The Obelisk (Cleopatra's Needle)

E50926

ancient Egyptian obelisk historic landmark monument

The Obelisk, commonly known as Cleopatra's Needle, is an ancient Egyptian granite monument originally erected in Heliopolis and later transported to New York City, where it now stands as a historic landmark.

Try in SPARQL Jump to: Surface forms Disambiguation Statements Elicitation Referenced by

All labels observed (3)

Label	Occurrences
Cleopatra's Needle	2
The Obelisk (Cleopatra's Needle) canonical	2
The Obelisk (Cleopatra’s Needle)	1

How this entity was disambiguated

This entity first appeared as the object of triple T256589 — resolving that mention is where its identity was fixed. The disambiguator weighed these candidate entities and picked the highlighted one (or “None”, minting a new entity). This is how homonymy is resolved: the same surface form can point to different entities.

NED1 Entity disambiguation (via context triple) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Obelisk (Cleopatra's Needle)
Context triple: [Central Park, hasPart, The Obelisk (Cleopatra's Needle)]

A. Alabaster Sphinx of Memphis
The Alabaster Sphinx of Memphis is a large, finely carved sphinx statue from ancient Egypt, likely dating to the New Kingdom, renowned for its craftsmanship and association with the former capital city of Memphis.
B. Pompey’s Pillar
Pompey’s Pillar is a massive Roman triumphal column in Alexandria, Egypt, and one of the city’s most famous surviving ancient monuments.
C. Great Sphinx of Giza
The Great Sphinx of Giza is an ancient colossal limestone statue with a lion’s body and a human head, regarded as one of Egypt’s most iconic and enigmatic monuments.
D. Lighthouse of Alexandria
The Lighthouse of Alexandria was an ancient marvel of engineering and one of the Seven Wonders of the World, serving as a towering beacon for ships approaching the harbor of Alexandria, Egypt.
E. Temple of Dendur
The Temple of Dendur is an ancient Egyptian sandstone temple, built by the Roman emperor Augustus around 15 BCE and now prominently displayed in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
F. None of above. chosen
G. Unsure - the case is ambiguous/there is not enough information to decide.

NED2 Entity disambiguation (via description) gpt-5-mini-2025-08-07

Target entity: The Obelisk (Cleopatra's Needle)
Target entity description: The Obelisk, commonly known as Cleopatra's Needle, is an ancient Egyptian granite monument originally erected in Heliopolis and later transported to New York City, where it now stands as a historic landmark.

A. Alabaster Sphinx of Memphis
The Alabaster Sphinx of Memphis is a large, finely carved sphinx statue from ancient Egypt, likely dating to the New Kingdom, renowned for its craftsmanship and association with the former capital city of Memphis.
B. Pompey’s Pillar
Pompey’s Pillar is a massive Roman triumphal column in Alexandria, Egypt, and one of the city’s most famous surviving ancient monuments.
C. Great Sphinx of Giza
The Great Sphinx of Giza is an ancient colossal limestone statue with a lion’s body and a human head, regarded as one of Egypt’s most iconic and enigmatic monuments.
D. Lighthouse of Alexandria
The Lighthouse of Alexandria was an ancient marvel of engineering and one of the Seven Wonders of the World, serving as a towering beacon for ships approaching the harbor of Alexandria, Egypt.
E. Temple of Dendur
The Temple of Dendur is an ancient Egyptian sandstone temple, built by the Roman emperor Augustus around 15 BCE and now prominently displayed in New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art.
F. None of above. chosen

Statements (47)

Predicate	Object
instanceOf	ancient Egyptian obelisk ⓘ historic landmark ⓘ monument ⓘ
alsoKnownAs	Cleopatra's Needle ⓘ linked to: The Obelisk (Cleopatra's Needle)
associatedWith	Cleopatra VII (by name only) ⓘ linked to: Cleopatra VII
category	Ancient Egyptian monuments and memorials in the United States ⓘ Obelisks in New York City ⓘ Relocated monuments in the United States ⓘ
country	United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
countryOfOrigin	Ancient Egypt ⓘ linked to: Pharaonic Egypt
currentLocation	New York City ⓘ
dateOfOriginalErection	circa 1450 BCE ⓘ
dedicatedTo	Thutmose III ⓘ
featuresCartouchesOf	Ramesses II ⓘ Thutmose III ⓘ
giftFrom	Khedive Ismail Pasha ⓘ linked to: Ismail Pasha
giftTo	City of New York ⓘ linked to: New York City United States ⓘ linked to: United States of America
hasBaseMaterial	granite pedestal ⓘ
hasCompanionObelisksIn	London ⓘ linked to: London, England Paris ⓘ
height	about 21.2 meters ⓘ about 69.5 feet ⓘ
heritageDesignation	New York City Landmark ⓘ
inscriptionLanguage	Egyptian hieroglyphs ⓘ
locatedIn	Central Park ⓘ Manhattan ⓘ
locatedInFrontOf	Metropolitan Museum of Art ⓘ
material	red granite ⓘ
notActuallyFromReignOf	Cleopatra VII ⓘ
orientation	aligned roughly east–west ⓘ
originalLocation	Heliopolis ⓘ
owner	City of New York ⓘ linked to: New York City
partOf	set of three so‑called Cleopatra's Needles ⓘ
pharaohAtOriginalErection	Thutmose III ⓘ
reinscribedUnder	Ramesses II ⓘ
significance	example of New Kingdom Egyptian monumental art ⓘ oldest man‑made object in Central Park ⓘ
surmountedBy	pyramidion (now missing its original metal cap) ⓘ
surroundedBy	bronze crabs with inscriptions ⓘ
touristAttraction	yes ⓘ
transportedTo	New York City ⓘ
transportMethod	by ship across the Atlantic Ocean ⓘ
weight	about 200 tons ⓘ
yearOfArrivalInNewYork	1880 ⓘ
yearOfErectionInCentralPark	1881 ⓘ
yearOfGift	1877 ⓘ