The Egyptial Obelisk

What is Obelisk

An obelisk is a stone rectangular pillar with a tapered top forming a pyramidion, set on a base, erected to commemorate an individual or event and honor the gods. The ancient Egyptians created the form at some point in the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150-c. 2613 BCE) following their work in mud brick mastaba tombs and prior to the construction of the Step Pyramid of Djoser (c. 2670 BCE).

The earliest obelisks no longer exist and are only known through later inscriptions but appear to have been only about ten feet (3 metres) tall. In time they would reach heights of over 100 feet (30 metres). Although many cultures around the world from the Assyrian to the Mesoamerican employed the obelisk form, only ancient Egypt worked in monolithic stone, almost always red granite. 

It is believed, the obelisks of ancient Egypt represented the benben, the primordial mound upon which the god Atum stood at the creation of the world. 

Obelisk Significance

Obelisks were always raised in pairs in keeping with the Egyptian value of balance and harmony; The obelisks, then, represented the living deity, the vitality and immortality of the pharaoh, and the concept of duality and balance. No matter who or what else they commemorated, though, they were raised and carefully positioned so that the first and last light of day would touch their peaks to honor the sun god.

Obelisk & Temples

Obelisks were frequently positioned in the courtyards of temples to honor the god within as well as the sun god who would sail overhead. The only obelisk still standing in its original position is that of Senusret I (c. 1971-1926 BCE) at the site of a former temple to the sun god at Heliopolis. Other obelisks were removed by foreign nations or given as gifts to countries by the Egyptian government in the modern era.

These obelisks would have been carefully measured and cut to conform to the size of a particular temple and the position they would take up there. The point of the pyramidion top of the obelisk was supposed to catch the first and last sun's rays and so the monument had to be high enough and positioned in such a way to accomplish that. The location of the obelisk and its height was the responsibility of the king who would commission both the temple and the complex surrounding it.


Ramses II (the Great) erected more obelisks than any other pharaoh;  Most of Ramses' obelisks are relatively small, but the two that stood before Luxor Temple were quite large. One stands there today; the other was shipped off to Paris in the 18th century.

Ramses II Obelisk & Pylon at Luxor Temple

Twenty-nine ancient Egyptian obelisks are known to have survived, plus the "Unfinished Obelisk" found partly hewn from its quarry at Aswan. These obelisks are now dispersed around the world, and less than half of them remain in Egypt. The obelisks can be found in the following locations:

Unfinished Obelisk at Aswan, Egypt

Egypt - 9
Pharaoh Tuthmosis I, Karnak Temple, Luxor
Pharaoh Ramses II, Luxor Temple
Pharaoh Hatshepsut, Karnak Temple, Luxor
Pharaoh Senusret I, Al-Masalla area of Al-Matariyyah district in Heliopolis, Cairo
Pharaoh Ramses III, Luxor Museum
Pharaoh Ramses II, Gezira Island, Cairo, 20.4 m
Pharaoh Ramses II, Cairo International Airport, 16.97 m
Pharaoh Seti II, Karnak Temple, Luxor, 7 m
Pharaoh Senusret I, Faiyum (ancient site of Crocodilopolis), 12.9 m

The Obelisk of Senusret I, Heliopolis, Egypt

Hatshepsut, Karnak Temple, Luxor

Ramses II Obelisk at Luxor Temple

France - 1

Pharaoh Ramses II, Luxor Obelisk, in Place de la Concorde, Paris

Israel - 1
Caesarea obelisk

Caesarea Obelisk in Israel

Italy - 18 (includes the only one located in the Vatican City)
14 in Rome (see Obelisks in Rome)
Piazza del Duomo, Catania (Sicily)
Boboli Gardens (Florence)
Urbino Obelisco di Benevento

Flaminio Obelisk-Piazza-Rome-Italy

Baboli Gardens, Pitti Palace, Rome

Poland - 1
Ramses II, Poznan Archaeological Museum, Poznan (on loan from Agyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Berlin)

Ramses II Obelisk, Poznan Archaeological Museum

Turkey - 1
Pharaoh Tuthmosis III, in Square of Horses, Istanbul

United Kingdom - 4
Pharaoh Tuthmosis III, "Cleopatra's Needle", on Victoria Embankment, London
Pharaoh Amenhotep II, in the Oriental Museum, University of Durham
Pharaoh Ptolemy IX, Philae obelisk, at Kingston Lacy, near Wimborne Minster, Dorset
Pharaoh Nectanebo II, British Museum, London (pair of obelisks)

Cleopatra's Needle on Victoria Embankment, London

United States - 1
Pharaoh Tuthmosis III, "Cleopatra's Needle", in Central Park, New York

Some of the Best Known Obelisks in the World

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.

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. This ancient monolithic obelisk also the tallest egyptian obelisk is just over 25 meters tall and weighs 455 tons.


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. It is one of  two similar obelisks in Luxor and hence its 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
The obelisk was given to France by the Egyptian government, 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).


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

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

Lateran Obelisk, Rome, Italy

6. Cleopatra’s Needle, New York, London & Paris
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.
They were originally erected in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis on the orders of Thutmose III, around 1450 BC. The inscriptions were added about 200 years later by Ramesses II to commemorate his military victories. The obelisks were moved to Alexandria and set up in the Caesareum - a temple built by Cleopatra in honor of Mark Antony - by the Romans in 12 BC, during the reign of Augustus, but were toppled some time later.

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

8. Heliopolis Obelisk, Cairo, Egypt
The earliest temple obelisk still in its original position is the 20.7 m / 68 ft high 120 tons red granite Obelisk of Senusret I of the XIIth Dynasty at Al-Matariyyah part of Heliopolis.

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

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

11. Obelisk of Srirangapatna – India

The obelisk is a memorial to mark the point in the Srirangapatna Fort at which the British broke through the walls to attack Tipu Sultan’s troop. It stands at the centre of a concentric series of steps. It has a unique design, with cannon balls supporting elongated conical projection, and one on the top of it.

Obelisk at Srirangapatna, Karnataka, India

Some Fascinating Facts About Obelisks

1. Of the Twenty-eight Egyptian obelisks remaining , only six of them are in Egypt.

2. The Obelisks were often topped with gold or electrum, a natural gold-and-silver alloy called , in order to catch the first and last sunlight.

3. The word “obelisk” is  Greek, derived from obeliskos, or skewer. An ancient Egyptian called an obelisk a tekhen.

4. Ancien Obelisks were always built with granite. Granite is really hard—a 6.5 on the Mohs scale (in comparison Diamond is 10 Mohs). They couldnt have chiseled it with soft metals like copper or gold (iron was sill not discovered then). It is believed they used dolerite balls (a volcanic stone) to chisek the obelisk.

5.The french Egyptologist Jean-François Champollion, used the Hieroglyphics in Philae Obelisk which was in London to validtae the Hieroglyphic translation from Rosetto Stone. He discovered "Ptolemy" was discovered in the obelisk and Rosetta stone and the obelisk also contained  the name cleopatra with "p", "o" and "l", probably making the first set of alphaphets to be validated in Egyptian Hielographics.

Rosetta Stone