On this day in 1878, ‘Cleopatra’s Needle’ was erected on the Victoria Embankment in London. It is one of a pair of ancient Egyptian obelisks now in London and New York.
The obelisk was originally erected in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis on the orders of Thutmose III, around 1450 BC. It is of 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. Other inscriptions were added about 200 years later by Ramesses II to commemorate his military victories: these are in two columns on each face, flanking the original inscriptions. The obelisks were moved to Alexandria and set up in the Caesareum, a temple built by Cleopatra in honor of Mark Antony or Julius Caesar by the Romans in 12 BC, during the reign of Augustus.
The removal of the obelisks from Egypt was presided over by Isma’il Pasha, who had greatly indebted the Khedivate of Egypt during its rapid modernization. The London needle was presented to the United Kingdom in 1819, but remained in Alexandria until 1877 when Sir William James Erasmus Wilson, a distinguished anatomist and dermatologist, sponsored its transportation to London. In the same year, Elbert E. Farman, the then-United States Consul General at Cairo, secured the other needle for the United States.
The obelisk was transported to London with great difficulty and erected on the Victoria Embankment on 12 September 1878. Cleopatra’s Needle is flanked by two faux-Egyptian sphinxes, designed by the English architect George John Vulliamy. The sphinxes are cast in bronze and bear hieroglyphic inscriptions that say netjer nefer men-kheper-re di ankh, which translates as “the good god, Thuthmosis III given life”. These sphinxes appear to be looking at the Needle rather than guarding it, due to the sphinxes’ improper or backwards installation. During World War I, a bomb from a German air raid landed near the needle. the damage remains unrepaired to this day and is clearly visible in the form of shrapnel holes and gouges on the western sphinx.
The western side of Cleopatra’s Needle in the City of Westminster, London.
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Today is the birthday, in 1943, of American folk and blues singer Maria Muldaur, who had the 1974 US No.6 & UK No.21 single ‘Midnight At The Oasis’. The song was nominated for both Record of the Year and Song of the Year at the 17th Annual Grammy Awards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8bjzuSO27fA
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