Egyptian
Obelisks
Left: One
of "Cleopatra's Needles", set up by Thothmes iii (c
1500BC) at Heliopolis, further inscribed by Rameses II (c 1250
BC), removed to Alexandra in 23 BC, and then to New York, where
it now stands. It is 67 feet 2 inches high without pedestal.
Centre:
Fellow of that on the left, 68 feet 5 inches high, removed in
1877 to the Thames Embankment, London; obelisks were usually
set up in parts.
Right: Obelisk
of Senusret I of the twelfth dynasty (c1980BC), still standing
on its original emplacement near Heliopolis - it is the earliest
known to us.
From Wonders of the Past
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