In 1833, the French removed the smallest of the two obelisks which stood
before the propylon of the temple of Luxor to Paris, and elevated it in
the Place de la Concorde. The shaft is 76 feet high, and eight feet
wide on the broadest side of the base; the pedestal is 10 feet square by
16 feet high. Permission for the removal of both the obelisks having
been granted to the French government by the Viceroy of Egypt, a vessel
constructed for the purpose was sent out in March, 1831, under M. Lebas,
an eminent engineer, to whom the undertaking was confided, it being
previously determined to bring away only one, and M. Lebas found it
sufficiently difficult to bring away the smallest of the two. After
three months' labor with 800 men, the obelisk was removed on an inclined
plane into the vessel, through a hole made in the end for the purpose.
It arrived safely up the Seine to Paris, Dec. 23d, 1833. An inclined
plane of solid masonry was then constructed, leading from the river up
to a platform, also of rough masonry, level with the top of the
pedestal. The obelisk, having been placed on a kind of timber car or
sledge, was drawn up by means of ropes and capstans. One edge of the
base having been brought to its place on the pedestal, it was raised to
a perpendicular position by ropes and pulleys attached to the heads of
ten masts, five on each side. When all was ready, the obelisk was
elevated to its place under the direction of M. Lebas, in three hours,
without the least accident, Oct. 25th, 1836. It is said that Lebas had
provided himself with loaded pistols, in the firm determination to blow
out his brains in case of an accident!
In 1820, the Viceroy of Egypt presented to the English government the
monolith lying on the ground at Alexandria, one of the two obelisks
called Cleopatra's Needles; the other is still standing. The project of
removing it to London and erecting it in Waterloo Square, was
entertained for some time by the English government, but seems to have
been long abandoned; recently, however, an expedition is being fitted
out for the purpose.