Cleopatra's Needle (New York City) facts for kids
Cleopatra's Needle in New York City is a tall, ancient Egyptian stone pillar called an obelisk. It is one of three famous obelisks with this name. This one stands in Central Park, near the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Manhattan. It was put up on January 22, 1881.
The obelisk was given to the United States in May 1877 by the Khedive (ruler) of Egypt. This gift was arranged by Judge Elbert E. Farman, who was the U.S. representative in Cairo. Egypt gave the gift because the U.S. stayed neutral (didn't pick sides) when European countries like France and Britain were trying to gain control of the Egyptian government.
This obelisk is made of red granite. It is about 21 metres (69 ft) tall and weighs around 200 tons. It has Egyptian hieroglyphs carved all over it. These carvings tell stories and record history.
The obelisk was first put up in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis in 1475 BC. This was ordered by Thutmose III, an ancient Egyptian pharaoh. The granite stone came from the quarries of Aswan, near the Nile River. About 200 years later, Ramesses II added more carvings to celebrate his military wins.
Later, around 12 BCE, the Romans moved the obelisks to Alexandria. They were placed in a temple called the Caesareum. This temple was built by Cleopatra to honor Mark Antony or Julius Caesar. The obelisks fell over at some point. This actually helped protect their carved sides from weather damage.
Contents
How New York Got the Obelisk
The idea for New York City to get an Egyptian obelisk started in March 1877. Newspapers in New York reported on how the London obelisk was being moved. They mistakenly said that the Khedive of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha, had offered the remaining Alexandria obelisk to the U.S. as a gift for more trade.
If Paris had one and London was to get one, why should not New York get one?
Mr. John Dixon, who moved the London obelisk, said the newspaper stories were wrong. However, in March 1877, Mr. Henry G. Stebbins from New York City's Department of Public Parks decided to try and get money to move an obelisk to New York. When railroad leader William Henry Vanderbilt was asked to help, he offered to pay for the whole project himself. He donated over US$100,000 (equivalent to $2,748,125 in 2022)!
Stebbins then sent letters to the Khedive through the U.S. government. These letters went to Judge Farman in Cairo. Judge Farman realized he might be able to get one of the two remaining standing obelisks. One was in Luxor (the mate to the Paris obelisk), and the other was in Alexandria (the mate to the London one). Judge Farman officially asked the Khedive in March 1877. By May 1877, he had secured the gift in writing.
Where the Obelisk Was Placed
The obelisk was placed in a quiet spot behind the museum. Henry Honychurch Gorringe, who oversaw the move, and William Henry Hurlbert, who helped plan it, chose the spot. Frederic Edwin Church, a co-founder of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, also helped choose the location in 1879.
Gorringe wrote that they kept the location a secret to avoid arguments. He noted that the chosen spot, called the Knoll, was good because it was "isolated." It was also high up, and its foundation could be strongly set into the bedrock. This would keep it safe even if there was a "violent convulsion of nature" in Manhattan.
Moving the Obelisk to New York
Moving the huge obelisk from Alexandria to New York was a very difficult job. It was given to Henry Honychurch Gorringe, a lieutenant commander from the U.S. Navy.
First, the 200-ton granite obelisk had to be carefully moved from standing upright to lying flat. It almost crashed to the ground during this process! In August 1879, the moving was stopped for two months because of local protests and legal issues. Once these were solved, the obelisk was moved seven miles to Alexandria.
Then, it was loaded into the steamship SS Dessoug. The ship had a large hole cut into its side to fit the obelisk. The obelisk was rolled into the ship's hull using cannonballs. The Dessoug set sail on June 12, 1880.
Even with a broken propeller, the SS Dessoug made it to the United States. The obelisk and its 50-ton base arrived in New York in early July 1880. It took 32 horses, hitched in pairs, to pull it from the East River banks to Central Park. Railroad tracks had to be temporarily removed, and the ground flattened. This allowed the obelisk to be rolled out of the ship, which had its side cut open again.
The obelisk was taken up the East River and then to a temporary spot near Fifth Avenue. The last part of the journey involved pushing the obelisk with a steam engine. It went across a special bridge built from Fifth Avenue to its new home on Greywacke Knoll, right across from the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It took 112 days to move the obelisk from the Quarantine Station to its final resting place.
On October 2, 1880, the cornerstone for the obelisk was laid. This was done with a special ceremony by the Masons, a fraternal organization. Over 9,000 Masons marched up Fifth Avenue, and more than 50,000 people watched. Henry Honychurch Gorringe built a special structure to help stand the obelisk upright. The official ceremony for putting up the obelisk was held on February 22, 1881.
The Hieroglyphs
The surface of the stone is very worn, and the Egyptian hieroglyphs carved on all sides are hard to see. However, old photographs from when the obelisk was first put in the park show that the carvings were still very clear.
These hieroglyphs date from two different times. Some were carved by Thutmose III (1479–1425 BC). Others were added almost 300 years later by Ramesses II the Great (1279–1213 BC). The stone had stood in the dry Egyptian desert air for nearly 3,000 years and had hardly worn down. But in just over a century in New York City's climate, pollution and acid rain have badly damaged its surface.
In 2010, Dr. Zahi Hawass, a famous Egyptian archaeologist, wrote an open letter. He asked the Central Park Conservancy and the Mayor of New York City to do more to protect the obelisk. He even said that if they couldn't care for it properly, he would try to "bring this precious artifact home and save it from ruin."
Hidden Objects
A time capsule was buried beneath the Obelisk. It contains several interesting items:
- An 1870 U.S. census (a count of the population)
- A Bible
- A Webster's Dictionary
- The complete works of William Shakespeare
- A guide to Egypt
- A copy of the United States Declaration of Independence
A small box was also placed in the capsule by the man who arranged the Obelisk's purchase and transportation. What's inside that box remains a mystery!
See also
In Spanish: Aguja de Cleopatra (Nueva York) para niños
