Why does rome have egyptian obelisks

After reaching safety at the port of Ostia , other ships specially-made to cruise the Tiber received the monoliths. This, unsurprisingly, would leave gathering throngs of provincial onlookers awestruck. Even after the successful delivery and erection of obelisks, the vessels that had transported them were treated with almost equal admiration.

Caligula had one ship involved in the transport of his Egyptian obelisk, which is today the centerpiece of Vatican City, on display in the Bay of Naples for a time. Unfortunately, it fell victim to one of many infamous conflagrations that ravaged Italian cities in that period.

Every Egyptian obelisk is propped up on a base. And though they are certainly less interesting to look at, bases often have a more compelling story to tell than the obelisks themselves. In other instances, they were written in such a way that their meaning was intentionally indiscernible. The Egyptian obelisk that currently stands on the Piazza Navona is an example of this.

It was commissioned by Domitian to be crafted in Egypt. He gave explicit direction that both its shaft and base were inscribed with Middle Egyptian hieroglyphics. And in no uncertain terms, these monoliths anointed ancient Rome as the inheritance of Egypt. Not only Roman emperors but also French kings and American billionaires went on to procure them in later history.

The French were the global superpower of the day, and Ali intended to tighten Franco-Egyptian relations with this gesture. It took more than two years and 2. Then it traveled from Toulon through the Strait of Gibraltar and up the Atlantic, finally debarking in Cherbourg.

Today it stands on the Place de la Concorde. Needless to say, one long and expensive journey was enough for the French. They never returned to pick up the other half of the pair, which still stands at Luxor. In the following century, the Egyptian government advertised the availability of two Alexandrian obelisks on the condition that the recipients fetched them.

One went to the Brits. The other was offered to the Americans. When William H. Vanderbilt heard of the opportunity he pounced.

He promised any sum of money to get the remaining obelisk back to New York. In his letters negotiating the deal, Vanderbilt took a very Roman attitude toward acquiring the monolith: he said something to the effect that if Paris and London each had one, New York would need one too.

Almost two millennia later, the possession of an Egyptian obelisk was still regarded as a great legitimizer of empires. The ancients saw this as a way of welcoming the sun god Ra into their world in the morning and wishing him well on his nocturnal adventure at sunset. The Egyptians always erected their obelisks in pairs , adhering to their belief in balance and harmony. The Romans later followed suit - both the Quirinal and the Esquiline obelisks once stood outside the Mausoleum of Augustus , for example.

It was more because the Romans were nothing if not suckers for tradition. As well as serving a religious purpose, obelisks were also practical. The ancients used them as sun-dials - as primitive yet practical means of telling the time, with the movement of the sun casting a shadow that indicated the approximate time of day. Rome moved slowly into Egyptian territory, carrying out an insidious political takeover rather than an all-out invasion. During the late Roman Republic last two centuries BC , the Romans forged alliances with the Egyptian ruling family, the Ptolemies , whose lineage stretched back to the time of Alexander the Great died BC.

By the time of Julius Caesar and his rival Pompey Magnus, Roman influence in the Mediterranean had grown to such an extent that they were the dominant power. When Caesar first arrived in Alexandria in the 1st century BC, he embarked on a steamy love affair with its queen Cleopatra , even fathering her child - Caesarian. After his death, his general, Mark Antony followed suit, living out a whirlwind romance with Cleopatra that led to both of their deaths and the establishment of one-man-rule in Rome.

In terms of propaganda, it was fantastic to have relics from such an ancient and once-powerful civilization dotted across the imperial capital.

Forgot your password? Lost your password? Please enter your email address. You will receive mail with link to set new password. Call Now Whatsapp. Read below to find out. FAQs What do the obelisks in Rome represent? Why does Rome have Egyptian obelisks? Something people often ask us on our Rome guided tours is why the city has so many Egyptian obelisks. Both the Greeks and Romans always associated Egypt with exoticism and adventure.

Egypt was ancient even by their standards remember the Great Pyramids were further apart in time from Cleopatra than Cleopatra is from us today. More than the Great Pyramids of Gaza and the famous Sphinx at Thebes, Egypt boasted an incredible wealth of history, culture, and imperial prestige. And the Romans , militaristic as they were, admired nothing more than a strong, successful empire. Did Ancient Rome conquer Egypt? Talk about a bad romance. Written by Alexander Meddings.

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Let us take you on a journey off the beaten path to discover the hidden side of the city that so few ever get to see. Sustainability About Rome What to do in Rome. Payment Methods:. Not surprising really given that this is at the public heart of the Vatican City. Another monument also features prominently in these images; and that is the obelisk that stands at the centre of the square. But, why does the Vatican have a four thousand year old Egyptian obelisk?

There are a number of Egyptian obelisks standing in Rome , in fact eight of them a further five obelisks were made by Roman stonecutters. There are more erect obelisks from Egypt in Rome than there are anywhere else in the World, including Egypt.

They were all brought to Rome by various Roman Emperors. Sadly, little is known of its origins or which Pharaoh ordered its construction, because it has no hieroglyphs on it that would record that information. It was certainly quarried in Egypt and intended to be erected in Heliopolis.

It was the largest non-inscribed obelisk to leave Egypt, at Much of this circus is under under the basilica and square, the original spot for the obelisk is near the present-day sacristy, south of the basilica red marker on the map below. It took thirteen months, between and to move and re-erect the obelisk.