One of the two Luxor obelisks, in the Place de la Concorde in Paris; a red granite monolithic column, 23 metres (75 feet) high, including the base, which weighs over 250 metric tons (280 short tons).

An obelisk (/ˈɒbəlɪsk/; from Ancient Greek: ὀβελίσκος obeliskos;^[1][2] diminutive of ὀβελός obelos, "spit, nail, pointed pillar"^[3]) is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. These were originally called tekhenu by their builders, the Ancient Egyptians. The Greeks who saw them used the Greek term 'obeliskos' to describe them, and this word passed into Latin and ultimately English.^[4] Ancient obelisks are monolithic; that is, they consist of a single stone. Most modern obelisks are made of several stones; some, like the Washington Monument, are buildings.

The term stele is generally used for other monumental, upright, inscribed and sculpted stones.

Ancient obelisks[edit]

Egyptian[edit]

Pylon of the Temple of Luxor with the remaining obelisk (of two) in front (the second is in the Place de la Concorde in Paris).

Obelisk of Pharaoh Senusret I, Al-Maalla area of Al-Matariyyah district in modern Heliopolis.

Obelisks played a vital role in their religion and were prominent in the architecture of the ancient Egyptians, who placed them in pairs at the entrance of the temples. The word "obelisk" as used in English today is of Greek rather than Egyptian origin because Herodotus, the Greek traveller, 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 at Aswan. These obelisks are now dispersed around the world, and fewer than half of them remain in Egypt.

The earliest temple obelisk still in its original position is the 68-foot (20.7 m) 120-metric-ton (130-short-ton)^[5] red granite Obelisk of Senusret I of the XIIth Dynasty at Al-Matariyyah in modern Heliopolis.^[6]

The obelisk symbolized the sun god Ra, and during the religious reformation of Akhenaten it was said to have been a petrified ray of the Aten, the sundisk. It was also thought that the god existed within the structure.

Benben was the mound that arose from the primordial waters Nu upon which the creator god Atum settled in the creation story of the Heliopolitan creation myth form of Ancient Egyptian religion. The Benben stone (also known as a pyramidion) is the top stone of the Egyptian pyramid. It is also related to the Obelisk.

It is hypothesized by New York University Egyptologist Patricia Blackwell Gary and Astronomy senior editor Richard Talcott that the shapes of the ancient Egyptian pyramid and obelisk were derived from natural phenomena associated with the sun (the sun-god Ra being the Egyptians' greatest deity).^[7] The pyramid and obelisk's significance have been previously overlooked, especially the astronomical phenomena connected with sunrise and sunset: the zodiacal light and sun pillars respectively.

Around 30 B.C., after Cleopatra "the last Pharaoh" committed suicide, Rome took control of Egypt. The Ancient Romans were awestruck by the obelisks, and looted the complex to the extent that they destroyed walls at the Temple of Karnak to haul out obelisks. There are now more than twice as many obelisks that were seized and shipped out by Rome as remain in Egypt. A majority were dismantled during the Roman period over 1, 700 years ago and the obelisk were sent in different locations.

The largest standing and tallest Egyptian obelisk is the Lateran Obelisk in the square at the west side of the Lateran Basilica in Rome at 105.6 feet (32.2 m) tall and a weight of 455 metric tons (502 short tons).^[8]

Not all the Egyptian obelisks in the Roman Empire were set up at Rome. Herod the Great imitated his Roman patrons and set up a red granite Egyptian obelisk in the hippodrome of his new city Caesarea in northern Judea. This one is about 40 feet (12 m) tall and weighs about 100 metric tons (110 short tons).^[9] It was discovered by archaeologists and has been re-erected at its former site.

In 335 A.D., Constantine I ordered the removal of two of Karnak's obelisks. One was sent to Constantinople, the Eastern Emperor Theodosius took the obelisk and had it set up in a hippodrome, where it has weathered Crusaders and Seljuks and stands in the Hippodrome square which is now called Istanbul. This one stood 95 feet (29 m) tall and weighing 380 metric tons (420 short tons). Its lower half reputedly also once stood in Istanbul but is now lost. The Istanbul obelisk is 65 feet (20 m) tall.^[10]

The other was transported to Rome and is probably the most well-known 25 metres (82 ft), 331-metric-ton (365-short-ton) obelisk at Saint Peter's Square in the world.^[8] The obelisk had stood since AD 37 on its site and on the wall of the Circus of Nero, flanking St Peter's Basilica:

"The elder Pliny in his Natural 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 at Ostia."^[11]

Re-erecting the obelisk had daunted even Michelangelo, but Sixtus V was determined to erect it 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 of Giacomo 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.

The obelisk, half-buried in the debris of the ages, 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 the Exaltation 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),^[12][13] which itself set a new standard in communicating technical information and influenced subsequent architectural publications by its meticulous precision.^[14] 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. When Carlo 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.

Three more obelisks were erected in Rome under Sixtus V: the one behind Santa Maria Maggiore (1587), the giant obelisk at the Lateran Basilica (1588), and the one at Piazza del Popolo (1589).^[15]

An obelisk stands in front of the church of Trinità dei Monti, at the head of the Spanish Steps. Another obelisk in Rome is sculpted as carried on the back of an elephant. Rome lost one of its obelisks, the Boboli obelisk which had decorated the temple of Isis, where it was uncovered in the 16th century. The Medici claimed it for the Villa Medici, but in 1790 they moved it to the Boboli Gardens attached to the Palazzo Pitti in Florence, and left a replica in its stead.

The Romans filled 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 in London (21 metres or 69 feet) and New York City (21 metres or 70 feet) and the 23-metre (75 ft) 227-metric-ton (250-short-ton) obelisk at the Place de la Concorde in Paris.^[16]

Tip of Hatshepsut's fallen obelisk, Karnak Temple Complex, Luxor, Egypt

The Obelisk of Tuthmosis III, Istanbul, Turkey

The Dutch Golden Age painter Bartholomeus Breenbergh placed an obelisk in the background of his 1655 painting Joseph Sells Grain

There are ancient Egyptian obelisks in the following locations:

• Egypt – 8
  
  
  
  • Pharaoh Thutmosis 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 (67 ft)^[17]
    
  
  
  • Pharaoh Ramses II, Cairo International Airport, 16.97 m (55.7 ft)
  
  
  • Pharaoh Seti II, Karnak Temple, Luxor, 7 m (23 ft)
  
  
  
  


• France – 1
  
  • Pharaoh Ramses II, Luxor Obelisk, in Place de la Concorde, Paris
  
  


• Israel – 1
  
  • Caesarea obelisk
  
  


• Italy – 13 (includes the only one located in the Vatican City)
  
  
  
  • Rome — 8 ancient Egyptian obelisks (see List of obelisks in Rome)
    
  
  
  • Piazza del Duomo, Catania (Sicily)
  
  
  • 
    Benevento, two obelisks
  
  
  • 
    Boboli Obelisk (Florence)
  
  
  • Urbino
  
  
  
  


• Poland – 1
  
  • Ramses II, Poznań Archaeological Museum, Poznań (on loan from Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Berlin)^[18]
    
  
  


• Turkey – 1
  
  • Pharaoh Tuthmosis III, the Obelisk of Theodosius in the Hippodrome, Istanbul, along with the Byzantine Walled Obelisk and the Serpent Column
    
  
  


• United Kingdom – 4
  
  
  
  • Pharaoh Tuthmosis III, "Cleopatra's Needle", beside the Thames Victoria Embankment, in 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)
  
  
  
  


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

Assyrian[edit]

Obelisk monuments are also known from the Assyrian civilization, where they were erected as public monuments that commemorated the achievements of the Assyrian king.

The British Museum possesses four Assyrian obelisks:

The White Obelisk of Ashurnasirpal I (named due to its colour), was discovered by Hormuzd Rassam in 1853 at Nineveh. The obelisk was erected by either Ashurnasirpal I (1050–1031 BC) or Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC). 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 discoverer Hormuzd Rassam, was found on the citadel of Nimrud (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.^[19]

The Black Obelisk was discovered by Sir Austen Henry Layard in 1846 on the citadel of Kalhu. The obelisk was erected by Shalmaneser 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, giving 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 this monolith has been reconstructed in the British Museum. The obelisk is the oldest recorded obelisk from Assyria, dating to the 11th century BC.^[20]

Axumite (Ethiopia)[edit]

King Ezana's Stele in Axum.

A number of obelisks were carved in the ancient Axumite Kingdom of today northern Ethiopia. Together with (21-metre-high or 69-foot) King Ezana's Stele, the last erected one and the only unbroken, the most famous example of axumite obelisk is the so-called (24-metre-high or 79-footh) Obelisk of Axum. It was carved around the 4th century AD and, in the course of time, it collapsed and broke into three parts. In these conditions it was found by Italian soldiers in 1935, after the Second Italo-Abyssinian War, looted and taken to Rome in 1937, where it stood in the Piazza di Porta Capena. Italy agreed in a 1947 UN agreement to return the obelisk but did not affirm its agreement until 1997, after years of pressure and various controversial settlements. In 2003 the Italian government made the first steps toward its return, and in 2008 it was finally re-erected.

The largest known obelisk, the Great Stele at Axum, now fallen, at 33 metres (108 ft) high and 3 m (9.8 ft) by 2 m (6 ft 7 in) at the base (520 metric tons or 570 short tons)^[21] is one of the largest single pieces of stone ever worked in human history (the largest is either at Baalbek or the Ramesseum) and probably fell during erection or soon after, destroying a large part of the massive burial chamber underneath it. The obelisks, properly termed stelae or the native hawilt or hawilti as they do not end in a pyramid, were used to mark graves and underground burial chambers. The largest of the grave markers were for royal burial chambers and were decorated with multi-storey false windows and false doors, while nobility would have smaller less decorated ones. While there are only a few large ones standing, there are hundreds of smaller ones in "stelae fields".

Ancient Roman[edit]

The Walled Obelisk in Sultanahmet Square

The Romans commissioned obelisks in an ancient Egyptian style. Examples include:

• Arles, France —the Arles Obelisk, in Place de la République, a 4th-century obelisk of Roman origin


• 
  Benevento, Italy — Roman obelisks^[22][23]
  


• Munich — obelisk of Titus Sextius Africanus, Staatliches Museum Ägyptischer Kunst, Kunstareal, 1st century AD, 5.8 metres (19 ft)


• Rome — there are five ancient Roman obelisks in Rome. See List of obelisks in Rome.
  

Byzantine[edit]

• 
  Walled Obelisk, Hippodrome of Constantinople. Built by Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus (905–959) and originally covered with gilded bronze plaques.

Pre-Columbian[edit]

The prehistoric Tello Obelisk, found in 1919 at Chavín de Huantar in Peru, is a monolith stele with obelisk-like proportions. It was carved in a design of low relief with Chavín symbols, such as bands of teeth and animal heads. Long housed in the Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú in Lima, it was relocated to the Museo Nacional de Chavín, which opened in July 2008. The obelisk was named for the archeologist Julio C. Tello, who discovered it and was considered the "father of Peruvian archeology." He was America's first indigenous archeologist.^[24]

Modern obelisks[edit]

(Listed in date order)

17th century[edit]

Obelisk name	Image	Location	Country	Elevation		Completed	Coordinates	Notes
				m	ft
Fontaine des Quatre Dauphins		Aix-en-Provence	France			1667	43°31′35″N 5°26′44″E / 43.52639°N 5.44556°E / 43.52639; 5.44556

18th century[edit]

Obelisk name	Image	Location	Country	Elevation		Completed	Coordinates	Notes
				m	ft
Market Square obelisk		Ripon	United Kingdom	24	80	1702		The first large scale obelisk in Britain.[25]
Stillorgan Obelisk		Stillorgan, Dublin	Ireland	30	100	1727
St Luke Church		London	United Kingdom			circa 1727–33		spire by Nicholas Hawksmoor
Boyne Obelisk		near Drogheda, County Louth	Ireland	53	174	1736		To commemorate William of Orange's victory at the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 (destroyed in 1923, only the base remains).
Conolly's Folly		Celbridge, County Kildare	Ireland			1740
Killiney Hill Obelisk		Killiney, County Dublin	Ireland			1742
Mamhead obelisk		Mamhead	United Kingdom	30	100	1742–1745		An aid to shipping.[26]
General Wolfe's Obelisk		Stowe School, Buckinghamshire	United Kingdom			1754
Montreal Park Obelisk		Riverhead, Sevenoaks, Kent	United Kingdom			1761		Lord Jeffery Amherst's Obelisk.[27]
St George's Circus Obelisk		St George's Circus, London	United Kingdom			1771		Obelisk by Robert Mylne
Kagul Obelisk		Tsarskoe Selo	Russia			1772
Chesma Obelisk		Gatchina	Russia			1775
Villa Medici		Rome	Italy			1790		A 19th-century copy of the Egyptian obelisk moved to the Boboli Gardens in Florence
Obelisk Fountain		James St., Dublin	Ireland			1790
Constable Obelisk		Gatchina Palace, Gatchina	Russia			1793
Moore-Vallotton Incident marker		Wexford	Ireland			1793		[28]
Rumyantsev Obelisk		St Petersburg	Russia			1799
Obelisk at Slottsbacken		Stockholm	Sweden			1800

19th century[edit]

Obelisk name	Image	Location	Country	Elevation		Completed	Coordinates	Notes
				m	ft
Nelson memorial		Springfield Park Liverpool, England	United Kingdom			circa 1805
St. Emmeram's Palace Obelisk		Regensburg, Bavaria	Germany			circa 1810
Constitution Obelisk		St. Augustine, Florida	United States			1814		In commemoration of the Spanish Constitution of 1812
Brightling Needle		Brightling, East Sussex	United Kingdom	20	65	circa 1815		[29]
Patriots' Grave, Old Burying Ground		Arlington, Massachusetts	United States			1818	42°24′58″N 71°09′31″W / 42.41611°N 71.15861°W / 42.41611; -71.15861
George IV Monument		Dún Laoghaire, County Dublin	Ireland			1823
Blantyre Monument		Erskine, Renfrewshire	United Kingdom	24	80	circa 1825		[30]
Captain Cook's Monument		Easby Moor, Great Ayton, North Yorkshire	United Kingdom	15.5	51	1827		[31]
Groton Monument		Fort Griswold, Groton, Connecticut	United States	41	135	1830	41°21′18″N 72°4′46″W / 41.35500°N 72.07944°W / 41.35500; -72.07944	[32]
Bunker Hill Monument		Charlestown, Massachusetts	United States	67	221	1827-43	42°22′35″N 71°03′41″W / 42.37639°N 71.06139°W / 42.37639; -71.06139	[33]
Spencer Monument		Blata l-Bajda	Malta			1831 (relocated 1893)	35°53′17″N 14°29′53″E / 35.88806°N 14.49806°E / 35.88806; 14.49806	[34]
Thomas Jefferson Obelisk, Monticello		Charlottesville, Virginia	United States			1833	38°00′37″N 78°27′08″W / 38.01028°N 78.45222°W / 38.01028; -78.45222	Erected by his family, Jefferson had willed that only three achievements be sketched onto it: Author of the Declaration of Independence, author of the Virginia Statute for Religious Freedom, and father of the University of Virginia.[35]
Obelisk of Lions, Copou Park		Iași	Romania	13.5	44	1834	47°10′43″N 27°34′01″E / 47.17851°N 27.56691°E / 47.17851; 27.56691	[36]
Villa Torlonia		Rome	Italy			1842	41°54′50″N 12°30′43″E / 41.91389°N 12.51194°E / 41.91389; 12.51194	Two obelisks
Reggio Emilia obelisk		Reggio Emilia, Emilia-Romagna	Italy			1842	44°42′0″N 10°38′0″E / 44.70000°N 10.63333°E / 44.70000; 10.63333	Commemorates marriage of Francis V, Duke of Modena to princess Adelgunde of Bavaria
Rutherford's Monument		Anwoth, Scotland	United Kingdom			1842		A memorial to Samuel Rutherford
Political Martyrs' Monument		Calton Hill, Edinburgh, Scotland	United Kingdom	27	90	1844	55°57′12″N 3°11′9″W / 55.95333°N 3.18583°W / 55.95333; -3.18583	[37]
Lansdowne Monument		Wiltshire, England	United Kingdom	38	125	1845	51°25′22″N 1°55′58″W / 51.4228°N 1.9327°W / 51.4228; -1.9327	Erected by the 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne to commemorate Sir William Petty.[38]
The Obelisk		Newcastle, New South Wales	Australia			1850
Wellington Monument		Wellington, Somerset	United Kingdom	53	175	1854	50°56′53″N 3°13′45″W / 50.9480°N 3.2293°W / 50.9480; -3.2293	[39]
Stoodley Pike Monument		Todmorden, West Yorkshire	United Kingdom	37	121	1856	53°42′51″N 2°2′33″W / 53.71417°N 2.04250°W / 53.71417; -2.04250	[40]
Hyde Park Obelisk		Sydney, New South Wales	Australia	22	72	1857	33°52′29″S 151°12′36″E / 33.87472°S 151.21000°E / -33.87472; 151.21000	[41]
Herndon Monument		Annapolis, Maryland	United States	6.4	21	1860	38°58′56″N 76°29′09″W / 38.9823°N 76.4859°W / 38.9823; -76.4859	Erected by the US Naval Academy to commemorate the loss of William Lewis Herndon.
Obelisk of Fontenoy		Fontenoy, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté	France			1860
Wellington Monument		Phoenix Park, Dublin	Ireland	62	203	1861		The tallest in Europe.
Prince of Wales' Obelisk		Port Elizabeth	South Africa					Intended for one George Kemp but erected to commemorate the marriage of Albert Edward, Prince of Wales and Alexandra of Denmark in 1861. Originally on Market Square, now in front of the Bayworld Museum Complex.[citation needed]
Lincoln Tomb		Springfield, Illinois	United States	36	117	1865	39°49′24″N 89°39′21″W / 39.82333°N 89.65583°W / 39.82333; -89.65583	[42]
Tyndale Monument	Tyndale Monument	34	North Nibley, Gloucestershire, England	34	111	1866
Nicholson's Obelisk		Margalla Hills, Rawalpindi–Islamabad	Pakistan	12	40	1868		[43]
Captain Cook Obelisk		Kurnell, New South Wales	Australia			1870	34°00′17″S 151°13′03″E / 34.004667°S 151.217556°E / -34.004667; 151.217556	[44]
Dauphin County Veteran's Memorial Obelisk		Harrisburg, Pennsylvania	United States	34	110	1876	40°15′47″N 76°53′13″W / 40.26304°N 76.88681°W / 40.26304; -76.88681	[45]
Washington Monument		Washington, D.C.	United States	169	555	1884	38°53′22″N 77°2′7″W / 38.88944°N 77.03528°W / 38.88944; -77.03528	[46]
Oriskany Battlefield monument		Rome, New York	United States			1884	43°10′7″N 75°22′8″W / 43.16861°N 75.36889°W / 43.16861; -75.36889	[47]
Monument to the Restorers		Restauradores Square, Lisbon	Portugal			1886	38°42′57″N 9°8′30″W / 38.71583°N 9.14167°W / 38.71583; -9.14167	Erected to celebrate the victory in the Portuguese Restoration War (1640–1668).
Ludwig van Beethoven's grave		Vienna Central Cemetery	Austria			1888
Bennington Battle Monument		Bennington, Vermont	United States	92 or 93	301 or 306	1889	42°53′21″N 73°12′57″W / 42.88917°N 73.21583°W / 42.88917; -73.21583	[48]
Monolith "The Obelisk"		Villalar de los Comuneros, Castile and León	Spain			1889	41°33′0″N 5°8′0″W / 41.55000°N 5.13333°W / 41.55000; -5.13333
Dalhousie Obelisk		Raffles Place, Central Area	Singapore			1891	1°17′15″N 103°51′8″E / 1.28750°N 103.85222°E / 1.28750; 103.85222	[49]
The Obelisk, Penn State University		University Park, Pennsylvania	United States			1896
Confederate War Memorial		Dallas, Texas	United States			1896	32°46′32″N 96°47′59″W / 32.77556°N 96.79972°W / 32.77556; -96.79972	[50]

20th century[edit]

Obelisk name	Image	Location	Country	Elevation		Completed	Coordinates	Notes
				m	ft
William Dudley Chipley Memorial		Plaza Ferdinand VII, Pensacola, Florida	United States			1901	30°26′N 87°12′W / 30.433°N 87.200°W / 30.433; -87.200
Sergeant Floyd Monument		Sioux City, Iowa	United States			1901	42°27′45″N 96°22′39″W / 42.46250°N 96.37750°W / 42.46250; -96.37750	[51]
Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial		South Royalton, Vermont	United States	15	50	1905	43°49′25″N 72°28′23″W / 43.823473°N 72.47308°W / 43.823473; -72.47308	[52]:118
McKinley Monument		Niagara Square, Buffalo, New York	United States	29	96	1907	42°53′11″N 78°52′41″W / 42.88639°N 78.87806°W / 42.88639; -78.87806	[53]
The Veterans' Monument		Elizabethton, Tennessee	United States			1904		Dedicated to American Civil War veterans from Carter County, Tennessee.
Finn's Point National Cemetery		Pennsville Township, New Jersey	United States	26	85	1910		Erected by the U.S. government in 1910 to memorialize Confederate soldiers buried at the cemetery.
Coronation Memorial		Coronation Park, Delhi	India					To commemorate the founding of New Delhi in 1911 followed by other obelisks around the Rashtrapati Bhavan
Victory Memorial		Fort Recovery, Ohio	United States	31	101	1913		[54]
Rizal Monument		Luneta Park, Manila	Philippines	12.7	42	1913	14°34′54″N 120°58′36″E / 14.581669°N 120.976694°E / 14.581669; 120.976694	built to commemorate the executed Filipino nationalist, José Rizal.
National Women's Monument		Bloemfontein	South Africa			1913	29°08′30″S 26°12′30″E / 29.1416°S 26.2083°E / -29.1416; 26.2083	[55]
Ozark Trail		Various locations including Stroud, Oklahoma, Farwell, Dimmitt, Wellington, and Tulia, Texas	United States			1913		Formerly a series of 21 obelisks
PAX Memorial		Walmer, Port Elizabeth	South Africa	6	20	1919		A World War I memorial to local fallen soldiers.[56]
Flagler Monument		Flagler Monument Island, Miami Beach, Florida	United States	34	110	1920	25°47′7″N 80°9′10″W / 25.78528°N 80.15278°W / 25.78528; -80.15278	[57]
Southport War Memorial		London Square, Southport, Lancashire, England	United Kingdom	20.6	67.5	1923
Veterans Memorial Plaza		Indiana World War Memorial Plaza, Indianapolis, Indiana	United States	30	100	1923	39°46′25″N 86°9′25″W / 39.77361°N 86.15694°W / 39.77361; -86.15694	[58]
Jefferson Davis Monument		Fairview, Kentucky	United States	107	351	1924		Commemorating the birthplace of the President of the Confederate States of America
Boer War Monument		King's Domain, Melbourne, Victoria	Australia	23	75	1924		[59]
Camp Merritt Memorial Monument		Cresskill, New Jersey	United States	20	66	1924		Monument dedicated to the soldiers who passed through Camp Merritt, New Jersey, en route to Europe in World War I, particularly those who died at the camp due to the influenza epidemic of 1918
Hobart Cenotaph		Queens Domain, Hobart, Tasmania	Australia			1925	42°52′39″S 147°20′10″E / 42.87750°S 147.33611°E / -42.87750; 147.33611	A World War I memorial[60]
The Big Red Apple		Cornelia, Georgia	United States	2.4	8	1925	34°30′49″N 83°31′51″W / 34.51361°N 83.53083°W / 34.51361; -83.53083	A short square obelisk with the world's largest apple on top stands[61]
Prague Castle Obelisk (or Monolith from Mrákotín)		Prague Castle, Prague	Czech Republic	15.42	50.6	1930	50°5′25″N 14°24′1″E / 50.09028°N 14.40028°E / 50.09028; 14.40028
Obelisk of Montevideo (or Obelisco a los Constituyentes de 1830)		Parque Batlle, Montevideo	Uruguay	40	130	1930	34°53′51″S 56°09′52″W / 34.8975°S 56.1644°W / -34.8975; -56.1644	[62]
High Point Monument		High Point, Montague, New Jersey	United States	67	220	1930	41°19′15″N 74°39′42″W / 41.32083°N 74.66167°W / 41.32083; -74.66167	Located on top of New Jersey's highest point, 550 m (1,803 ft) above sea level.
Foro Italico		Lungotevere Maresciallo Diaz, Rome	Italy			1932	41°55′55″N 12°27′32″E / 41.93194°N 12.45889°E / 41.93194; 12.45889	Erected to honour Benito Mussolini.
Paterson Monument		Windmill Point, George Town, Tasmania	Australia			1935	41°06′34″S 146°49′01″E / 41.10944°S 146.81694°E / -41.10944; 146.81694	Erected to commemorate the 1804 landing of William Paterson (explorer).[63]
Obelisk of Buenos Aires		San Nicolás, Buenos Aires	Argentina	71.5	235	1936	34°36′13″S 58°22′54″W / 34.60361°S 58.38167°W / -34.60361; -58.38167
Trujillo Obelisk		Santo Domingo	Dominican Republic	42	137	1937
War Memorial		Floriana	Malta			1938	35°53′37″N 14°30′29″E / 35.89361°N 14.50806°E / 35.89361; 14.50806	[64]
San Jacinto Monument		La Porte, Texas	United States	172.92	567.3	1939	29°45′00″N 95°04′51″W / 29.7499°N 95.0807°W / 29.7499; -95.0807	[65][note 1]
Trylon and Perisphere		1939 New York World's Fair, Flushing, New York	United States	190	620	1939	40°44′47″N 73°50′42″W / 40.7463°N 73.8451°W / 40.7463; -73.8451	Not a true obelisk, but an art deco variant.
Maungakiekie Obelisk		One Tree Hill, Auckland	New Zealand			1940	36°54′0″S 174°46′59″E / 36.90000°S 174.78306°E / -36.90000; 174.78306	[67]
Victory Monument		Bangkok	Thailand			1941	13°45′53″N 100°32′19″E / 13.76472°N 100.53861°E / 13.76472; 100.53861	To commemorate the Thai victory in the Franco-Thai War, a brief conflict waged against the French colonial authorities in Indo-China, which resulted in Thailand annexing some territories in western Cambodia and northern and southern Laos. These were among the territories which the Kingdom of Siam had been forced to cede to France in 1893 and 1904, and patriotic Thais considered them rightfully to belong to Thailand.
Plaza Francia Obelisk		Altamira, Caracas	Venezuela			1944	10°29′47″N 66°50′56″W / 10.49639°N 66.84889°W / 10.49639; -66.84889
Banská Bystrica Obelisk		Banská Bystrica	Slovakia			1945		Commemorates the soldiers of the Red Army and those of the Romanian Army who fell while liberating the town.
Cenotaph on Leinster Lawn		Leinster House, Dublin	Ireland	18.28	60.0	1950	53°20′26″N 6°15′14″W / 53.34055°N 6.254021°W / 53.34055; -6.254021	Erected to commemorate the memories of Arthur Griffith, Michael Collins and Kevin O'Higgins;[68] and replaced an earlier temporary cenotaph, erected in 1923.[69]
Lucas Gusher Obelisk		Beaumont, Texas	United States			1951		Recognizes the 50th anniversary of the birth of the liquid fuel age as the Lucas Gusher came in at Spindletop on January 10, 1901.
Heroes Monument		Surabaya	Indonesia	41.5	135.0	1952	7°14′46″S 112°44′15″E / 7.24611°S 112.73750°E / -7.24611; 112.73750	Commemorate the events of November 10, 1945 at the Battle of Surabaya
Israel War of Independence Memorial		Safed	Israel				32°57′57″N 35°29′54″E / 32.96583°N 35.49833°E / 32.96583; 35.49833
Obelisk of São Paulo		São Paulo	Brazil	72	236	1954	23°35′5″S 46°39′17″W / 23.58472°S 46.65472°W / -23.58472; -46.65472	[70]
Monument to the abolition of slavery (Monumento a la abolición de la esclavitud)		Abolition Park, Ponce	Puerto Rico	30	100	1956	18°00′21″N 66°36′46″W / 18.00583°N 66.61278°W / 18.00583; -66.61278	[71]
Obelisk of La Paz		La Paz	Bolivia				16°29′55″S 68°08′06″W / 16.49861°S 68.13500°W / -16.49861; -68.13500
Demidovsky Pillar		Tsentralny City District, Barnaul, Altai Krai	Russia	14	46		53°20′N 83°45′E / 53.333°N 83.750°E / 53.333; 83.750
Victory Obelisk (Poklonnaya Hill Obelisk)		Poklonnaya Hill, Moscow	Russia	141.8	465		55°43′54″N 37°30′24″E / 55.73167°N 37.50667°E / 55.73167; 37.50667	[72]
Bayonet-Obelisk of the War Memorial		Brest Fortress, Brest	Belarus	100	330	1971	52°04′59″N 23°39′15″E / 52.082961°N 23.654251°E / 52.082961; 23.654251	[73]
Trinity Nuclear Test Site Obelisk		Jornada del Muerto, Socorro, New Mexico	United States	3.7	12			The location of the first atomic bomb explosion.[74]
Cairn to mark the Geographic Centre of North America		Rugby, North Dakota	United States	4.6	15	1971		The structure is more like a cairn sited near the geographical center of North America (Mexico, USA and Canada). The location of the geographical center is approximately 15 miles (24 km) for the location of the cairn.[75]
Pirulito da Praça Sete		Belo Horizonte, Minas Gerais	Brazil
Oregon Trail		Boise, Idaho	United States					21 obelisks that mark the trail.[76][77]
Islamic Summit Minar		Lahore, Punjab	Pakistan	47	155	1974		An obelisk-shape structure built to commemorate the Organisation of Islamic Conference.
Luxor Hotel		Las Vegas, Nevada	United States					The obelisk stands in front of the hotel, a pyramid-shaped hotel along The Strip
		Endicott, Triple Cities, New York	United States			1975		An obelisk stands in front of radio talk show host Clint Ferro's boyhood home[citation needed]
Monumen Nasional		Merdeka Square, Jakarta	Indonesia			1975		Symbolizing the fight for the independence of Indonesia
Juche Tower		Pyongyang	North Korea	170	560	1982	39°1′4″N 125°45′48″E / 39.01778°N 125.76333°E / 39.01778; 125.76333
Leningrad Hero City Obelisk		Vosstaniya Square, Saint Petersburg	Russia			1985	59°55′52″N 30°21′43″E / 59.931°N 30.362°E / 59.931; 30.362
1948 Arab–Israeli War Memorial		Ad Halom, Ashdod	Israel				31°46′0″N 34°39′58″E / 31.76667°N 34.66611°E / 31.76667; 34.66611	Memorial to Egypt's fallen soldiers[78]
Avis Obelisk		Avis Farms Office Park, Pittsfield Township, Michigan	United States			1998	42°13′21″N 83°42′52″W / 42.22250°N 83.71444°W / 42.22250; -83.71444
Bahá'í House of Worship		Bahá'í World Centre buildings, Mount Carmel, Haifa	Israel			1971		Marking the site of the future Bahá'í House of Worship.
Independence Monument Obelisk		Maha Bandula Park, Yangon	Myanmar					[79]

21st century[edit]

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Obelisk name	Image	Location	Country	Elevation		Completed	Coordinates	Notes
				m	ft
Capas National Shrine		Tarlac province	Philippines	70	230	2003	15°20′56″N 120°32′43″E / 15.34891°N 120.545246°E / 15.34891; 120.545246	[citation needed]
Kolonna Eterna		San Gwann	Malta	6		2003	35°54′35″N 14°28′36″E / 35.90972°N 14.47667°E / 35.90972; 14.47667	Egyptian obelisk by Paul Vella Critien[80]
Colonna Mediterranea		Luqa	Malta	3.0	10	2006	35°51′38″N 14°29′3″E / 35.86056°N 14.48417°E / 35.86056; 14.48417	Abstract art by Paul Vella Critien[81]
Plaza Salcedo Obelisk		Vigan, Ilocos Sur	Philippines				17°34′N 120°23′E / 17.567°N 120.383°E / 17.567; 120.383
Cyclisk		Santa Rosa, California	United States	20	65			Made of 340 bicycles[82]
Obelisco Novecento		Rome	Italy			2004		Sculpture by Arnaldo Pomodoro[citation needed]
Armed Forces Memorial		National Memorial Arboretum, Staffordshire	United Kingdom			2007
Särkynyt lyhty		Tornio, Lapland	Finland	9	30			Made of stainless steel[citation needed]

Erection experiments[edit]

In late summer 1999, Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehner teamed up with a NOVA 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 two-ton obelisk and a nine-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 to 20 feet. Despite problems with broken ropes, they proved the monument could be moved this way.^[83] Additional experiments were done in Egypt and other locations to tow megalithic stone with ancient technologies, some of which are listed 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.^[84]

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-old papyrus scroll 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."^[85] 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.^[86] 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 in Axum, but researchers believe it was broken while attempting to erect it.

See also[edit]

• List of megalithic sites


• List of obelisks


• List of pre-Columbian engineering projects in the Americas


• Monuments


• Benben Stone


• Phallic architecture


• Dagger (typography)

Notes[edit]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Curran, Brian A., Anthony Grafton, Pamela O. Long, and Benjamin Weiss. Obelisk: A History. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 2009.
  ISBN 978-0-262-51270-1.


• Chaney, Edward, "Roma Britannica and the Cultural Memory of Egypt: Lord Arundel and the Obelisk of Domitian", in Roma 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.


• Iversen, Erik, Obelisks in exile. Copenhagen, Vol. 1 1968, Vol. 2 1972


• Wirsching, Armin, Obelisken transportieren und aufrichten in Aegypten und in Rom. Norderstedt: Books on Demand 2007 (3rd ed. 2013),
  ISBN 978-3-8334-8513-8
  

External links[edit]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Obelisks.

• 
  Obelisks of Rome (series of articles in Platner's Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome)


• 
  History of the obelisk of Arles (in French)


• 
  Octavo Edition of Domenico Fontana's book depicting how he erected the Vatican obelisk in 1586.


• National Geographic: "Researchers Lift Obelisk With Kite to Test Theory on Ancient Pyramids"


• Obelisk of Psametik II from Heliopolis, removed and reerected by Augustus in the northern Campus Martius, Rome