1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,559 --> 00:00:11,520 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren vogebam here. When it comes to astonishing 3 00:00:11,600 --> 00:00:15,319 Speaker 1: architectural achievements of ancient Egypt, the first example that comes 4 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:19,240 Speaker 1: to mind maybe the pyramids. But these historic structures aren't 5 00:00:19,280 --> 00:00:23,239 Speaker 1: the only majestic geometric feats to originate from this civilization. 6 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,520 Speaker 1: In fact, their rectangular cousin, the obelisk, can be found 7 00:00:27,520 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: in countries throughout the world, from Washington, d C. To Paris, France, 8 00:00:32,040 --> 00:00:34,720 Speaker 1: but the iconic monuments are still shrouded in a fair 9 00:00:34,760 --> 00:00:39,479 Speaker 1: amount of mystery. We spoke by email with historian Pamela 10 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:44,120 Speaker 1: oh Long. She said obelisks originated in ancient Egypt. They 11 00:00:44,120 --> 00:00:47,919 Speaker 1: were spectacular monuments, often dedicated to the solar gods of Egypt, 12 00:00:48,120 --> 00:00:50,919 Speaker 1: but also representing the power of the Pharaoh. They were 13 00:00:50,960 --> 00:00:56,200 Speaker 1: monuments to the fusion of earthly and divine power. According 14 00:00:56,200 --> 00:00:58,840 Speaker 1: to Long, obelisks first appeared in the fifth and six 15 00:00:58,920 --> 00:01:05,000 Speaker 1: dynasties of the Old Kingdom circa four b C, the 16 00:01:05,080 --> 00:01:07,559 Speaker 1: same era in which the Pyramids of Giza were built. 17 00:01:08,280 --> 00:01:11,600 Speaker 1: She explained, the important central fact about obelisks is that 18 00:01:11,640 --> 00:01:14,480 Speaker 1: they are monoliths carved out of granite. Most from the 19 00:01:14,520 --> 00:01:17,520 Speaker 1: Aswan Quarry in Lower Egypt. As a single block of 20 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:21,600 Speaker 1: stone weighing several hundred tons, the base was a square. 21 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:24,640 Speaker 1: It gradually tapered as it rose, and was capped by 22 00:01:24,640 --> 00:01:29,720 Speaker 1: a pyramid shaped structure called a pyramidian. If creating an 23 00:01:29,800 --> 00:01:33,920 Speaker 1: artistically designed architectural masterpiece out of several hundred tons of 24 00:01:33,920 --> 00:01:39,520 Speaker 1: stone sounds impossibly challenging, that's because it nearly was, Along said, 25 00:01:40,000 --> 00:01:42,720 Speaker 1: Carving out an obelisk from the bedrock of the quarry, 26 00:01:42,840 --> 00:01:45,120 Speaker 1: dragging it to the transport ship on the Nile River, 27 00:01:45,520 --> 00:01:47,880 Speaker 1: offloading it, dragging it to where it was to stand, 28 00:01:47,920 --> 00:01:50,800 Speaker 1: and then raising it was a tremendous feat of high 29 00:01:50,880 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 1: technological skill and brute labor. The fact that these original 30 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:59,280 Speaker 1: structures were monolithic, meaning that they were carved from one 31 00:01:59,320 --> 00:02:03,200 Speaker 1: single piece of stone, makes them distinct from more modern versions. 32 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: Along said, many people don't realize that the ancient Egyptian 33 00:02:07,240 --> 00:02:10,560 Speaker 1: obelisk was a monolith. This is one thing that makes 34 00:02:10,600 --> 00:02:15,280 Speaker 1: them beautiful and remarkable. There are obelisk shaped masonry structures, 35 00:02:15,280 --> 00:02:18,120 Speaker 1: such as the Washington Monument in Washington, d c. But 36 00:02:18,280 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 1: of course they differ from the ancient Egyptian monolithic structures. 37 00:02:23,160 --> 00:02:26,320 Speaker 1: According to experts, obelisks were often associated with the ancient 38 00:02:26,360 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 1: Egyptian sun god Raw, but their meaning may go even deeper. 39 00:02:30,760 --> 00:02:33,359 Speaker 1: But we also spoke via email with Vicky al Mansa 40 00:02:33,440 --> 00:02:37,520 Speaker 1: Vila Toro, a PhD Candidate in Egyptology at Brown University. 41 00:02:37,919 --> 00:02:41,119 Speaker 1: She said, the obelisk is a solar symbol of regeneration 42 00:02:41,200 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 1: and creation, and it symbolizes the ben Ben Stone. What 43 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: is the ben Ben Stone? According to the ancient Egyptian 44 00:02:47,560 --> 00:02:51,120 Speaker 1: myths of creation or cosmogenys, in the beginning, there was 45 00:02:51,160 --> 00:02:55,639 Speaker 1: a primordial ocean of nothingness called new Among these cosmogonies, 46 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:59,000 Speaker 1: the Heliopolitan account describes how the first thing to ever 47 00:02:59,080 --> 00:03:02,160 Speaker 1: arise from these was a mound of earth, the so 48 00:03:02,280 --> 00:03:06,600 Speaker 1: called primordial Hill. This mound is clearly inspired by the 49 00:03:06,600 --> 00:03:08,919 Speaker 1: fertile hills that emerged from the waters of the Nile 50 00:03:09,000 --> 00:03:12,080 Speaker 1: every year after the annual flood began to recede and 51 00:03:12,120 --> 00:03:15,960 Speaker 1: the crop growing season approached. The ben Ben is actually 52 00:03:15,960 --> 00:03:22,079 Speaker 1: the icon the magical representation of the primordial hill. According 53 00:03:22,080 --> 00:03:24,240 Speaker 1: to a months of Villa Toro, the ben Ben was 54 00:03:24,320 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: likely an actual mound shaped monument that residents of Heliopolis 55 00:03:28,320 --> 00:03:32,079 Speaker 1: worshiped she said, the sun temples of the Fifth dynasty 56 00:03:32,200 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: incorporated amount of earth resembling a small pyramid in their courtyards, 57 00:03:36,480 --> 00:03:41,280 Speaker 1: and likewise, obelisks are topped by a small pyramidian. Thus, 58 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:45,320 Speaker 1: both the obelisks and the pyramids are regenerative icons and 59 00:03:45,400 --> 00:03:48,080 Speaker 1: rooted in the symbolism of the primordial hill and the 60 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:51,440 Speaker 1: ben Ben stone. The Egyptian myths of the creation are 61 00:03:51,560 --> 00:03:55,680 Speaker 1: multiple and sometimes contradictory. The myth that incorporates the primordial 62 00:03:55,760 --> 00:03:58,760 Speaker 1: hill and thus the ben Ben is the Heliopolitan myth. 63 00:03:59,200 --> 00:04:01,560 Speaker 1: Heliopolis was the city of worship of the sun god 64 00:04:01,680 --> 00:04:07,680 Speaker 1: Ra and as many manifestations. One significant feature found on 65 00:04:07,760 --> 00:04:11,680 Speaker 1: many of the original obelisks is their decoration. Along said, 66 00:04:11,960 --> 00:04:14,840 Speaker 1: obelisks were often found ornamented on all four sides with 67 00:04:14,920 --> 00:04:18,320 Speaker 1: hieroglyphic writing, which for the most part commemorated the pharaoh 68 00:04:18,400 --> 00:04:23,000 Speaker 1: and his or her deeds. Of course, some of Egypt's 69 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:27,240 Speaker 1: obelisks have been removed from their original context. Along said, 70 00:04:27,760 --> 00:04:30,520 Speaker 1: It's also true the obelisks are ancient monuments that can 71 00:04:30,560 --> 00:04:33,240 Speaker 1: be moved, so their meaning has changed as they are 72 00:04:33,279 --> 00:04:37,000 Speaker 1: moved from one location and culture to another. The obelisks 73 00:04:37,000 --> 00:04:40,880 Speaker 1: in Egypt, Rome, Istanbul, Paris, London, and New York all 74 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:43,679 Speaker 1: have meant very different things to the people and culture 75 00:04:43,760 --> 00:04:47,200 Speaker 1: that possesses them, very different from that of the ancient Egyptians. 76 00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,800 Speaker 1: The oldest man made object in Central Park and the 77 00:04:51,839 --> 00:04:54,920 Speaker 1: oldest outdoor monument in New York City is the obelisk 78 00:04:55,040 --> 00:04:58,360 Speaker 1: known as Cleopatra's Needle. It's over three thousand years old, 79 00:04:58,560 --> 00:05:01,280 Speaker 1: stand sixty nine ft high and ways in and an 80 00:05:01,279 --> 00:05:04,400 Speaker 1: amazing two d and twenty tons. It was erected in 81 00:05:04,440 --> 00:05:07,480 Speaker 1: Central Park on January twenty second of eighteen eighty one, 82 00:05:07,640 --> 00:05:09,760 Speaker 1: after having been sold to the United States by the 83 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:15,000 Speaker 1: Egyptian government. One particularly famous relocation was that of the 84 00:05:15,080 --> 00:05:18,200 Speaker 1: Vatican Obelisk at the center of Rome St. Peter's Square. 85 00:05:19,040 --> 00:05:22,360 Speaker 1: Along said it's famous because of the renown it acquired, 86 00:05:22,680 --> 00:05:24,839 Speaker 1: and not when it was brought by the ancient Romans 87 00:05:24,880 --> 00:05:27,640 Speaker 1: from Egypt to Rome after the Roman conquest of Egypt, 88 00:05:28,000 --> 00:05:31,240 Speaker 1: but when Pope's sixth is the fifth Antis engineer Domenico 89 00:05:31,320 --> 00:05:34,400 Speaker 1: Fontana moved the obelisk from the side of St. Peter's 90 00:05:34,400 --> 00:05:37,440 Speaker 1: to the front where it now stands. This occurred in 91 00:05:37,480 --> 00:05:40,239 Speaker 1: a dramatic series of steps, with all of Rome watching 92 00:05:40,279 --> 00:05:43,479 Speaker 1: in the spring, summer and early fall of fifteen eighty six. 93 00:05:45,080 --> 00:05:48,600 Speaker 1: The dramatic transport process was fraught with danger and celebrated 94 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,919 Speaker 1: all around Italy. When it was accomplished, Long said, the 95 00:05:52,000 --> 00:05:56,200 Speaker 1: engineer wrote a wonderful book with spectacularly detailed woodcuts, explaining 96 00:05:56,240 --> 00:05:58,919 Speaker 1: every step of the move, including all the ben and 97 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:03,680 Speaker 1: machinery that where used. This account was published in We 98 00:06:03,720 --> 00:06:06,559 Speaker 1: can marvel at it today both because of Fontana's lucid 99 00:06:06,560 --> 00:06:12,120 Speaker 1: explanations and the illuminating illustrations. While obelisks are rich in 100 00:06:12,200 --> 00:06:16,080 Speaker 1: meaning and historical significance, their main attraction may really be 101 00:06:16,279 --> 00:06:20,920 Speaker 1: their inspiring esthetics. Long said. If you are ever in egypt, 102 00:06:21,040 --> 00:06:25,279 Speaker 1: istanbul Rome, Paris, London, or New York, stop to really 103 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:29,040 Speaker 1: look at the obelisks. They are immensely heavy, but also fragile. 104 00:06:29,400 --> 00:06:32,160 Speaker 1: They're the oldest or among the oldest human made structures 105 00:06:32,160 --> 00:06:35,520 Speaker 1: that exist in whichever city you find them. They display 106 00:06:35,560 --> 00:06:40,120 Speaker 1: a subtle geometry. Block out the traffic, noise and other distractions, 107 00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:43,279 Speaker 1: and spend some time looking at the obelisk walking around 108 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:47,040 Speaker 1: it if you can observing the hieroglyphs, the pyramidian pointing 109 00:06:47,040 --> 00:06:51,360 Speaker 1: to the sun, immensely heavy monuments that are also transportable. 110 00:06:51,600 --> 00:06:53,960 Speaker 1: They connect us to an ancient past, but can be 111 00:06:54,000 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 1: deeply moving in the present as well. Today's episode was 112 00:07:01,800 --> 00:07:05,039 Speaker 1: written by Michelle Konstantinovski and produced by Tyler Clay. For 113 00:07:05,160 --> 00:07:07,320 Speaker 1: more on this and loss of other curious topics, visit 114 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:09,920 Speaker 1: how stuff works dot com. Brainstuff is production of I 115 00:07:10,000 --> 00:07:12,720 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. 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