Cleopatra's Needle: a History of the London Obelisk, with an Exposition of the Hieroglyphies

The London Obelisk, as the monument on the Thames is now called, is by far the largest quarried stone in England. The mysterious hieroglyphics on its four sides were carved by craftsmen who were contemporaries of Moses and the Israelites during the time of Egyptian slavery. It was erected in front of the great sun temple at Heliopolis around 1450 B.C., by Thutmose III, the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty, who also carved the central columns with hieroglyphs on its four sides. Eight side columns were carved by Ramses II two centuries later. These two monarchs were the most powerful of the kings of ancient Egypt. In 1877, the author traveled through the land of Egypt and during the trip became very interested in studying the hieroglyphs that cover tombs, temples and obelisks. He was helped to pursue Egyptology by examining the fine collections of Egyptian antiquities at the Boolak Museum in Cairo, the Louvre Museum in Paris and the British Museum. He is very grateful to Dr. Samuel Birch, a leading English Egyptologist, for his kind help in drawing some of the darkened portions of the Obelisk.