Editing Obelisk (section)

==== Ancient Egyptian obelisks in Ancient Rome ====
{{See also|List_of_obelisks_in_Rome#Ancient_Egyptian_obelisks|label 1=List of Ancient Egyptian obelisks in Rome}}
[[File:Hippodrome Oblisk.jpg|upright|thumb|The [[Obelisk of Theodosius|Obelisk of Tuthmosis III]], [[Istanbul]], Turkey]]

Around 30&nbsp;BCE, Rome seized control of Egypt and looted the various [[Egyptian temple|temple]] complexes; in one case they destroyed walls at the [[Karnak|Temple of Karnak]] to haul them out. There are now more than twice as many obelisks that were seized and shipped out by Rome as remain in Egypt. The majority were dismantled during the Roman period over 1,700&nbsp;years ago and the obelisks were sent to different locations.{{Citation needed|reason=Multiple claims in this paragraph require citations.|date=February 2023}}

The largest standing and tallest Egyptian obelisk is the [[Lateran Obelisk]] in the square at the west side of the [[Lateran Basilica]] in Rome at {{convert|105.6|ft|m}} tall and a weight of {{convert|455|MT|ST}}.<ref  name=PBS-Nile-mysteries-Rome>{{cite web |series=NOVA Online: Mysteries of the Nile |title=A World of Obelisks: Rome |publisher=[[PBS]] |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/egypt/raising/rome.html |access-date=14 June 2013}}</ref> More well known is the [[Cultural icon|iconic]] {{convert|25|m|ft}}, {{convert|331|MT|ST|adj=on}} [[Vatican obelisk]] at [[Saint Peter's Square]].<ref name=PBS-Nile-mysteries-Rome/> Brought to Rome by the Emperor [[Caligula]] in 37&nbsp;CE, it has stood at its current site and on the wall of the [[Circus of Nero]], flanking St Peter's Basilica.

{{blockquote|The elder [[Pliny the Elder|Pliny]] in his ''[[Pliny's Natural History|Natural History]]'' refers to the obelisk's transportation from Egypt to Rome by order of the Emperor Gaius (Caligula) as an outstanding event. The barge that carried it had a huge mast of fir wood which four men's arms could not encircle. One hundred and twenty bushels of lentils were needed for ballast. Having fulfilled its purpose, the gigantic vessel was no longer wanted. Therefore, filled with stones and cement, it was sunk to form the foundations of the foremost quay of the new harbour at [[Ostia Antica|Ostia]].<ref>{{cite book |first=James |last=Lees-Milne |author-link=James Lees-Milne |title=Saint Peter's |year=1967}}</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.

[[File:Rome-Piazza del Popolo-Obélisque et églises Santa Maria.jpg|thumb|upright| [[Flaminio Obelisk]] of [[Ramesses II]] from [[Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]] stands in the centre of the [[Piazza del Popolo]], [[Rome]].]]

Three more obelisks were erected in Rome under Sixtus&nbsp;V: at [[Santa Maria Maggiore]], in 1587; at the Lateran Basilica, in 1588; and at the [[Piazza del Popolo]], in 1589.<ref>{{cite book |last=Fontana |first=Domenico |year=1590 |title=Della trasportatione dell'obel |publisher=ETH-Bibliothek – e-rara |place=Zürich (NEBIS) |doi=10.3931/e-rara-117}}</ref> An obelisk stands in front of the church of [[Trinità dei Monti]], at the head of the [[Spanish Steps]]. Other notable Egyptian obelisks in Rome are found in [[Piazza della Minerva]], sculpted while being carried on the back of an [[elephant]], [[Piazza Montecitorio]], [[Piazza della Rotonda]], the [[Baths of Diocletian]], and [[Villa Celimontana]]. Rome lost one of its obelisks, the [[Boboli obelisk]] which had decorated the temple of Isis, where it was uncovered in the 16th&nbsp;century. The Medici claimed it for the [[Villa Medici]], but in 1790 they moved it to the [[Boboli Gardens]] attached to the [[Palazzo Pitti]] in [[Florence]], and left a replica in its place.

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.

In 357&nbsp;CE, Emperor [[Constantius II]] had two Karnak Temple obelisks removed and transported down the [[Nile]] to [[Alexandria]] to commemorate his ''ventennalia'', the 20th&nbsp;year of his reign. Afterward, one was sent to Rome and erected on the ''[[spina (Roman circus)|spina]]'' of the [[Circus Maximus]], and is today known as the Lateran Obelisk. The other one, known as the [[Obelisk of Theodosius]], remained in Alexandria until 390&nbsp;CE, when Emperor [[Theodosius I]] had it transported to Constantinople (now [[Istanbul]]) and put up on the ''spina'' of the [[Hippodrome of Constantinople]] (now Sultan Ahmet Square).<ref>{{cite book | last=Habachi | first=Labib | author-link=Labib Habachi | year=1985 | title=The Obelisks of Egypt: Skyscrapers of the past | publisher=American University in Cairo Press | isbn=978-9774240225 | pages=145–151 }}</ref> It once stood {{convert|95|ft|m}} tall and weighed {{convert|380|MT|ST}}; however, its lower section (which reputedly also once stood in the hippodrome) is now lost, reducing the obelisk's size to {{convert|65|ft|m}}.<ref name=PBS-Nile-mysteries-Istanbul>{{cite web |series=NOVA Online: Mysteries of the Nile |title=A World of Obelisks: Istanbul |publisher=[[PBS]] |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/egypt/raising/istanbul.html |access-date=14 June 2013}}</ref>