Obelisks had a prominent role in the architecture and religion of ancient Egypt. [3] This list contains all known remaining ancient Egyptian obelisks. [1] [2] The list does not include modern or pre-modern pseudo-Egyptian obelisks, such as the numerous Egyptian-style obelisks commissioned by Roman Emperors. The list also excludes approximately 40 known obelisk fragments, catalogued by Hiroyuki Nagase and Shoji Okamoto. [4]
Only about 30 such obelisks are still in existence worldwide; figures vary between sources with different definitions of extant Egyptian obelisks. [5] For example, David Allen states there are 29 such obelisks, with more in Italy than in Egypt. [5] Only two known obelisks date prior to the New Kingdom, both of which were dedicated to the Middle Kingdom Pharaoh Senusret I. At least 22 of the known obelisks date to the New Kingdom, four date to the Late Period and one to the Ptolemaic period.
The international transportation of Egyptian obelisks dates to the Roman conquest of Egypt following the death of Cleopatra, and in modern times as Egyptian "gifts" to other major cities such as the Luxor Obelisk at the Place de la Concorde in Paris, and the Cleopatra's Needles on the Victoria Embankment and in Central Park in London and New York City respectively. [5] Only five obelisks still stand at the ruins of Ancient Egyptian temples. [4]
The largest known obelisk, the unfinished obelisk, was never erected and was discovered in its original quarry. It is nearly one-third larger than the largest ancient Egyptian obelisk ever erected (the Lateran Obelisk in Rome); if finished it would have measured around 41.75 metres (137.0 ft) [6] and would have weighed nearly 1,090 tonnes (1,200 short tons), a weight equal to about 200 African elephants. [7]
The most recent ancient obelisk to be re-erected is the 17-metre-tall Ramses II obelisk in Tahrir Square, the main city square of Cairo, having been reassembled from eight blocks discovered at Tanis in the late 19th century. [8] Dr Khaled El-Anany, Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, said, "When we go to European capitals like Rome or Paris or London, and also Washington [ sic ], we see that they use Egyptian obelisks in decorating their major tourist squares, so why do we not do the same?" [9]
Name | Image | Height (with base) | Pharaoh | Original location | Current location | Ref | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Reign | Place (since) | City | Sovereign state | |||||
Unfinished obelisk | 41.75 m | Hatshepsut | 1479 – 1458 BC | Aswan (in situ) | Stone Quarries, Aswan | Aswan | Egypt | [7] | |
Lateran Obelisk | 32.18 m (45.70 m with base) | Thutmose III / Thutmose IV | 1479 – 1425 BC / 1401 – 1391 BC | Karnak | Lateran Palace | Rome | Italy | [1] | |
Karnak obelisks of Hatshepsut | 29.56 m | Hatshepsut | 1479 – 1458 BC | Karnak (in situ) | Karnak Temple | Luxor | Egypt | [1] | |
Vatican obelisk (a.k.a. St Peter's Square obelisk or Caligula's obelisk) | 25.5 m (41 m with base) | Unknown | Unknown | Alexandria | St. Peter's Square | Vatican City | Vatican City | [1] | |
Luxor obelisks (Luxor and Paris obelisks) | 25.03 m and 22.83 m | Ramesses II | 1279–1213 BC | Luxor Temple | Luxor Temple (in situ) | Luxor | Egypt | [1] | |
Place de la Concorde (1833) | Paris | France | [1] | ||||||
Flaminio Obelisk (a.k.a. Popolo obelisk) | 24 m (36.5 m with base) | Seti I / Ramesses II | 1294–1279 BC / 1279–1213 BC | Heliopolis | Piazza del Popolo | Rome | Italy | [1] | |
Obelisk of Montecitorio (a.k.a. Solare obelisk) | 21.79 m (33.97 m with base) | Psamtik II | 595–589 BC | Heliopolis | Piazza di Montecitorio | Rome | Italy | [1] | |
Karnak obelisk of Thutmosis I | 21.20 m | Thutmose I | 1506–1493 BC | Karnak (in situ) | Karnak | Luxor | Egypt | [1] | |
Cleopatra's Needles (London and New York obelisks) | 21.00 m | Thutmose III | 1479 – 1425 BC | Heliopolis (via Alexandria) | Victoria Embankment (1878) | London | United Kingdom | [2] | |
Central Park (1881) | New York City | United States | [1] | ||||||
Al-Masalla obelisk (a.k.a. Al Mataraiyyah obelisk) | 20.40 m | Senusret I | 1971–1926 BC | Heliopolis (in situ) | Al-Masalla area of Al-Matariyyah district in Heliopolis | Cairo | Egypt | [1] | |
Obelisk of Theodosius (a.k.a. Istanbul obelisk) | 18.54 m (25.6 m with base) | Thutmose III | 1479 – 1425 BC | Karnak | Sultanahmet Square | Istanbul | Turkey | [1] | |
Tahrir obelisk | 17 m | Ramesses II | 1279–1213 BC | Tanis | Tahrir Square (2020) | Cairo | Egypt | [10] [8] | |
Cairo Airport obelisk | 16.97 m | Ramesses II | 1279–1213 BC | Tanis | Cairo International Airport (1984) | Cairo | Egypt | [11] | |
Pantheon obelisk (a.k.a. Macuteo or Rotonda obelisk) | 14.52 m (26.34 m with base) | Ramesses II | 1279–1213 BC | Heliopolis | Piazza della Rotonda | Rome | Italy | [1] | |
Gezira obelisk | 13.5 m (20.4 m with base) | Ramesses II | 1279–1213 BC | Tanis | Gezira Island, Cairo | Cairo | Egypt | [12] | |
Abgig obelisk (a.k.a.Crocodilopolis obelisk) | 12.70 m | Senusret I | 1971–1926 BC | Faiyum (local area, found fallen) | Abgig | Faiyum | Egypt | [13] | |
Philae obelisk | 6.70 m | Ptolemy IX | 116–107 BC | Philae (Temple of Isis) | Kingston Lacy (1815) | Dorset | United Kingdom | [1] | |
Boboli Obelisk | 6.34 m | Ramesses II | 1279–1213 BC | Heliopolis (via Rome) | Boboli Gardens (1790) | Florence | Italy | [2] | |
Elephant and Obelisk (a.k.a. Minerveo obelisk) | 5.47 m (12.69 m with base) | Apries | 589–570 BC | Sais | Piazza della Minerva (Roman period, rediscovered 1665) | Rome | Italy | [1] | |
Abu Simbel obelisks | 3.13 m | Ramesses II | 1279–1213 BC | Abu Simbel (Great Temple) | Nubian Museum | Aswan | Egypt | [14] | |
Urbino obelisk (a.k.a. Albani obelisk) | 3.00 m | Apries | 589–570 BC | Sais (via Rome) | Ducal Palace | Urbino | Italy | [2] | |
Poznań obelisk | 3.00 m | Ramesses II | 1279–1213 BC | Athribis (via Berlin, 1895) | Poznań Archaeological Museum (2002) | Poznań | Poland | [15] [16] [17] | |
Matteiano obelisk (a.k.a. Celimontana obelisk) | 2.68 m (12.23 m with base) | Ramesses II | 1279–1213 BC | Heliopolis | Villa Celimontana | Rome | Italy | [1] | |
Durham obelisk (a.k.a. Alnwick or Algernon obelisk) | 2.15 m | Amenhotep II | 1427–1401 BC | unknown (within the Thebaid) | Oriental Museum, University of Durham (1838) | Durham | United Kingdom | [1] [18] | |
Dogali obelisk (a.k.a. Casanatese obelisk) | 2 m (6.34 m with base) | Ramesses II | 1279–1213 BC | Heliopolis | Baths of Diocletian | Rome | Italy | [19] [20] | |
Abishemu obelisk | 1.25 m (1.45 m with base) | Abishemu (King of Byblos) | 1800s BC | Temple of the Obelisks | Beirut National Museum | Beirut | Lebanon | [21] | |
Karnak obelisk of Seti II | 0.95 m | Seti II | 1203–1197 BC | Karnak (in situ) | Karnak | Luxor | Egypt | [22] | |
Luxor obelisk | 0.95 m (original est. 3 m) | Ramesses III | 1186–1155 BC | Karnak | Luxor Museum (1923) | Luxor | Egypt | [23] | |
Obelisks of Nectanebo II | 0.95 m (original est. 5.5 m) | Nectanebo II | 360–342 BC | Hermopolis | British Museum | London | United Kingdom | [1] |
Memphis, or Men-nefer, was the ancient capital of Inebu-hedj, the first nome of Lower Egypt that was known as mḥw ("North"). Its ruins are located in the vicinity of the present-day village of Mit Rahina, in markaz (county) Badrashin, Giza, Egypt. This modern name is probably derived from the late Ancient Egyptian name for Memphis mjt-rhnt meaning "Road of the Ram-Headed Sphinxes".
Heliopolis was a major city of ancient Egypt. It was the capital of the 13th or Heliopolite Nome of Lower Egypt and a major religious centre. Its site is within the boundaries of Ain Shams and El Matareya, districts (kism) in northeastern Cairo.
An obelisk is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top. Originally constructed by Ancient Egyptians and called tekhenu, the Greeks used the Greek term obeliskos to describe them, and this word passed into Latin and ultimately English. Though William Thomas used the term correctly in his Historie of Italie of 1549, by the late sixteenth century, Shakespeare failed to distinguish between pyramids and obelisks in his plays and sonnets. Ancient obelisks are monolithic and consist of a single stone; most modern obelisks are made of several stones.
Tanis or San al-Hagar is the Greek name for ancient Egyptian ḏꜥn.t, an important archaeological site in the northeastern Nile Delta of Egypt, and the location of a city of the same name. It is located on the Tanitic branch of the Nile, which has long since silted up.
Cleopatra's Needles are a separated pair of ancient Egyptian obelisks now in London and New York City. The obelisks were originally made in Heliopolis during the New Kingdom period, inscribed by the 18th dynasty pharaoh Thutmose III and 19th dynasty pharaoh Ramesses II. In 13/12 BCE they were moved to the Caesareum of Alexandria by the prefect of Egypt Publius Rubrius Barbarus. Since at least the 17th century the obelisks have usually been named in the West after the Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII. They stood in Alexandria for almost two millennia until they were re-erected in London and New York City in 1878 and 1881 respectively. Together with Pompey's Pillar, they were described in the 1840s in David Roberts' Egypt and Nubia as "[the] most striking monuments of ancient Alexandria".
A pyramidion is the capstone of an Egyptian pyramid or the upper section of an obelisk. Speakers of the Ancient Egyptian language referred to pyramidia as benbenet and associated the pyramid as a whole with the sacred benben stone.
The Description de l'Égypte was a series of publications, appearing first in 1809 and continuing until the final volume appeared in 1829, which aimed to comprehensively catalog all known aspects of ancient and modern Egypt as well as its natural history. It is the collaborative work of about 160 civilian scholars and scientists, known popularly as the savants, who accompanied Bonaparte's expedition to Egypt in 1798 to 1801 as part of the French Revolutionary Wars, as well as about 2000 artists and technicians, including 400 engravers, who would later compile it into a full work. At the time of its publication, it was the largest known published work in the world.
Pi-Ramesses was the new capital built by the Nineteenth Dynasty Pharaoh Ramesses II at Qantir, near the old site of Avaris. The city had served as a summer palace under Seti I, and may have been founded by Ramesses I while he served under Horemheb.
Papyrus Anastasi I is an ancient Egyptian papyrus containing a satirical text used for the training of scribes during the Ramesside Period. One scribe, an army scribe, Hori, writes to his fellow scribe, Amenemope, in such a way as to ridicule the irresponsible and second-rate nature of Amenemope's work. The papyrus was originally purchased from Giovanni Anastasi in 1839.
Tahrir Square, also known as Martyr Square, is a public town square in downtown Cairo, Egypt. The square has been the location and focus for political demonstrations. The 2011 Egyptian revolution and the resignation of President Hosni Mubarak occurred at the Tahrir Square.
The Obelisk of Theodosius is the Ancient Egyptian obelisk of Pharaoh Thutmose III, first erected during the 18th dynasty of Egypt. It was re-erected in the Hippodrome of Constantinople by the Roman emperor Theodosius I in the 4th century AD.
Ships were used during the Eighteenth Dynasty of ancient Egypt to transport obelisks from the quarry to their destination. Fifteen centuries later, the Romans used ships to transport obelisks across the Mediterranean to Rome. Today, eight ancient Egyptian obelisks stand in Rome, though not in their original places. The first of the obelisks, the 263-ton Flaminian obelisk, was transported from Heliopolis – modern-day Cairo – in 10 BCE. while the last, the 500-ton Lateran obelisk, was transported from Karnak.
The Luxor Obelisks are a pair of ancient Egyptian obelisks, over 3,000 years old, carved to stand either side of the portal of the Luxor Temple in the reign of Ramesses II. The right-hand (western) stone, 23 metres (75 ft) high, was moved in the 1830s to the Place de la Concorde in Paris, France, while the left-hand (eastern) obelisk remains in its location in Egypt.
Sneferka was an early Egyptian king who may have ruled at the end of the 1st Dynasty. The exact length of his reign is unknown, but thought to have been very short and his chronological position is unclear.
Sobekemsaf(sbk-m-z3=f) was an ancient Egyptian queen of the 17th Dynasty. She was the wife of pharaoh Nubkheperre Intef and sister of an unidentified pharaoh, probably Sekhemre-Heruhirmaat Intef, Sobekemsaf II or Senakhtenre Ahmose.
The Flaminio Obelisk is one of the thirteen ancient obelisks in Rome, Italy. It is located in the Flaminio quarter on Piazza del Popolo.
The memorial temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu contains a minor list of pharaohs of the New Kingdom of Egypt. The inscriptions closely resemble the Ramesseum king list, which is a similar scene of Ramesses II, which was used as a template for the scenes here.
Adam Henein was an Egyptian sculptor.
Suty was an ancient Egyptian high official under pharaoh Ramesses II. He was overseer of the treasuries – thus responsible for the administration of the commodities coming to the royal palace – and overseer of troops. Suty is known from his decorated tomb at El Khawaled (Mostagedda), in Upper Egypt. He is also known from a sarcophagus that is now in the Cairo Egyptian Museum but most likely comes from this tomb. Shabtis with his name were found in burials of the Apis bulls at Saqqara. They were found close to Apis bulls that were buried in the year 16 and year 30 of the reign of Ramesses II. In year 24 a certain Panehesi was in offices as overseer of the treasuries, before the latter Tia occupied this office, so that Suty must have been in office around year 30 of king Ramesses II. This also indicates that Suty was involved in preparing the burials of these sacred animals. He is also known from several statues.
The Pharaohs' Golden Parade was an event held in Cairo, Egypt on 3 April 2021, during which twenty-two mummies belonging to Kings and Queens of the New Kingdom of Ancient Egypt were moved from the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization in Fustat.
By the way, there are 29 extant Egyptian obelisks in the world today. Nine are in Egypt, and eleven in Italy (eight of which are in Rome, having been pilfered by the Romans after Augustus defeated Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BCE, thereby conquering Egypt). Others are scattered across the world.