Cleopatra's Needle

About Cleopatra's Needle

Ancient Egyptian obelisk in London

Cleopatra's Needle in London is an ancient Egyptian obelisk standing on the Victoria Embankment beside the Thames in the City of Westminster, one of a pair known together as Cleopatra's Needles that were moved from the ruins of the Caesareum of Alexandria in the 19th century, its twin now standing in New York. The obelisk was originally carved in the ancient city of Heliopolis for the Temple of Atum and inscribed by Thutmose III and later Ramesses II of the New Kingdom; the Romans moved it to Alexandria in 12 BC, where it remained for over 1,800 years, so its only link with Cleopatra is the name. It was presented to the Prince Regent in 1819 by the ruler of Egypt, Muhammad Ali, as a diplomatic gift marking British victories over the French in Egypt at the Battle of the Nile in 1798 and the Battle of Alexandria in 1801, but the British government declined to pay for its transport, so it stayed in Alexandria until 1877, when it was shipped inside a floating iron cylinder. On the voyage the vessel capsized in a storm in the Bay of Biscay, six crewmen died and the needle was thought lost, but Spanish trawlers found it afloat a few days later and it reached London on 21 January 1878, to be erected on its present site that year. The obelisk is flanked by two Victorian bronze sphinxes bearing shrapnel scars from First World War bombing, and the stone shows the wear of London's damp climate. For Arab visitors it is a piece of Egypt on the bank of the Thames worth a short pause.

Where:

London, United Kingdom