Cleopatra’s Needle in Central Park, New York, Secured in 1877

Cleopatra’s Needle is perhaps one of the most forgotten monuments in New York City, situated in Central Park. This obelisk actually comes in a set of 3, all from Ancient Egypt, and had been separated to New York City, Paris, and London. This obelisk was gifted from Egypt to the US as a gift for remaining neutral to European countries.

Cleopatra’s Needle in Central Park

It was erected in Heliopolis in 1450 BC, but had been in the dust for at least 500 years before found again. More interestingly, they were originally built by Thutmosis III’s order. Initially he had his name engraved on the structure, but later on two more kings had claimed the obelisk and had inscribed their own names and details on it.

This obelisk derived its name because it was brought to London from Alexandria in the city of Cleopatra, therefore named Cleopatra’s Needle. What many don’t know is the horrible journey the needle has gone through during its transportation. It had been transported on a cigar shaped ship also named Cleopatra. Sadly the Cleopatra had encountered really harsh waters and winds that predicted the end to the ship’s life. Europe had hoped that the ship would do its best to not drown and stay above the water to preserve this valuable structure. Unfortunately, most of the crew mates have died on this journey, and their named were engraved on the bottom of the structure. After the journey, the Cleopatra (the ship) was scrapped for its materials and was never used for any other purpose.

Unfortunately, this needle has been outgrown by trees and quickly forgotten. In 2011, the minister of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities had threatened to take back the obelisk because of the poor condition we have left it in throughout the century. In 2014, New York City has started a $500,000 project to restore the obelisk, hoping to clean the surface and preserve as much of the monument as they can. They use methods such as lasers to clean the surface, and then a special adhesive to stabilize the monument. Sadly, it is just something that is difficult to completely fix especially because of all the water damage and salt residue that has caused it to be the way it is.

The city has faced a lot of tension from Egypt especially because of its poor conditions. New York argues that even if we are able to restore and maintain the structure as best as they can, in a few hundred years the wear and tear will still come out and situations with repeat itself.

Cleopatra’s Needle with scaffolding (under renovation)