Promotional Information

* A general guide to the Egyptian obelisks around the world - in Italy, Egypt, England, France, the USA and Israel. * This book is the first major work to link the two great civilizations of Egypt and Rome via their standing monuments. * Sorek presents new research into the rationale behind the removal of obelisks to Rome by the ancient emperors. * This accessible yet comprehensive volume will meet the needs of both an academic audience and the non-academic traveller or enthusiast of Egyptian and Roman cultures.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations
Preface
Standing Obelisks and their Present Locations
Chronologies

Introduction: The History of the Pharaonic Egypt
1. The Cult of the Sun Stone: The Origins of the Obelisk
2. Created from Stone: How Egyptian Obelisks were Made
3. Contact with the West: Greece and Rome
4. Roman Annexation of Egypt
5. Egyptian Influences in Rome
6. Augustus and the First Egyptian Obelisks to Reach Rome
7. Other Augustan Obelisks
8. Augustus' Successors: Tiberius and Caligula
9. Claudius and Nero: The Last of Augustus' Dynasty
10. The Flavian Emperors and the Obelisks of Domitian
11. The Emperor Hadrian: A Memorial to Grief
12. Constantine and the New Rome
13. From Rome to Constantinople
14. An Obelisk in France
15. Obelisks in Britain
16. From the Old World to the New: An Obelisk in New York
17. The Obelisk Builders and the Standing Obelisks of Egypt
Conclusions

Appendix: Translations of Two Obelisk Inscriptions
Bibliography
Index

About the Author

Susan Sorek teaches in the Classics Department at Lampeter University and is Associate Lecturer with the Open University. Her books include 'Ancient Historians' (2005).

Reviews

... a very readable and accessible book that will be enjoyed by anyone who seeks something more than the basic comments one might find in a generic guidebook.