Tuesday, February 05, 2008

 

Here's Another Pointy Thing


It seems like every big city wanted an Egyptian obelisk back in the 19th century, and Mehmet (or Muhammed) Ali, the king of Egypt was making a packet selling them off. I've already told you about the swap where the French got the better end of the deal. Anyhow, there is one in London as well and this one Mehmet Ali sold to the Brits for 10,000 pounds which was a lot of money back then. The oldies found this one on the Victoria Embankment of the Thames, just opposite the London Eye. It is called "Cleopatra's Needle" but Mum assures me that it had nothing to do with Cleopatra. Neither does the one like it in Washington. They were made around 1450 BC in the big quarry at Aswan. Dad says that that is the hottest place he has ever been. They were first set up at Heliopolis near Cairo and later on the Romans moved them to Alexandria. This one was towed to England in a specially-designed boat in 1877. The boat capsized on the way back and lots of salvage money had to be paid before the obelisk reached England. When you travel, keep an eye on all the monuments you pass. It is amazing how many of them are copies (usually a lot smaller) of Egyptian obelisks.

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