The New York Obelisk (1993)

The New York Obelisk or
How Cleopatra's Needle
Came to New York and
What Happened When
It Got Here

The New York Obelisk by Martina D’Alton is published by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (colloquially known as the Met). This harcover book is a reprint of the Museum’s Bulletin from spring 1993 (designed by Michael Shroyer).

As the subtitle says, this book tells us How Cleopatra’s Needle came to New York and What Happened When It Got Here. The main text is divided into eight chapters (and an epilogue), which follow a chronological line:

      1. The Gift

      2. The Plan
      3. In Pharaoh’s Land

      4. Departure
      5. At Sea
      6. Time Capsules

      7. Landfall and Transport

      8. Installation
      9. Epilogue

The book begins with a preface written by Philippe de Montebello (director of the Met 1977-2008) and a prologue which gives the historical background. The book concludes with picture credits and a bibliography. There is no index, but perhaps we do not need an index in a book, which has less than 100 pages.

On page 16 the obelisk is described with the following words:

“Cleopatra’s Needle measures just over sixty-nine feet from base to tip… It weighs anywhere from 193 to 220 tons.” 

 

Moving an ancient monument of this size and weight from Africa to America was a formidable task. Fortunately, it was given to a man who was ready to deal with it. His name was Henry H. Gorringe, and he was a Lieutenant-Commander of the US Navy. He began his task in 1879, and he completed it in 1881, when the obelisk was erected in Central Park, not far from the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

In 1882 he published a detailed account of the project. His book – a stately volume published in folio format – includes some chapters about other Egyptian obelisks (written by his friend and assistant Seaton Schroeder), and therefore it has the title Egyptian Obelisks.

D’Alton’s account relies heavily on his book, as she explains in her prologue:

 

“Gorringe gives a most dignified account of his adventures in Egyptian Obelisks, which he published privately in 1882. The quoted text that follows, unless otherwise noted, is taken from his book. Many of the photographs in his book are also reproduced here. They were largely taken by Edward Bierstadt, brother of Albert Bierstadt, the renowned landscape painter of the American West.”

However, D’Alton also uses many other sources, including contemporary reports and illustrations from newspapers and magazines, and she follows the story of the obelisk into the 20th century.

Two obelisks are known as Cleopatra’s Needles, although the famous queen did not have anything to do with them. They were both commissioned by Thutmose III and erected in Heliopolis ca. 1450 BC. In 13 or 12 BC the Roman Emperor Augustus had them moved from Heliopolis to Alexandria where they were placed in front of the Caesareum, a temple for the deified Caesar. Cleopatra lived in this city. Perhaps this is the reason for the nickname, but it is “probably a fanciful attribution more than anything else,” D’Alton writes, “as Cleopatra died some twenty years before the obelisks arrived in Alexandria.”

Around AD 1300 an earthquake struck the city. One of the obelisks fell to the ground, but did not break, while the other remained standing. In 1877 the prostrate obelisk was removed from Egypt, and the following year it was erected on the embankment of the River Thames in London. In 1879 Gorringe arrived in Alexandria in order to pick up the other obelisk which was still standing.

It was easier said than done. Whenever one problem was solved, another one seemed to present itself, but Gorringe did not give up. He was, as we learn from this account, a man of action and a man of ideas. If there was a problem, he took it as a challenge and found a solution.

The New York Obelisk is a great book: the text is well written; the illustrations are numerous and they are well chosen. I have almost nothing to complain about, but I have to mention a few minor flaws:

(1) When was Gorringe born? The text on page 10 says 1840 (which is false), while the caption to the picture on page 11 says 1841 (which is correct). He died in 1885, the result of a freak accident.

(2) The caption to an illustration on page 18 says:

“Launching the Cleopatra, which was specially built to carry the London obelisk under tow from Alexandria to England, September 7, 1878.”

 

The year (1878) must be a misprint, because the Cleopatra left Alexandria for England in September 1877.

(3) The caption to an illustration on page 21 mentions the bronze sea crabs, which the Romans placed under the four corners of the obelisk, when it was erected in Alexandria; and the picture on page 22 shows the Greek inscription on the outside of the only remaining original claw. But the bibliography does not include A. C. Merriam’s book about this ancient item: The Greek and Latin Inscriptions on the Obelisk-Crab in the Metropolitan Museum (1883).

(4) The caption to the illustration on page 39 includes a long quotation from the New York Herald (21 July 1879) about the Dessoug, which carried the obelisk across the Atlantic Ocean. The year (1879) must be a misprint, because the Dessoug arrived in New York in July 1880.

(5) The map on page 55 shows the route the obelisk followed in Manhattan. It is good to have a map, but the size is so small that you need a magnifying glass to read the names of the streets. Why is the map so small?

These flaws are unfortunate, but as you can see, they are minor, and therefore I am not going to complain about them.

If you are interested in history - especially a combination of ancient and modern history - I am sure you will enjoy this slim volume about the Egyptian obelisk in Central Park.

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Martina D'Alton,

The New York Obelisk or

How Clepopatra's Needle Came to New York and

What Happened When It Got Here,

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1993, 72 pages

 

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This colour picture from the back cover of the book shows the

New York obelisk in Central Park, AD 1993.

 

 

The Metropolitan Museum of Art and the ancient Egyptian obelisk in Central Park,

a sweeping bird's eye view, ca. 1928 (from page 70).

 

 

The Scottish painter David Roberts (1796-1864) made this drawing of the two obelisks
commonly known as Cleopatra's Needles in Alexandria during a visit to Egypt in 1838.

The drawing is borrowed from Wkipedia.

 

The prostrate obelisk (in the foreground) was removed from Egypt in 1877.
It was re-erected on the embankment of the River Thames in London in 1878.

 

Notice the five persons sitting on the prostrate obelisk, which is partially buried by sand.

They indicate the size of the obelisk.

 

The standing obelisk (in the background) was taken down in 1879 and removed
from Egypt in 1880. It was re-erected in New York Central Park in 1881.

Notice the five persons standing at at the foot of the obelisk.

They indicate the size of the obelisk.

 

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