Pantheon obelisk

The Pantheon obelisk or Obelisco Macuteo is an Egyptian obelisk in Rome in Piazza della Rotonda in front of the Pantheon on a fountain. It is one of the 13 obelisks in Rome and one of relatively few ancient monoliths. It is 6.34 m high (14.52 m including its base).^[1]^[2]^[3]

Description[edit]

In the Pyramidion - the tip of the obelisk - there are two name cartouches of Pharaoh Ramses II. However, the 6.34 m high obelisk was also considered a work of the Roman period such as the obelisk in Piazza Navona. It stood in antiquity in Emperor Domitian's sanctuary of Isis, i.e. in the immediate vicinity of the Pantheon.

The obelisk forms a pair with the granite stump Obelisco Matteiano in the Villa Celimontana, together they once stood in the sanctuary of Amun-Re in Heliopolis.^[1]

Modern history[edit]

It was excavated in 1373 or 1575, and first placed in the Piazza di San Macuto, adjacent to Sant'Ignazio.

In 1711 Pope Clement XI had it set up on a late Baroque fountain in front of the Pantheon. This is recalled by an inscription on the basis of the obelisk: "Clemens XI pont(ifex) max(imus) fontis et fori ornamento anno sal(utis) MDCCXI pontif(icatus) XI" ("Pope Clement XI. to the fountain and the square ornaments in the year of salvation 1711, his pontificate 11.").

Gallery[edit]

The obelisk in 1593
The obelisk in 1667–1669

Literature[edit]

Ernst Batta: Obelisken. Ägyptische Obelisken und ihre Geschichte in Rom. Insel, Frankfurt a. M. 1986, ISBN 3-458-32465-8 (Insel-Taschenbuch, 765).
Richard Hillinger, Christian E. Loeben: Obelisken. Heliopolis, Luxor, Kairo, Byblos, Rom, Benevento, Istanbul, Urbino, Florenz, Kingston Lacy, München, Paris, Durham, London, New York, Berlin. Ausstellung im italienischen Saal der Landshuter Stadtresidenz vom 23. Mai bis 2. Juni 1992. Stadt Landshut, Landshut 1992, ISBN 3-927612-06-5.
Reinhard Raffalt: Concerto Romano. Prestel, München 1955; 14. Ausg. 1999, ISBN 3-7913-2236-2.
Eckart Peterich: Rom. 2. Auflage, Prestel, München 1998, ISBN 3-7913-2043-2.
Samuel Ball Platner, Thomas Ashby: A Topographical Dictionary of Ancient Rome. Oxford University Press, London 1929, S. 366–371 (online).
Cesare D’Onofrio: Gli obelischi di Roma. Storia e Urbanistica di una Città dall’Età antica al XX Secolo. 3. Auflage, Romana Societa Editrice, Rom 1992.

References[edit]

^ Donovan, J. (1843). Rome, Ancient and Modern: And Its Environs. Rome, Ancient and Modern: And Its Environs. author. p. 825-826. Retrieved 2024-03-02.
^ Curran, B.A. (2009). Obelisk: A History. Burndy Library publications. MIT Press. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-262-51270-1. Retrieved 2024-03-02. The Anonimo is our earliest literary source for this obelisk, which had been extracted from the ruins of the Iseum Campense at an unknown date and set up in the small piazza in front of San Macuto at the beginning of the fifteenth century. During the Renaissance, this obelisk (now in front of the Pantheon) achieved an importance far out of scale with its modest size, thanks to its relatively accessible inscriptions.
^ Sorek, S. (2022). The Emperors' Needles: Egyptian Obelisks and Rome. Liverpool University Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-80207-941-8. Retrieved 2024-03-02. The first of the two obelisks that Domitian imported to grace his newly completed Iseum in AD 80 is known as the Rotonda obelisk, from the site of its present location. The Italian archaeologist Antonio Nibby (1792-1839) believed that it was a replica made during the Roman period, but it has been shown by later experts to be an original Egyptian monument. It had stood before one of the pylons of the House of Rã at Heliopolis. On the pyramidion are engraved 'the prenomen and nomen of Ramses II, and on each of the faces of the shaft is one column of hieroglyphs giving the titles of this king ... Ramses styles himself "the reverer of those who gave birth to him, multiplier of their days" (Budge 1926: 209). It stands 6 metres high (20ft) and was one of a pair that Domitian set up at the entrances to the Iseum, between the Saepta Julia (the permanent voting enclosure in the form of two monumental porticos, begun by Julius Caesar and completed by Agrippa in 26 Bc) and the Temple of Minerva. The obelisk was found in 1374 during the reconstruction of the Church of St Maria Sopra Minerva, which was built over the ruins of the Iseum. It is said to have been re-sited sometime later near the small Church of San Mauto, on the Via del Seminario, where it stood on its pedestal. There were also some fragments—possibly from the shaft—lying beside it. Why or how it was moved there is not known. Pope Clement XI (1700-21) decided to re-erect it in the Piazza della Rotonda in front of the Pantheon.

External links[edit]

Archived (Date missing) at plato.alien.de (Error: unknown archive URL)
Obelisco Macuteo (italian)

[Donovan_1843-1] Donovan, J. (1843). Rome, Ancient and Modern: And Its Environs. Rome, Ancient and Modern: And Its Environs. author. p. 825-826. Retrieved 2024-03-02.

[Curran_2009-2] Curran, B.A. (2009). Obelisk: A History. Burndy Library publications. MIT Press. p. 72. ISBN 978-0-262-51270-1. Retrieved 2024-03-02. The Anonimo is our earliest literary source for this obelisk, which had been extracted from the ruins of the Iseum Campense at an unknown date and set up in the small piazza in front of San Macuto at the beginning of the fifteenth century. During the Renaissance, this obelisk (now in front of the Pantheon) achieved an importance far out of scale with its modest size, thanks to its relatively accessible inscriptions.

[Sorek_2022-3] Sorek, S. (2022). The Emperors' Needles: Egyptian Obelisks and Rome. Liverpool University Press. p. 77. ISBN 978-1-80207-941-8. Retrieved 2024-03-02. The first of the two obelisks that Domitian imported to grace his newly completed Iseum in AD 80 is known as the Rotonda obelisk, from the site of its present location. The Italian archaeologist Antonio Nibby (1792-1839) believed that it was a replica made during the Roman period, but it has been shown by later experts to be an original Egyptian monument. It had stood before one of the pylons of the House of Rã at Heliopolis. On the pyramidion are engraved 'the prenomen and nomen of Ramses II, and on each of the faces of the shaft is one column of hieroglyphs giving the titles of this king ... Ramses styles himself "the reverer of those who gave birth to him, multiplier of their days" (Budge 1926: 209). It stands 6 metres high (20ft) and was one of a pair that Domitian set up at the entrances to the Iseum, between the Saepta Julia (the permanent voting enclosure in the form of two monumental porticos, begun by Julius Caesar and completed by Agrippa in 26 Bc) and the Temple of Minerva. The obelisk was found in 1374 during the reconstruction of the Church of St Maria Sopra Minerva, which was built over the ruins of the Iseum. It is said to have been re-sited sometime later near the small Church of San Mauto, on the Via del Seminario, where it stood on its pedestal. There were also some fragments—possibly from the shaft—lying beside it. Why or how it was moved there is not known. Pope Clement XI (1700-21) decided to re-erect it in the Piazza della Rotonda in front of the Pantheon.

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