 The western side of Cleopatra's Needle in London. | |
 Interactive map of Cleopatra's Needle | |
| Location | London |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 51°30′31″N0°07′13″W / 51.508517°N 0.120336°W /51.508517; -0.120336 |
| Type | Obelisk |
| Completion date | 1450 BC |
Cleopatra's Needle inLondon is one of a pair ofobelisks, together namedCleopatra's Needles, that were moved from the ruins of theCaesareum of Alexandria, in Egypt, in the 19th century. Inscribed byThutmose III and laterRamesses II of the EgyptianNew Kingdom, the obelisk was moved in 12 BC to Alexandria, where it remained for over 1,800 years.
It was presented to the United Kingdom in 1819 by the ruler of Egypt and SudanMuhammad Ali, as a diplomatic gift.[1] Although the British government welcomed the gesture, it declined to pay to move the obelisk to London. It was subsequently erected in theWest End of London on theVictoria Embankment inWestminster, in 1878.
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The obelisk was originally erected in the Egyptian city ofHeliopolis on the orders ofThutmose III, around 1450 BC. It is of granite, brought from thequarries of Aswan, near the first cataract of theNile. Thutmose III had a single column of text carved on each face, these were translated byE. A. Wallis Budge.[2] Other inscriptions were added about 200 years later byRamesses II to commemorate his military victories: these are in two columns on each face, flanking the original inscriptions. The obelisks were moved toAlexandria and set up in theCaesareum, a temple built byCleopatra in honour ofMark Antony orJulius Caesar by theRomans in 12 BC, during the reign ofAugustus, but one was toppled some time later. This had the fortuitous effect of burying its faces and so preserving most of the hieroglyphs from the effects of weathering.
The obelisk remained in Alexandria until 1877 when SirWilliam James Erasmus Wilson, a distinguished anatomist and dermatologist, sponsored its transportation to London from Alexandria at a cost of some £10,000 (equivalent to over £1,000,000 in 2020[3]). Following consultation with Mathew William Simpson, a railway and locomotive engineer working for the Khedive of Egypt and a friend of Wilson who shared his passion for Egyptian antiquities, it was dug out of the sand in which it had been buried for nearly 2,000 years and was encased in a great iron cylinder, 92 feet (28 metres) long and 16 feet (4.9 metres) in diameter. This was designed by the engineer John Dixon (from original plans drawn up for Wilson by Mathew William Simpson, who was unable to undertake the work due to being under contract to the Khedive), and dubbedCleopatra, to be commanded by Captain Carter. It was built at the Thames Iron Works, shipped to Alexandria in separate pieces, and built around the obelisk byWaynman Dixon, John's brother.[4] It had a vertical stem and stern, a rudder, two bilge keels, a mast for balancing sails, and a deck house. This acted as a floating pontoon which was to be towed to London by the shipOlga, commanded by Captain Booth.[5]
The effort almost met with disaster on 14 October 1877, in a storm in theBay of Biscay, when theCleopatra began wildly rolling, and became uncontrollable. TheOlga sent out a rescue boat with six volunteers, but the boat capsized and all six crew were lost – they are named on a bronze plaque attached to the foot of the needle's mounting stone. Captain Booth on theOlga eventually managed to get his ship next to theCleopatra and rescued Captain Carter and the five crew members aboardCleopatra. Captain Booth reported theCleopatra "abandoned and sinking", but she stayed afloat, drifting in the Bay, until found four days later by Spanish trawler boats, and then rescued by the Glasgow steamerFitzmaurice and taken toFerrol in Spain for repairs. The Master of theFitzmaurice lodged a salvage claim of £5,000 which had to be settled before departure from Ferrol, but it was negotiated down and settled for £2,000.[6] TheWilliam Watkins Ltd paddle tugAnglia, under the command of Captain David Glue, was then commissioned to tow theCleopatra back to the Thames. On their arrival in the estuary on 21 January 1878, the school children ofGravesend were given the day off.[7][better source needed] A wooden model of the obelisk had previously been placed outside the Houses of Parliament, but the location had been rejected, so the London needle was finally erected on theVictoria Embankment on 12 September 1878.[8]
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The original master stonemason who worked on the granite foundation wasLambeth-born William Henry Gould (1822–1891).[citation needed]
On erection of the obelisk in 1878, atime capsule was concealed in the front part of the pedestal, containing 12 photographs of the best-looking English women of the day, a box of hairpins, a box of cigars, several tobacco pipes, a set of imperial weights, a baby's bottle, some children's toys, a shilling razor, a hydraulic jack and some samples of the cable used in the erection, a 3-foot (90-centimetre) bronze model of the monument, a complete set of contemporary British coins, a rupee, a portrait of Queen Victoria, a history of the transport of the monument plans, written onvellum, a translation of the inscriptions, copies of the Bible in several languages, a copy ofJohn 3:16 in 215 languages,[9] a copy ofWhitaker's Almanack, aBradshaw Railway Guide, a map of London, and copies of 10 daily newspapers. A twenty-four inch metal ruler (see p.173 Born in Blood by John J. Robinson)
Cleopatra's Needle is flanked by two faux-Egyptiansphinxes, designed by the English architectGeorge John Vulliamy. The sphinxes are cast in bronze and bear hieroglyphic inscriptions that saynetjer nefer men-kheper-rediankh, which translates as "the good god, Thuthmosis III given life". These sphinxes appear to be looking at the Needle rather than guarding it, due to the sphinxes' improper or backwards installation. The Embankment has other Egyptian flourishes, such as buxom winged sphinxes on the armrests of benches. On 4 September 1917, duringWorld War I, a bomb from aGerman air raid landed near the needle. In commemoration of this event, the damage remains unrepaired to this day and is clearly visible in the form ofshrapnel holes and gouges on the western sphinx. Restoration work was carried out in 2005.
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