Obelisk: Difference between revisions

{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2015}}

[[File:France-000122 - Luxor Obelisk (14524589927).jpg|thumb|upright|One of the two [[Luxor Obelisks]], on the [[Place de la Concorde]] in [[Paris]]; a red granite [[monolith]]ic column, {{convert|23|m|ft|abbr=off}} high, including the base, which weighs over {{convert|250|MT|ST|lk=on}}.]]

 

An '''obelisk''' ({{IPAc-en|ˈ|ɒ|b|ə|l|ɪ|s|k}}; {{etymology|grc|''{{Wikt-lang|grc|ὀβελίσκος}}'' ({{grc-transl|ὀβελίσκος}})|}},<ref>{{LSJ|o)beli/skos|ὀβελίσκος|ref}}.</ref><ref>{{OEtymD|obelisk}}</ref> [[diminutive]] of {{Wikt-lang|grc|ὀβελός}} (''{{grc-transl|ὀβελός}}'') '[[rotisserie|spit]], nail, pointed pillar')<ref>{{LSJ|o)belo/s|οβελός|shortref}}.</ref> is a tall, slender, tapered [[monument]] with four sides and a [[pyramid]]al or [[pyramidion]] top.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Random House |year=2005 |title= Random House Webster's college dictionary |publisher=Random House Reference, New York |isbn=9780375426001 |quote= '''1.''' ''n.'' a tapering, four-sided shaft of stone, usu. monolithic and having a pyramidal apex. |page=847}}</ref> Originally constructed by [[Ancient Egypt]]ians and called [[Obelisk (hieroglyph)|''tekhenu'']], the [[Ancient Greece|Greeks]] used the Greek term {{transliteration|grc|obeliskos}} to describe them, and this word passed into [[Latin]] and ultimately [[English language|English]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Baker |first1=Rosalie F. |first2=Charles |last2=Baker |year=2001 |title=Ancient Egyptians: People of the pyramids |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0195122213 |quote=Tekhenu egyptian |page=[https://archive.org/details/ancientegyptians0000bake/page/69 69]|url=https://archive.org/details/ancientegyptians0000bake |url-access=registration |access-date=10 March 2014}}</ref> Though William Thomas used the term correctly in his ''Historie of Italie'' of 1549, by the late sixteenth century (after reduced contact with Italy following the excommunication of Queen Elizabeth), Shakespeare failed to distinguish between pyramids and obelisks in his plays and sonnets.<ref>[[Edward Chaney]],' "Thy pyramyds buylt up with newer might":Shakespeare and the Cultural Memory of Ancient Egypt' ''Aegyptiaca. Journal of the History of Reception of Ancient Egypt'' (5), 263–344 [https://journals.ub.uni-heidelberg.de/index.php/aegyp/article/view/76145]</ref> Ancient obelisks are [[Monolithic column|monolithic]] and consist of a single stone; most modern obelisks are made of several stones.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Befreiungskriege (Gertraudenfriedhof) {{!}} Halle im Bild |url=https://www.halle-im-bild.de/fotos/gedenksteine-staetten/befreiungskriege-gertraudenfriedhof |access-date=2023-01-23 |website=www.halle-im-bild.de}}</ref>

Pope [[Sixtus V]] was determined to erect the obelisk in front of St Peter's, of which the nave was yet to be built. He had a full-sized wooden mock-up erected within months of his election. [[Domenico Fontana]], the assistant of [[Giacomo Della Porta]] in the Basilica's construction, presented the Pope with a little model crane of wood and a heavy little obelisk of lead, which Sixtus himself was able to raise by turning a little winch with his finger. Fontana was given the project. Half-buried in the debris of the ages, it was first excavated as it stood; then it took from 30&nbsp;April to 17&nbsp;May 1586 to move it on rollers to the Piazza: it required nearly 1000&nbsp;men, 140&nbsp;carthorses, and 47&nbsp;cranes. The re-erection, scheduled for 14&nbsp;September, the Feast of the [[Exaltation of the Cross]], was watched by a large crowd. It was a famous feat of engineering, which made the reputation of Fontana, who detailed it in a book illustrated with copperplate etchings, ''Della Trasportatione dell'Obelisco Vaticano et delle Fabriche di Nostro Signore Papa Sisto&nbsp;V'' (1590),<ref>{{cite web |title=Della trasportatione dellªobelisco Vaticano et delle fabriche di Nostro Signore Papa Sisto&nbsp;... |website=purl.pt |url=http://purl.pt/6256/1/index.html}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Della trasportatione dell'obelisco vaticano et delle fabriche di nostro signore papa Sisto&nbsp;V fatte dal cavallier Domenico Fontana, architetto di Sva Santita, libro primo |website=NYPL Digital Collections |url=http://digitalgallery.nypl.org/nypldigital/dgkeysearchresult.cfm?parent_id=350916&word= |access-date=21 August 2015}}</ref> which itself set a new standard in communicating technical information and influenced subsequent architectural publications by its meticulous precision.<ref>{{cite web |last=Fontana |first=Domenico |year = 1590 |title=Moving the Obelisk |website=Martayan Lan Rare Books |publisher=Domenico Basa |place=Rome, IT |url=http://www.martayanlan.com/cgi-bin/display.cgi/Books/5/28/25/606 |access-date=21 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120315090244/http://www.martayanlan.com/cgi-bin/display.cgi/Books/5/28/25/606 |archive-date=15 March 2012 |url-status=dead |df=dmy-all}}</ref> Before being re-erected the obelisk was exorcised. It is said that Fontana had teams of relay horses to make his getaway if the enterprise failed. When [[Carlo Maderno]] came to build the Basilica's nave, he had to put the slightest kink in its axis, to line it precisely with the obelisk.

 

 

Not all the Egyptian obelisks in the Roman Empire were set up at Rome: [[Herod the Great]] imitated his Roman patrons and set up an obelisk, [[Caesarea obelisk]], made out of Egyptian red granite in the [[hippodrome]] of his new city [[Caesarea Maritima|Caesarea]] in northern [[Judea]]. This one is about {{convert|40|ft|m}} tall and weighs about {{convert|100|MT|ST}}.<ref>{{cite web |title=Caesarea Obelisk |publisher=Highskyblue.web.fc2.com |date=18 June 2001 |url=http://highskyblue.web.fc2.com/caesarea.htm |access-date=14 June 2013}}</ref> It was discovered by archaeologists and has been re-erected at its former site.