Cleopatra’s Needles (Part 2)
So just to finish off the story, here are a few of the old pictures of the British Cleopatra’s Needle being encased and then launched into the harbour ready for its voyage to the UK.
The obelisk being moved into position onto heavy timber baulks to allow the steel sections to be built around it.
The internal bulkheads being fitted around the obelisk
With the circular bulkheads in place the outer shell can be added.
The vessel is almost complete, note the bow shaped ends and the hatch in the top.
The finished vessel is ready to be launched down the ramp, note the remaining standing obelisk in the background, this is the twin of the UK one and will be later given to the USA.
Here we see the vessel being towed out into the sea by paddle steamers.
After it was launched the vessel had two bilge keels, a rudder, a mast for balancing sails and a deck house added, it looked more like a submarine than a ship. Once it was given a coat of paint it was ready to leave Egypt and the newly constructed vessel was nicknamed ‘Cleopatra’ and commanded by a Captain Carter
The proposal was to tow the vessel all the way back to the UK, but it had a few mishaps along the way and at one point it was actually sinking in the Bay of Biscay and the vessel had to be abandoned after taking off the crew. After several days it was found still floating in the bay and was taken into a port for repairs, then eventually completing its journey up the Thames to London.
The following is a sketch made at the time showing how the obelisk was raised and then rotated into position on its new plinth on the embankment in Westminster London on the 12th September 1878 and they concealed a time capsule within the pedestal
America's Needle
In 1877 the Consul General to Cairo of the United States of America asked if they could have either the other Luxor obelisk or the remaining Tuthmosis one at Alexandria, he was given the later. The railroad magnate William H Vanderbilt gave a donation of $100,000 and so plans were put in place to move the obelisk from Egypt to America.
The remaining Tuthmosis obelisk, prior to it being shipped to America.
The vertical obelisk is now ready to be turned through 90 degrees, note the gimbals at the top of the side ‘A’ frames to allow it to pivot around.
The obelisk has been successfully rotated and is now resting upon timber supports after nearly crashing to the ground during this manoeuvre.
After being moved to a dry dock, the obelisk is loaded into the hold via a hole cut into the ships hull as this sketch shows.
To bring it from the banks of the Hudson River, 32 horses hitched in pairs were used to pull it over a specially constructed bridge on Fifth Avenue to its new home in Central Park on the Greywacke Knoll, arriving on July 20th 1880. The cornerstone for the plinth was finally laid on October 2nd 1880.
Cleopatra’s Needle in Central Park, New York.
As an aside, the pollution and acid rain in New York has had detrimental effects on the hieroglyphs according to Zahi Hawas and he has threatened to "take the necessary steps to bring this precious artefact home and save it from ruin."
So what is he planning to do? nip in under cover of darkness and load it on a ship bound for Egypt? sometimes he does talk a load of twaddle.
Cleopatra's Needles (Part 2)
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Needle/Obelisk
Thankyou Horus - WOW - the first one was a work of genius - making a sea-going vessel of it - wonder if they could manage that again today - doubtful as the rest of the world cant even get a stranded whale back out to sea - -
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