| Blogs > Beth1949 > MY WISH AND MY PLEA |
|
THE OBELISKS OF EGYPT Obelisks in Egypt For as many as 6000 yrs ago, Egypt has been a place where the answers to secrets lay hidden. Because the answers to how the Egyptians constructed and created their architecture remains elusive to most, throughout history, people misconstrue how they believe these creations came to be. What have they uncovered about the Obelisks in Egypt? ~~The term “obelisk” comes from the Greek word “Obeliskos”, which means a pointed nail. It is a tall, tapering, four sided structure ending at a pointed head. It was called Tenjen in the language of Ancient Egypt, and meant protection and defense. The Obelisk was thought to perforate the clouds and disperse the negative forces. It is said to represent a petrified ray of the sun-disk. Egyptian temples usually had a pair of Obelisks flanking the main gateway at the pylon. Many of these Obelisks still survive, on site as well as in different places across the world. The earliest temple Obelisk is the red granite Obelisk at the temple of Senusret I, at Al-Matarriyah part of Heliopolis. ~~A large number of the obelisks that were created in ancient Egypt were erected in Heliopolis. Heliopolis was the center of the city. It had temples, obelisks and many other places to worship the Ra and other Egyptian gods. The Egyptians worshiped these gods with the intention of securing a path to the afterlife. ~~The ancient Egyptians were notorious for their extravagant creations. From the Pyramids to their Pottery and Hieroglyphics, they never cease to amaze. The creation of Obelisks were a great feat by man, especially 6,000 years ago. In fact, the Egyptians were very adapt at creating their monuments and utilizing the resources available to them. How were the Obelisks Created? For decades, historians have tried to piece together how the Egyptians created and erected the obelisks. There have been tools and other physical evidence to prove how it was done. The Egyptians first began to chip away at a solid piece of red granite with rocks made out of a very hard substance called diorite. This was a tedious and lengthy process for a very small gain. Hundreds of workers would chip away at their own section until it only stood on a small sliver of granite. The workers would then rock it back and forth until it broke free. The Egyptians smoothed the edged using sand in between their diorite rocks. The small, hard materials in the sand made a good smoothing tool for the four faces of the obelisk as well as for carving out perfectly cut hieroglyphics. For this task they would also use copper tools. While copper was an effective tool, it required constant sharpening. All of this was done before the obelisk was raised off the ground. All around the obelisk were hieroglyphic texts marked names of the Pharaohs and worships to the Sun God. The top of the Obelisks called pyramid ion, were sometimes sheathed with copper or some other metal or gold which caught the reflected rays of the sun. The Obelisk of Queen Hatshepsut at Karnack is one of the most famous Obelisks of all. It is located at the Temple of Amun. It is the tallest in Egypt and made of red granite. Twenty nine Egyptian Obelisks are known to have survived till date, there is also the “unfinished Obelisk” found at a quarry in Aswan. The three famous obelisks recreated at New York, Paris and London are together called Cleopatra's Needle. By the time of the pre dynastic cults these Obelisks arose as the Great Sacred Stones which were placed in the center of the temple and worshiped as the Sun God Ra. These monuments symbolize the stability and strength held by the Sun God Ra. The Egyptians believed that the solar rays brought great power to the world, even to the dead lying in graves which would in turn benefit their afterlife. There are obelisks in Assyria, Ethiopia, Rome, Byzantine, Columbia, in Paris, in London and in New York , these obelisks were offered as gifts to these countries very long time ago and they are called " Cleopatra's Needle" . The tallest obelisk in Egypt and in the world is the one of Queen Hatshepsut (1473 -1458 BC). It is 97 feet tall and weighs approximately 320 tons (some sources say 700 tons). An inscription at its base indicates that the work of cutting the monolith out of the quarry required seven months of labor. Nearby stands a smaller obelisk erected by Tuthmosis I (1504 - 1492 BC). It is 75 feet high, has sides 6 feet wide at its base, and weighs between 143 and 160 tons. Hatshepsut raised four obelisks at Karnak, only one of which still stands. The Egyptian obelisks were always carved from single pieces of stone, usually pink granite from the distant quarries at Aswan, but exactly how they were transported hundreds of miles and then erected without block and tackle remains a mystery. Of the hundreds of obelisks that once stood in Egypt, only nine now stand; ten more lay broken, victims of conquerors, or of the religious fanaticism of competing cults. The rest are buried or have been carried away to foreign lands where they stand in the central parks and museum concourses of New York, Paris, London, Rome, Istanbul and other cities. The first and only tallest obelisk in Egypt (and in the world), is the Queen Hatshepsut (1473 -1458 BC) obelisk. It is 97 feet tall and weighs approximately 320 tons (some sources say 700 tons). The second one is, Tuthmosis I (1504 - 1492 BC). It is 75 feet high, has sides 6 feet wide at its base, and weighs about 160 tons. The 3rd one is, the obelisk of Thutmose I (c.1493-1479 B.C.E.). It is 71 feet/21.7 meters in height, sits on a base 6 feet/1.8 meters square, and weighs about 143 tons. I hope my above info and the photos, have given you a good insight of the Obelisks of the Pharaohs of Egypt . Thank you for your read and views. Wishing you an enjoyable time. Lisa,              |
|||
|
I wonder about the skill, the time taken, the tools, the elevation of such huge unit and their survival during all those thousands of years. 
| ||
|
Dan hi and welcome, You are welcome with a great pleasure to my blog, DanDee. I thank you for your visit and your nice comments which I appreciate so much. I am very interested in Egyptology as well, I have been to Egypt lots of times and I have also visited all these historical, be it the Cairo famous Museum, the Pyramids, in which I have also gone into the Pharaohs chamber, the Temples in Luxor and of course I have admired the famous Egyptian Obelisks. And the Valley of the Kings as well. These are wonders which we cannot find anywhere else, believe me. I don't know if you have ever visited Egypt and these famous places or I wish one day you find this opportunity to do so. You won't regret it am sure. Thanks again DanDee, I wish you all my best and a great week. Lisa,
| ||
|
Well, well, well, Bob hi and welcome too, Thanks greatly for your presence and your personal comments as well. I may remind you here, that the theme of my above blog is not mainly about the Tallest obelisks of the world but about The Egyptian Obelisks which are dated and done thousands of years BC. And made from one whole piece of granite, the work of cutting the monolith out of the quarry, the granite quarry in Aswan, Egypt. With such a length, the shape, the inscriptions in Hieroglyphics on all sides, from top to bottom, the simple tools used at that era and the way they were lifted and fixed on each base, are really not comparable to those obelisks done even a few centuries ago. You have one of the Egyptian obelisks, donated by the rulers to America and placed in Park Garden in New York, Check it out sometime, Bob. They are incomparable to even the tallest obelisk in the world., which were done in reference to the ancient Egyptians ones. The obelisk which is in Washington, maybe taller but since only 1884, and it is made by a mixture of several materials, such as: marble, granite, and bluestone gneiss, but not by a Whole piece of pure granite, cut and made since nearly 6000 yrs ago. Is there any such special inscription carved from top to bottom on each side of that Washington monument or is it just a plain piece? This is the real and proven differences too. One may built an obelisk of even 1000 ft high nowadays or in the future but none would have the same fame, worth and history as these ancient Egyptian Obelisks. Thank you again for your input Bob. I wish you and yours, a pleasant day. Lisa,
| ||
|
Very interesting information and photos, as always. Amazing and advanced civilization as well as the Mayans. Sometimes I wonder where the Mayas came from ... Did they have influence from other cultures, like the Egyptian? They are not as older as Egyptian culture, I guess (1500 and less BC). So far, there are no accurate theories ... Thank you Lisa. Every day I learn something more...    Trust in dreams, for in them is hidden the gate to eternity.(Khalil Gibran)
| ||
|
JKH, (Jack) hi, So pleased as usual, reading from you JKH. You are so regular in visiting my blogs and posting your nice comments too. Thank you for that and also for your appreciation as well. That's right, those ancient Egyptians were very skillful and their work for multi-millenniums now, are the wonders of the world. Thanks once more JKH, enjoy a joyful day. Lisa,
| ||
|
Lucy, my dear friend, hello, What a great joy for your visit and your nice comments on my blogs, Lucy. Thank you for your appreciation and for your input as well. I haven't yet documented about the Mayans but I know they are also a very ancient civilization and they have their wonders as well. However all these historical cultures and civilizations, we can't deny neither defy them but we should admire and learn from them, and from the heritage they have left for us and the generation to come. Thanks again Lucy, I wish you and all of yours, a wonderful day. Lisa,
| ||
|
Tom, hi and welcome, Thanks for you visit and your meaningful input which I appreciate so much. You are absolutely right in all of what you've mentioned above in your first comment. Thank you so much for your agreeable compliments too. I am aware of the "Unfinished obelisk" which has remained in the pit of the granite quarry, this was due to some cracks that happened during shaping it. I also have that photo but I couldn't include it due to the limited space on here. It has been left on that site and now for a tourist attraction. It is a wondrous site on how those people could dig that deep from the rocky area, to get the full length and size of that granite obelisk. I will do my best to post that pic if I can or else it will be on another blog. Thank you gratefully again Tom. Have a nice snowy day if it is, but keep warm. Lisa,
| ||
|
Tom, welcome back again, I appreciate very much your info referring to Glumo query. As I haven't yet documented about the Mayans but I know briefly about their civilization. I thank you greatly for you above explanation. It is a plus for us. This is a way to acquire more knowledge also. Thanks again Tom. Enjoy a great day, With my kind regards, Lisa,
| ||
|
Interesting. It amazes me how much they accomplished with their simple tools, and how these things remained intact all these years. Thank you for a great blog. Be a prism, spreading God's light and love, not a mirror reflecting the world's hatred.
| ||
|
MrsJoe hi and welcome, Thank you for your visit and your nice comments which I so much appreciate. You are quite right in your thinking. It is really amazing how those builders with their simple tools could shape such marvelous obelisks at that era and amazing moreover how they are still intact since all these millenniums. Thank you so much MrsJoe for appreciating this blog of mine. I wish you and MrJoe, a very pleasant day . With my kind regards. Lisa,
|
×
×