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Luxor Obelisk, Place de la Concorde, Paris
Site, Museums outside Egypt · also called Obélisque de Louxor, Concorde obelisk, Place de la Concorde obelisk, Paris obelisk, Obelisk of Ramesses II Paris
The Paris obelisk was raised by Ramesses II in front of Luxor Temple, and every column on its four faces gives his names and titles. Its twin still stands at the temple gate in Luxor.
Signs to look for
- Head and neck of a canine F12wsr The head and neck of a jackal (user) opens Usermaatre, Ramesses II's throne name.
- Goddess Maat C10mꜣꜥt The seated goddess with a feather (maat) follows it in the same cartouche.
- Sun N5rꜥ The sun disc (ra) is in both his cartouches and in the name of Amun-Ra in the scenes.
- Folded cloth S29s The folded cloth (s) is doubled in Ramesses (rꜥ-ms-sw).
- Game board Y5mn The game board (mn) is in Amun and in Meryamun, 'beloved of Amun', after his birth name.
Names you can find here
The story of Luxor Obelisk, Place de la Concorde, Paris
Ramesses II set a pair of obelisks before the pylon he added to Luxor Temple. Egypt offered both to France around the time of Champollion's decipherment, and the western one was taken down in 1831. It reached Paris in 1833 on a ship built for the job and was raised in the centre of the Place de la Concorde in 1836, before King Louis-Philippe. In 1981 France gave up its claim to the second obelisk.
The hieroglyphs are sunk into the granite on all four sides. The columns repeat his Horus name, his two cartouches and his epithets as the king who built for Amun.
The original pyramidion was already missing when the French took the obelisk. The gilded cap on top was added in 1998. The pedestal below shows gilded diagrams of the machinery that lowered the obelisk at Luxor and raised it in Paris.
What to see and read
Ramesses II's cartouches
Usermaatre Setepenre and Ramesses Meryamun appear again and again down every face, each in its own ring.
Offering scenes near the top
Small scenes of Ramesses II making offerings to Amun-Ra. They are high up and best seen with a zoom.
Pedestal diagrams
Gilded engravings on the base show how the obelisk was lowered, shipped and raised in the 1830s, with French inscriptions.
The twin at Luxor Temple
Its partner still stands at the left of the temple's entrance in Luxor, with the same king's names.
Reading the hieroglyphs here
- The square is wide and busy. Use the traffic islands near the obelisk and photograph one face at a time with zoom.
- Look at the shaft just above the pedestal first: those signs are the largest you can read up close.
- Compare the Paris faces with photos of the twin at Luxor Temple to see the same cartouches in their first setting.
Hiero Lens boxes the signs and names them, on your phone; nothing is uploaded. On worn stone, trace a sign over the photo.
Questions
Which pharaoh is on the obelisk in Place de la Concorde?
Ramesses II. The obelisk stood in front of Luxor Temple, which he enlarged, and its columns give his names and titles.
How old is the Concorde obelisk?
About 3,250 years. It was carved under Ramesses II in the thirteenth century BC and raised in Paris in 1836.
Where is the other Luxor obelisk?
It still stands at the entrance of Luxor Temple, in Upper Egypt. France renounced its claim to it in 1981.
Read more about Luxor Obelisk, Place de la Concorde, Paris
- Egyptian obelisks around the world and the names carved on them Egyptian obelisks around the world: Rome, Paris, London, New York, Istanbul. Whose names are carved on each, and how it left Egypt.
Where it is
Open in OpenStreetMap · Written from published sources and not yet checked on site by our team: displays and open tombs change.