The ancient Egyptians called this sacred monument “Techen”. Then, in Greek times, the name was changed to “Obeliskos” (skewer), which caricatured the shape of the monument. The obelisk is usually carved from a solid granite monolith with a rose. Its inscriptions include the name of the king, titles and prayers to some deities, but the main purpose of its creation was the worship of the god Ra – the sun god.
The obelisk stands like a pillar on a pedestal, tapers upwards and forms the so-called “pyramidion” at the top, covered with electricity (amber), a natural alloy of gold and silver.

When the sun god “RA” rises every morning and sends his rays to the gilded tops of the obelisks, his rays are reflected and illuminate our dark earth, awaken us from deep sleep, give us warmth and give us life. This was the philosophical thought of the ancient Egyptian priests about obelisks.
The origin of the obelisk goes back to the mysterious, presumably prehistoric cult of the pyramidal sacred stone in the city “On”, later called “Heliopolis”, on which the sun first fell when it rose. From Heliopolis, it spread throughout Egypt. In the old kingdom, obelisks were still quite rare, but we often find them in front of the sanctuaries of the new kingdom. The man set them up in pairs on either side of the pylons of the temple.

Many obelisks were moved outside Egypt in ancient times, especially to Italy, where there are a large number of Egyptian obelisks in its capital, Rome, and other obelisks were transported from Egypt and taken to Constantinople, as well as to important places and places. in the Roman and Byzantine periods were placed in front of churches. Some obelisks have been transported to Paris, London and New York in modern times, during the era of Muhammad Ali and his successors. Today, Egyptian obelisks adorn the most famous squares in Europe.

If you were interested in visiting the obelisks and would like to know more about them, we invite you to take a day trip to Luxor.