Was the Statue of Liberty supposed to be given to Egypt?

The statue, which was meant to stand at the northern entrance to the Suez Canal, was anticipated as a grand project symbolizing the country's burgeoning industrial development, steps towards Europeanization and social advances which Bartholdi pitched to the Egyptian government, especially Khedive Ismail.



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The statue almost ended up at the Suez Canal. Bartholdi was determined to build his colossus, and initially pitched it to the Egyptian government for the Suez Canal, which was opening at the time.

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Egypt rejected the Statue of Liberty because according to the Khedive it was too costly. The original plan was to present the colossal neoclassical sculpture to Egypt to stand at the entryway to the Suez Canal as a beacon of light to Asia.

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Free of the large British military presence, the incipient German backed revolutionary movements were able to more effectively launch their operations. Consequently, from March to April 1919, there were mass demonstrations that became uprisings. This is known in Egypt as the 1919 Revolution.

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Bartholdi's statue has been intended originally for Port Said beside the Suez Canal (see over). The placement in Egypt would have been quite logical.

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There are two genuine statues and several lesser versions of the Statue of Liberty. The original and most famous is the one located on Liberty Island, a gift from the French to America. The second is located in Paris, France, and was a reciprocal gift from the United States in 1889.

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The Statue of Liberty, designed by Auguste Bartholdi (1834-1904), was a gift from France as a symbol of American freedom, and has watched over New York Harbor since its dedication on October 28, 1886.

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The truss in statue's right shoulder had seriously weakened and was in danger of collapse. And almost half of the iron armature that supports the copper skin had corroded, in part because the statue had become, in effect, a giant battery.

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25 Facts to Celebrate the Statue of Liberty
  • The statue's full name is Liberty Enlightening the World.
  • It was a gift from France given to America in 1886.
  • The robed female figure represents Libertas, the Roman goddess of freedom.
  • The statue measures 93 meters and weighs 204 metric tons.


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Some say the current white statue was substituted for the original when American politicians objected to the portrayal of Liberty as a black woman. Some have even argued that the original black statue still exists, either in France or hidden somewhere in the catacombs of New York.

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The Leicester Statue of Liberty is a small replica of the Statue of Liberty (Liberty Enlightening the World) by local stonemason Joseph Morcom installed at the twin Soar River bridges in Leicester, England.

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There are 25 windows in the crown which symbolize 25 gemstones found on the earth. The seven rays of the Statue's crown represent the seven seas and continents of the world. The tablet which the Statue holds in her left hand reads (in Roman numerals) “July (IV) 4th, (MDCCLXXVI) 1776.”

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It was originally erected in 1998 as a temporary tribute to Japan's relationship with France, but the statue was so popular she was made a permanent feature in 2000. What's most interesting about the Odaiba Statue of Liberty is that she is not the only one in Japan, she also has sisters in Shimoda and Osaka.

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This design was ultimately rejected by the khedive. An early sketch of the statue done by Bartholdi. Bartholdi's relationship with the scholar Édouard de Laboulaye would provide him with another opportunity to achieve the colossal.

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It's made of copper, which has oxidised naturally to form a green patina coating which actually protects the copper underneath. It took about 20 years for the Statue of Liberty to change from copper coloured to green!

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