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Obelisks
 

 

    
 

The Obelisk is an ancient phallic symbol of the male energy and solar energy. Obelisks were originally erected in honor of the sun god. That connection comes from Egyptian worship of the Phallus. The phallus was a sculptured representation of the male organ of generation. The worship of it is said to have originated in Egypt. Osiris, the sun god was killed by Typhon and cut up into 14 pieces. When Isis, the moon goddess [wife to Osiris] heard this, she searched and found all the parts of his body except his phallus. She buried all the parts and built a column [obelisk] as a symbol of his erected phallus, the missing part, and worshipped it.

 		  
 

Obelisks. The Pharaohs of Ancient Egypt made them first. Then the Roman Emperors made its replicas. Really a lot of obelisks were made, from a small one as less than 1 meter to a large one as more than 30 meters. But there are about 30+ obelisks at present, which are large-size ones standing outdoors.

  
     
 

The word "obelisk" comes from ancient Greek and means "pointed pillar." Obelisks are tall, narrow four-sided monuments that come to a pyramid-shaped point. These structures made their debut thousands of years ago in ancient Egyptian culture and were transcribed with details of Egyptian life, history and achievements.

 
     
 

Egyptian obelisks

  
     
  Most of the Ancient egyptian obelisks have been moved from Egypt.  
     
 

 
 
  • Pharaoh Tuthmosis I, Karnak Temple, Luxor

  • Pharaoh Ramses II, Luxor Temple
  • Pharaoh Hatshepsut, Karnak Temple, Luxor
  • Pharaoh Senusret I, Al-Masalla area of Al-Matariyyah district in Heliopolis, Cairo
  • Pharaoh Ramses III, Luxor Museum
  • Pharaoh Ramses II, Gezira Island, Cairo, 20.4 m
  • Pharaoh Ramses II, Cairo International Airport, 16.97 m
  • Pharaoh Seti II, Karnak Temple, Luxor, 7 m
  • Pharaoh Senusret I, Faiyum (ancient site of Crocodilopolis), 12.9 m

France ­ 1

  • Pharaoh Ramses II, Luxor Obelisk, in Place de la Concorde, Paris

Israel ­ 1

  • Caesarea obelisk

Italy ­ 18 (includes the only one located in the Vatican City)

The obelisk in Saint Peter's Square in Vatican City was originally erected at Heliopolis by an unknown pharaoh of the Fifth dynasty of Egypt. The Emperor Augustus had it moved to the Julian Forum of Alexandria, where it stood until year 37 A.D., when Caligula ordered the forum demolished and the obelisk transferred to Rome.

  • 14 in Rome (see Obelisks in Rome)     
  • Piazza del Duomo, Catania (Sicily)
  • Boboli Gardens (Florence)
  • Urbino Obelisco di Benevento

Poland ­ 1

  • Ramses II, Poznan Archaeological Museum, Poznan (on loan from Agyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Berlin)

Turkey ­ 1

  • Pharaoh Tuthmosis III, in Square of Horses, Istanbul

United Kingdom ­ 4

  • Pharaoh Tuthmosis III, "Cleopatra's Needle", on Victoria Embankment, London
  • Pharaoh Amenhotep II, in the Oriental Museum, University of Durham
  • Pharaoh Ptolemy IX, Philae obelisk, at Kingston Lacy, near Wimborne Minster, Dorset
  • Pharaoh Nectanebo II, British Museum, London (pair of obelisks)

United States ­ 1

  • Pharaoh Tuthmosis III, "Cleopatra's Needle", in Central Park, New York

http://www.crystalinks.com/obelisks.html

 

  
 
     
 

Some famous modern obelisks

  
 

17th century

Fontaine des Quatre Dauphins in Aix-en-Provence.

18th century

19th century

The Wellington Monument in Phoenix Park, Dublin 

The Washington Monument in Washington, D.C., USA

20th century

 

Obelisk of Buenos Aires, Argentina 

Obelisk at the Plaza Francia, Caracas, Venezuela 

Obelisk of São Paulo, Brazil

Monumen Nasional, Jakarta, Indonesia

Obelisk in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil

  • The William Dudley Chipley Memorial, in the Plaza Ferdinand VII, Pensacola, Florida, 1901.
  • The Sergeant Floyd Monument, on US Highway 75, Sioux City, Iowa, 1901.
  • Joseph Smith Birthplace Memorial, South Royalton, Vermont, 1905.
  • McKinley Monument, Niagara Square, Buffalo, New York, 1907, (96 ft / 29 m).
  • The Veterans' Monument, Elizabethton, Tennessee, dedicated in 1904 to American Civil War veterans from Carter County, Tennessee.
  • The Chalmette Monument, in Chalmette, Louisiana, commemorating the Battle of New Orleans, 1908.
  • The Victory Memorial, Fort Recovery, Ohio, completed in 1913.
  • The National Women's Monument in Bloemfontein, South Africa, It was erected in 1913.
  • The Henry M. Flagler obelisk located on Flagler Monument Island in Miami Beach, Florida was built in 1920.
  • The War Memorial in London Square, Southport, Lancashire, England, designed by Grayson and Barnish, 1923. It is flanked by two colonnades each supported by Doric columns, all constructed of Portland stone.
  • Jefferson Davis Monument at Jefferson Davis State Historic Site in Fairview, Kentucky, (351 ft / 107 m) tall, mostly concrete, 1924.
  • A large obelisk with the world's largest apple on top stands at Cornelia, Georgia. It was erected in 1925.
  • The Foshay Tower, in Minneapolis, Minnesota, modeled after the Washington Monument, 1929.
  • Obelisk of Montevideo, Uruguay, 1930.
  • High Point Monument, Montague, New Jersey. A (220 ft /67 m) obelisk on top of New Jersey's highest point, 1,803 ft (550 m) above sea level, 1930.
  • Foro Italico, Rome (on Lungotevere Maresciallo Diaz), erected to honour Benito Mussolini, 1932.
  • Obelisk of Buenos Aires, Argentina, 1936.
  • San Jacinto Monument in Deer Park, Texas commemorating the Texan army's victory at the Battle of San Jacinto and thus gained independence over Mexico, 1939.
  • Trylon and Perisphere, 1939 New York World's Fair, Flushing, New York; not a true obelisk, but an art deco variant, (700 ft / 213 m), 1939.
  • Manzanar Obelisk, Independence, CA Monument to honor Japanese interned during WWII, 1943.
  • Plaza Francia obelisk in Caracas, Venezuela, 1944.
  • Memorial in Safed, Israel to soldiers who died in the Israel War of Independence.
  • Obelisk of São Paulo, Brazil, 1954.
  • Abolition Park in Ponce, Puerto Rico, 1956.
  • Trujillo Obelisk, Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, 1960, (137 ft / 42 m).
  • The Obelisk on One Tree Hill in Auckland, New Zealand
  • Obelisk of La Paz, Bolivia
  • Demidov Column in Barnaul, Siberia, Russia.
  • Victory Obelisk in Moscow
  • A small obelisk stands at Trinity site, the location of the first atomic bomb explosion.
  • Rugby, North Dakota, the geographical center of North America (Mexico, USA and Canada).
  • Pirulito da Praça Sete in Belo Horizonte, Brazil.
  • In Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S., an obelisk stands in front of the Luxor Hotel, a pyramid-shaped hotel along The Strip.
  • An obelisk stands in front of radio talk show host Clint Ferro's boyhood home, Endicott, New York, 1975.
  • Monumen Nasional, symbolizing the fight for the independence of Indonesia, at Merdeka Square, Jakarta, 1975.
  • A large obelisk stands in North Korea called the Juche Tower, 1982.
  • Memorial to Egypt's fallen soldiers in the 1948 Arab-Israeli War, at Ad Halom, Israel.

21st century

The Ángel de la Independencia was built to celebrate Mexico's independence centennial

  • Capas National Shrine in Tarlac province, Philippines, a 70-meter obelisk erected in 2003.
  • Pond and white obelisk monument in the main square of Vigan City in the Philippines.
  • Obelisco Novecento, Rome, 2004. Sculpture by Arnaldo Pomodoro.

Cyclisk is a 65-foot-high obelisk made of 350 bicycles erected in Santa Rosa, California

 

  
 

List of obelisks by country

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Obelisks_by_country

  
     
 

 
     
  Obelisks are erected all over the world, for different reasons such as memorial places, landmarks and center point of squares etc. Even if most city architects and politicians would deny it, the real reason is to celebrate manhood.  
     
 

 
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