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in Rome. Originally one of a pair from Sais in Egypt. Brought to Rome by Diocletian for the nearby Temple of Isis . Found in 1655 and erected in 1667 by Pope Alexander VII on an Elephant base by Bernini . The other of the pair is in Urbino .]] An obelisk (Greek ὀβελίσκος diminutive of ὀβελός [''obelos'' , "needle") is a tall, narrow, four-sided, tapering sculpted stones not of classic obelisk form. ANCIENT OBELISKS Egyptian Obelisks were a prominent part of the architecture of the ancient Egypt ians, who placed them in pairs at the entrance of temples. The word "obelisk" is of Greek rather than Egyptian origin because Herodotus , the great traveler, was the first writer to describe the objects. 28 ancient Egyptian obelisks are known to have survived, plus the Unfinished Obelisk found partly hewn from its quarry at Aswan . The earliest '', 1911 edition.] The obelisk symbolized the sun god Ra and during the brief religious reformation of Akhenaten was said to be a petrified ray of the Aten , the sundisk. It was also thought that the god existed within the structure. It is hypothesized by and Sun Pillar s, respectively. The Romans were infatuated with obelisks, to the extent that there are now more than twice as many obelisks standing in Rome as remain in Egypt. All fell after the Roman period except for the Vatican obelisk and were re-erected in different locations. The tallest Egyptian obelisk graces the square in front of the Lateran Basilica in Rome. Not all the Egyptian obelisks re-erected 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 (racetrack) of his grand new city Caesarea in northern Judea . It was discovered by archaeologists and has been re-erected at its former site. In Constantinople , the Eastern Emperor Theodosius shipped an obelisk in AD 390 and had it set up in his hippodrome, on a specially-built base, where it has weathered Crusade rs and Seljuks and stands in the Hippodrome Square in modern Istanbul . Rome is the obelisk capital of the world. The most prominent is the 25.5 m obelisk at Saint Peter's Square in Rome . The obelisk had stood since AD 37 on its site 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 ." James Lees-Milne , ''Saint Peter's'' (1967). Re-erecting the obelisk had daunted even came to build the nave, he had to put the slightest kink in its axis, to line it precisely with the obelisk. Another obelisk stands in front of the church of Trinità Dei Monti , at the head of the Spanish Steps . There is a further famous obelisk in Rome, sculpted as carried on the back of an Elephant . Rome lost one of its obelisks, 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 managed to move it to the Boboli Gardens attached to the Palazzo Pitti in Florence , and left a replica in its stead. Several more of the original Egyptian obelisks have been shipped and re-erected all over the world. The best-known examples outside Rome are the pair of so-called 21 m Cleopatra's Needle s in London and New York City and the 23 m obelisk at the Place De La Concorde in Paris . There are 28 known ancient Egyptian obelisks in the following current locations: ]] , Istanbul , Turkey ]]
Assyrian One obelisk form is known from the early Assyria n civilization, represented by the Black Obelisk of King Shalmaneser III from the 9th Century BC , now in the British Museum . Axumite in Axum .]] A number of obelisks were carved in the ancient Axumite Kingdom of Ethiopia . The most notable example – the 24 m high Obelisk Of Axum carved around the 4th Century AD – was looted by the Italians after the Second Italo-Abyssinian War 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 didn't first truly affirm its agreement until 1997, after years of pressure. In 2003 the Italian government made the first steps toward its return, and as of 2006 it is in Axum still awaiting re-erection due to the finding of older burial chambers on the intended site. The largest obelisk, Great Stele at Axum, now fallen, at 33 m high and 3 by 2 meters at the base is the largest single piece of stone ever worked in human history and probably fell during erection or soon after, destroying a large part of the massive burial chamber underneath it. The obelisks, properly termed Stela e or the native '' Hawilt '' or ''hawilti'' as they don't 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-story 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 various "stelae fields". The obelisks were kept standing through the use of massive counterweights. Ancient Roman The Romans commissioned obelisks in an Egyptian style.
Keralan The obelisk stone (rock) crosses of Kerala form another category of obelisks which perhaps were inspired by the Egyptian originals. The Syrian Christians or St. Thomas Christians of Malabar on the west coast of India had close contacts with the Egyptian and Assyrian worlds, the original habitat of obelisks. The "Ray of the Sun" and Horus concepts are to be found in the idea of Christ and in the orientation of the churches East-West. The use of the cylinder and socket method is found extensively used in both structures. Obelisk Crosses of Kerala, India in Christian Art Pre-Columbian The "Tello Obelisk", from Chavín De Huantar , now in the Museo Nacional de Arqueología, Antropología e Historia del Perú in Lima is a monolith stele with obelisk-like proportions. NOTABLE MODERN OBELISKS 17th century
18th century in Washington, D.C. , USA ]] ]] .]]
19th century
20th century
21st century
MISCELLANEOUS
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