European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - July 27, 1990, Darmstadt, Hesse Egypt obelisks by mim1 Mann associated press the ancient obelisks of Egypt Are an endangered species a scattered to the ends of the Earth modern construction ravaged by time and pollution and vandals. Even in Egypt the few remaining obelisks Are overshadowed by almost every other kind of Monument a tombs columns pyramids statues in Cairo a Tower built in 1962 for a revolving restaurant that does t revolve gets More attention than the 3,250-year-Otd gezira obelisk at its base. Scores of obelisks once guarded entry into Egypt s sacred temples. Only four of them still stand in their original slots. Many were taken out of the country and others were toppled by earthquakes or desecrated by conquering armies. The oldest standing obelisk in the world dates from the reign of pharaoh sesostris i 4,000 years ago at the site of the Temple of the Sun god a Home of the Phoenix in ancient Heliopolis. Now enveloped by apartment houses it rises from a Small Park in a bustling crowded Cairo suburb. The largest surviving obelisk 97 feet High and weighing 323 tons was built 3,700 years ago by Queen Hatshepsut for the Karnak Temple Complex in Luxor 450 Miles South of Cairo. It is still there and a smaller More damaged obelisk belonging to her father Tut Mosis i stands nearby. For the most part both Are ignored by thousands of tourists who visit the site daily. They prefer to photograph the immense decorated columns and monumental statues erected 150 years later by pharaoh Ramses ii. Egypt s most famous survivor is Ramses own obelisk at the Entrance to nearby Luxor Temple. It is leaning and some experts say in danger of toppling. Its twin stands in Paris place de la concorde. It was a gift to trance from Egypt. France reciprocated with a Small clock placed in a courtyard adjacent to Mohammed Ali mosque in Cairo s Citadel the obelisks sleek and sensual Beauty captivated roman emperors scouring their egyptian Domain for exotic trophies. In ancient times they were in such demand As trophies of Triumph that roman emperors hauled away at least 13 to Grace Public places in Rome known As the City of obelisks. Augustus Caesar whose 44-year reign began in 30 b.c., began the trend by taking one obelisk for Rome s circus Maximus another for the Field of Mars. Fifteen Hundred years ago the emperor Theodosius erected an obelisk in the new byzantine capital constantinople today s Istanbul. The last obelisk to leave Egypt was destined for new York City s Central Park. It was erected with much fanfare on feb. 22, 1881. Ravaged by the City s corrosive fumes it has suffered More from Contact with the modern world than any of the others. The Central Park obelisk and its twin were moved in Antiquity from the a Temple to the Mediterranean port of Alexandria. I lie other now the ancient obelisk on Cairo s gezira Island is dwarfed by the apartment houses in the background. Stands beside the River thames in London in the obelisks of Egypt the late Labib Hibachi Egypt s greatest authority defined an obelisk As Quot a four sided single piece of Stone standing upright gradually tapering As it rises and terminating in a Small Pyramid called a they were sacred he wrote carved from Granite Basalt or quartzite and decorated with hieroglyphs. Hibachi s american protege Egypt Logist Cynthia May sheikholislami says obelisks Are among the least understood relics of ancient Egypt. Quot they became one of the most characteristic and unique egyptian symbols Quot sheikholislami says. Quot but we Don t know for certain what they were for. Quot in ancient times obelisks a at least their Pyramid ions a May have been covered with Gold or Electrum an Alloy of Gold and Silver reflecting the Sun s rays. They would have been nobody knows when the first obelisks appeared. Pharaohs of the fifth Dot Nasty ardent Sun worshippers whose period began almost 4,500 years ago Are thought to have been the first to decorate their temples with obelisks in pairs. Sheikholislami says some May have been put up to celebrate pharaohs anniversaries others their victories. Small obelisks were erected at tombs. Cairo did t get around to erecting an obelisk for show until 1958, it was a Needle of Rose coloured Granite that was shipped upstream from the ancient Nile Delta City of Tanis to gezira Island in the heart of the capital. True to form the Island now is famous not for its 47vj-foot-tall obelisk but for Cairo Tower soaring 594 feet just behind. Quot when we brought it to gezira we had no idea that the Cairo Tower a Ould be built behind it Quot Egypt Logist Kamal Al a a lakh a prime mover behind the project said shortly before his death in 1987. Quot if we had known we would t have done it. The obelisk is National antiquities officials spent $1.2 million in 1984 to place an ancient obelisk at Cairo International Airport. It s lost too because most flights land and leave Cairo in the 24 stripes mag amp Ine a
