Why was the obelisk given to France?

In 1830 the Sultan and Viceroy of Egypt Mehemet Ali decided to offer the two obelisks standing in front of the Luxor Temple (Thebes, Egypt) to King Charles X of France. It was a gesture of friendship and gratitude for the deciphering of Egyptian hieroglyphs by Champollion.



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The obelisk arrived in Paris on December 21, 1833, a gift from Muhammad Ali Pasha, the Wali and self-proclaimed Khedive of Egypt . Three years later, on October 25, 1836, King Louis-Philippe of France had it placed in the center of Place de la Concorde.

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During the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt, the French attempted to steal the two obelisks and take them back to Paris. The campaign ended before they were successful, but the French did not give up then. A mere 30 years later, the obelisks were “gifted” to the French by the Ottoman monarch Muhammed Ali Pasha.

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The Egyptian monument represented a given pharaoh, expressing the fusion of earthly and divine power, a solar symbol of creation and regeneration. With a square base, the structure gradually tapered high up in a pyramid shape, called pyramidion.

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Ancient Egyptians further believed that the obelisk could guide the souls of the dead to the afterlife. Its shape, symbolism, and use made it a powerful symbol of the strength of Egyptians' faith and the power of the Sun God Ra. Ra was an ancient deity worshiped as the primary God of the sun, order, and creation.

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Some are stunningly old, for example, the Lateran Obelisk was made for Egyptian pharaohs 1500 years BC (3500+ years ago!), then stolen, winding up in Rome 1700 years later. The same obelisk is the tallest in the world, too, at 32 meters, 105 feet.

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The planting of obelisks in Europe is a 2,000-year-old habit, started by the Emperor Augustus in his lust for conquest and self-commemoration. In the year 10BC, Augustus ordered the removal of two obelisks, the oldest of which was then 1,300 years old, to Rome.

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The first obelisks were built by ancient Egyptians. They were carved from stone and placed in pairs at the entrance of temples as sacred objects that symbolized the sun god, Ra.

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Only about 30 such obelisks are still in existence worldwide; figures vary between sources with different definitions of extant Egyptian obelisks.

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The obelisk is inscribed with the kings official titulary: Strong-bull, Appearing-in-Dominion (Thebes), King-of-Upper-and-Lower-Egypt, Two-ladies, Ruler-of-Egypt, Son-of-Rê, Pi(ankh)y: what he made as his monument for his father Amen-Rê, lord of [...].

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