The Obelisks

Why do many world capitals have Obelisks placed in their capitals?

There are 28 known ancient Egyptian obelisks in the following current locations:

• Egypt – 8
  • Pharaoh Tuthmosis I, Karnak Temple, Luxor
  • Pharaoh Ramses II, Luxor Temple
  • Pharaoh Hatshepsut, Karnak Temple, Luxor
  • Pharaoh Senusret I, Heliopolis, Cairo
  • Pharaoh Ramses III, Luxor Museum
  • Pharaoh Ramses II, Gezira Island, Cairo, 20.4 m
  • Pharaoh Ramses II, Cairo International Airport, 16.97 m
  • Pharaoh Seti II, Karnak Temple, Luxor, 7 m
• France – 1
  • Pharaoh Ramses II, in Place de la Concorde, Paris
• Israel – 1
  • Caesarea obelisk
• Italy – 11 (includes the only one located in the Vatican City)
  • 8 in Rome (see Obelisks in Rome)
  • Piazza del Duomo, Catania (Sicily)
  • Boboli Gardens (Florence)
  • Urbino
• Poland – 1
  • Ramses II, Poznań Archaeological Museum, Poznań (on loan from Ägyptisches Museum und Papyrussammlung, Berlin
• Turkey – 1
  • Pharaoh Tuthmosis III, in Square of Horses, Istanbul
• United Kingdom – 4
  • Pharaoh Tuthmosis III, Cleopatra's Needle, on Victoria Embankment, London
  • Pharaoh Amenhotep II, in the Oriental Museum, University of Durham
  • Pharaoh Ptolemy IX, Philae Obelisk, at Kingston Lacy, near Wimborne Minster, Dorset
  • Pharaoh Nectanebo II, British Museum, London
• United States – 1
  • Pharaoh Tuthmosis III, Cleopatra's Needle, in Central Park, New York