In fact, the city of Rome alone has more obelisks than the entire country of Egypt. Rome also has the largest ancient obelisk in the world, which was modified by the addition of a Christian cross at the top:.
So next time you see one of these wonders of the ancient world, carved from a single block of stone over 3, years ago, remember that they come from Egypt and probably represent Ra, the sun god, as a ray of sunlight shining down from a point in the sky. They were monuments to the fusion of earthly and divine power. If creating an artistically designed, architectural masterpiece out of several hundred tons of stone sounds impossibly challenging, that's because it nearly was.
The fact that these original structures were monolithic — meaning they were carved from one single piece of stone — makes them distinct from more modern variations. There are obelisk-shaped masonry structures such as the Washington Monument in Washington, D. According to experts, obelisks were often associated with the ancient Egyptian sun god, Ra. But their meaning may go even deeper. 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. During the Roman Empire, many obelisks were shipped from Egypt to what is today Italy.
It weighs approximately tons and is the largest ancient obelisk that exists to this day. In the late 19 th century, the government of Egypt gifted one obelisk to the United States, and one to Great Britain.
The best example of a modern obelisk is the well-known Washington Monument completed in It embodies the awe and respect of the nation for its most essential founding father, George Washington. There are several interpretations of the symbolic meaning of obelisks, the majority of which is related to religion, because they come from Egyptian temples. The obelisks of ancient Egypt represented benben or the original mound upon which the god stood and created the world.
For this reason, the obelisk was associated with the benu bird, the Egyptian predecessor of the Greek phoenix. Just as its cry would signal the beginning of the creative cycle, the bird would sound again to signal its conclusion. Later, the benu bird was linked to the sun god Ra, also known as Amun-Ra and Amun, symbolizing life and light.
The sun god appeared as a ray of sunlight coming from the sky. The sunray shining down from a point in the sky resembled the shape of an obelisk. In the context of the Egyptian solar god, the obelisk also symbolizes resurrection. The oldest obelisks are almost impossibly old—ancient even by the standards of antiquity.
First conceived in , the Washington Monument took decades to build. It is, by law, the tallest structure in the District of Columbia, and is twice as tall as any other obelisk in the world. Gordon notes that it stands unique among memorials in Washington. Whereas people visit memorials to Lincoln and Jefferson among others to see giant statues of the men they commemorate, the highlight of the Washington Monument is the monument itself.
The statue of Washington inside receives little notice. Subscribe to our Newsletter!
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