“In the year of the Christian era 1798, the Republic of France landed on the shores of Egypt an army of 40,000 men, commanded by their most able and successful commander, General Bonaparte. The conduct of the general and the valour of the troops effected the subjection of that country. But, under Divine Providence, it was reserved for the British nation to annihilate their ambitious designs. Their fleet was attacked, defeated, and destroyed in Aboukir Bay, by a British fleet of equal force, commanded by Admiral Lord Nelson. Their intended conquest of Syria was counteracted at Acre by a most gallant resistance, under Commodore Sidney Smith; and Egypt was rescued from their dominion by a British army, inferior in numbers, but commanded by General Sir Ralph Abercromby, who landed at Aboukir on the 8th of March, 1801; defeated the French on several occasions, particularly in a most decisive action near Alexandria, on the 21st of that month; when they were driven from the field, and forced to shelter themselves in their garrisons of Cairo and Alexandria, which places subsequently surrendered by capitulation. To record to future ages these events, and to commemorate the loss sustained by the death of Sir Ralph Abercromby, who was mortally wounded at the moment of victory on that memorable day, is the design of this inscription, which was deposited here in the year of Christ, 1802, by the British army, on their evacuation of this country, and restoring it to the Turkish empire.”
In the year 1820, we have a more intimate introduction to the obelisk in a very interesting letter from Mr. Briggs, formerly Consul at Alexandria, addressed to the Right Honourable Sir Benjamin Blomfield, one of the ministers of His Majesty George the Fourth.
Letter from Consul Briggs
to the Right Hon. Sir Benjamin Blomfield.
“Upper Tooting, Surrey.
“11th April, 1820.
“Sir,
“Having, on my late visit to Egypt, witnessed the stupendous labours of the celebrated Mr. Belzoni, and received from him the assurance that he could confidently undertake the removal to England of one of the granite obelisks at Alexandria; and the Viceroy of Egypt, Mahommed Ali Pacha, having frequently expressed to me his desire of making some acknowledgment for the handsome equipment of his corvette, the ‘Africa,’ and for the presents sent him by His Majesty on the return of that ship to Egypt in the year 1811, I was encouraged to submit to His Highness my opinion that one of the obelisks at Alexandria, known in Europe under the appellation of Cleopatra’s Needles, might possibly be acceptable to His Majesty, as unique of its kind in England, and which might, therefore, be considered a valuable addition to the embellishments designed for the British metropolis. His Highness promised to take the subject into consideration; and, since my return to England, I have received a letter from his Minister, authorising me, if I deemed it acceptable, to make, in his master’s name, a tender of one of those obelisks to His Majesty, as a mark of his personal respect and gratitude.
“It is scarcely necessary to say, those obelisks have for ages been admired for their magnitude, workmanship, and antiquity. After the glorious termination of the conjoint expedition to Egypt in 1801, it was proposed by some officers of high rank to convey to England this identical obelisk as an appropriate trophy.
“Representations were actually made, and subscriptions entered into, among the officers of both army and navy; but, being found inadequate, the design was reluctantly relinquished; and it was generally understood to have been a subject of regret with the administration of that period, that government had been apprised of it too late o afford the necessary means towards its accomplishment.
“Among the officers who had ample opportunities, after the conquest of Egypt, of examining this monument of art, and who may be competent to give a just idea of its merit, may be enumerated, Lord Cavan, Sir Richard Bickerston, Sir David Baird, Sir Hildebrand Oakes, Lord Beresford, Admiral Donelly, and, lately, Sir Miles Nightingale, who visited it on his return from India a few months ago. The two commanders-in-chief of the Egyptian expedition, Lord Keith and Lord Hutchinson, had quitted the country before the plan of removal was in contemplation.
“This obelisk is formed of a single block of red granite (weighing 183 tons, exclusive of the pedestal and steps), originally brought from the quarries in Upper Egypt, near the cataracts. It is now close to the sea-shore at Alexandria, suspended horizontally on its pedestal, in the manner it was placed by our officers in the year 1802, near to the site where the other obelisk is erected. It is about sixty-eight feet in height from the base to the apex, and about seven feet square at the base. On the four sides it is richly sculptured with hieroglyphics in a superior style, more than an inch deep; and though in the lapse of ages it has partially suffered on two sides from the desert winds, the other two are in good preservation.