Cleopatra's Needle

About

Cleopatra's Needle in London is one of a pair of obelisks, together named Cleopatra's Needles, that were moved from the ruins of the Caesareum of Alexandria, in Egypt, in the 19th century. Inscribed by Thutmose III and later Ramesses II of the Egyptian New Kingdom, the obelisk was moved in 12 BC to Alexandria, where it remained for over 1,800 years. It was presented to the Prince Regent in 1819 by the ruler of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, as a diplomatic gift to mark British victories over the French in Egypt, namely the Battle of the Nile in 1798 and the Battle of Alexandria in 1801. Although the British government welcomed the gesture, it declined to pay to move the obelisk to London. It was subsequently erected in the West End of London on the Victoria Embankment in Westminster, in 1878.

The obelisk was originally erected in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis on the orders of Thutmose III, around 1450 BC. It is made of red granite, brought from the quarries of Aswan, near the first cataract of the Nile. Thutmose III had a single column of text carved on each face, these were translated by E. A. Wallis Budge. Other inscriptions were added about 200 years later by Ramesses II to...