How many obelisk

Twenty-eight Egyptian obelisks remain standing, though only six of them are in Egypt. The rest are scattered across the globe, either gifts from the Egyptian government or plunder by foreign invaders. Around B. He knew that at noon on the Summer Solstice , obelisks in the city of Swenet modern day Aswan would cast no shadow because the sun would be directly overhead or zero degrees up.

He also knew that at that very same time in Alexandria, obelisks did cast shadows. Measuring that shadow against the tip of the obelisk, he came to the conclusion that the difference in degrees between Alexandria and Swenet: seven degrees, 14 minutes—one-fiftieth the circumference of a circle.

He applied the physical distance between the two cities and concluded that the circumference of the Earth was in modern units 40, kilometers. If we apply Eratosthenes's formula today, we get a number astonishingly close to the actual circumference of the Earth. In fact, even his inexact figure was more precise than the one used by Christopher Columbus years later.

An ancient Egyptian would have called an obelisk a tekhen. The obelisk at the center of Place de la Concorde, for example, is monolithic. It is years old and once marked the entrance to the Temple of Thebes in Egypt. Nobody knows exactly why obelisks were built, or even how. Granite is really hard—a 6.

While there are many hypotheses, nobody knows precisely how they did it. According to the ancient Egyptian myths of creation ' cosmogonies ' , in the beginning, there was a primordial ocean of nothingness called Nu. Among these cosmogonies, the Heliopolitan account describes how the first thing to ever arise from these waters was a mound of earth — the so-called Primordial Hill. This mound is clearly inspired by the fertile hills that emerged from the waters of the Nile every year after the annual flood began to recede and the crop-growing season approached.

The Benben is actually the icon, the magical representation of the Primordial Hill. According to Almansa-Villatoro, the Benben was likely an actual mound-shaped monument that residents of Heliopolis worshipped. The Egyptian myths of the creation are multiple and sometimes contradictory. The myth that incorporates the Primordial Hill, and thus the Benben, is the Heliopolitan myth. Heliopolis was the city of worship of the sun god Ra and his many manifestations.

One significant feature found on many of the original obelisks is their decorative flair. As scholars in the modern world have studied their hieroglyphs inscribed on most, but not all, obelisks , and their architectural and cultural context, they have learned much about the ancient obelisks. But one thing many of us may not consider when it comes to objects weighing in at several hundred tons is that they can, in fact, migrate with the help of human hands, that is.

While the honor of the world's tallest obelisk belongs to the Washington Monument standing feet, or meters, tall , Long believes the most famous obelisk on the planet is likely the Vatican Obelisk at the center of Rome's St. Peter's Square. Peter's to the front where it now stands," she says.

Long says the dramatic transport process was fraught with danger and celebrated all around Italy when it was accomplished. We can marvel at it today both because of Fontana's lucid explanations and the illuminating illustrations showing the steps and the machinery used for the move. While obelisks are rich in meaning and historical significance, their main attraction may really be their awe-inspiring aesthetics.

They are immensely heavy, but also fragile. They are the oldest or among the oldest human-made structures that exist in whichever city you find them.

They display a subtle geometry. Block out the traffic noise, and other distractions, and spend some time looking at the obelisk, walking around it if you can , observing the hieroglyphs, the pyramidion pointing to the sun. Immensely heavy monuments that are also transportable, they connect us to an ancient past, but can be deeply moving in the present as well.

It was erected in Central Park on January 22, , after having been sold to the United States by the Egyptian government. Sign up for our Newsletter!