<em>Obelisk with Inscriptions on all Four Sides</em>, ca. 360–342 B.C.E. Granite, 25 x 7 5/16 x 7 5/16 in. (63.5 x 18.5 x 18.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.614. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.614_wwgA-2.jpg)

Obelisk with Inscriptions on all Four Sides, ca. 360–342 B.C.E. Granite, 25 x 7 5/16 x 7 5/16 in. (63.5 x 18.5 x 18.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.614. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.614_wwgA-2.jpg)

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Obelisk with Inscriptions on all Four Sides

Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

On View: 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

Egyptian obelisks were erected in front of temples and tombs and were usually dedicated to Re-Horakhty or another manifestation of the sun god. The pyramid-like top was both a solar symbol and a representation of the primeval hill on which the creator-god first stood; the obelisk as a whole thus formed a point of contact between earth and heaven. This obelisk is dedicated to the sacred bull of the town of Horbeit, who embodied the destructive power of Horus against his enemies and those of his father, Osiris.

MEDIUM Granite

Possible Place Made: Horbeit (Pharbaethos), Egypt

DATES ca. 360–342 B.C.E.

DYNASTY Dynasty 30

PERIOD Late Period

DIMENSIONS 25 x 7 5/16 x 7 5/16 in. (63.5 x 18.5 x 18.5 cm) (show scale)

COLLECTIONS Egyptian, Classical, Ancient Near Eastern Art

ACCESSION NUMBER 36.614

CREDIT LINE Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund

PROVENANCE Archaeological provenance not yet documented, reportedly from Giza, Egypt or Pharbaethos (Horbeit), Northern Delta, Egypt; by 1936, acquired by Louis Herse of Alexandria, Egypt; 1936, purchased from Louis Herse by the Brooklyn Museum.

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EXHIBITIONS

Egypt Reborn: Art for Eternity

MUSEUM LOCATION This item is on view on the 19th Dynasty to Roman Period, Martha A. and Robert S. Rubin Gallery, 3rd Floor

CAPTION Obelisk with Inscriptions on all Four Sides, ca. 360–342 B.C.E. Granite, 25 x 7 5/16 x 7 5/16 in. (63.5 x 18.5 x 18.5 cm). Brooklyn Museum, Charles Edwin Wilbour Fund, 36.614. Creative Commons-BY (Photo: Brooklyn Museum, CUR.36.614_wwgA-2.jpg)

IMAGE installation, West Wing gallery A-2 installation, CUR.36.614_wwgA-2.jpg. Brooklyn Museum photograph, 2005

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RIGHTS STATEMENT Creative Commons-BY

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