The largest known Egyptian obelisk is known as the "Unfinished Obelisk and can be found today where it was once half-carved out of solid bedrock. The stone block was originally a 120-foot/36-meter-high obelisk. It is estimated that a piece of granite of this size can easily weigh more than 1000 tons, and some geologists suggest this figure to be between 1100 tons and 1150 tons. Unfortunately, the obelisk was never completed, because during the removal of the stone from the host rock, a huge crack appeared, rendering the stone unusable. Apart from its intended use, the stone had no reusable value for stonemasons of the time, which led to the complete abandonment of the stone (probably during the reign of Queen Hapsut – the 18th Dynasty), taking a moment to think about how many man-hours were wasted transporting the unfinished obelisk to its abandoned state.
Ironically, the main tool used to shape this huge granite block is not the chisel most people imagine. Early Egyptian stonemasons used palm-sized balls of basalt minerals to strike the surface of rough hewn obelisks until all excess bulges and vegetations were flattened. Basalt is one of the few materials on Earth that is harder than granite, and most other rocks will shatter if repeatedly hit granite.
I have always been puzzled why the Egyptians chose to carve blocks and statues out of granite when there were softer and easier stones to use? The granite blocks used in the Great Pyramid of Giza were transported for about 10 years. It was 500 miles from quarries to construction sites, from Aswan to Cairo, so this suggests that distance was not a factor, and stonemasons chose to use granite, perhaps because of its durability, or simply because of its color?
When planning the construction of obelisks, quarryers look for bedrock of the right length without obvious defects or cracks. They would then punch a series of small holes at certain intervals with a tool that could be copper, similar to a row of hyphens. Next, they hammer sun-dried wooden wedges into these holes. These wedges are then repeatedly soaked in water and gradually expand over time, and yes, believe it or not, the power generated by the expansion of wet wood is enough to move the granite blocks away from the granite bedrock, a process I found wonderful.
How did our early ancestors discover this method? Interestingly, many cultures in the ancient world seem to have used the same technique used to separate a stone from its parent rock. No one has devised a better method or technology.
Even today, modern quarries use very similar methods, including making a row of holes in the rock instead of driving wet wood wedges into the holes, which takes considerable time to achieve the desired effect of splitting rock faces, modern quarryers can achieve the same effect by simply hammering metal wedges into the holes, but much faster. In larger quarries, the entire rock face is loosened by placing explosive rods into a series of boreholes, which are then detonated by a remote control device.
When this rock finally breaks away from the bedrock and becomes a solid fragment, as mentioned above, the surface of the obelisk is repeatedly struck with palm-sized basalt to flatten it. Finally, scribes and hieroglyphic artists would decorate all four faces with the religious beliefs and monarchical achievements of the time. It is undeniable that Egypt was one of the most powerful empires in human history, a testament to this fact with its monumental architectural achievements, but every old dog had its day and eventually had to give way to younger and stronger puppies, and the powerful ancient Egyptian civilization was not immune to the laws that govern the universe in which we live, and it was eventually conquered by foreign tourists/armies.
Tourists are notoriously irresistible to travel souvenirs, and unfortunately, most conquistadors are essentially just conceited tourists. The conquering nation usually takes souvenirs from the conquered nation to commemorate the victory and bring something back to the countrymen. Over the centuries, many countries have conquered Egypt, many have committed the crime of plundering souvenirs from the beaches of this fascinating country, but some have become completely free ...
In various cities around the world, Istanbul, Rome, London, Paris and New York, you can find things that at first glance seem to be replicas of Egyptian obelisks, but upon closer inspection you will see that these obelisks are not replicas, they are actually authentic Egyptian obelisks, re-erected miles from their original installation site in Egypt. To date, only 28 huge Egyptian obelisks have been found, both upright and collapsed. Of these 28 complete statements about the achievements and abilities of ancient Egypt, only 8 remain in Egypt.
These are the eight giant obelisks that remained in Egypt:
Temple of Karnak, Thebes – built by Tuthmosis I (66-75 ft./143-160 t). Temple of Karnak, Thebes – Built by Hatshepsut (Fall) (97 ft./320–323 t). Temple of Karnak, Thebes – built by Seti II (7 meters). Luxor Temple – Built by Ramses II (82 ft./254 t). Luxor Museum – built by Ramses II, Heliopolis, Cairo – by Senusret I (20.75 m/120 t). Gezira Island, Cairo – raised by Ramses II (20.4 m / 120 t). Cairo International Airport – built by Ramses II (16.97 m t/110 t). The obelisks in the list below were erected at various landmark locations around the world, but all were originally built in Egypt and stolen or diplomatically "gifted" to each country where they are now located.
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Lateran Obelisk, Vatican City, Rome
Stolen - Constantine II
From – Temple of Amun, Temple of Karnak
Thanks to – Tuthmosis III / IV
32.18m / 330 t (lost 4m during restoration in 1587 AD)
The largest ancient Egyptian obelisk in the world, weighing more than 330 tons. – Originally from the temple of Karnak Amun. – The "Ospisco of Theodos" was brought to Alexandria by Constantius II, and from there to the Arena of Maximus in Rome in 357 AD. – Three works found in 1587 AD and restored by Pope Sixtus V (shortened by about 4 meters), – Built near the Lateran Palace and the Basilica of San Giovanni in 1588 AD.
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Vatican Obelisk, St. Peter's Square, Rome
Stolen by Caligila in 37 AD
From - Alexander
Thanks to Nebkaure Amenemhat II? (There is no hieroglyph to identify pharaohs)
25.5m high (320 tons)
It was originally proposed at the Lulium Forum in Alexandria on the orders of Augustus 30 – 28BC. Does not contain hieroglyphics, so the name of the pharaoh is uncertain. Brought to Rome by Caligula in 37 AD as the spine of the Vatican circus. – Relocated by Pope Sixtus V in 1586 using the method devised by Domenico Fontana – the first monumental obelisk built in modern times, – it is the only obelisk in Rome that has not collapsed since Roman times.
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Flaminio Obelisk in Piazza del Popolo, Rome
Stolen by – Augustus in 10 BC
From – Heliopolis
Thanks to – Seti I / Ramses II
24m high (235+ tons. ）
From Heliopolis to Rome to Augustus in 10 BC, the Solare Obelisk – erected on the spine of Circus Maximus. Found in 1587 AD together with the Lateran Obelisk and divided into two parts – re-erected by Pope Sixtus in 1589 AD.
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Solar Obelisk , Piazza di Monteciterio, 罗马
Stolen – Agusidus in 10 BC
From – Heliopolis
Thanks to – Psammetichus II
21.79m high (230 tons)
From Heliopolis to Rome to Augustus in 10 BC, the Flameinho Obelisk – erected to form a sundial on the Campus Martius. Rediscovered in the 16th century, but reburied. Rediscovered and founded by Pope Pius VI in 1792 AD before Palazzo Montecitorio.
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Obelisk on Horse Square, Istanbul, Turkey
Stolen – Constantius ll 357AD / Shipped by Theodosius l 390AD
From – Karnak Temple of Luxor
Credited – Tuthmosis III (1490BC)
19.6m high (175 tons) (bottom 10.4m lost - original weight: 380-400 tons)
Carved from pink granite, originally erected in Luxor, south of the Seventh Tower of Karnak Temple, it dates back to the reign of Tutmosis lll around 1490 BC. The Roman Emperor Constantius II (337-361 AD) transported it and another obelisk from Karnak to Alexandria to commemorate the 20th anniversary of his accession to the throne in 357 AD. Another obelisk was erected at the rotation of the Circus Maximus in Rome in 357 AD, today known as the Lateran Obelisk. The Theodosius obelisk remained in Alexandria for 33 years until 390 AD, when – Theodosius l (378-392 AD) cut the obelisk into 3 pieces and sent it to Constantinople and erected on the spine of the arena. Only the top survived, and it is still where Theodosius placed it.
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Place de la Concorde, Paris. France
Founded by – Muhammad Ali (Ottoman Governor of Egypt) in 1829 AD / erected in 1836 AD
From - Luxor Temple
Attributed to – Ramses II
23 m (74 ft) high (227-250 tons)
Decorated with hieroglyphs, it celebrates the reign of Pharaoh Ramosis ll. The Egyptian government gave two obelisks to the French in the 19th century. The second obelisk remained in Egypt, which at that time was too heavy to move to France. In the 1990s, President Mitterrand symbolically returned the second obelisk to Egypt. The obelisk once marked the entrance to the Luxor Temple. Muhammad Ali, the governor of Ottoman Egypt, dedicated the 3,300-year-old Luxor Obelisk to France in 1829. It arrived in Paris on December 21, 1833. Three years later, on October 25, 1836, King Louis Philippe placed it in the center of the Place de la Concorde, where there used to be a guillotine during the Revolution. Carved from yellow granite, the obelisk is 23 meters/75 feet high (including the base) and weighs more than 250 tons. Having lost its original capstone (believed to have been stolen in the 6th century BC), the French government added a gold-leaf pyramid cap to the top of the obelisk in 1998. The pedestal contains diagrams explaining the machinery used for transport.
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Cleopatra's Needle, London, 1878
Gift – Muhammad Ali, ruler of Egypt and Sudan in 1819
From - Alexander
Thanks to – Tuthmosis III
20.87 m (69 ft) high (over 187 tons)
The obelisk seen today on the Victoria embankment of the Thames in London was given to the British by Muhammad Ali (ruler of Egypt and Sudan) in 1819 AD.
It was a gift to commemorate the British victories at the Battle of the Nile and the Battle of Alexandria in 1801 AD, but due to the British government's reluctance to pay for the obelisk to be shipped to London, it stayed in Alexandria for nearly 60 years until Sir William J. Wilson finally brought it to London in 1877 with a £10,000 contribution. The obelisk is encased in a 92-foot-long sealed iron cylinder. Like a ship, it has a rudder, mast and sails, which Captain Booth will towed to London behind his ship Olga. However, in October of that year, the Olga encountered a storm in the Bay of Biscay, the cylinders became uncontrollable and, sadly, 6 men were killed while trying to protect it. Captain Booth managed to rescue the captain and five crew members from the cylinder. Booth reported that the cylinder was abandoned and sunk, but somehow it floated in the bay for another four days without sinking and was spotted by several Spanish trawlers. The Glasgow steamer "Fitzmaurice" arrived at the scene and towed the limp cylinder to the Spanish coast for repairs.
A tugboat named Anglia was used to tow cylinders to a delivery point on the Thames in London during the last part of its disastrous journey, which finally arrived on the 21st But somehow, the cylinder floated in the bay for another four days without sinking and was spotted by several Spanish trawlers. The Glasgow steamer "Fitzmaurice" arrived at the scene and towed the limp cylinder to the Spanish coast for repairs. A tugboat named Anglia was used to tow cylinders to a delivery point on the Thames in London during the last part of its disastrous journey, which finally arrived on the 21st But somehow, the cylinder floated in the bay for another four days without sinking and was spotted by several Spanish trawlers. The Glasgow steamer "Fitzmaurice" arrived at the scene and towed the limp cylinder to the Spanish coast for repairs. A tugboat named Anglia was used to haul cylinders to a delivery point on the Thames in London during the final part of its disastrous journey, culminating in the arrival of January 2st, 1878st, and erected on the Victoria Embankment eight months later on September 12, 1878.
A time box containing the following items is buried under the obelisk: a set of 12 photographs of the most beautiful British women of the time, a box of hairpins, a box of cigars, a few pipes, a set of imperial weights, a baby bottle, some children's toys, a shilling razor, a hydraulic jack, some samples of cables for installation, a 3-foot bronze model of the monument, a complete set of English coins, one rupee, portrait of Queen Victoria, written history of monument transport bizarre stories, plans on vellum, Translations of inscriptions, copies of the Bible in multiple languages, copies of John 3:16 in 215 languages, copies of the Whitaker Yearbook, Bradshaw Railway Guide, – Map of London, copies of 10 daily newspapers.
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Cleopatra's Needle, New York, 1881
Gifted by Khedive of Egypt, Mehmet Ali Pasha in 1877.
From - Alexander
Thanks to – Tuthmosis III
21 m (70 ft) high (over 193 tons)
The needle was erected in Central Park on February 22, 1881. It was given to the Americans in May 1877 by Khadif Muhammad Ali Pasha of Egypt as a bribe/gift for the United States to remain neutral while France and France remained neutral as Britain fought to control the Egyptian government. – Henry G Stebbins, commissioner of the New York City Park Service, launched a fund to raise money to pay for the transportation of the obelisk to New York.
William H Vandebilt generously contributed more than $100,000 to cover all expenses. In October 1879, granite needles weighing 220 tons were transported to Alexandria, 7 miles away, and then loaded onto a steamer called the Dessoug, which arrived in New York in July 1880. 32 horses were transported from the banks of the Hudson River to the Obelisk River to Central Park. It took 112 days for the Obelisk to move from the quarantine station to Central Park. The cornerstone of the obelisk base was laid on October 2, 1880, by brother Jesse B. Anthony, a Masonic master in New York. More than 9,000 Masonic members attended. The official ceremony for the erection of the obelisk was January 22, 1881.
The surface of the stone is heavily weathered, almost obscuring the rows of Egyptian hieroglyphs carved in all directions. Photographs taken when the obelisk was erected in the park show that the inscription or hieroglyphs are still legible, dating back as far as the time of Thutmosis III (1479-1425 BC) and then reappearing almost 300 years later during the reign of Ramosis II the Great (1279-1213 BC). The stone has been sitting in the clear, dry air of the Egyptian desert for almost 3,000 years with little weathering. In just over a century, New York City's climate has wreaked havoc on its surface.
In 2010, Dr. Zahi Hawass wrote to the president of the Central Park Conservancy and the mayor of New York City insisting on greater efforts to preserve and preserve this irreplaceable piece of Egyptian history. If the New York authorities were unable to properly keep the obelisk, Hawass threatened to "take the necessary measures to bring home this precious artifact and save it from destruction." "#历史 #