After the death of Thothmes III. there was a comparative quiet in the erection of obelisks, although one of his obelisks was finished, inscribed, and then erected by Thothmes IV. The great Pharaoh was praised for his imposing monuments, but none dared emulate him until with a new dynasty a new line of rulers came to Egypt. Of Seti I. two excellent obelisks have come down to us, both being at present in Rome. The name, however, most frequently mentioned on the obelisks is that of Ramses II. (1200 B. C.). Although he erected comparatively few obelisks, he inscribed his name and deeds on those of his predecessors, thereby engaging in no legitimate business. He considered himself the equal of Thothmes III., and therefore chose the obelisks of the latter, which had but one—the central—column inscribed, and put two more columns on each side with vainglorious praise of himself. With him the erection of large obelisks seems to have ceased for a time.
Ramses II. in his youth.
It was not until the reign of king Psametik II. that we come across another large obelisk of superior workmanship. This is at present in Rome. Ptolemy Euergetes II. and Cleopatra II. have left us a fine obelisk on the island of Philæ, and this represents the last of a long line of truly Egyptian monoliths. The Roman emperors who erected obelisks of their own were Hadrian and Domitian. Since their time obelisks with hieroglyphic inscriptions have neither been quarried nor erected.
§3. It fell to the lot of the greater number of Egyptian obelisks to be transported from their native land and to serve as objects of curiosity to the multitudes, which had and still have no conception of what they represent. This was due to foreigners; for there is no case on record where the obelisk of one Pharaoh has been transported to a different place by another. Not until the Romans invaded Egypt and carried off its grain and gold, did it occur to man's mind to despoil it of some of its wonders. The first to adorn Rome and Alexandria with them was the emperor Augustus, who carried off two to Rome and left two in Alexandria,—the London and New York Obelisks. Caligula (40 A. D.) and Claudius (41-54 A. D.) followed his example, and about 90 A. D. Domitian removed two to Rome and two to Benevento in Italy. Constantine the Great (306—337 A. D.), after establishing himself in Byzantium [Constantinople], transported a large obelisk to this city, but left a second one, which he had begun to remove in 330, in Alexandria, until Constantius brought it over to Constantinople in 357. During the Middle Ages and up to the present century the other obelisks still remaining in Egypt were left undisturbed. In 1832-1833 the French removed the Luxor Obelisk to Paris, the English the prostrate Alexandrian Obelisk in 1877-1878 to London, and the Americans the erect Obelisk of Alexandria, commonly called "Cleopatra's Needle" in 1880-1881 to New York.
Head of the mummy of Ramses II. discovered in 1881.
§4. It would be quite impossible to give an absolutely correct list of all obelisks existing at the present time, since with regard to some of them we must take the word of travelers, who were not acquainted with Egyptian studies and would therefore easily have been imposed upon, or else the books of reference describing them are in some cases very much at variance. The following list is as near correct as it can at present be made.
| I. ERECT OBELISKS. | ||||||
| Where erected: | By whom erected: | Height: | ||||
| In Egypt: | ||||||
| 01. Karnak | Thebes | Thothmes I. | 71 | ft. | 7 | in. |
| 02. Karnak | Thebes | Hatasu | 97 | " | 6 | " |
| 03. Luxor | Thebes | Ramses II. | 82 | " | - | " |
| 04. Heliopolis | Heliopolis | Usertesen I. | 67 | " | - | " |
| 05. Philæ [frag.] | Philæ | Ptolemies | 33 | " | - | " |
| 06. 7. Karnak | Thebes | Thothmes III. | 19 | " | - | " |
| 08. Sarbut-el-Khedem [?] | Sinaitic Peninsula | ? | ? | |||
| 09. Drah-abul-Neggah | Thebes | Antef [XI. dyn.] | 11 | " | - | " |
| In Constantinople: | ||||||
| 10. Atmeidan | Heliopol. ? | Thothmes III. | 55 | " | 4 | " |
| 11. Prioli | ? | Nectanebo I. ? | 35 | " | - | " |
| In Rome: | ||||||
| 12. Lateran | Thebes | Th'th. III. IV. | 105 | " | 6 | " |
| 13. Vatican | not inscribed. | 83 | " | 1½ | " | |
| 14. Flaminian | Heliopolis | Seti I. | 78 | " | 6 | " |
| 15. Campensis | Heliopolis | Psametik II. ? | 71 | " | 5 | " |
| 16. Pamphilian | Rome | Domitian | 54 | " | 3 | " |
| 17. Sa. Maria Magg. | Heliopol. ? | not inscribed. | 48 | " | 5 | " |
| 18. Mt. Cavallo | Heliopol. ? | not inscribed. | 45 | " | - | " |
| 19. Sallustian | Rome | Copy of Seti I. | 43 | " | 6 | " |
| 20. Barberini | Rome | Hadrian | 30 | " | - | " |
21. Mahutean | Heliopolis | Ramses II. | 20 | " | - | " |
| 22. Piazza della Minerva | Sais? | Psametik II.? | 17 | " | 7 | " |
| 23. Villa Mattei | ? | Ramses II. | 8 | " | 3 | " |
| In other parts of Italy and Sicily: | ||||||
| 24. Boboli Gardens, Florence | Heliopolis | Ramses II.? | 16 | " | 1 | " |
| 25. Florence | ? | ? | 7 | " | - | " |
| 26. Florence | ? | ? | 5 | " | 10 | " |
| 27. 28. Benevento | Benevento | Domitian | 9 | " | - | " |
| 29. Borgian, Naples | ? | Domitian? | 6 | " | 7 | " |
| 30. Catania | Catania | Roman copy? | 12 | " | 4 | " |
| In France: | ||||||
| 31. Luxor, [Paris] | Thebes | Ramses II. | 74 | " | 11 | " |
| 32. Arles | Arles | Constantine? | 56 | " | 9 | " |
| In England: | ||||||
| 33. Alexandrian [in London] | Heliopolis | Thothmes III. | 68 | " | 5½ | " |
| 34. Alnwick Castle or Sion House? | ? | Amenophis II. | 7 | " | 3 | " |
| 35. 36. Amyrtæus British Mus. | ? | Amyrtæus [465] | 19 | " | 9 | " |
| 37. Corfe Castle | Philæ | Ptol. Euerg. II. | 22 | " | 1½ | " |
| In Germany: | ||||||
| 38. Albani Munich | ? | Domitian? | ? | |||
| 39. Lepsius Berlin | Memphis | IV. or V. dyn. | 2 | " | 1½ | " |
| In the United States: | ||||||
| 40. Cleopatra's Needle | Heliopolis | Thothmes III. | 69 | " | 6 | " |
| II. PROSTRATE OBELISKS. | ||||||
| 01. Karnak | Thebes | Thothmes I. | ? | |||
02. Karnak | Thebes | Hatasu | ? | |||
| 03. Bejij | Crocodilop. | Usertesen I. | 42 | " | 9 | " |
| 04-7. Sân | Tanis | Ramses II. | ? | |||
| 08. Assuân | still in the quarry. | 95 | " | - | " | |
| 09. Nahasb | Sinaitic Peninsula | ? | 7 | " | 11 | " |
| 10. 11. Drah-abul-Neggah | Thebes | Antef [XI. dyn.] | ? | |||
Besides the above, we are told that there were in Rome in 1676 four fragments of obelisks, which have since disappeared. Another obelisk is said to have been near the Porta del Popolo in Rome, in the burial place of Nero, which was only a Roman imitation, called the Esmeade Obelisk. Zoëga states that a fragment of an obelisk was brought to Wanstead, England. It was 2½ ft. high, and comprised only a part of the pyramidion. Another fragment of an obelisk is mentioned as having been at Cairo, Egypt. Bonomi calls attention to one at Soughton Hall, England. None of these, however, can now be traced.