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{{Short description|Ancient Egyptian obelisk, a landmark of Rome, Italy}}
{{Infobox monument
{{Infobox monument
|monument_name=Obelisk of Montecitorio
|monument_name=Obelisk of Montecitorio
|image=Obelisco cavato di sotto le ruine - Plate 021ii - Giuseppe Vasi.jpg
|image=Obelisco cavato di sotto le ruine - Plate 021ii - Giuseppe Vasi.jpg
|caption=The obelisk in a print by [[Giuseppe Vasi]] of 1738
|caption=The obelisk in a print by [[Giuseppe Vasi]] of 1738
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|mapframe-caption=Click on the map for a fullscreen view
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The '''Obelisk of Montecitorio''' ({{lang-it|Obelisco di Montecitorio}}), also known as '''Solare''', is an [[ancient Egypt]]ian, red [[granite]] [[obelisk]] of [[Psammetichus II]] (595–589 BC) from [[Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]]. Brought to [[Rome]] with the [[Flaminio Obelisk]] in 10 BC by the [[Roman Emperor]] [[Augustus]] to be used as the [[gnomon]] of the [[Solarium Augusti]], it is now in the [[Piazza Montecitorio]]. It is {{Convert|21.79|m|0}} high, and {{Convert|33.97|m|0}} including the base and the globe.
The '''Obelisk of Montecitorio''' ({{langx|it|Obelisco di Montecitorio}}), also known as '''Solare''', is an [[ancient Egypt]]ian, red [[granite]] [[obelisk]] of [[Psamtik II]] (595–589 BC) from [[Heliopolis (Ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]]. Brought to [[Rome]] with the [[Flaminio Obelisk]] in 10 BC by the [[Roman Emperor]] [[Augustus]] to be used as the [[gnomon]] of the [[Solarium Augusti]], it is now in the [[Piazza Montecitorio]]. It is {{Convert|21.79|m|0}} high, and {{Convert|33.97|m|0}} including the base and the globe.


==History==
==History==
===First construction===
===First construction===
The stone was quarried at [[Stone_quarries_of_ancient_Egypt#The_quarries_of_Aswan|Aswan]] and then transported to and erected at the sanctuary of [[Ra]] in [[Heliopolis (ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]] during the reign of [[Psammetichus II]] (595–589 BC). <ref>Obelisk of Montecitorio at Wellesley College http://omeka.wellesley.edu/piranesi-rome/exhibits/show/romanobelisks/montecitorio</ref><ref>Molly Swetnam-Burland (2010) Aegyptus Redacta: The Egyptian Obelisk in the Augustan Campus Martius. In: The Art Bulletin 92, No3</ref>
The stone was quarried at [[Stone_quarries_of_ancient_Egypt#The_quarries_of_Aswan|Aswan]] and then transported to, and erected at, the sanctuary of [[Ra]] in [[Heliopolis (ancient Egypt)|Heliopolis]] during the reign of [[Psamtik II]] (595–589 BC). <ref>Obelisk of Montecitorio at Wellesley College http://omeka.wellesley.edu/piranesi-rome/exhibits/show/romanobelisks/montecitorio</ref><ref>Molly Swetnam-Burland (2010) Aegyptus Redacta: The Egyptian Obelisk in the Augustan Campus Martius. In: The Art Bulletin 92, No3</ref>


The hieroglyphic inscription on the sides reads <ref name='hierolang'>{{Cite web|url=https://hierolanginsights.blogspot.com/2014/12/obelisk-of-psamtek-ii-piazza-monte.html|title = Hieroglyphic Language Insights: Obelisk of Psamtek II, Piazza Monte Citorio, Rome a tentative translation|date = 11 December 2014}}</ref><ref>https://obelisks.blogspot.com/2007/07/obelisk-at-piazza-monte-citorio.html</ref>
The hieroglyphic inscription on the sides reads <ref name='hierolang'>{{Cite web|url=https://hierolanginsights.blogspot.com/2014/12/obelisk-of-psamtek-ii-piazza-monte.html|title = Hieroglyphic Language Insights: Obelisk of Psamtek II, Piazza Monte Citorio, Rome a tentative translation|date = 11 December 2014}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://obelisks.blogspot.com/2007/07/obelisk-at-piazza-monte-citorio.html|title = Obelisks: Obelisk at Piazza Monte Citorio}}</ref>
<blockquote>
<blockquote>
The Golden Horus, beautifying the Two Lands, beloved of Atum, lord of Heliopolis;
The Golden Horus, beautifying the Two Lands, beloved of Atum, lord of Heliopolis;
Line 32: Line 37:
===Second construction===
===Second construction===
{{main|Solarium Augusti}}
{{main|Solarium Augusti}}
[[File:Obelisk of Psamtek II, Horologium Augusti, Rome.jpg|thumb|Obelisk of Pharao [[Psamtik II]], now called "Obelisk of Montecitorio", used as a Roman sundial, the famous [[Horologium Augusti]], in [[Rome]]. In the background is the [[Italian Chamber of Deputies]] building<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nasrallah |first1=Laura Salah |title=Archaeology and the Letters of Paul |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-969967-4 |page=205|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4WR7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA205 |language=en}}</ref>]]
[[File:Egyptian Obelisk Solare, Psammeticus II, Heliopolis, Taken by Augustus in 10 BC (48424248527).jpg|thumb|upright|Obelisk of Pharao [[Psamtik II]], now called "Obelisk of Montecitorio", used as a Roman sundial, the famous [[Horologium Augusti]], in [[Rome]]. In the background is the [[Italian Chamber of Deputies]] building<ref>{{cite book |last1=Nasrallah |first1=Laura Salah |title=Archaeology and the Letters of Paul |date=2019 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-969967-4 |page=205|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=4WR7DwAAQBAJ&pg=PA205 |language=en}}</ref>]]
In 10 BCE, Emperor Augustus ordered this and the [[Flaminio Obelisk]] to be brought to Rome.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://omeka.wellesley.edu/piranesi-rome/exhibits/show/romanobelisks/montecitorio|title=Obelisk of Montecitorio · the Obelisks of Ancient Rome · Piranesi in Rome}}</ref> It was erected as the [[gnomon]] of the Solarium Augusti, his giant [[sundial]] (or ''horologium'') in the [[Campus Martius]]. The meridian, worked out by the mathematician [[Facondius Novus]], was placed in the center of a surface measuring {{convert|160|by|75|m}}, constructed from slabs of [[travertine]], on which a quadrant was marked out with bronze letters, with indications of the hours, months, seasons and signs of the [[zodiac]]. Besides its function as a solar clock, the obelisk was oriented in such manner so as to cast its shadow on the nearby [[Ara Pacis]] on 23 September, Augustus's birthday, which coincided with the [[September equinox|autumnal equinox]].
In 10 BCE, Emperor Augustus ordered this and the [[Flaminio Obelisk]] to be brought to Rome.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://omeka.wellesley.edu/piranesi-rome/exhibits/show/romanobelisks/montecitorio|title=Obelisk of Montecitorio · the Obelisks of Ancient Rome · Piranesi in Rome}}</ref> It was erected as the [[gnomon]] of the Solarium Augusti, his giant [[sundial]] (or ''horologium'') in the [[Campus Martius]]. The meridian, worked out by the mathematician [[Facondius Novus]], was placed in the center of a surface measuring {{convert|160|by|75|m}}, constructed from slabs of [[travertine]], on which a quadrant was marked out with bronze letters, with indications of the hours, months, seasons and signs of the [[zodiac]]. Besides its function as a solar clock, the obelisk was oriented in such manner so as to cast its shadow on the nearby [[Ara Pacis]] on 23 September, Augustus's birthday, which coincided with the [[September equinox|autumnal equinox]]. The reason for this orientation of the sunlight alludes to the peace that Augustus had always strived for by directing the light to the Ara Pacis, Pax the Roman goddess of peace is being highlighted. This orientation “sanctioned his divine right to rule” and “possibly his right to establish a dynasty.”{{Citation needed|date=November 2021}}


A detailed description that gives us the typology, appearance and formal operating procedure of this imposing solar meridian is supplied from [[Pliny the Elder]] ([[Natural History (Pliny)|Naturalis Historia]] 36, 71–72).<ref>is autem obeliscus, quem divus Augustus in circo magno statuit, excisus est a rege Psemetnepserphreo, quo regnante Pythagoras in Aegypto fuit, LXXXV pedum et dodrantis praeter basim eiusdem lapidis; is vero, quem in campo Martio, novem pedibus minor, a Sesothide. inscripti ambo rerum naturae interpretationem Aegyptiorum philosophia continent. — Ei, qui est in campo, divus Augustus addidit mirabilem usum ad deprendendas solis umbras dierumque ac noctium ita magnitudinis, strato lapide ad longitudinem obelisci, cui par fieret umbra brumae confectae die sexta hora paulatimque per regulas, quae sunt ex aere inclusae, singulis diebus decresceret ac rursus augeresceret, digna cognitu res, ingenio Facundi Novi mathematici. is apici auratam pilam addidit, cuius vertice umbra colligeretur in se ipsam, alias enormiter iaculante apice, ratione, ut ferunt, a capite hominis intellecta.</ref>
A detailed description that gives us the typology, appearance and formal operating procedure of this imposing solar meridian is supplied from [[Pliny the Elder]] (''[[Natural History (Pliny)|Naturalis historia]]'' 36, 71–72): "The one [obelisk] in the Campus was put to use in a remarkable way by divine Augustus so as to mark the sun’s shadow and thereby the lengths of days" <ref>is autem obeliscus, quem divus Augustus in circo magno statuit, excisus est a rege Psemetnepserphreo, quo regnante Pythagoras in Aegypto fuit, LXXXV pedum et dodrantis praeter basim eiusdem lapidis; is vero, quem in campo Martio, novem pedibus minor, a Sesothide. inscripti ambo rerum naturae interpretationem Aegyptiorum philosophia continent. — Ei, qui est in campo, divus Augustus addidit mirabilem usum ad deprendendas solis umbras dierumque ac noctium ita magnitudinis, strato lapide ad longitudinem obelisci, cui par fieret umbra brumae confectae die sexta hora paulatimque per regulas, quae sunt ex aere inclusae, singulis diebus decresceret ac rursus augeresceret, digna cognitu res, ingenio Facundi Novi mathematici. is apici auratam pilam addidit, cuius vertice umbra colligeretur in se ipsam, alias enormiter iaculante apice, ratione, ut ferunt, a capite hominis intellecta.</ref>
Furthermore, Pliny stated “ The one in Campus was put to use in a remarkable way by Augustus of Revered Memory so as to mark the sun’s shadow and thereby the lengths of days and lengths.”


The inscription written on two sides of the obelisk's base runs as follows:
The inscription written on two sides of the obelisk's base runs as follows:
Line 48: Line 52:
IMP. XII COS. XI TRIB. POT. XIV
IMP. XII COS. XI TRIB. POT. XIV


AEGVPTO IN POTESTATEM
AEGVPTO IN POTESTATEM


POPVLI ROMANI REDACTA
POPVLI ROMANI REDACTA
Line 54: Line 58:
SOLI DONVM DEDIT
SOLI DONVM DEDIT


⚫
Translation: Imperator Caesar, son of the [[apotheosis|deified]] ([[Julius Caesar]]), Augustus, [[pontifex maximus|Supreme Pontiff]], proclaimed Imperator twelve times, Consul eleven times, holding Tribunician Power fourteen times, having reduced Egypt into the sovereignty of the Roman people, gave this gift to the sun.
Lines 5 and 6 of the inscription translates to, "Having returned Egypt to the control of the Roman people."
Line 7 details how Augustus gave this gift to the Sun God (Sol).

⚫
Imperator Caesar, son of the [[apotheosis|deified]] ([[Julius Caesar]]), Augustus, [[pontifex maximus|Supreme Pontiff]], proclaimed Imperator twelve times, Consul eleven times, holding Tribunician Power fourteen times, having reduced Egypt into the sovereignty of the Roman people, gave this gift to the sun.


However, according to Pliny, the original horologic stopped working 30 years after its construction (that is, by the 40s AD).<ref>haec observatio XXX iam fere annis non congruit, sive solis ipsius dissono cursu et caeli aliqua ratione mutato sive universa tellure a centro suo aliquid emota (ut deprehendi et aliis in locis accipio) sive urbis tremoribus ibi tantum gnomone intorto sive inundationibus Tiberis sedimento molis facto, quamquam ad altitudinem inpositi oneris in terram quoque dicuntur acta fundamenta. (Naturalis Historia, XXXVI, 73).</ref>
However, according to Pliny, the original horologic stopped working 30 years after its construction (that is, by the 40s AD).<ref>haec observatio XXX iam fere annis non congruit, sive solis ipsius dissono cursu et caeli aliqua ratione mutato sive universa tellure a centro suo aliquid emota (ut deprehendi et aliis in locis accipio) sive urbis tremoribus ibi tantum gnomone intorto sive inundationibus Tiberis sedimento molis facto, quamquam ad altitudinem inpositi oneris in terram quoque dicuntur acta fundamenta. (Naturalis Historia, XXXVI, 73).</ref>


===Later history===
===Later history===
[[Image:Antoninus Pius Columna.jpeg|thumb|left|The base of the column of Antoninus, with the personification of the Campus Martius, reclining, left]]
[[Image:Antoninus Pius Columna.jpeg|thumb|The base of the column of Antoninus, with the personification of the Campus Martius, reclining, left]]
Augustus’s decision to erect the obelisks in Rome inspired future rulers of Rome to do the same. Some of these rulers that would follow suit are [[Hadrian]] and [[Domitian]]. Both of them would erect more obelisks throughout Rome, each one with a different meaning.


Between the 9th and 11th centuries, probably because of fire, earthquake (perhaps the earthquake of 849) or war (e.g. during the [[sack of Rome (1084)|siege of Rome]] of 1084 by [[Robert Guiscard]]), the obelisk collapsed and then, progressively, became buried. [[Pope Sixtus V]] (1520–1590) made some attempts to repair and raise the obelisk, reassembling some pieces that had been found in 1502 in a cellar off the "Largo dell'Impresa", the present [[Piazza del Parlamento]]. After this fruitless attempt, some traces of the meridian were recovered during the pontificate of [[Pope Benedict XIV|Benedict XIV]] in 1748, who found parts of it under the main entrance of Piazza del Parlamento 3, sited just as in Pliny's description. The obelisk and the meridian were not originally located in the position in which they were re-erected by the popes, but in the space behind the Curia innocenziana (now called [[Palazzo Montecitorio]]). Under the cellar of a stable on a street in the Campus Martius, a piece of the meridian was excavated, with the markings for various months in Greek letters set into the travertine slabs. Another fragment was hypothesized to be contained in the mosaic still visible in the foundation of the Church of [[San Lorenzo in Lucina]].
Between the 9th and 11th centuries, probably because of fire, earthquake (perhaps the earthquake of 849) or war (e.g. during the [[sack of Rome (1084)|siege of Rome]] of 1084 by [[Robert Guiscard]]), the obelisk collapsed and then, progressively, became buried. [[Pope Sixtus V]] (1520–1590) made some attempts to repair and raise the obelisk, reassembling some pieces that had been found in 1502 in a cellar off the "Largo dell'Impresa", the present [[Piazza del Parlamento]]. After this fruitless attempt, some traces of the meridian were recovered during the pontificate of [[Pope Benedict XIV|Benedict XIV]] in 1748, who found parts of it under the main entrance of Piazza del Parlamento 3, sited just as in Pliny's description. The obelisk and the meridian were not originally located in the position in which they were re-erected by the popes, but in the space behind the Curia innocenziana (now called [[Palazzo Montecitorio]]). Under the cellar of a stable on a street in the Campus Martius, a piece of the meridian was excavated, with the markings for various months in Greek letters set into the travertine slabs. Another fragment was hypothesized to be contained in the mosaic still visible in the foundation of the Church of [[San Lorenzo in Lucina]].


From 1789 to 1792, [[Pope Pius VI]] carried out intensive works to repair the obelisk, which was later raised and restored as a solar clock. The direction of the restoration work was entrusted to the architect [[Giovanni Antinori]], who restored the obelisk using granite from the [[Column of Antoninus Pius]]. This column's base, with its famous relief showing the Solar obelisk held as a symbol of the Campus Martius ''[[14 regions of Augustan Rome|regio]]'' by a personification of the Campus, is still preserved in the [[Vatican Museums]].
From 1789 to 1792, [[Pope Pius VI]] carried out intensive works to repair the obelisk, which was later raised and restored as a [[sundial]]. The direction of the restoration work was entrusted to the architect [[Giovanni Antinori]], who restored the obelisk using granite from the [[Column of Antoninus Pius]]. This column's base, with its famous relief showing the Solar obelisk held as a symbol of the Campus Martius ''[[14 regions of Augustan Rome|regio]]'' by a personification of the Campus, is still preserved in the [[Vatican Museums]].


In the new layout of [[Piazza Montecitorio]] (inaugurated on 7 June 1998), a new meridian was traced on the pavement in honor of Augustus's meridian, pointing towards the main entrance of the palazzo. Unfortunately, the shadow of the obelisk does not point precisely in that direction, and its gnomonic function is definitively lost.
In the new layout of [[Piazza Montecitorio]] (inaugurated on 7 June 1998), a new meridian was traced on the pavement in honor of Augustus's meridian, pointing towards the main entrance of the palazzo. Unfortunately, the shadow of the obelisk does not point precisely in that direction, and its gnomonic function is definitively lost.


==See also==
==See also==
*{{annotated link|Lateran Obelisk}}
*[[List of obelisks in Rome]]
*[[List of obelisks in Rome]]
*[[List of Egyptian obelisks]]


==Notes==
==Notes==
Line 79: Line 83:
* Franco Zagari, Piazza Montecitorio. Progetto di riqualificazione ambientale 1996–1998, (Camera dei Deputati e Comune di Roma), Roma 1998.
* Franco Zagari, Piazza Montecitorio. Progetto di riqualificazione ambientale 1996–1998, (Camera dei Deputati e Comune di Roma), Roma 1998.
* [http://cdm.reed.edu/ara-pacis/altar/related-material/obelisk-1/ Model, diagrams, and photographs of the Obelisk of Montecitorio]
* [http://cdm.reed.edu/ara-pacis/altar/related-material/obelisk-1/ Model, diagrams, and photographs of the Obelisk of Montecitorio]
* {{cite journal
| last = Gregory
| first = Steven R. W.
| author-link =
| title =The Obelisks of Augustus: The Significance of a symbolic element of the architectural landscape in the transmission of ideology from Egypt to Rome
| journal = Journal of Ancient Egyptian Interconnections
| volume = 4
| issue = 1
| pages = 9–30
| publisher = The University of Arizona
| date = 2012
| doi = 10.2458/azu_jaei_v04i1_gregory
| language = English
| url = https://journals.uair.arizona.edu/index.php/jaei/article/view/15947/15921
| issn = 1944-2815
| access-date = 7 November 2021| doi-access = free
}}
* {{cite journal
| last =Barrett
| first =Caitlín Eilís
| title = Egypt in Roman Visual and Material Culture
| journal = Oxford Handbooks Online
| publisher = Oxford University Press
| location = Oxford
| date = May 2017
| language = English
| url = https://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935390.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780199935390-e-18
| doi = 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199935390.013.18
| isbn =978-0-19-993539-0
| access-date = 7 November 2021 }}


== External links ==
==External links==
*{{cite book |first=M. |last=Lucentini |title=The Rome Guide: Step by Step through History's Greatest City|date=31 December 2012 |isbn=9781623710088 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=laMDAQAAQBAJ}}
* {{commonscat-inline|Montecitorio obelisk}}


{{commons-inline}}
{{Sequence
| prev = [[Elephant and Obelisk]]
| list = Landmarks of Rome
| curr = Obelisk of Montecitorio
| next = [[Arch of Constantine]]
}}
<!--"Arch of Constantine" as the next landmark and "Elephant and Obelisk" as the previous one are taken from the navbox "Landmarks of Rome" that is placed below. A navbox is invisible in mobile view. The addition enables mobile users to click at least the next landmark or the previous one. -->
{{Monuments of Rome}}{{Authority control}}
{{Monuments of Rome}}{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Obelisk Of Montecitorio}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Obelisk Of Montecitorio}}
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 6th century BC]]
[[Category:Buildings and structures completed in the 6th century BC]]
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[[Category:Obelisks in Rome|Montecitorio]]
[[Category:Obelisks in Rome|Montecitorio]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian obelisks|Montecitorio]]
[[Category:Ancient Egyptian obelisks|Montecitorio]]
[[Category:Relocated ancient Egyptian monuments]]
[[Category:Relocated Egyptian obelisks]]
[[Category:Piazzas in Rome|Montecitorio]]
[[Category:Piazzas in Rome|Montecitorio]]
[[Category:Augustan building projects]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Rome]]
[[Category:Tourist attractions in Rome]]
[[Category:Rome R. III Colonna]]
[[Category:Rome R. III Colonna]]

Latest revision as of 18:13, 20 October 2024

Obelisk of Montecitorio
The obelisk in a print by Giuseppe Vasi of 1738
Map
Click on the map for a fullscreen view
41°54′02″N 12°28′43″E / 41.9006°N 12.4787°E / 41.9006; 12.4787

The Obelisk of Montecitorio (Italian: Obelisco di Montecitorio), also known as Solare, is an ancient Egyptian, red granite obelisk of Psamtik II (595–589 BC) from Heliopolis. Brought to Rome with the Flaminio Obelisk in 10 BC by the Roman Emperor Augustus to be used as the gnomon of the Solarium Augusti, it is now in the Piazza Montecitorio. It is 21.79 metres (71 ft) high, and 33.97 metres (111 ft) including the base and the globe.

History

[edit]

First construction

[edit]

The stone was quarried at Aswan and then transported to, and erected at, the sanctuary of Ra in Heliopolis during the reign of Psamtik II (595–589 BC). [1][2]

The hieroglyphic inscription on the sides reads [3][4]

The Golden Horus, beautifying the Two Lands, beloved of Atum, lord of Heliopolis; the King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Neferibre, beloved of Re-Harakhti; the son of his own body, who seizes the White Crown and who unites the Double Crown, Psammetikos, beloved of the Souls of Heliopolis.

and the inscription on the Pyramidion reads[3]

King of Upper and Lower Egypt, <good heart of Re> son of Re <Psamchek II> life for ever and ever give him all life and all health for ever Re Horachty great god lord of the sky I gave thee all life and dominion, all health, and all joy for ever

Second construction

[edit]
Main article: Solarium Augusti
Obelisk of Pharao Psamtik II, now called "Obelisk of Montecitorio", used as a Roman sundial, the famous Horologium Augusti, in Rome. In the background is the Italian Chamber of Deputies building[5]

In 10 BCE, Emperor Augustus ordered this and the Flaminio Obelisk to be brought to Rome.[6] It was erected as the gnomon of the Solarium Augusti, his giant sundial (or horologium) in the Campus Martius. The meridian, worked out by the mathematician Facondius Novus, was placed in the center of a surface measuring 160 by 75 metres (525 by 246 ft), constructed from slabs of travertine, on which a quadrant was marked out with bronze letters, with indications of the hours, months, seasons and signs of the zodiac. Besides its function as a solar clock, the obelisk was oriented in such manner so as to cast its shadow on the nearby Ara Pacis on 23 September, Augustus's birthday, which coincided with the autumnal equinox. The reason for this orientation of the sunlight alludes to the peace that Augustus had always strived for by directing the light to the Ara Pacis, Pax the Roman goddess of peace is being highlighted. This orientation “sanctioned his divine right to rule” and “possibly his right to establish a dynasty.”[citation needed]

A detailed description that gives us the typology, appearance and formal operating procedure of this imposing solar meridian is supplied from Pliny the Elder (Naturalis historia 36, 71–72): "The one [obelisk] in the Campus was put to use in a remarkable way by divine Augustus so as to mark the sun’s shadow and thereby the lengths of days" [7]

The inscription written on two sides of the obelisk's base runs as follows:

IMP. CAESAR DIVI F.

AVGVSTVS

PONTIFEX MAXIMVS

IMP. XII COS. XI TRIB. POT. XIV

AEGVPTO IN POTESTATEM

POPVLI ROMANI REDACTA

SOLI DONVM DEDIT

Translation: Imperator Caesar, son of the deified (Julius Caesar), Augustus, Supreme Pontiff, proclaimed Imperator twelve times, Consul eleven times, holding Tribunician Power fourteen times, having reduced Egypt into the sovereignty of the Roman people, gave this gift to the sun.

However, according to Pliny, the original horologic stopped working 30 years after its construction (that is, by the 40s AD).[8]

Later history

[edit]
The base of the column of Antoninus, with the personification of the Campus Martius, reclining, left

Augustus’s decision to erect the obelisks in Rome inspired future rulers of Rome to do the same. Some of these rulers that would follow suit are Hadrian and Domitian. Both of them would erect more obelisks throughout Rome, each one with a different meaning.

Between the 9th and 11th centuries, probably because of fire, earthquake (perhaps the earthquake of 849) or war (e.g. during the siege of Rome of 1084 by Robert Guiscard), the obelisk collapsed and then, progressively, became buried. Pope Sixtus V (1520–1590) made some attempts to repair and raise the obelisk, reassembling some pieces that had been found in 1502 in a cellar off the "Largo dell'Impresa", the present Piazza del Parlamento. After this fruitless attempt, some traces of the meridian were recovered during the pontificate of Benedict XIV in 1748, who found parts of it under the main entrance of Piazza del Parlamento 3, sited just as in Pliny's description. The obelisk and the meridian were not originally located in the position in which they were re-erected by the popes, but in the space behind the Curia innocenziana (now called Palazzo Montecitorio). Under the cellar of a stable on a street in the Campus Martius, a piece of the meridian was excavated, with the markings for various months in Greek letters set into the travertine slabs. Another fragment was hypothesized to be contained in the mosaic still visible in the foundation of the Church of San Lorenzo in Lucina.

From 1789 to 1792, Pope Pius VI carried out intensive works to repair the obelisk, which was later raised and restored as a sundial. The direction of the restoration work was entrusted to the architect Giovanni Antinori, who restored the obelisk using granite from the Column of Antoninus Pius. This column's base, with its famous relief showing the Solar obelisk held as a symbol of the Campus Martius regio by a personification of the Campus, is still preserved in the Vatican Museums.

In the new layout of Piazza Montecitorio (inaugurated on 7 June 1998), a new meridian was traced on the pavement in honor of Augustus's meridian, pointing towards the main entrance of the palazzo. Unfortunately, the shadow of the obelisk does not point precisely in that direction, and its gnomonic function is definitively lost.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Obelisk of Montecitorio at Wellesley College http://omeka.wellesley.edu/piranesi-rome/exhibits/show/romanobelisks/montecitorio
  2. ^ Molly Swetnam-Burland (2010) Aegyptus Redacta: The Egyptian Obelisk in the Augustan Campus Martius. In: The Art Bulletin 92, No3
  3. ^ a b "Hieroglyphic Language Insights: Obelisk of Psamtek II, Piazza Monte Citorio, Rome a tentative translation". 11 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Obelisks: Obelisk at Piazza Monte Citorio".
  5. ^ Nasrallah, Laura Salah (2019). Archaeology and the Letters of Paul. Oxford University Press. p. 205. ISBN 978-0-19-969967-4.
  6. ^ "Obelisk of Montecitorio · the Obelisks of Ancient Rome · Piranesi in Rome".
  7. ^ is autem obeliscus, quem divus Augustus in circo magno statuit, excisus est a rege Psemetnepserphreo, quo regnante Pythagoras in Aegypto fuit, LXXXV pedum et dodrantis praeter basim eiusdem lapidis; is vero, quem in campo Martio, novem pedibus minor, a Sesothide. inscripti ambo rerum naturae interpretationem Aegyptiorum philosophia continent. — Ei, qui est in campo, divus Augustus addidit mirabilem usum ad deprendendas solis umbras dierumque ac noctium ita magnitudinis, strato lapide ad longitudinem obelisci, cui par fieret umbra brumae confectae die sexta hora paulatimque per regulas, quae sunt ex aere inclusae, singulis diebus decresceret ac rursus augeresceret, digna cognitu res, ingenio Facundi Novi mathematici. is apici auratam pilam addidit, cuius vertice umbra colligeretur in se ipsam, alias enormiter iaculante apice, ratione, ut ferunt, a capite hominis intellecta.
  8. ^ haec observatio XXX iam fere annis non congruit, sive solis ipsius dissono cursu et caeli aliqua ratione mutato sive universa tellure a centro suo aliquid emota (ut deprehendi et aliis in locis accipio) sive urbis tremoribus ibi tantum gnomone intorto sive inundationibus Tiberis sedimento molis facto, quamquam ad altitudinem inpositi oneris in terram quoque dicuntur acta fundamenta. (Naturalis Historia, XXXVI, 73).

References

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Media related to Montecitorio obelisk at Wikimedia Commons

Preceded by
Elephant and Obelisk 		Landmarks of Rome
Obelisk of Montecitorio 		Succeeded by
Arch of Constantine
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