Charles E. Moldenke

The history of the new york obelisk, and its removal from alexandria.

King Thothmes III.

§1. The obelisk in Central Park antedates our Christian era by more than fifteen centuries. The central columns of the four sides, being the first that were inscribed, record as the author of this monument, Thothmes III., called the Great, the greatest sovereign of that period (about 1600 B. C.). A warrior of wonderful prowess and a ruler of the highest intelligence, he put aside at an early date the leading-strings of his famous sister and co-regent, Hatasu, surnamed MakarÂ, and constituted himself sole regent and law-giver. He heads the list of the kings of the xviiith dynasty. From the beginning to the end of his reign the inscriptions record his victories over foreign nations. He claims it as his order from the god Amen to extend the boundaries of Egypt. He subdues the prince of Kadesh in Upper Palestine at Megiddo, and overpowers the Kharu [Syrian] and Kheta [Hittite] tribes. The Rotennu [Syrians of Mesopotamia] are conquered, Damascus falls, and Carkhemish is taken. He reaches Nineveh, the Tigris, and the Orontes, and is everywhere victorious. He claims as his own and in vassalage all of the then known world. It is he whom Pliny calls Mesphres, and of whom he says that he erected a pair of obelisks, commemorating his valiant deeds. These obelisks are at present in London and New York.

Cartouche of Thothmes III. "The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Men-Kheper-Ra, the son of Ra, Thoth-Meses".

The exact time of the erection of these two obelisks cannot be determined, as they bear no date, but it must have been in the earlier part of the reign of Thothmes III., which extended from 1591 to 1565 B. C. (according to Lepsius). He ordered them at the quarry in Syene and erected them in front of the temple of the sun in Heliopolis or the Egyptian glyph, ?n. The site of this once prosperous city is now at the village of MatarÎyeh near Cairo, which has no antiquities to boast of, except one erect obelisk of Usertesen I., the only vestige of the famous "City of the Sun". Here the obelisks stood for many centuries amid wonderful surroundings, guarding as it were the entrance to the sanctuary of the deity, to whom they were sacred.

Cartouche of Ramses II. "The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, User-Ma-Ra-Sotep-en-Ra, the son of Ra, Amen-Mer-Ra-Meses-Su."

King Ramses II.

They were not allowed to remain intact for a very long time, for a century is an insignificant matter when we deal with Egyptian history. Almost three centuries had passed, when a new conqueror arose, who was emulous of his great predecessor's deeds, and who envied him his renown. This was Ramses II., surnamed "the Great", the "Pharaoh of the Oppression", who reigned from 1388 to 1322 B. C. (according to Lepsius). Not only in his monuments but also in his deeds he carries off equal honors with Thothmes the Great. We find the wars of former days fought over again, and always successfully, and we see his exploits recorded not only on impassive monuments of stone but also in the writings on fragile papyrus. A second Iliad by the poet PentaÛr recalls some wonderful hymns addressed amid the din of battle to his guardian deities, in particular to Amen-RÂ, and gives us such a vivid picture of war as to surpass in many respects even old Homer. Ramses' most stubborn opponents were the Kheta (Hittites) with whom he negotiated a most favorable treaty after many years of war. But with all his good qualities he had one great fault, vainglory. Not satisfied with erecting obelisks, stelÉ, and temples with his name inscribed on them in large letters, and seeing his works recorded over all the known world, he even appropriated the monuments of his predecessors and, though not guilty of erasing their names and substituting his own instead, as Thothmes III. had done on his sister's obelisk and monuments, yet he crowded his name and the story of his deeds within all the available space left uninscribed on these monuments. He had the two outside columns on each side of our obelisk inscribed, leaving to Thothmes III. besides the pyramidion only about one third of the obelisk's surface. This, of course, gave him an advantage over his predecessors, and he thereby saved the large expense and the time that would have been required for quarrying and erecting monuments of his own. He died at an advanced age after having ruled over Egypt for 67 years. His mummy, discovered in 1881, now rests in the Museum of Bulak at Cairo.

Cartouche of Osarkon I. "The king of Upper and Lower Egypt, Kherp-Kheper-Ra-Sotep-en-Ra, the son of Ra, Amen-Mer-Usarken."

Cartouche of the emperor Augustus CÆsar. "The divine lord of the world, Autokrator, the son of Ra, lord of the diadems, CÆsar-Ankh-Zeta-Ptah-Ast-Mer."

The four sides of the obelisk were now filled, and it would appear impossible for another king to have used any other part of it for his own purpose. Such is, however, not the case. Osarkon I. had chiseled into the stone at the very edges of each side in diminutive characters his own name. He was a Pharaoh of the xxiid dynasty, who lived about 960 B. C., and represents the decline of the ancient Egyptian empire.

Cleopatra VI. (From an ancient coin.)

Cartouche of queen Cleopatra VI. "The queen and mistress of the world, Cleopatra."

Of the history of our obelisk since that time very little would be known except for the inscriptions found on the brass crabs at the base. From them we learn that the obelisk was taken away from its position in front of the temple of Heliopolis in the XVIIIth year of the reign of Augustus CÆsar (12 B. C.) by Pontius during the prefecture of Barbarus. It was then transported to Alexandria and placed in front of the CÆsareum, the temple of the CÆsars, with the obelisk at present in London. During the transportation a large portion of the edges at the base was very badly damaged. Four large bronze crabs were then placed under the obelisk to keep it from falling over. Since this time of their erection in Alexandria tradition has associated one of them, the New York Obelisk, with the name of the monster-queen Cleopatra VI. She had, however, nothing whatever to do with the removal of the obelisks as she and all her predecessors of the same name had been dead long before these were erected in Alexandria. Here both remained for many centuries until one—the present London Obelisk—fell prostrate and was left to lie half-hidden in the ground. It was subsequently taken in 1877 to England, while the other obelisk remained standing in Alexandria until 1880, when it was lowered into the steamer Dessoug, brought over to our country, and presented to New York City through the munificence of the late Mr. William H. Vanderbilt.

Cleopatra VI. (From Egyptian monuments.)

§2.^[1] At the time of the opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 the Khedive IshmaËl first suggested the removal of the standing obelisk at Alexandria to the United States. This suggestion was soon spread abroad and it was estimated that for $60,000 the obelisk could be removed. As the late Mr. William H. Vanderbilt had agreed to furnish this sum, negotiations were opened with the Egyptian government in 1877 for the definite gift of the obelisk. These proved successful. Bids were then requested for its removal and the bid of the late Commander Henry H. Gorringe, U. S. N., was accepted. Mr. Gorringe went to work immediately but clearly saw that he would not be able to proceed in the same manner as others had done before him in the removal of the Luxor Obelisk to Paris or the Alexandrian to London. These were taken in tow and in this manner reached their destination. This plan could not be adopted for bringing the obelisk across the ocean. When the work of transporting the obelisk to the harbor of Alexandria was accomplished, the steamer Dessoug was purchased from the Egyptian government and in it the obelisk was carried to New York.

As soon as the news of the presentation by the Egyptian government of Cleopatra's Needle to the United States reached the ears of the foreign residents of Alexandria, a most disgraceful agitation was begun against Commander Gorringe. Everything was tried and done to embarrass him in his work, and all sorts of obstacles were put in his way. But the man at the head of the undertaking could not be intimidated. On October 27, 1879 work was begun by the removal of the earth that had accumulated around the base of the obelisk. The latter was next incased to protect its many inscriptions, and on December 6th of the same year everything was ready for turning the great monolith. This was successfully effected. Another difficulty now presented itself, how to get the obelisk to the harbor, this being on the other side of the city. The foreign residents had forbidden the use of the paved streets, by which route the obelisk would have been easily transported, and Commander Gorringe was now obliged to undertake the difficult task of bringing the obelisk around the whole city over the shallow water and the sandbanks. This he accomplished by means of a caisson. However, an unobstructed channel through the water to the dry-dock was first necessary. Divers were hired until March 1880 and employed in removing about 170 tons of granite, being the dÉbris of former Alexandrian monumental structures. While the obelisk was being lowered the spite of the European residents was again painfully felt. Nevertheless, although with vastly increased expenses, Commander Gorringe here succeeded in his work. By this enforced method of transportation he incurred an extra expense of $21,000. When the Egyptian steamer Dessoug had been purchased and, after many delays, brought into the dry-dock, an aperture was made in its side, large enough to admit of the incased obelisk being pushed into the hold of the vessel. The side was then closed, the steamer was ready for its voyage, and the tedious work of the brave and indefatigable Commander was at an end as far as Egypt was concerned. On June 1, 1880 the vessel steamed out of the harbor with the Stars and Stripes floating in the breeze, carrying the obelisk, the pedestal, and the stones for the foundation.

On July 19, 1880 the Dessoug arrived in New York. The site where the obelisk was to stand, namely Graywacke Knoll opposite the Metropolitan Museum of Art in Central Park, had already been selected. The foundation was completed on October 10. The large square pedestal was carted from the North River and 51st St. to the Park, and then pushed on greased planks to the place of erection. The disembarking of the obelisk, however, presented many difficulties, the most humiliating being the greed of certain rich men, who refused to place their dry-docks at the disposal of the Commander for a high price which he offered, and compelled him to try Lawler's Marine Railway on Staten Island. His experiment with this was quite successfully carried out on August 21, 1880. On September 14th the obelisk was once more afloat on pontoons. On September 16th the steamer Manhattan towed the pontoons with the obelisk to the North River and 96th St. Then the land-journey began. The obelisk passed as far as the West Boulevard, down to 86th St., then through the Transverse Road No. 3 in Central Park, issued from the Park at Fifth Avenue and 85th St., and was then taken down to 82d St. Here a trestle-work was built up to Graywacke Knoll, the final resting-place of the obelisk. On December 22, 1880 the point of the obelisk was turned up this trestle-work, and on January 22, 1881 everything was ready for placing it in position on the pedestal. The crabs had been recast in the Brooklyn Navy Yard and perfectly fitted to the uneven base of the obelisk. The latter easily swung and revolved on the turning-structure, and at noon of the same day it stood in the identical position as at Alexandria. On February 22, 1881 the obelisk was formally presented in behalf of the Khedive of Egypt, through the liberality of Mr. William H. Vanderbilt, to the city of New York.

The total cost of the removal of the obelisk was: for material and labor $86,603 and for incidental expenses $15,973, a sum total of $102,576. Mr. W. H. Vanderbilt paid the whole amount out of his own purse. The Congress of the United States took due notice of the wonderful feat of procuring for our country such a grand specimen of Egyptian monuments, and fitting resolutions were passed by both the Senate and the House of Representatives. And certainly a sincere vote of thanks will be given for his munificent gift to our late illustrious fellow citizen, William H. Vanderbilt, by everyone having at heart the honor and advancement of our city and country.