Pharaonic civilization has always hidden many architectural surprises and elements that we think are simple but great symbolism ,In this article, we will talk about the Pharaonic obelisks, which we are still studying its secrets and features until this time.
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Egypt is distinguished by its great and historical architectural wealth, as it is one of the oldest and most ancient civilizations in history. It possessed a great diversity in architecture, built pyramids, religious and funeral temples, palaces and some decorative elements to indicate a specific thing such as the unity of the god and the connection of the god to the earth such as obelisks and some other religious symbols.
Obelisks
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This stone pillar, which you find in Pharaonic temples, palaces and public squares, is made of a whole block of granite. The interesting topic is that the oldest obelisk in history is not Pharaonic, but rather it is a Hammurabi stele, which is the oldest obelisk on which laws were written.
This element was widely known in Egypt, where it was found in the temples for writing some religious writings, and it was found in pairs in front of the temples, and it was also found in public squares and palaces and it was alone and some laws related to the region were written on them.
Symbolic obelisks
There are several interpretations that indicate the symbolism of the obelisk, all of which are linked to the deity of the people of ancient Egypt, and these interpretations include:
- The first explanation indicates a link between common people and the God of the gods in the sky, and indicates the strength of this relationship as well.
- The second interpretation is symbolic of the sun god, the god Ra, who is the sun god, as there was a golden head on some of the obelisks.
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- The third interpretation during the reign of the ruler Akhenaten (Amenhotep IV) the official religion in Egypt was the religion of monotheism, so some obelisks were built separately to indicate the god of monotheism
And still, until now, the gas obelisks have not been solved until now, and they have not known what their real guest is, nor have they been found, and what is their true symbolism, but these interpretations are one of our conclusions as architects and archaeologists.
What is the longest discovered stunt?
The longest stele discovered is the Aswan obelisk (the missing obelisk), which was broken during its extraction and the builders left it in its place. As we know that the obelisk is a whole piece of granite, its construction began during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut, where the stele reached a height of about 42 meters and weighed about 1200 tons [1]
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The theft of Egyptian obelisks
Many obelisks were stolen from Egypt, some of them in France, where Napoleon stole Cleopatra's obelisk, and it is now lit in the most important square in Paris, and some of it was stolen by the Romans, as Augustus relayed the obelisk of Thutmose III, which is now in London and the other is in New York, and these are just simple examples. For the Egyptian obelisks, where the number of obelisks was 120, there were only 5 steles remaining in Egypt, and the rest of the obelisks, some of which were stolen during the era of the Roman Empire, the campaigns of Napoleon and the British Mandate, and some of them were presented by some corrupt rulers of Egypt as gifts to the United States, Britain and Italy, as they worked to waste a great heritage of Egypt and neglect the rest of the Egyptian antiquities. It is noteworthy that three obelisks in Egypt fell due to neglect and only two remained, one at the door of the Luxor temple and the other inside the Karnak temple. [2]
The most famous obelisks
Many of the Pharaonic obelisks, which we are still discovering more of them on a continuous basis. The number of stelae discovered so far is more than 120 obelisks distributed all over the world, and only five in Egypt, and among these:
- Obelisk of Luxor in Paris
This obelisk is located in the Place de la Concorde in the French capital, Paris, where it is about 22 meters high. This obelisk was next to its counterpart in the Luxor Temple, but in 1833 the ruler Muhammad Ali presented the obelisks as a gift to France during the reign of Chalice X, where the ship was sent to transport it during the reign of Louis Philip the First and it was This is a large transport operation, and after the transfer, the French abandoned the second obelisk, and it is now in Luxor. [3]
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- Obelisk of Amenhotep II (Caligula)
It is now located in Rome, specifically in the Vatican Square. It was moved during the reign of the Roman Empire, its length is 25.5 meters. It was brought to Rome by Caligula (a Roman Emperor). Pope Sixtus V ordered when building the Church of Saint Peter and placed it in a large square and placed the cross on it
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- Obelisk New York (Cleopatra Needle)
It is the oldest archaeological monument from outside New York City with a height of 15 meters and this obelisk was given to London in 1878 and one of the two obelisks was now on the banks of the Thames and the second was the New York obelisk and was bought by a man and transported from London to Central Park and the duration of the trip was 112 days.[4]
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- Obelisk Tahrir Square
It is one of the obelisks that still stand in Egypt and it is now in Tahrir Square. It was built during the reign of Ramses II. Its length is 13 meters. It was moved to Tahrir Square in 2020.
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Thanks for reading!
source:
[1] Jessica Stewart , July 14, 2017, "3,500-Year-Old Unfinished Obelisk Reveals Incredible Engineering of Ancient Egypt",Retrieved: (8/9/2020) https://mymodernmet.com/unfinished-obelisk-aswan-egypt/
[2] Architecture history lectures, Yarmouk University.
[3] eutouring , "The Luxor Obelisk Monument in Paris",Retrieved: (8/9/2020) https://www.eutouring.com/the_luxor_obelisk_paris.html
[4] entralparknyc ,"OBELISK" Retrieved: (8/9/2020) https://www.centralparknyc.org/attractions/obelisk
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