November 9, 2019 - A word or two about these things. This is an Egyptian Obelisk found in front of Italy’s Parliament building on Piazza di Montecitorio. It is 2500 years old. It sat on top of a temple in Egypt for 500 years before Emperor Augustus said he wanted it. So it was moved INTACT to Rome. It is made of red granite and is 100 feet tall. It weighs hundreds of tons. How this was accomplished is a mystery to me.
Rome has 13 of these things. They symbolized the Pharaoh’s divinity. This notion appealed to the Roman rulers. Rome took every one they could find and only three are left in Egypt.
Later Popes would place crosses on them to celebrate Christian triumphs, but the small crosses on top could not obscure the massive pagan roots they rested upon.
The one in Vatican square was moved 100 feet from its location. Nero has placed it in the center of his horrific Circus on Vatican hill. The obelisk presided over the slaughter of Christians and other slaves for decades before later being moved to it’s present location. It now bears witness to the long history of the suffering the church endured 2000 years ago as it faces the greatest cathedral ever built.
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