Obelisk

An obelisk (/ˈɒbəlɪsk/; from Ancient Greek ὀβελίσκος (obelískos),[2][3] diminutive of ὀβελός (obelós) ' spit, nail, pointed pillar')[4] is a tall, slender, tapered monument with four sides and a pyramidal or pyramidion top.

[8] Obelisks were prominent in the architecture of the ancient Egyptians, and played a vital role in their religion placing them in pairs at the entrance of the temples.

[10] In Egyptian mythology, 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.

[11] The pyramid and obelisk's significance have been previously overlooked, especially the astronomical phenomena connected with sunrise and sunset: Zodiacal light and sun pillars respectively.

Ancient Nubian kings of the twenty-fifth Dynasty sought to legitimize their rule over Egypt by constructing Egyptianizing monuments in the Middle Nile region.

[12] The obelisk is inscribed with the kings official titulary: Strong-bull, Appearing-in-Dominion (Thebes), King-of-Upper-and-Lower-Egypt, Two-ladies, Ruler-of-Egypt, Son-of-Rê, Pi(ankh)y: what he made as his monument for his father Amen-Rê, lord of [...].

[13] An obelisk of King Senkamanisken was found at Gebel Barkal in 1916 by the Harvard University Museum of Fine Arts expedition to Sudan.

[15] Brought to Rome by the Emperor Caligula in 37 CE, it has stood at its current 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.

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.

Half-buried in the debris of the ages, it 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.

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),[17][18] which itself set a new standard in communicating technical information and influenced subsequent architectural publications by its meticulous precision.

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: at Santa Maria Maggiore, in 1587; at the Lateran Basilica, in 1588; and at the Piazza del Popolo, in 1589.

In 357 CE, Emperor Constantius II had two Karnak Temple obelisks removed and transported down the Nile to Alexandria to commemorate his ventennalia, the 20th year of his reign.

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.

Examples include: The prehistoric Tello Obelisk, found in 1919 at Chavín de Huantar in Peru, is a monolith stele with obelisk-like proportions.

It is 2.52 metres tall and was carved in a design of low relief with Chavín symbols, such as bands of teeth and animal heads.

[30] Egyptian obelisks remain a source of fascination, serving as a reminder of past glories and a symbol of state power.

In Rome, the Via della Conciliazione, cleared in 1936–1950 to link Saint Peter's Basilica to the centre of the capital is lined with obelisks serving as lampposts.

In France and other European countries, monuments to the dead, such as headstones and grave markers, were very often given a form of obelisks, but they are of more modest size.

In late summer 1999, Roger Hopkins and Mark Lehner teamed up with a NOVA crew to erect a 25-ton obelisk.

They prepared a path by embedding wooden rails into the ground and placing a sledge on them bearing a megalith weighing about 25 tons.

The final and successful erection event was organized by Rick Brown, Hopkins, Lehner and Gregg Mullen in a Massachusetts quarry.