New York, New York: Cleopatra's Needle
A 70-foot-tall, 3,500-year-old outdoor Egyptian obelisk that in fact has nothing to do with Cleopatra.
- Address:
- 1000 5th Ave., New York, NY
- Directions:
- In Central Park directly behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art. Enter the park just north of E. 79th St. at 5th Ave./Central Park West. Follow the path behind the Museum to the obelisk.
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This obelisk is 70 feet tall, and at 3,500 years old, it is the oldest outdoor monument in New York City. It was a gift from Egypt and erected in Central Park in 1881. A bronze casting translates the hieroglyphs for us non-Egyptologists. Cleopatra's Needle was commissioned by Pharaoh Thutmosis III around 1450 BC -- so the Queen of the Nile actually had very little to do with it.
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The Needle was a essentially a bribe given to America by 19th century Egypt to stay out of its internal affairs. America's richest man, William Vanderbilt, paid for the shipping -- and he lived in New York City. The Needle weighs 238 tons.