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Dogali Obelisk

Monument at Egyptian obelisks of Rome · also called Obelisco di Dogali, Dogali monument obelisk, Termini obelisk, Monumento ai caduti di Dogali, Obelisk of Ramesses II Termini

The obelisk in the garden on Viale Luigi Einaudi, near Termini station, carries hieroglyphs of Ramesses II, with his throne name Usermaatre Setepenre. Its texts are for the sun god of Heliopolis, where it first stood.

Point your camera at a wall

Signs to look for

  1. Head and neck of a canine F12wsr The head of a canine (user) opens Usermaatre, so you can find his throne name fast.
  2. Goddess Maat C10mꜣꜥt Maat sits next to it in the same cartouche.
  3. Adze U21stp The adze (setep) writes Setepenre, 'chosen of Ra'.
  4. Three fox skins F31ms The three fox skins (mes) are the middle of Ramesses.
  5. Sun N5rꜥ The sun disc writes Ra, in the king's names and the sun god's.

Names you can find here

The story of Dogali Obelisk

It came from Heliopolis with a twin that now stands in the Boboli Gardens in Florence. Both decorated the sanctuary of Isis on the Campus Martius in Roman times. Its tip was found in 1719 during work at the Casanatense Library, beside Santa Maria sopra Minerva, and Rodolfo Lanciani dug out the rest in 1883.

In 1887 the city made it a memorial to the Italian soldiers killed at Dogali in Eritrea in January that year. It went up in front of Termini station and moved to this garden when the square was rebuilt in the 1920s. The names of the dead are on the base. A Lion of Judah taken from Addis Ababa once stood here and has since gone back to Ethiopia.

What to see and read

Ramesses II's cartouches

His throne name Usermaatre Setepenre and his name Ramesses, beloved of Amun, sit in the columns of the shaft.

Texts for the sun god

The columns tie the king to the sun god of Heliopolis, the city the obelisk was made for.

The memorial base

The base of 1887 lists the soldiers who died at Dogali, by rank.

Reading the hieroglyphs here

  • The shaft is short and the garden lets you walk round it: read all four faces at eye level from close by.
  • Trees shade the garden. Choose a bright moment so the camera sees the carving clearly.
  • Its twin is in Florence's Boboli Gardens and its cousin in front of the Pantheon: compare the cartouches.

Hiero Lens boxes the signs and names them, on your phone; nothing is uploaded. On worn stone, trace a sign over the photo.

Questions

Why is it called the Dogali obelisk?

It was set up in 1887 as a memorial to the Italian soldiers killed at the battle of Dogali in Eritrea. The obelisk itself is an Egyptian one of Ramesses II.

Where is the Dogali obelisk in Rome?

In a small garden on Viale Luigi Einaudi, between Termini station and the Baths of Diocletian. It stood in front of the station until the 1920s.

Also at Egyptian obelisks of Rome

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The Lateran Obelisk in front of San Giovanni in Laterano names two kings. The middle column on each face belongs to Thutmose III, who ordered it for Karnak, and the two columns beside it to his grandson Thutmose IV, who finally raised it.

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Flaminio Obelisk

The obelisk in the middle of Piazza del Popolo carries the names of Seti I and his son Ramesses II. Seti's columns fill three faces, and Ramesses II inscribed the fourth face and added the side columns.

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Montecitorio Obelisk

The obelisk in front of the Italian parliament names Psamtik II, a king of the 26th Dynasty, who reigned 595–589 BC. His columns call him beloved of Atum, lord of Heliopolis, and of Ra-Horakhty.

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Pantheon Obelisk

The obelisk on the fountain in front of the Pantheon names Ramesses II. His two cartouches are cut on its tip, and the columns on its shaft tie him to the sun god of Heliopolis.

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Minerva Obelisk

The obelisk on the back of Bernini's marble elephant names Apries, a king of the 26th Dynasty, who set it up at Sais in the Nile Delta around 580 BC. At about five and a half metres, it is the smallest of Rome's ancient obelisks.

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Pamphilj Obelisk

The obelisk on Bernini's Fountain of the Four Rivers is Egyptian granite with hieroglyphs written in Rome for the emperor Domitian. Its texts name Domitian, his father Vespasian and his brother Titus, and call the emperor Horus, strong bull, beloved of Maat.

Read more about Dogali Obelisk

Where it is

Open in OpenStreetMap · Written from published sources and not yet checked on site by our team: displays and open tombs change.