Aswan Obelisk Hotel

Turkey and Egypt 4: casting swords and asking for heaven.

Text/map? Qutangyan 69

The Egyptian obelisk flashed in Istanbul. In the next few days, I saw four in the Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple in Egypt, and one in the Place de la Concorde in Paris, France and the Vatican Square in Rome, Italy. The obelisk gave me a better understanding of Egypt.

Almost everyone in the world knows that the pyramids of Egypt are the first of the seven wonders of the world. Today, 96 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt, the largest of which are the three pyramid of khufu in the suburb of Cairo. The history, astronomy, science and technology and culture involved in the pyramids will be discussed in detail later. Now, let's talk about the 29 surviving obelisks, of which only 9 are still in Egypt, and I can see 6.

The obelisk is another masterpiece of ancient Egypt and the most distinctive symbol of ancient Egyptian civilization except the pyramids. On my next trip in the next few days, I saw the obelisk in Luxor, Egypt.

The obelisk is in the shape of a pointed square column, which gradually narrows from bottom to top, and the top is shaped like a pyramid tip. Wrapped in gold, copper or gold-silver alloy, the rising sun shines like a dazzling sun when it shines on the monument.

The obelisk is usually carved from a whole piece of granite, weighing hundreds of tons, and its four sides are engraved with hieroglyphs, indicating three different uses of this stone tablet: religious (often used to worship the sun god Amon), commemorative (often used to commemorate the Pharaoh's rule for several years) and decorative. At the same time, the obelisk is also a powerful symbol of the authority of the Egyptian empire.

Since the Middle Kingdom period (about 2 133 ~ BC 1786), the pharaohs erected obelisks in the year of amnesty or when they showed off their victory, usually in pairs on both sides of the temple tower. Although it is known that there was an obelisk as early as the fourth dynasty in ancient Egypt, there was no relic at that time, except that the monument was no more than 3 meters, which was not beautiful.

Pharaoh Tuthmus III led troops to present Sudan in the south and Syria in the north, and established a vast and powerful country. When expanding the Sun Temple of Karnak Temple in Thebes (present-day Luxor), he also built several obelisks to publicize the victory of his expedition.

Excavating and erecting the obelisk is an arduous project. According to records, it took seven months to excavate this huge stone in the quarry and transport it from Aswan to Thebes. In the tomb of Queen Aswan Hatshepsut, there are pictures depicting the transportation of obelisks from the Nile by barge. After arriving at the destination, people carried the obelisk up a slope made of mud and then erected it on the base.

The oldest and most complete obelisk in existence belongs to the 12 dynasty of ancient Egypt (about 199 1~ 1786), which was built by Pharaoh Nucete I (about1971~/kloc-0). The obelisk is 20.7 meters high and weighs 12 1 ton. It was built by West Nucete I to celebrate the coronation of the king.

There are three obelisks in the temple of Karnak and Luxor. The obelisk I saw was built by Hatshepsut, the only female Pharaoh in ancient Egypt. It is 29 meters high and weighs 323 tons. It was the highest obelisk at that time and the highest obelisk in Egypt now. The Queen first erected two obelisks in the Karnak Temple, one of which has collapsed, and the lower part remains in place, while the upper part was abandoned by the sacred lake next to the temple.

Another pair of obelisks was erected by Egyptian Pharaoh Tuthmus III, one of which is still standing in the same place and the other is transported to Istanbul.

At the entrance of Luxor Temple, there are a pair of obelisks, which were erected by Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses II, and one of them was transported to Place de la Concorde in France.

There is also an obelisk in Aswan, Egypt. Unfortunately, I didn't see it with my own eyes. This is a famous scenic spot-the unfinished obelisk spans the quarry, with a length of 4 1 m and a weight of 1.267 tons. It was originally built by Queen Hatshepsut. If this obelisk is erected, it will be the largest obelisk in Egypt. The obelisk was mined on the basis of a granite mountain. It is estimated that the project is too big to stand, so it has been lying for more than 3000 years.

In addition, regarding the obelisks, a group of seven obelisks were built in ancient Ethiopia adjacent to Egypt, 1700 years ago during the Kingdom of aksum, and five of them have collapsed. The remaining two obelisks, one is 33 meters high and the other is 24 meters high. The last one was taken to Rome as a trophy by Mussolini in 1937. In 2005, Italy returned the obelisk to Ethiopia according to the agreement, and the obelisk was dismantled and shipped back in three stages. In September 2008, the restoration of the obelisk was completed at the original site.

Egypt has the longest Nile in the world. This place has bred a group of hardworking and intelligent gods who like to talk to God. Some of their huge and great projects are not for practical purposes, such as 96 pyramids, 29 obelisks, dozens of rows of stone columns in Karnak Temple and Luxor Temple. They all seem to stab the sky with a pointed conical posture, sending out infinite questions from human beings, with huge labor force.

Move mountains and fill the sea, dare to ask heaven! This spirit of asking for heaven was unmatched by human beings at that time, and it also made people sigh for thousands of years: casting a sword to ask for heaven, making the first sound!

(20 19.2.20 Travel Notes 8)