Anobelisk (/ˈɒbəlɪsk/; from Ancient Greekὀβελίσκος (obelískos),[2][3]diminutive ofὀβελός (obelós) 'spit, nail, pointed pillar')[4] is a tall, slender, taperedmonument with four sides and apyramidal orpyramidion top.[5] Originally constructed byAncient Egyptians and calledtekhenu, theGreeks used the Greek termobeliskos to describe them, and this word passed intoLatin and ultimatelyEnglish.[6] Though William Thomas used the term correctly in hisHistorie of Italie of 1549, by the late sixteenth century (after reduced contact with Italy following the excommunication of Queen Elizabeth), Shakespeare failed to distinguish between pyramids and obelisks in his plays and sonnets.[7] Ancient obelisks aremonolithic and consist of a single stone; most modern obelisks are made of several stones.[8]
Obelisks were prominent in the architecture of theancient Egyptians, and played a vital role in their religion placing them in pairs at the entrance of thetemples. The word "obelisk" as used in English today is of Greek rather than Egyptian origin becauseHerodotus, the Greek traveler, was one of the first classical writers to describe the objects. A number of ancient Egyptian obelisks are known to have survived, plus the "unfinished obelisk" found partly hewn from its quarry atAswan. These obelisks are now dispersed around the world, and fewer than half of them remain in Egypt.
InEgyptian mythology, the obelisk symbolized the sun godRa, and during the religious reformation ofAkhenaten it was said to have been a petrified ray of theAten, the sundisk.Benben was the mound that arose from the primordial watersNu upon which the creator godAtum settled in the creation story of theHeliopolitan creation myth form ofAncient Egyptian religion. The Benben stone (also known as apyramidion) is the top stone of the Egyptian pyramid. It is also related to the obelisk.
BothNew York UniversityEgyptologist Patricia Blackwell Gary andAstronomy senior editor Richard Talcott hypothesize that the shapes of theancient Egyptianpyramid and obelisk were derived from natural phenomena associated with the sun (the sun-godRa being the Egyptians' greatest deity at that time).[11] Thepyramid and obelisk's significance have been previously overlooked, especially the astronomical phenomena connected withsunrise andsunset:Zodiacal light andsun pillars respectively.
AncientNubian kings of thetwenty-fifth Dynasty sought to legitimize their rule over Egypt by constructing Egyptianizing monuments in the Middle Nile region. Historical sources mention that kingPiye built at least one obelisk. The obelisk was made of localblack granite and was found at the site of Kadakol. It had been cut down to make it into a column, presumably for one of the early Christian churches in the area ofOld Dongola. Today the obelisk is exhibited in theNational Museum in Khartoum.[12] The obelisk is inscribed with the kings official titulary:Strong-bull, Appearing-in-Dominion (Thebes), King-of-Upper-and-Lower-Egypt, Two-ladies, Ruler-of-Egypt, Son-of-Rê, Pi(ankh)y: what he made as his monument for his father Amen-Rê, lord of [...].[13]
Around 30 BCE, Rome seized control of Egypt and looted the varioustemple complexes; in one case they destroyed walls at theTemple of Karnak to haul them out. There are now more than twice as many obelisks that were seized and shipped out by Rome as remain in Egypt. The majority were dismantled during the Roman period over 1,700 years ago and the obelisks were sent to different locations.[citation needed]
The largest standing and tallest Egyptian obelisk is theLateran Obelisk in the square at the west side of theLateran Basilica in Rome at 105.6 feet (32.2 m) tall and a weight of 455 metric tons (502 short tons).[15] More well known is theiconic 25 metres (82 ft), 331-metric-ton (365-short-ton)Vatican obelisk atSaint Peter's Square.[15] Brought to Rome by the EmperorCaligula in 37 CE, it has stood at its current site and on the wall of theCircus of Nero, flanking St Peter's Basilica.
The elderPliny in hisNatural History refers to the obelisk's transportation from Egypt to Rome by order of the Emperor Gaius (Caligula) as an outstanding event. The barge that carried it had a huge mast of fir wood which four men's arms could not encircle. One hundred and twenty bushels of lentils were needed for ballast. Having fulfilled its purpose, the gigantic vessel was no longer wanted. Therefore, filled with stones and cement, it was sunk to form the foundations of the foremost quay of the new harbour atOstia.[16]
PopeSixtus V was determined to erect the obelisk in front of St Peter's, of which the nave was yet to be built. He had a full-sized wooden mock-up erected within months of his election.Domenico Fontana, the assistant ofGiacomo Della Porta in the Basilica's construction, presented the Pope with a little model crane of wood and a heavy little obelisk of lead, which Sixtus himself was able to raise by turning a little winch with his finger. Fontana was given the project. Half-buried in the debris of the ages, it was first excavated as it stood; then it took from 30 April to 17 May 1586 to move it on rollers to the Piazza: it required nearly 1000 men, 140 carthorses, and 47 cranes. The re-erection, scheduled for 14 September, the Feast of theExaltation of the Cross, was watched by a large crowd. It was a famous feat of engineering, which made the reputation of Fontana, who detailed it in a book illustrated with copperplate etchings,Della Trasportatione dell'Obelisco Vaticano et delle Fabriche di Nostro Signore Papa Sisto V (1590),[17][18] which itself set a new standard in communicating technical information and influenced subsequent architectural publications by its meticulous precision.[19] Before being re-erected the obelisk was exorcised. It is said that Fontana had teams of relay horses to make his getaway if the enterprise failed. WhenCarlo Maderno came to build the Basilica's nave, he had to put the slightest kink in its axis, to line it precisely with the obelisk.
Not all the Egyptian obelisks in the Roman Empire were set up at Rome:Herod the Great imitated his Roman patrons and set up an obelisk,Caesarea obelisk, made out of Egyptian red granite in thehippodrome of his new cityCaesarea in northernJudea. This one is about 40 feet (12 m) tall and weighs about 100 metric tons (110 short tons).[21] It was discovered by archaeologists and has been re-erected at its former site.
In 357 CE, EmperorConstantius II had two Karnak Temple obelisks removed and transported down theNile toAlexandria to commemorate hisventennalia, the 20th year of his reign. Afterward, one was sent to Rome and erected on thespina of theCircus Maximus, and is today known as the Lateran Obelisk. The other one, known as theObelisk of Theodosius, remained in Alexandria until 390 CE, when EmperorTheodosius I had it transported to Constantinople (nowIstanbul) and put up on thespina of theHippodrome of Constantinople (now Sultan Ahmet Square).[22] It once stood 95 feet (29 m) tall and weighed 380 metric tons (420 short tons); however, its lower section (which reputedly also once stood in the hippodrome) is now lost, reducing the obelisk's size to 65 feet (20 m).[23]
The Ancient Romans populated their city with 8 large and 42 small Egyptian obelisks. More have been re-erected elsewhere, and the best-known examples outside Rome are the pair of 21-metre (69 ft) 187-metric-ton (206-short-ton)Cleopatra's Needles inLondon, England (21 metres or 69 feet), andNew York City, US (21 metres or 70 feet), and the 23-metre (75 ft) over-250-metric-ton (280-short-ton)Luxor Obelisk at thePlace de la Concorde inParis, France.[24]
Obelisks were being shipped out ofEgypt as late as the nineteenth century when three of them were sent toLondon,New York andParis. Their transportation was covered by various newspapers.[25]
Obelisk monuments are also known from theAssyrian civilization, where they were erected as public monuments that commemorated the achievements of the Assyrian king.
TheWhite Obelisk of Ashurnasirpal I (named due to its colour), was discovered byHormuzd Rassam in 1853 atNineveh. The obelisk was erected by eitherAshurnasirpal I (1050–1031 BCE) orAshurnasirpal II (883–859 BCE). The obelisk bears an inscription that refers to the king's seizure of goods, people and herds, which he carried back to the city of Ashur. The reliefs of the Obelisk depict military campaigns, hunting, victory banquets and scenes of tribute bearing.
The Rassam Obelisk, named after its discovererHormuzd Rassam, was found on the citadel ofNimrud (ancient Kalhu). It was erected by Ashurnasirpal II, though only survives in fragments. The surviving parts of the reliefs depict scenes of tribute bearing to the king from Syria and the west.[26]
TheBlack Obelisk was discovered bySir Austen Henry Layard in 1846 on the citadel of Kalhu. The obelisk was erected byShalmaneser III and the reliefs depict scenes of tribute bearing as well as the depiction of two subdued rulers,Jehu the Israelite, and Sua the Gilzanean, making gestures of submission to the king. The reliefs on the obelisk have accompanying epigraphs, but besides these the obelisk also possesses a longer inscription that records one of the latest versions of Shalmaneser III's annals, covering the period from his accessional year to his 33rd regnal year.
The Broken Obelisk, that was also discovered by Rassam at Nineveh. Only the top of thismonolith has been reconstructed in the British Museum. The obelisk is the oldest recorded obelisk from Assyria, dating to the 11th century BCE.[27]
The prehistoric Tello Obelisk, found in 1919 atChavín de Huantar inPeru, is a monolith stele with obelisk-like proportions. It is 2.52 metres tall and was carved in a design of low relief withChavín symbols, such as bands of teeth and animal heads. Long housed in theMuseo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú inLima, it was relocated to theMuseo Nacional de Chavín, which opened in July 2008. The obelisk was named for the archaeologistJulio C. Tello, who discovered it and was considered the 'father of Peruvian archaeology'. He was America's firstindigenous archaeologist.[30]
In France and other European countries, monuments to the dead, such asheadstones and grave markers, were very often given a form of obelisks, but they are of more modest size. The practice is also still widespread in theIslamic world.
In late summer 1999, Roger Hopkins andMark Lehner teamed up with aNOVA crew to erect a 25-ton obelisk. This was the third attempt to erect a 25-ton obelisk; the first two, in 1994 and 1999, ended in failure. There were also two successful attempts to raise a 2-ton obelisk and a 9-ton obelisk. Finally in August–September 1999, after learning from their experiences, they were able to erect one successfully. First Hopkins and Rais Abdel Aleem organized an experiment to tow a block of stone weighing about 25 tons. They prepared a path by embedding wooden rails into the ground and placing a sledge on them bearing a megalith weighing about 25 tons. Initially they used more than 100 people to try to tow it but were unable to budge it. Finally, with well over 130 people pulling at once and an additional dozen using levers to prod the sledge forward, they moved it. Over the course of a day, the workers towed it 10–20 feet. Despite problems with broken ropes, they proved the monument could be moved this way.[34] Additional experiments were done in Egypt and other locations to tow megalithic stone with ancient technologies, some of which arelisted here.
One experiment was to transport a small obelisk on a barge in the Nile River. The barge was built based on ancient Egyptian designs. It had to be very wide to handle the obelisk, with a 2 to 1 ratio length to width, and it was at least twice as long as the obelisk. The obelisk was about 3.0 metres (10 ft) long and no more than 5 metric tons (5.5 short tons). A barge big enough to transport the largest Egyptian obelisks with this ratio would have had to be close to 61-metre-long (200 ft) and 30-metre-wide (100 ft). The workers used ropes that were wrapped around a guide that enabled them to pull away from the river while they were towing it onto the barge. The barge was successfully launched into the Nile.
The final and successful erection event was organized by Rick Brown, Hopkins, Lehner and Gregg Mullen in a Massachusetts quarry. The preparation work was done with modern technology, but experiments have proven that with enough time and people, it could have been done with ancient technology. To begin, the obelisk was lying on a gravel and stone ramp. A pit in the middle was filled with dry sand. Previous experiments showed that wet sand would not flow as well. The ramp was secured by stone walls. Men raised the obelisk by slowly removing the sand while three crews of men pulled on ropes to control its descent into the pit. The back wall was designed to guide the obelisk into its proper place. The obelisk had to catch a turning groove which would prevent it from sliding. They used brake ropes to prevent it from going too far. Such turning grooves had been found on the ancient pedestals. Gravity did most of the work until the final 15° had to be completed by pulling the obelisk forward. They used brake ropes again to make sure it did not fall forward. On 12 September they completed the project.[35]
This experiment has been used to explain how the obelisks may have been erected in Luxor and other locations. It seems to have been supported by a 3,000 year-oldpapyrusscroll in which one scribe taunts another to erect a monument for "thy lord". The scroll reads "Empty the space that has been filled with sand beneath the monument of thy Lord."[36] To erect the obelisks at Luxor with this method would have involved using over a million cubic meters of stone, mud brick and sand for both the ramp and the platform used to lower the obelisk.[37] The largest obelisk successfully erected in ancient times weighed 455 metric tons (502 short tons). A 520-metric-ton (570-short-ton) stele was found inAxum, but researchers believe it was broken while attempting to erect it.
^Random House (2005).Random House Webster's college dictionary. Random House Reference, New York. p. 847.ISBN9780375426001.1.n. a tapering, four-sided shaft of stone, usu. monolithic and having a pyramidal apex.
^Edward Chaney,' "Thy pyramyds buylt up with newer might":Shakespeare and the Cultural Memory of Ancient Egypt'Aegyptiaca. Journal of the History of Reception of Ancient Egypt (5), 263–344[1]
^Tormod, Eide, ed. (1996).Fontes historiae Nubiorum: Textual Sources for the History of the Middle Nile region between the eighth century BC and the sixth century AD. Vol. 1. University of Bergen, Dept. of Classics, Bergen, 1994. p. 54.ISBN9788291626017.
^Fontana, Domenico (1590)."Moving the Obelisk".Martayan Lan Rare Books. Rome, IT: Domenico Basa. Archived fromthe original on 15 March 2012. Retrieved21 August 2015.
Curran, Brian A., Anthony Grafton, Pamela O. Long, and Benjamin Weiss.Obelisk: A History. Cambridge, MA MIT Press 2009.ISBN978-0-262-51270-1.
Chaney, Edward, "Roma Britannica and the Cultural Memory of Egypt: Lord Arundel and the Obelisk of Domitian", inRoma Britannica: Art Patronage and Cultural Exchange in Eighteenth-Century Rome, eds. D. Marshall, K. Wolfe and S. Russell, British School at Rome, 2011, pp. 147–70.
Edward Chaney,' "Thy pyramyds buylt up with newer might":Shakespeare and the Cultural Memory of Ancient Egypt'Aegyptiaca. Journal of the History of Reception of Ancient Egypt (5), 263–344[2]
Wirsching, Armin,Obelisken transportieren und aufrichten in Aegypten und in Rom. Norderstedt: Books on Demand 2007 (3rd ed. 2013),ISBN978-3-8334-8513-8
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