Cleopatra's Needles

London's Victoria Embankment
New York's Central Park, just outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art

Cleopatra's Needles are a separated pair of ancient Egyptian obelisks now in London and New York City. The obelisks were originally made in Heliopolis (modern Cairo) during the New Kingdom period, inscribed by the 18th dynasty pharaoh Thutmose III and 19th dynasty pharaoh Ramesses II. In 13/12 BCE they were moved to the Caesareum of Alexandria by the prefect of Egypt Publius Rubrius Barbarus.[1] Since at least the 17th century the obelisks have usually been named in the West after the Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII. They stood in Alexandria for almost two millennia until they were re-erected in London and New York City in 1878 and 1881 respectively. Together with Pompey's Pillar, they were described in the 1840s in David Roberts' Egypt and Nubia as "[the] most striking monuments of ancient Alexandria".[2]

The removal of the obelisks from Egypt was presided over by Isma'il Pasha, who had greatly indebted the Khedivate of Egypt during its rapid modernization. The London needle was presented to the United Kingdom in 1819, but remained in Alexandria until 1877 when Sir William James Erasmus Wilson, a distinguished anatomist and dermatologist, sponsored its transportation to London.

In the same year, Elbert E. Farman, the then-United States Consul General at Cairo, secured the other needle for the United States. The needle was transported by Henry Honychurch Gorringe. Both Wilson and Gorringe published books commemorating the transportation of the Needles: Wilson wrote Cleopatra's Needle: With Brief Notes on Egypt and Egyptian Obelisks (1877)[3] and Gorringe wrote Egyptian Obelisks (1885).[4]

The London needle was placed on the Victoria Embankment, which had been built a few years earlier in 1870, whilst the New York needle was placed in Central Park just outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art's main building, also built just a few years earlier in 1872.

Damage to the obelisks by weather conditions in London and New York has been studied, notably by Professor Erhard M. Winkler of the University of Notre Dame.[5][6][7] Zahi Hawass, a former Egyptian Minister of Antiquities, has called for their restoration or repatriation.[8][9][10]

  1. ^ Merriam, A. C. (1883). The Caesareum and the Worship of Augustus at Alexandria. Transactions of the American Philological Association (1869-1896), 14, p. 8
  2. ^ Egypt and Nubia
  3. ^ Wilson, Erasmus (1877). Cleopatra's Needle: With Brief Notes on Egypt and Egyptian Obelisks. Brain & Company.
  4. ^ Gorringe, Henry Honychurch (1885). Egyptian Obelisks. Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO): Photography: The World through the Lens. John C. Nimmo.
  5. ^ Winkler, Erhard M. (1965). "Weathering Rates As Exemplified by Cleopatra's Needle in New York City". Journal of Geological Education. 13 (2). Informa UK Limited: 50–52. Bibcode:1965JGeoE..13...50W. doi:10.5408/0022-1368-xiii.2.50. ISSN 0022-1368.
  6. ^ Winkler, Erhard M. (1980). "Historical Implications in the Complexity of Destructive Salt Weathering: Cleopatra's Needle, New York". Bulletin of the Association for Preservation Technology. 12 (2). JSTOR: 94–102. doi:10.2307/1493742. ISSN 0044-9466. JSTOR 1493742.
  7. ^ Winkler, Ε. M. (1996-12-01). "Die ägyptischen Obeliske von New York und London - Einfluss der Umweltbedingungen auf die Verwitterung / Egyptian Obelisks (Cleopatra's Needles) of New York City and London - Environmental History and Weathering". Restoration of Buildings and Monuments. 2 (6). Walter de Gruyter GmbH: 519–530. doi:10.1515/rbm-1996-5145. ISSN 1864-7022. S2CID 131283762.
  8. ^ Heyman, Taylor (2018-10-15). "Egyptian archaeologist 'ashamed' of London's treatment of Cleopatra's Needle". The National. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  9. ^ "Hawass fears for Cleopatra's Needle". Ahram Online. 2022-11-10. Retrieved 2022-11-10.
  10. ^ "Hawass threatens to take 'Cleopatra's Needle' out of NYC". Daily News Egypt. 2011-01-09. Retrieved 2022-11-10.