Cleopatra's Needle on the Embankment

One of the things you do when in London is walking along the Thames. That will inevitably bring you to the Victoria Embankment where Cleopatra's Needle is standing tall. The needle is an obelisk, and it has absolutely nothing to do with Cleopatra. Otherwise the name is apt.

The obelisk standing on the bank of the Thames River in London was commissioned by Pharaoh Tuthmose III about 1,400 years before Cleopatra's birth. That's about the same time lapse as between the Romans leaving Britain and the birth of Queen Victoria. Pharaoh Ramses II had it inscribed and the Romans transported it to Alexandria for propaganda purposes.

In 1820, the Egyptian government presented the obelisk to the United Kingdom as a memorial to the victories of Nelson and Abercromby over Napoleon. It took 57 years to make the way from Egypt to England. In the process, the obelisk was almost sunk and then lost.

John Dixon was the engineer in charge of getting it from Alexandria to London. He built an iron cylinder casket around the 68 ft stone block weighing 200 tons and had it rolled into the harbor of Alexandria. There it was fitted with deck house, mast, rudder, and steering gear and named the Cleopatra. The craft was taken in tow by the steamship Olga and the convoy left Alexandria for London on 21 September 1877.

The steamer Olga with the sailing ship Cleopatra in tow were hit by a strong storm in the Bay of Biscay. The tow ropes had to be cut and the Cleopatra set adrift. In the course of rescuing the Cleopatra's crew, six crew from the Olga lost their lives. The Cleopatra was eventually sighted by Spanish fishermen (or the steamer Fitzmaurice) and towed to Spain (either the port of Vigo or Ferrol). From Spain, it was then towed to London arriving on 21 January 1878.

At this point, the British government did what governments do best, it started infighting over where to place the obelisk. By September, the issue had been settled, a concrete base laid at the Embankment, and the Cleopatra towed upriver. Hydraulic jacks brought the obelisk onto the riverbank. The stone then received an iron jacket with two circular pivots around which it could be swung. A stirrup strap was added to keep it from slipping while being pulled upright.

It was raised to a horizontal position with hydraulic jacks. The gradual raising had to be supported by timbers. Under the obelisk, three steps and a pedestal were raised to 18 ft. The tackle was worked by a pair of manned winches each end. In that way, the pillar was moved into a vertical position over the pedestal. While the obelisk was lowered into position, the Union flag and the Ottoman flag were unfurled.

When you walk along the Thames, remember that this work of art had stood on the Nile for more than 3,000 years before moving here. So when it's raining while you take your walk, just take the sun of Egypt with you and enjoy it.

Further reading
Cleopatra and 2,000 years of slander
Naval Arms Race in The Mediterranean
Fanny's Story: Lady Nelson