1 00:00:00,120 --> 00:00:01,920 Speaker 1: This Day in History Class is a production of I 2 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:14,400 Speaker 1: Heart Radio. Hello and Welcome to This Day in History Class, 3 00:00:14,720 --> 00:00:17,799 Speaker 1: a show that uncovers a little bit more about history 4 00:00:18,280 --> 00:00:23,040 Speaker 1: every day. I'm Gay Bluesier, and in this episode, we're 5 00:00:23,079 --> 00:00:27,400 Speaker 1: exploring how an enormous stone monument from ancient Egypt wound 6 00:00:27,480 --> 00:00:38,479 Speaker 1: up smack dab in the middle of Manhattan. The day 7 00:00:38,720 --> 00:00:47,480 Speaker 1: was January. An ancient Egyptian obelisk, also known as Cleopatra's Needle, 8 00:00:47,960 --> 00:00:52,320 Speaker 1: was installed in Central Park, just behind the Metropolitan Museum 9 00:00:52,400 --> 00:00:56,800 Speaker 1: of Art. The obelisk is the oldest human made object 10 00:00:56,840 --> 00:01:00,360 Speaker 1: in Central Park and the oldest outdoor monument men in 11 00:01:00,480 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 1: New York City. The obelisk, which means pointed instrument or 12 00:01:05,640 --> 00:01:09,919 Speaker 1: skewer in ancient Greek, was one of a pair originally 13 00:01:09,959 --> 00:01:13,680 Speaker 1: commissioned in Egypt around the year fourteen fifty b C. 14 00:01:14,640 --> 00:01:17,880 Speaker 1: They were created to celebrate the thirtieth year of the 15 00:01:17,959 --> 00:01:22,720 Speaker 1: reign of Pharaoh Thutmost, the third. Each one was carved 16 00:01:22,800 --> 00:01:26,240 Speaker 1: from a single piece of granite and then erected outside 17 00:01:26,240 --> 00:01:28,959 Speaker 1: of the Temple of the Sun in the ancient Egyptian 18 00:01:29,000 --> 00:01:34,279 Speaker 1: city of Heliopolis. The twin monuments measure sixty nine feet 19 00:01:34,360 --> 00:01:38,640 Speaker 1: from base to tip, and wagh approximately two hundred tons each. 20 00:01:39,680 --> 00:01:44,240 Speaker 1: The obelisks remained outside the temple for about fifteen hundred 21 00:01:44,319 --> 00:01:48,120 Speaker 1: years until they were torn down and burned by invading 22 00:01:48,200 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 1: Persians in five twenty five b C. For the next 23 00:01:52,600 --> 00:01:55,800 Speaker 1: five hundred years after that, they lay buried in the 24 00:01:55,880 --> 00:02:00,720 Speaker 1: sand until they were finally discovered by Caesar Augustus in 25 00:02:00,880 --> 00:02:05,160 Speaker 1: twelve b C. The Roman emperor had the obelisks excavated 26 00:02:05,360 --> 00:02:08,280 Speaker 1: and moved over a hundred miles away to the city 27 00:02:08,280 --> 00:02:13,840 Speaker 1: of Alexandria. New limestone pedestals were fashioned for the obelisks 28 00:02:13,880 --> 00:02:17,560 Speaker 1: to rest upon, and a large bronze crab was added 29 00:02:17,560 --> 00:02:21,680 Speaker 1: to each of their corners. The monuments were installed in 30 00:02:21,720 --> 00:02:25,880 Speaker 1: front of the Caesareum, a temple built to honor Julius Caesar. 31 00:02:26,639 --> 00:02:30,799 Speaker 1: That structure had been conceived by Queen Cleopatra, which may 32 00:02:30,840 --> 00:02:35,960 Speaker 1: explain how the obelisks became known as Cleopatra's needles, despite 33 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:38,960 Speaker 1: the fact that the ruler had died nearly twenty years 34 00:02:39,040 --> 00:02:43,239 Speaker 1: before their excavation. Hundreds of years later, in the early 35 00:02:43,320 --> 00:02:47,880 Speaker 1: nineteenth century, the Egyptian government gifted one of the obelisks 36 00:02:47,960 --> 00:02:51,480 Speaker 1: to Britain as a gift for helping Egypt rid itself 37 00:02:51,520 --> 00:02:55,240 Speaker 1: of Napoleon. It took a while, but the obelisk was 38 00:02:55,280 --> 00:02:58,560 Speaker 1: eventually installed in London on the banks of the River 39 00:02:58,680 --> 00:03:03,840 Speaker 1: Thames in eighteen seventy eight. The other obelisk was announced 40 00:03:03,880 --> 00:03:07,400 Speaker 1: as a gift to the United States in eighteen seventy nine, 41 00:03:07,760 --> 00:03:11,480 Speaker 1: and later that year preparations were made for the obelisk's 42 00:03:11,600 --> 00:03:16,040 Speaker 1: long journey to American shores. A site in Central Park, 43 00:03:16,280 --> 00:03:19,359 Speaker 1: just west of the met Museum, was chosen to house 44 00:03:19,400 --> 00:03:23,119 Speaker 1: the obelisk, partly to ensure that it wouldn't be overshadowed 45 00:03:23,200 --> 00:03:28,079 Speaker 1: or obscured by the city's skyscrapers. With its new location settled, 46 00:03:28,480 --> 00:03:32,520 Speaker 1: the real challenge began how to transport a two hundred 47 00:03:32,560 --> 00:03:36,839 Speaker 1: ton pillar from Alexandria, Egypt, all the way to downtown 48 00:03:36,960 --> 00:03:41,720 Speaker 1: New York City. The difficult feat of engineering was entrusted 49 00:03:41,800 --> 00:03:46,800 Speaker 1: to Henry Gorange, a decorated Navy commander. The first step 50 00:03:47,040 --> 00:03:50,800 Speaker 1: was for Gorange's team to lower the obelisk in Alexandria 51 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:54,960 Speaker 1: using a cable. Next, they slid it into an eighty 52 00:03:55,040 --> 00:03:58,520 Speaker 1: three ft long wooden box, which was resting on top 53 00:03:58,560 --> 00:04:01,960 Speaker 1: of a bunch of cannonball Us. From there, the box 54 00:04:02,080 --> 00:04:07,040 Speaker 1: was rolled onto a heavily modified steamship bound for Staten Island. 55 00:04:07,720 --> 00:04:11,840 Speaker 1: It sets sail on June twelfth, eighteen eighty and arrived 56 00:04:11,880 --> 00:04:14,440 Speaker 1: on the banks of the Hudson River just a little 57 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:18,160 Speaker 1: over a month later. Now came the really tricky part, 58 00:04:18,520 --> 00:04:22,279 Speaker 1: navigating the obelisk down the crowded streets of New York City, 59 00:04:22,680 --> 00:04:28,000 Speaker 1: a process which would ultimately take another five months. Gorange 60 00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:31,600 Speaker 1: decided to split up the process, choosing to first tackle 61 00:04:31,680 --> 00:04:35,400 Speaker 1: the obelisks base, which was twenty seven feet high and 62 00:04:35,440 --> 00:04:39,400 Speaker 1: weighed fifty tons. He used a team of thirty two 63 00:04:39,400 --> 00:04:42,720 Speaker 1: horses to pull the massive pedestal to its new home 64 00:04:42,800 --> 00:04:47,760 Speaker 1: in Central Park. Meanwhile, the actual monument was floated up 65 00:04:47,760 --> 00:04:53,760 Speaker 1: the Hudson River to Street using pontoons. From there, Gorange 66 00:04:53,800 --> 00:04:56,840 Speaker 1: had to build a special rail track to move the 67 00:04:56,839 --> 00:04:59,800 Speaker 1: obelisk through the city at a rate of just one 68 00:05:00,080 --> 00:05:04,200 Speaker 1: lock per day. A blizzard slowed the process even further, 69 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:07,440 Speaker 1: as did the crowds of New Yorkers who followed the 70 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:11,520 Speaker 1: obelisk through every step of its slow procession. Many of 71 00:05:11,560 --> 00:05:15,039 Speaker 1: the spectators weren't satisfied with just a glimpse of that 72 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:18,760 Speaker 1: old stone history and started going at it with hammers 73 00:05:18,760 --> 00:05:21,880 Speaker 1: and chisels, trying to chip off a piece for themselves. 74 00:05:22,640 --> 00:05:25,880 Speaker 1: The vandalism was so rampant that a guard had to 75 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:28,880 Speaker 1: be brought in to protect the obelisk around the clock. 76 00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:34,520 Speaker 1: New York merchants capitalized on the city's Egyptomania in less 77 00:05:34,560 --> 00:05:39,400 Speaker 1: destructive ways. For example, a needle company issued trading cards 78 00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:43,760 Speaker 1: showing Cleopatra threading an obelisk instead of a needle. A 79 00:05:43,880 --> 00:05:48,080 Speaker 1: candy stand followed behind the monument every day, and another 80 00:05:48,160 --> 00:05:54,760 Speaker 1: merchant sold Cleopatra dates packed inside an obelisk shaped box. Finally, 81 00:05:55,040 --> 00:05:59,040 Speaker 1: after thirty nine days of winding its way through city streets, 82 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:02,480 Speaker 1: the obelisk s arrived at its current home in Central 83 00:06:02,520 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 1: Park on January twenty. Workers used a specially designed lifting 84 00:06:07,839 --> 00:06:10,760 Speaker 1: rig to get the monument upright as a crowd of 85 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:14,799 Speaker 1: about ten thousand watched from the sidelines. Over the course 86 00:06:14,839 --> 00:06:19,039 Speaker 1: of the next ten days, four bronze crabs, replicas of 87 00:06:19,080 --> 00:06:22,240 Speaker 1: the originals, were installed at each corner of the base. 88 00:06:23,040 --> 00:06:26,560 Speaker 1: The crabs way over nine hundred pounds each and are 89 00:06:26,600 --> 00:06:29,240 Speaker 1: a big help in supporting the base of the obelisk. 90 00:06:30,200 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 1: Over the last century and a half, the obelisk has 91 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:37,520 Speaker 1: remained a somewhat overlooked fixture of Central Park, with many 92 00:06:37,600 --> 00:06:42,799 Speaker 1: visitors completely unaware of its long and storied history in Tleven. 93 00:06:43,120 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: The monument was thrust back into the spotlight when an 94 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:50,440 Speaker 1: Egyptian official accused the city of neglecting the ancient artwork 95 00:06:50,720 --> 00:06:54,279 Speaker 1: and threatened to take it back. The dispute led to 96 00:06:54,360 --> 00:06:59,440 Speaker 1: the first comprehensive restoration of the Obelisk, a collaboration between 97 00:06:59,480 --> 00:07:02,880 Speaker 1: the met Me Museum and the city's parks department. The 98 00:07:03,000 --> 00:07:07,200 Speaker 1: two thousand, one hundred and twelve square foot surface was 99 00:07:07,279 --> 00:07:11,880 Speaker 1: painstakingly cleaned with lasers and then covered in a protective coding. 100 00:07:12,560 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: The process removed decades of dirt and pollution, allowing the 101 00:07:16,800 --> 00:07:20,960 Speaker 1: hieroglyphs etched into its exterior to finally be seen again. 102 00:07:21,960 --> 00:07:26,400 Speaker 1: The conservation program was long overdue, and though the undertaking 103 00:07:26,440 --> 00:07:30,640 Speaker 1: cost half a million dollars, the Central Park Conservancy considers 104 00:07:30,680 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: it money well spent. According to the group, the project 105 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:37,840 Speaker 1: will ensure the obelisk is preserved for decades to come, 106 00:07:38,200 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: allowing it quote to endure as a testament to the 107 00:07:42,120 --> 00:07:47,640 Speaker 1: genius of a vanished civilization, an awe inspiring tower holding 108 00:07:47,720 --> 00:07:53,680 Speaker 1: its own on an island of modern skyscrapers. I'm gay, 109 00:07:53,720 --> 00:07:57,520 Speaker 1: Bluesier and hopefully you now know a little more about 110 00:07:57,600 --> 00:08:01,600 Speaker 1: history today than you did yesterday. If you want to 111 00:08:01,680 --> 00:08:05,280 Speaker 1: keep up with the show, you can follow us on Twitter, Facebook, 112 00:08:05,320 --> 00:08:09,760 Speaker 1: and Instagram at t d I HC Show, and if 113 00:08:09,800 --> 00:08:12,720 Speaker 1: you have any comments or suggestions, you can always send 114 00:08:12,720 --> 00:08:15,760 Speaker 1: them my way at this day at i heart media 115 00:08:15,840 --> 00:08:19,520 Speaker 1: dot com. Thanks to Chandler Mays for producing the show, 116 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,600 Speaker 1: and thank you for listening. I'll see you back here 117 00:08:22,640 --> 00:08:33,480 Speaker 1: again tomorrow for another day in History class. For more 118 00:08:33,520 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: podcasts from my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, 119 00:08:36,120 --> 00:08:38,760 Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.