PARIS The legend tells that Josephine said to Napoleon before leaving to conquest
of Egypt in 1798 " If you go to Thebes, do send me a small obelisk ", true
or false the legend, the obelisk of RAMSES II was erected in Paris.
The transfer of the obelisk from Luxor to Paris must to Naval Engineer Jean-Francois Champollion, brilliant decoder of the jeroglific language and
rescuer of the faraonic genius.
In 1829, while it was in Egypt, Champollion had the news of which the
English wanted to buy several obelisks to the Almighty of Egypt, during
ocupacion turkish, Mohammed-Ali. Conversations began. The egyptology transform into a businessman.
To save at least one of the obelisk of Luxor, that considered like a
threatened masterpiece of destruction, Champollion proposed, by the sum
of 300,000 francs, to transfer the monolith of Luxor to Paris.
To raise to a similar monument in the capital of France correspondia with
the desire showed by Napoleon and it was according to the national honor.
The French and Egyptian authorities were agreed and without losing time
since the franc-Egyptian relations will be risk of deteriorate, order to the
transfer to Jean-Baptiste Apollinaire Lebas.
Exists another theory one that tells that it was product of authenticate
changed between king of France Louis XVIII and the Egyptian Mohammed
-Ali, so single monarch by the interchange of a clock, that to make matters
worse, didn´t work, and that he conserves at the moment in the mosque
that the own Mohammed-Ali construct in the Cairo to imitation of the one
of Santa Sofia, in Constantinopla.
Shortly before the game of Champollion towards France, Mohammed-Ali
confirm to the father of egyptology, that the obelisk that was chosen will be
to Paris. Baron Taylor, was sent by Charles X to close the treatment.
To the translate the obelisk of 22,83 meters of and 227 tons, was
constructed a special boat, the Luxor, who get out of Tolon in search of the
obelisk in March of 1831, leaving Egypt in April of 1833, berthing in Tolon
after one travel of 40 days, nevertheless arrived to Paris via Cherburgo by
the end of December of 1833 and the maneuvers of their rise were not
made until the 22 of October of 1836, that is to say, five years and seven
months after of which the boat that went in its search left from France, date
in which it was raised in the Concord square, just in the crossing of the
main axes of Paris, before the presence of almost 200.000 people.
For their rise in the Parisian seat 300 men and everything were used the
tecnnical to that the French engineers of that time could resort, doing use of
pulleys, ropes and megafonos to direct the operation to it.
When seeing that the cords in an end threatened breaking themselves,
expectador, whose identity is not known, send the order: "!Wash the cords"
The operation it had success and the stone needle ereted for second birth,
under the sky of Paris.
Old paint showed a raised to the obelisk
in Concord square.
View of the Concord square in
early 20th century.The obelisk of the Concord square is the old monument of Paris.
Consecrated by RAMSES II, its name is writing in this, in "cartridges",
extended ovalos that finish in knots and that they evoke the universe that
pharaoh made its power, turning to this, "the triumphant pharaoh", in an
old protector of the french capital.
Translation of the jeroglifics of the obelisk of the Concord square just the
book of Christian Jacq "The enigma of the stone".
