Egypt wants its stuff back

While some say New York City’s acid rain is eroding a 3,500-year-old Egyptian obelisk others might say the 500 years spent in saltwater and having flaming camel dung thrown at it worse.

Cleopatra’s Needle, an obelisk that stands in Central Park since 1881, is undergoing a “weather study” this summer by the New York City’s Department of Parks and Recreation. They are trying to answer the question if damage is being done to the artifact.

This study came about when the minister of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, Zahi Hawass, wrote to the Mayor of New York City and the Central Park Conservancy back in January that the extended stay of the obelisk in New York was wearing away the hieroglyphs and it needs to come back to its home land. Hawass said he would “take the necessary steps to bring this precious artifact home and save it from ruin.”

However it is questions whether Egypt is the safest place for artifact these days. Not long after Dr. Hawass sent his letter looters broke into the Egyptian Museum in Cairo damaging many artifacts and leaving some missing.

The obelisk was built around 1500 B.C. to honor Pharaoh Thutmose III. It is true that the artifact has been through a lot in its history. It was knocked down in 525 B.C. when the Persians “sacked” Heliopolis. They threw flaming camel dung to burn off the hieroglyphics. But the hieroglyphics suffered more damage as it lay on its side in saltwater for about 500 years. It was then re-erected in 12 B.C. by the Romans in Alexandria. Finally in 1881 Cleopatra’s Needle it was given as a gift arriving in New York City commemorating the opening of the Suez Canal. A few years later the parks department noticed flakes of granite coming off the Needle. In 1885 Park officials removed 800 pounds of flakes from its surface in an attempt to clean up the monument.

In a prepared statement by the current New York City parks department they said,

“Cleopatra’s Needle undergoes physical inspections and conservations assessments on an annual basis.”

Until it is determined if New York’s weather really is bringing damage to the obelisk it will remain in Central Park.

Information for this post was taken from New York Times website and video concerning Cleopatra’s Needle, also from the Dr. Hawass website. Both links are posted below.

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/07/06/egypt-or-central-park-where-does-an-ancient-obelisk-belong/?smid=tw-nytimes&seid=auto

http://www.drhawass.com/blog/obelisk-central-park