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Pantheon Obelisk

Monument at Egyptian obelisks of Rome · also called Obelisco Macuteo, Macuteo obelisk, Obelisk of the Pantheon, Piazza della Rotonda obelisk, Obelisk of Ramesses II Pantheon

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.

Point your camera at a wall

Signs to look for

  1. Cartouche V10 The cartouche rings Ramesses II's names on the tip. Find them first, then follow the columns down.
  2. Head and neck of a canine F12wsr The head of a canine (user) opens Usermaatre, his throne name.
  3. Adze U21stp The adze (setep) writes Setepenre, 'chosen of Ra', the second half of the throne name.
  4. Three fox skins F31ms The three fox skins (mes) stand in the middle of his name, Ramesses.
  5. Sun N5rꜥ The sun disc writes Ra, in the king's names and in the sun god of Heliopolis.

Names you can find here

The story of Pantheon Obelisk

It stood with a twin in a temple of the sun at Heliopolis. In Roman times the pair decorated the great sanctuary of Isis on the Campus Martius, the Iseum Campense, a few streets from here. The twin survives only in part, as the Matteiano obelisk in Villa Celimontana.

It came out of the ground in the fourteenth century and was set up in Piazza di San Macuto, near Sant'Ignazio, which gave it the name Macuteo. In 1711 Clement XI had it moved onto Giacomo della Porta's fountain in Piazza della Rotonda, with the architect Filippo Barigioni. The rock-like base and the star on top come from that work.

What to see and read

Cartouches on the tip

The pyramidion carries Ramesses II's two names: Usermaatre Setepenre and Ramesses, beloved of Amun.

Columns on the shaft

The texts call the king the son of the sun god and recall what he made for him at Heliopolis.

Clement XI's base

The Latin on the fountain base dates the setting to 1711, the eleventh year of his reign as pope.

Reading the hieroglyphs here

  • The shaft is short: from the fountain's edge the camera can read the tip.
  • The square is crowded most of the day. Early morning is quieter and the light is lower.
  • Compare the cartouches with those on the Flaminio and Dogali obelisks: the same king, the same names.

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

Questions

Is the obelisk in front of the Pantheon Egyptian?

Yes. It was made for Ramesses II at Heliopolis and brought to Rome for the temple of Isis on the Campus Martius. Its hieroglyphs are Egyptian.

Why is the Pantheon obelisk called Macuteo?

After its first setting in Piazza di San Macuto, named for the church of San Macuto, before it moved to the Pantheon fountain in 1711.

Also at Egyptian obelisks of Rome

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Lateran Obelisk

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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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.

Monument

Dogali Obelisk

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.

Read more about Pantheon 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.