fallen" obelisk is the one which was transported to London, and its companion was also transported to New York 3 years later in 1880. Therefore, there is nothing in Alexandria at present. Egyptian viceroy, Mohammed Ali approved in 1819 that Egypy would make a gift obelisk to Britain. In 1831 the approval was renewed, but the British Government declined to fund the expense of transportation it to London, although it welcomed the gesture. On the other hand, France obtained an another obelisk (where was in Luxor), and sucessfully transported it to Paris in 1832.

Finally in the 1870s, the soldier-turned-writer General James Alexander took up the cause, and then he did serious efforts for this collection with the support by a millionaire Sir James Erasmus Wilson who offered the private fund voluntarily. After a time-consuming negotiation with the land owner of the obelisk, it was planned that the obelisk is transported over the ocean with a special iron container (cylindrical case) named Cleopatra made by the engineer, John Dixson. At last, Cleopatra which contains the obelisk departed the Port of Alexandria, towed by the mother ship Olga, on September 21st, 1877. Here are some pictures on the journey. Location: Place de la Concorde, Paris, France. (Also known as Cleopatra's Needles. See note above) Pharaoh: Ramses II (The 19th Dynasty, reigned B.C.

1304-1237) Height: 22.83 meters or 74 feet (There are various data like, 22.55 meters, 23.39 meters, etc.) Pedestal: 2.44 meters (4 meters?) One reliable source says 32 meters or 107 feet including the pedestal + new golden pyramidion. This may be more accurate. Weight: 227 tons (There are various data like, 220 tons, 230 tons, 250 tons, etc.) Stone: Red granite. Provenance: This is the one of the pair of obelisks that were erected in front of Luxor Temple, in B.C. 13th Century, and transported to Paris in 19th Century. Another one still remains at the original cite in Luxor. New York ("Cleopatra's Needles") According to the history books, "Cleopatra's Needles" is the name given to two Egyptian obelisks from Alexandria (Egypt). Today, one of the Cleopatra's Needles is in New York and the other one is in London.

The obelisks are made of the rosered granite of Syene and are almost 70' in height. They were originally erected by the Egyptian king Thothmes III in front of the great temple of Heliopolis around 1500 B.C. The New York City obelisk was presented as a gift to America in 1881 by the Rhedive of Egypt in the hope of stimulating economic investment in his country, and it took four months to move the obelisk from the Hudson River dock to its present location inside Central Park. The name Cleopatra's Needle is in fact a romantic invention simply because that queen is well-known to us via the likes of William Shakespeare and Elizabeth Taylor, as the obelisks are not connected to her at all. "Theodosius Obelisk" This obeliks is called Theodosius, because the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Emperor in the late 4th Century, Theodosius I carried it into the current site. This obelisk is located in the site of Square of Horses [The Hippodrome Square] in Istanbul.

The ancient Hippodrome, the scene of chariot races and the center of Byzantine civic life, located in front (west) of famous Blue Mosque [Sultanahmet Camii]. Interseting thing is there are three pillars in the site of Hippodrome. From north to south; Theodosius Obelisk (Dikilitas), Serpentine Column (Burmali Sutun, or Snake Tower), and Constantinus VII Column (Colossus). This obelisk once graced the Karnak Great Temple of Amun (Amon) in ancient Thebes (now, Luxor). It was one of two erected at the south of the 7th Pylon of the Great Temple by Tuthmosis III. No one knows who ordered its removal from Karnak, or whether it was still standing when it was taken. It was transported to Alexsandria under the orders of the Byzantine (Eastern Roman) Emperor Constantius II (reigned A.D. 337-361). He is different from Constantinus II, just one letter is different ("tius" vs.

"tinus"), who transported an obelisk to Rome, which is now called "Lateran Obelisk"], and then finally transported to Constantinople (now Istanbul) by the Byzantine Emperor Theodosius I (reigned A.D. 379-395). It was erected in A.D. 390. This Obelisk erected by Queen Hatshepsut (1473-1458BC) It is 97 feet tall and weighs approximately 320 tons (some sources say 700 tons). An inscription at its base indicates that the work of cutting the monolith out of the quarry required seven months of labor. Nearby stands a smaller obelisk erected by Tuthmosis I (1504-1492 BC). It is 75 feet high, has sides 6 feet wide at its base, and weighs between 143 and 160 tons. Hatshepsut raised four obelisks at Karnak, only one of which still stands.

The Egyptian obelisks were always carved from single pieces of stone, usually pink granite from the distant quarries at Aswan, but exactly how they were transported hundreds of miles and then erected without block and tackle remains something of a mystery. Of the hundreds of obelisks that once stood in Egypt, only nine now stand; ten more lay broken, victims of conquerors, or of the religious fanaticism of competing cults. The rest are buried or have been carried away to foreign lands to dwell in the central parks and museum concourses of New York, Paris, Rome, Istanbul and other cities. The use of the obelisks is even more of a mystery than their carving and means of erection. While the obelisks are usually covered with inscriptions, these offer no clue to the function, but are instead commemorative notations indicating when and by whom the obelisk was carved. It has been suggested that the erection of the obelisk was a gesture symbolizing the 'djed' pillar, the Osirian symbol standing for the backbone of the physical world and the channel through which the divine spirit might rise to rejoin its source.

John Anthony West notes that the obelisks were usually erected in pairs, one obelisk being taller than the other, and that the dimensions of the obelisk and the precise angles of its shaft and pyramidion cap (originally plated in electrum, an alloy of silver and gold) were calculated according to geodetic data pertaining to the exact latitude and longitude where the obelisk was set. "The shadows cast by the pair of unequal obelisks would enable the astronomer/priests to obtain precise calendrical and astronomical data relevant to the given site and its relationship to other key sites also furnished with obelisks." Readers interested in the fascinating subject of obelisks should consult The Magic of Obelisks by Peter Tompkins and the Orion Mystery by Bauval and Gilbert. In Upper Egypt, on the eastern bank of the Nile, stand the remains of the most extensive temple complex of the Dynastic Egyptians. The entire site was called Wast by the Egyptians, Thebai by the Greeks, and Thebes by the Europeans (the word Thebai derives from the Egyptian word Apet, which was the name of the most important festival held each year at Luxor).

A large proportion of the ruins of ancient Egypt are situated here, divided between the temples of Luxor (from the Arabic L'Ouqsor, meaning 'the palaces') and the temples of Karnak (this name deriving from the Arab village of Al-karnak). The ruins of both these temple complexes cover a considerable area and are still very impressive. Nothing remains, however, of the houses, markets, palaces and gardens that must have surrounded the temples in ancient times. The principal feature in Egyptian social centers, and usually the only one to have survived, was the temple. Not a place for collective worship but rather a house of the gods, only the temple's priests and the high nobility were allowed to enter the inner sanctums. The temple did however, act as a cohesive focal point for the local community, who participated in the numerous pilgrimage festivals and processions to the temple. Recent excavations have pushed the history of Karnak back to around 3200 BC, when there was a small settlement on the bank of the Nile where Karnak now stands. The great temple complex at Karnak is, however, mostly a Middle Kingdom creation.

Archaeological excavation reveals that the complex was in a near constant state of construction and deconstruction, and that almost every king of the Middle Kingdom left some mark of his presence at Karnak. The central temple at Karnak was dedicated to the state god, Amon, and is so oriented to admit the light of the setting sun at the time of summer solstice. Just north of this temple are the foundations of an earlier, but also central and primary, temple dedicated to the god Montu. Little remains of this temple, not because it was weathered by the elements, but rather because it was systematically deconstructed and its building stones used in the construction of other temples. According to Schwaller de Lubicz, this mysterious dismantling of temples, found at Karnak and numerous other places in Egypt, has to do with the changing of the astrological cycles. The supplanting of the bull of Montu with the ram of Amon coincides with the astronomical shift from the age of Taurus, the bull, to the age of Aries, the ram; the earlier temple of Montu had lost its significance with the astronomical change and thus a new temple was constructed to be used in alignment with the current configuration of the stars. ....

Heliopolis | ancient city, Egypt | Britannica.com ancient city, Egypt Alternative Titles: Iunu, On, Onu Similar Topics Bubastis Heliopolis, (Greek), Egyptian Iunu or Onu (“Pillar City”), biblical On, one of the most ancient Egyptian cities and the seat of worship of the sun god, Re . It was the capital of the 15th nome of Lower Egypt , but Heliopolis was important as a religious rather than a political centre. During the New Kingdom (c. 1539–1075 bce) its great temple of Re was second in size only to that of Amon at Thebes , and its priesthood wielded great influence, particularly during the 5th dynasty (c. 2465–c. 2325 bce), when the worship of Re became the state cult. Little remains today of this great ancient Egyptian city. The sole surviving monument is the obelisk of Sesostris I , the oldest obelisk in existence.

Of the pair of obelisks erected by Thutmose III in Heliopolis, now known as Cleopatra’s Needles , one stands on the Thames embankment in London and the other in Central Park , in New York City . Learn More in these related articles: Re in ancient Egyptian religion, god of the sun and creator god. He was believed to travel across the sky in his solar bark and, during the night, to make his passage in another bark through the underworld, where, in order to be born again for the new day, he had to vanquish the evil serpent Apopis... nome administrative division of ancient Egypt. The system of dividing the country into nomes was definitely in force by the time of the Old Kingdom (c. 2575– c. 2130 bc) and persisted with modifications until the Muslim conquest (ad 640). In late times there were 42 nomes, or provinces, 22 in... Lower Egypt geographic and cultural division of Egypt consisting primarily of the triangular Nile River delta region and bounded generally by the 30th parallel north in the south and by the Mediterranean Sea in the north.

Characterized by broad expanses of fertile soil, Lower Egypt contrasts sharply with Upper... 3 References found in Britannica Articles Assorted References Corrections? Updates? Help us improve this article! Contact our editors with your feedback. MEDIA FOR: You have successfully emailed this. Error when sending the email. Try again later. Edit Mode Submit Tips For Editing We welcome suggested improvements to any of our articles. You can make it easier for us to review and, hopefully, publish your contribution by keeping a few points in mind. Encyclopædia Britannica articles are written in a neutral objective tone for a general audience. You may find it helpful to search within the site to see how similar or related subjects are covered. Any text you add should be original, not copied from other sources. At the bottom of the article, feel free to list any sources that support your changes, so that we can fully understand their context. (Internet URLs are the best.) Your contribution may be further edited by our staff, and its publication is subject to our final approval. Unfortunately, our editorial approach may not be able to accommodate all contributions. Submit Thank You for Your Contribution! Our editors will review what you've submitted, and if it meets our criteria, we'll add it to the article.

Please note that our editors may make some formatting changes or correct spelling or grammatical errors, and may also contact you if any clarifications are needed. Uh Oh There was a problem with your submission. Please try again later. Close Date Published: November 26, 2008 URL: Access Date: January 19, 2017 Share Obelisks Obelisks The word obelisk is taken directly from Greek, where it is a diminutive of the word obelos, meaning a spit or similar pointed object. It was used by the Greeks to refer to a characteristic monument of ancient Egypt, a tapered stone shaft with a pyramidal top, typically erected in pairs on the two sides of the ceremonial way approaching the entrance of a temple. They were called benben or tekhennu in Egyptian. They were usually erected by a Pharaoh to mark the celebration of his jubilee, when he had ruled thirty years (the canonical fifty was too long, apparently, and some could not even wait thirty).

The true Egyptian obelisk was made from a single block of red granite or similar rock, and its pyramidal top, the pyramidion, was sheathed in gold or electrum, and was about a tenth of the total height. It was an offering to the sun god Re, whose rays glistened at its top. There was a small chamfer at each corner of the base. The cross section was often square, but could also be rectangular. In the latter case, the pyramidal top did not come to a point, but to a line. The lateral surfaces were covered with hieroglyphs expressing prayers and boasts of the Pharaoh. Pyramids were actually short obelisks, just the caps, and had similar religious meanings. Pyramidion is just pyramid with the Greek diminutive ending -ion. The stone for Egyptian obelisks often came from the igneous rock quarries at Elephantine, opposite Syene at the first cataract. These resistant rocks are, in fact, the reason for the cataract, which is not a waterfall, but the confused rocky rapids where the Nile penetrates this hard barrier.

This rock is called red granite by nongeological authors, but the area gave its name to syenite, a granite-like rock deficient in quartz. The rock is actually a granodiorite, since it is not all that deficient in quartz. This rock is very durable, and takes a high polish. The obelisk was roughed out at the quarry, and shipped down the Nile to the point closest to its intended site. All sites in Egypt are close to the Nile. It was dragged out by men on ropes, it and probably they sliding on mud. It was finished and lettered in place, then laboriously erected by levering it up and building a mound of earth under it, until it could finally be pulled upright. When Augustus moved obelisks 1500 years later, he had pulleys and cranes and wheels, which the early Egyptians did not have. What would have been the tallest obelisk still lies half-quarried in Elephantine, abandoned when a fissure was discovered. The obelisk at Edinburgh, seen at the left, is made of ashlar, not a single piece of stone.

Queen Hatshepsut of the Eighteenth Dynasty erected some six obelisks in the 16th year of her reign, around 1485 BC. One still stands at Karnak, 97.5 ft high, 8.6 ft wide at the base, and 5.3 ft wide at the top, making a taper of 1 in 27. The width measurements were scaled from a photograph. This was the tallest obelisk ever erected in her day. Some later obelisks were taller, but 100 ft is a good representative height for a major obelisk. Thutmose III, her great contemporary, erected two obelisks at the temple of Re in Heliopolis a few years later.

Thrown down by the Persians, these two were moved to Alexandria by Augustus a millennium and a half later to decorate the palace built by Cleopatra, and then in the 19th century one went to London, where it stands on the Victoria Embankment by the Thames (1878), as shown in the photograph, with pigeon guano instead of gold on its pyramidion, and the other went to New York, where it stands in Central Park (1881). These are 69.5 ft high, with bases 7.75 ft wide, and are called Cleopatra's Needles. An obelisk from Luxor was brought to the Place de la Concorde in Paris (1836), the first brought to Europe in modern times. The foul atmospheres of these northern sites have severely damaged them. Constantius brought two obelisks of Thutmose III down the Nile in 351 from Karnak. One, called the Lateran obelisk, wound up at the Circus Maximus in Rome. The other was moved to the Hippodrome in Constantinople by Theodosius in 390 after many years at an Egyptian port.

The Lateran obelisk is gone, but the Theodosian obelisk still stands in Istanbul, somewhat shortened to 60.7 ft from its original height of 98 ft due to accidents. Augustus also brought two obelisks to Rome. One was erected in the Circus Maximus, and the other in the Campus Martius as a large sundial, the Solarium or Horologium, in 10 BC. The first mentioned was a porphyry obelisk of Psamtik I, 75 feet high. Gaius (Caligula) erected the obelisk from Thebes begun by Thutmose III and finished by Thutmose IV in the Circus Vaticanus, to mark the turning point of a racetrack, a popular use. This 105.5 ft shaft ended up in front of St. Peter's in Rome. It was still standing, the last one in Rome, and was moved to its current location in 1586. Most of the obelisks erected in classical times in Rome were recovered and now stand again.

How this was done is told by Peter Tompkins in The Magic of Obelisks (New York: Harper and Row, 1981). If you are interested in obelisks, you will be fascinated by this book. The latter part of the book is devoted to the superstitious nonsense about Egyptian mysteries that is still popular. The facilities available in 1586 were essentially those available to Augustus, and Tompkins gives some idea of the magnitude of the work. Tompkins goes on to describe the history of obelisks since then, and their connection with hieroglyphs, Rosicrucians, Masons, and religious barbarism in general. Most obelisks were overthrown by Persians, Christians, and Turks, just as most royal Egyptian tombs were robbed in the Renaissance to supply popes, cardinals, and bishops. In 2008, a shaft called the Axum obelisk was re-erected in Ethiopia. It was taken to Rome by the Italian army that invaded Ethiopia in the 1930's, but was returned in three parts in 2005. It stood in front of the African Colonial Offices in Rome.

This is more accurately called a stele, since it was of rectangular cross-section and at the top was a semicircular crest, not a pyramidion. It was made in the 4th century of granite, and is 79 ft high. A similar stele, marking the tomb of King Ezana, remained in Ethiopia and is now joined by its twin. There is no inscription on it, as on an Egyptian obelisk, but the representation of doors on the ground floor and windows above. An attempt was made to construct a 108 ft high stele, but this was too ambitious, and it lies fallen in the same area. The Washington Monument, built 1848-1884, has the shape of an obelisk, but is, of course, not monolithic. The Egyptians would approve of its giant size, 555 ft 5-1/8 in high. A similar but much smaller and more graceful Washington Monument stands in Baltimore, and a still smaller over Washington's grave at Mount Vernon. All these monuments have Masonic connections.

The Bunker Hill memorial in Boston, designed in 1825 by Horatio Greenough, who said it says Here!, also has the shape of an obelisk. In fact, the obelisk form has retained its popularity as a monument for nearly 4000 years so far. The Ames monument in the Sherman Mountains between Cheyenne and Laramie is a pyramidal obelisk made from the local red granite. At the right is an obelisk used as a war memorial in Plymouth, England. An impressive obelisk commemorates Sgt. Floyd of the Lewis and Clark expedition in Sioux City, Iowa. He was the only fatality of the Corps of Discovery, victim of a burst appendix. An obelisk makes a fine outdoors gnomon, that can be used as a sundial or calendar, as was done by Augustus in Rome. The end of the shadow can be marked for certain important times, as well. On Augustus's birthday, the shadow of the Solarium pointed to the Altar of Peace. From the shadow of an obelisk, the compass directions can be accurately determined by standard observations, as well as the latitude of the place.

To find the volume of an obelisk, it is divided into the shaft and the pyramidal termination. If the base is a rectangle a by b, and the top a rectangle of a1 by b1, and its height is h, then the volume is given by the formula: The formula is a little simpler if the obelisk is square, and works for the pyramidal termination as well as for the shaft. Finally, Obélix was Astérix le Gaulois's large companion in the cartoon books by Goscinny, popular in France in the 1970's, and his day job was transporting menhirs, parts of monuments that have nothing at all to do with Gauls or obelisks. Oil well drilling derricks of the 1920's and 1930's had the shape, in wood or steel framework, of an obelisk, with a walkway around the termination. You can probably fill in other examples from your own experience. Composed by J. B.

Calvert Created 16 September 1999 10 Awesome Obelisks From Around The World - 10 Most Today 10 Awesome Obelisks From Around The World History & Archaeology An obelisk is a tall, four-sided monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at its top. In the past, most obelisks were monolithic, but today as the obelisks grow taller, they are often composed of several stones and even concrete is used, and some obelisks can have interior spaces 1. Washington Monument, Washington DC, United States – Standing just over 555 feet (169.294 meters) tall, the Washington Monument is the world’s tallest obelisk as well as the world’s tallest stone structure. Like many modern obelisks, it is not monolithic but rather composed of marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss. Construction began in 1848 and completed only in 1884. It is one of the most recognized symbols of Washington and even the United States Awesome Obelisks From Around The World: Washington Monument 2.

Obelisk at Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City – Located in the middle of one of the most famous city squares in the world , the obelisk in Saint Peter’s square is a 4,000 years old Egyptian obelisk which was transported from Egypt to Rome during the reign of Emperor Augustus. It was moved from the circus to its current site in 1586. During the Middle Ages, the gilt ball on top of the obelisk was believed to contain the ashes of Julius Caesar. However, when the ancient metal ball was removed, it was empty. This ancient monolithic obelisk is just over 25 meters tall Obelisks From Around The World: Obelisk at Saint Peter’s Square, Vatican City 3. Luxor Obelisk, Paris, France – The Place de la Concorde is the largest square in Paris , it is located at the eastern end of the Champs-Élysées. At the center of the square there is a giant Egyptian obelisk decorated with hieroglyphics – the Luxor Obelisk.

The obelisk was given to France by the Egyptian government in the early 19th century, and was set in the middle of the square in 1836. This monolithic obelisk is 23 metres (75 ft) high and weighs over 250 metric tons (280 short tons). The origin of the Obelisk is the Luxor Temple, where it was one of two similar obelisks, hence the name. But the obelisk is also known as Cleopatra’s Needle – one of three Egyptian obelisk with this name. The others being in London and New York Awesome Obelisks From Around The World: Luxor Obelisk, Paris, France Awesome Obelisks From Around The World: Luxor Obelisk, Paris, France 4. Obelisco de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires, Argentina – Located in the Plaza de la República, this obelisk is a national historic monument of Argentina and one of Buenos Aires symbols. It was constructed in 1936 and is made of concrete and Olaen white stone from Cordoba.

The obelisk is 67.5 meters high Obelisks From Around The World: Obelisco de Buenos Aires, Buenos Aires 5. Lateran Obelisk, Rome, Italy -The tallest standing monolithic obelisk in the world. The 455 tons monument was shipped from Egypt and was set in the Circus Maximus in the year 357. It later broke and was buried for centuries until 1588 when it was dug up and relocated to a new location, where it is today Awesome Obelisks From Around The World: Lateran Obelisk, Rome, Italy 6. Cleopatra’s Needle, New York, United States – As mentioned before, three Egyptian obelisks were transported during the 19th century to New York, London and Paris. All three of them are called Cleopatra’s Needle, even though they have nothing to do with Cleopatra and were already over a thousand years old in her lifetime. The London and New York obelisks are a pair and originate from the Egyptian city of Heliopolis (now Cairo).

They are made of red granite, they are 21 metres (69 ft) high and weigh about 224 tons. The obelisk in New York was erected in Central Park in 1881 Obelisks From Around The World: Cleopatra’s Needle, New York, United States 7. Luxor Obelisk, Luxor, Egypt – Two giant obelisks once stood at the entrance of the Luxor Temple, a UNESCO world heritage site. The right one was given as a present to France during the 19th century and it now stands in the Place de la Concorde. The left obelisk still stands today at the entrance Awesome Obelisks From Around The World: Luxor Obelisk, Luxor, Egypt 8. Heliopolis Obelisk, Cairo, Egypt – This red granite obelisk is the one remaining out of a pair of similar structures. At 67 feet (20 meters), it is the oldest standing obelisk in Egypt Obelisks From Around The World: Heliopolis Obelisk, Cairo, Egypt 9.

Flaminio Obelisk, Rome, Italy – Another one of the 13 obelisks currently standing in Rome. Located in the Piazza del Popolo, this Egyptian monolithic obelisk is 24 meters (67 ft) high, 46.5 meters with the base. It was brought to Rome in 10 BC in placed in the Circus Maximus (some 300 years before the Lateran obelisk was placed there). It was rediscovered broken to pieces in 1587 along with the Lateran obelisk and placed in it’s current location Obelisks From Around The World: Flaminio Obelisk, Piazza del Popolo, Rome, Italy 10. Obelisk of Axum, Axum, Ethiopia – A 24 meters tall (79 ft) granite obelisk. The obelisk is 1,700 years old and weighs around 160 tonnes. It features two false doors at the base and decorations that resemble windows along all sides Obelisks From Around The World: Obelisk of Axum, Axum, Ethiopia

Question: What is the name of the obelisk brought from Heliopolis, Egypt, that now stands in London?
Answer: Cleopatra's Needle