Obelisk

Obelisk


 * Egyptian Name:**

//Tekhen//

A tall, four-sided pillar, usually made of granite or alabaster, with a pyramid shape on top. The word comes from the Greek //obeliskos// ("pointed pillar.") Obelisks were considered sacred to the sun-gods Ra and Atum, because each day the first of the sun's rays reflected from their pyramid-shaped tops.

Sometimes an obelisk was considered to be a petrified ray of the sun. Small amulets of obelisks, made of glass, basalt, and lapis lazuli, were buried with the dead. According to ancient writings, the tops of obelisks were often covered in gold, electrum, or bronze, and they were always erected in pairs.

Obelisks seem to have evolved from a much earlier sacred stone, the //Benben//. In recognition of this connection, the gilded cap-stone placed at the very top of each obelisk was known as a //benbenet//. The tallest Egyptian obelisk found was over 105 feet (32 meters) tall, and weighed 455 tons. Twenty-nine 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 less than half of them remain in Egypt.

The three ancient Egyptian obelisks that were re-erected in London, Paris, and New York City during the nineteenth century are known as "Cleopatra's Needles." This is misleading, as they have no connection with Cleopatra VII, and were already over a thousand years old in her lifetime. The Paris "needle" belonged to Ramses II, and the other two were erected by Thutmose III.


 * Outside of Egypt:**

The ancient Romans were strongly influenced by the obelisk form, to the extent that there are now more than twice as many obelisks standing in Rome as remain in Egypt. Obelisks were also copied by the Canaanites.

Egyptian Symbols