Egyptian obelisks

Obelisks were important in the architecture and religion of ancient Egypt. They were tall, four-sided stone pillars that ended in a pyramid shape at the top. Today, around 30 ancient Egyptian obelisks still exist. These amazing stones give us clues about the skills and beliefs of people who lived thousands of years ago.

The oldest known obelisks come from the Middle Kingdom time, when Pharaoh Senusret I ruled. Many more pieces of obelisks have also been found, showing that these structures were once even more common. Some obelisks were later moved to other places, like those made in the style of Egypt by Roman Emperors. Studying these stones helps us learn about history and how people built such big and lasting monuments.

Number

Only about 30 ancient Egyptian obelisks are still around today. Most of them are in places like Italy, with fewer in Egypt itself. Two of the oldest obelisks are from the time of Pharaoh Senusret I, who lived during the Middle Kingdom. Many more obelisks come from the New Kingdom, with some from later times like the Late Period and the Ptolemaic period.

Some famous obelisks have been moved to cities around the world, like the Luxor Obelisk in Paris and the Cleopatra's Needles in London and New York City. Only five obelisks still stand where ancient Egyptian temples once were. The biggest obelisk ever found was never finished, but if it had been, it would have been very tall and very heavy! The most recently put-back-together obelisk is one dedicated to Ramses II in Tahrir Square in Cairo.

List

There are about 30 ancient Egyptian obelisks still standing today, not counting ones made in later times. The oldest ones come from a time called the Middle Kingdom, during the rule of a pharaoh named Senusret I. In addition to these, around 40 pieces of broken obelisks have been found and studied by researchers.

Name	Image	Height (with base)	Pharaoh		Original location	Current location
			Name	Reign		Place (since)	City	Sovereign state
Unfinished obelisk		41.75 m	Hatshepsut	1479–1458 BC	Aswan (in situ)	Stone Quarries, Aswan	Aswan	Egypt
Lateran Obelisk		32.18 m (45.70 m with base)	Thutmose III / Thutmose IV	1479–1425 BC / 1401–1391 BC	Karnak	Lateran Palace	Rome	Italy
Karnak obelisks of Hatshepsut		29.56 m	Hatshepsut	1479–1458 BC	Karnak (in situ)	Karnak Temple	Luxor	Egypt
Vatican obelisk (a.k.a. St Peter's Square obelisk or Caligula's obelisk)		25.5 m (41 m with base)	Unknown	Unknown	Alexandria	St. Peter's Square	Vatican City	Vatican City
Luxor obelisks (Luxor and Paris obelisks)		25.03 m and 22.83 m	Ramesses II	1279–1213 BC	Luxor Temple	Luxor Temple (in situ)	Luxor	Egypt
						Place de la Concorde (1833)	Paris	France
Flaminio Obelisk (a.k.a. Popolo obelisk)		24 m (36.5 m with base)	Seti I / Ramesses II	1294–1279 BC / 1279–1213 BC	Heliopolis	Piazza del Popolo	Rome	Italy
Obelisk of Montecitorio (a.k.a. Solare obelisk)		21.79 m (33.97 m with base)	Psamtik II	595–589 BC	Heliopolis	Piazza di Montecitorio	Rome	Italy
Karnak obelisk of Thutmosis I		21.20 m	Thutmose I	1506–1493 BC	Karnak (in situ)	Karnak	Luxor	Egypt
Cleopatra's Needles (London and New York obelisks)		21.00 m	Thutmose III	1479–1425 BC	Heliopolis (via Alexandria)	Victoria Embankment (1878)	London	United Kingdom
						Central Park (1881)	New York City	United States
Al-Masalla obelisk (a.k.a. Al Mataraiyyah obelisk)		20.40 m	Senusret I	1971–1926 BC	Heliopolis (in situ)	Al-Masalla area of Al-Matariyyah district in Heliopolis	Cairo	Egypt
Obelisk of Theodosius (a.k.a. Istanbul obelisk)		18.54 m (25.6 m with base)	Thutmose III	1479–1425 BC	Karnak	Sultanahmet Square	Istanbul	Turkey
Tahrir obelisk		17 m	Ramesses II	1279–1213 BC	Tanis	Tahrir Square (2020)	Cairo	Egypt
Cairo Airport obelisk		16.97 m	Ramesses II	1279–1213 BC	Tanis	Cairo International Airport (1984)	Cairo	Egypt
Hanging obelisk		15.5 m	Ramesses II	1279–1213 BC	Tanis	Grand Egyptian Museum	Cairo	Egypt
Pantheon obelisk (a.k.a. Macuteo or Rotonda obelisk)		14.52 m (26.34 m with base)	Ramesses II	1279–1213 BC	Heliopolis	Piazza della Rotonda	Rome	Italy
Gezira obelisk		13.5 m (20.4 m with base)	Ramesses II	1279–1213 BC	Tanis	Gezira Island, Cairo	Cairo	Egypt
Abgig obelisk (a.k.a. Crocodilopolis obelisk)		12.70 m	Senusret I	1971–1926 BC	Faiyum (local area, found fallen)	Abgig	Faiyum	Egypt
Philae obelisk		6.70 m	Ptolemy IX	116–107 BC	Philae (Temple of Isis)	Kingston Lacy (1815)	Dorset	United Kingdom
Boboli Obelisk		6.34 m	Ramesses II	1279–1213 BC	Heliopolis (via Rome)	Boboli Gardens (1790)	Florence	Italy
Elephant and Obelisk (a.k.a. Minerveo obelisk)		5.47 m (12.69 m with base)	Apries	589–570 BC	Sais	Piazza della Minerva (Roman period, rediscovered 1665)	Rome	Italy
Abu Simbel obelisks		3.13 m	Ramesses II	1279–1213 BC	Abu Simbel (Great Temple)	Nubian Museum	Aswan	Egypt
Urbino obelisk (a.k.a. Albani obelisk)		3.00 m	Apries	589–570 BC	Sais (via Rome)	Ducal Palace	Urbino	Italy
Poznań obelisk		3.00 m	Ramesses II	1279–1213 BC	Athribis (via Berlin, 1895)	Poznań Archaeological Museum (2002)	Poznań	Poland
Matteiano obelisk (a.k.a. Celimontana obelisk)		2.68 m (12.23 m with base)	Ramesses II	1279–1213 BC	Heliopolis	Villa Celimontana	Rome	Italy
Durham obelisk (a.k.a. Alnwick or Algernon obelisk)		2.15 m	Amenhotep II	1427–1401 BC	unknown (within the Thebaid)	Oriental Museum, University of Durham (1838)	Durham	United Kingdom
Dogali obelisk (a.k.a. Casanatese obelisk)		2 m (6.34 m with base)	Ramesses II	1279–1213 BC	Heliopolis	Baths of Diocletian	Rome	Italy
Abishemu obelisk		1.25 m (1.45 m with base)	Abishemu (King of Byblos)	1800s BC	Temple of the Obelisks	Beirut National Museum	Beirut	Lebanon
Karnak obelisk of Seti II		0.95 m	Seti II	1203–1197 BC	Karnak (in situ)	Karnak	Luxor	Egypt
Luxor obelisk		0.95 m (original est. 3 m)	Ramesses III	1186–1155 BC	Karnak	Luxor Museum (1923)	Luxor	Egypt
Obelisks of Nectanebo II		0.95 m (original est. 5.5 m)	Nectanebo II	360–342 BC	Hermopolis	British Museum	London	United Kingdom