Tuthmosis I was one of the great warrior-kings of ancient Egypt, extending his domains south into Nubia and north into Syria. He raised a pair of red-granite obelisks at Karnak, though only one remains standing today. In his tomb in the Theban necropolis, Aneni, one of the pharaoh's officials, relates how he "saw to the erection of two [great] obelisks...having built an august boat 120 cubits in length and 40 cubits in width in order to transport these obelisks." [One royal cubit = 1.72 feet] "They arrived safe and sound, and landed at Karnak."Typical of the hieroglyphic inscriptions on the obelisk are those of the west face, which relate that Tuthmosis I "made it as a monument for his father Amun-Re, foremost of the Two Lands, erecting for him two large obelisks at the double gate of the temple, the pyramidions being of [electrum]...." (Alas, the electrum is all gone today.) About 400 years after the obelisks were raised, Ramses IV added his own inscriptions on either side of those of Tuthmosis I.
Stats:
Location: Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt
Pharaoh: Tuthmosis I (reigned 1525-c.1512 B.C.)
Height: 66 feet
Weight: 143 tons
No comments:
Post a Comment