Obelisk ship

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Ships were used during the

The earliest obelisk ships were built in Ancient Egypt to transport obelisks via the Nile from the quarries to their destination.

During the reign of Thutmose I, Ineni was granted superintendence of the king's building projects, which included the erection of two obelisks. A surviving text fragment documents that the obelisk ship had a length of ~63 metres (207 ft) and a width of ~21 metres (69 ft).^[1]

I (Ineni) inspected the erection of two obelisks ... built the august boat of 120

cubits

in its length, 40 cubits in its width, in order to transport these obelisks. (They) came in peace, safety and prosperity, and landed at Karnak ... of the city. Its 'track' was laid with every pleasant wood.

A relief depicting

In the 19th dynasty, Seti I commissioned numerous works, including multiple obelisks, and large barges to transport them. A rock stela at Aswan states:

His Majesty has ordered the commissioning of multitudinous works for the making of very great obelisks and great and wondrous statues in the name of His Majesty. He made great barges for transporting them, and ships crews to match them (for) ferrying them from the quarry while the officials and transport-men hastened and his eldest son was before them doing what is beneficial for His Majesty.^[3]

During the

For this purpose, a canal was dug from the river Nile to the spot where the obelisk lay; and two broad vessels, laden with blocks of similar stone a foot square, the cargo of each amounting to double the size, and consequently double the weight, of the obelisk, were brought beneath it; the extremities of the obelisk remaining supported by the opposite sides of the canal. The blocks of stone were then removed, and the vessels, being thus gradually lightened, received their burden.[4]

There is little evidence of the great ships that carried the large obelisks across the Mediterranean. One of the two ships that carried the Vatican obelisk was purposely sunk by the emperor

Three Roman ships were built to transport one obelisk. The two aft ships were of rectangular shape; they were 37 meters in length and 5 meters in width. The two ships were held together by longitudinal beams, while the obelisk was tied to these longitudinal beams and held stationary underwater. The third ship, a larger trireme, was in the front and was tied to the two larger ships carrying the obelisk. The third ship’s purpose was to help steer the two aft ships and have rowers and sail power the ship across the Mediterranean.

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Until the second half of the 19th century two obelisks were located at the Caesareum of Alexandria, now known as Cleopatra's Needles. The fallen one was taken to London by the cylinder ship Cleopatra in 1877. Four years later, the standing one was loaded onto the SS Dessoug and shipped to New York City.^[5]

• List of obelisks in Rome
• Ships of ancient Rome

• Brand, Peter J. (1997). "The 'Lost' Obelisks and Colossi of Seti I". Journal of the American Research Center in Egypt. 34: 101–114.
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• Breasted, James Henry (1906). Ancient records of Egypt. Vol. 2. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
• Gorringe, Henry Honychurch (1882). Egyptian Obelisks. Nineteenth Century Collections Online (NCCO): Photography: The World through the Lens. John C. Nimmo.
• Landström, Björn (1970). Ships of the Pharaohs: 4000 years of Egyptian Shipbuilding. London: Doubleday.
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• Marcellinus, Ammianus. Roman Antiquities. Vol. 17. pp. 319–329.
• Naville, Edouard (1908). The temple of Deir el Bahari (Band 6): The lower terrace, additions and plans. Vol. 6. London: Egypt Exploration Fund.
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• Torr, Cecil (1895). Ancient Ships. Cambridge: University Press.
• Vinson, Steve (1994). Egyptian Boats and Ships (1st ed.). Buckinghamshire: Shire Publications.
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• Wirsching, Armin (2000). "How the Obelisks Reached Rome: Evidence of Roman Double-Ships". The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. 29 (2): 273–283.
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• Wirsching, Armin (2003). "Supplementary Remarks on the Roman Obelisk-Ships". The International Journal of Nautical Archaeology. 32 (1): 121–123.
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• Wirsching, Armin (2013). Obelisken transportieren und aufrichten in Ägypten und in Rom (in German) (3rd ed.). Norderstedt: BoD.
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