Set between the broad, green swaths of the Tuileries Garden and the Jardins des Champs-Élysées is an unlikely Egyptian monument in Paris, France: The Luxor Obelisk. One of a pair, the obelisk juts up into a cloud-packed sky on this mid-October afternoon in the French capital.
Placed between two ornately designed fountains in Place de la Concorde, the Luxor Obelisk's presence feels rather odd. Seeing its red granite form isn't so strange; it's the 3000-year-old hieroglyphics that create a sense of absurdity in the French capital.
Even more strange, in my opinion, is the gold leaf cap that the French installed atop the obelisk in 1998. The newness of the topper seems to contrast and conflict with the antiquity of the stone pillar. Cap and post combined, the Luxor Obelisk stands over 100 feet.
The hieroglyphics speak to several of the Egyptian gods and Ramesses II, one of the most powerful pharaohs of ancient Egypt. The engravings are in splendid condition and easily discernable despite thirty centuries of constant exposure to the elements.
Beneath the pillar is a four-sided pedestal. On two sides, a gold inscription in French dedicating the Luxor Obelisk in 1836. However, on the other two is a pictorial representation of how the obelisk was taken down, transported, and then re-raised in the Parisian square.
Initially set at the entrance to the Luxor Temple in its namesake Egyptian city, it was carted off to France in the 1830s to adorn Paris's most prominent public square. At this time, King Charles X was constructing an Egyptian museum and was actively acquiring artifacts to fill it. The obelisk's companion, also gifted to the King, never made the overseas trip. Fortunately, the slightly shorter obelisk still guards the temple from its original spot.
Perusing Wikipedia, I read that President François Mitterrand renounced ownership of the second pillar in 1981. I found this quite interesting given the more recent growing clamor from the ancient empires such as Egypt and Greece to repatriate artifacts taken during their occupation by European colonial powers. I have no doubt, however, that while renouncing ownership of one pillar, the French will continue to hang on to their unlikely monument in Paris, France: the Luxor Obelisk.
Cheers!
