The obelisk horizontal Possibly 1879

This anonymous photograph, titled "The Obelisk Horizontal," taken December 6, 1879, captures a moment of monumental engineering and colonial ambition. Here, we see not just the transportation of an ancient Egyptian obelisk to a Western city, but a visual document of power dynamics. This obelisk, once a symbol of Egyptian civilization, is now a trophy of Western achievement, stripped of its original context and meaning. The massive machinery required for the move contrasts sharply with the swarms of anonymous figures watching, their labor and lives intertwined with this audacious project. The very act of horizontalizing the obelisk speaks volumes about the desire to dominate and control history itself. What does it mean to take an object of such profound historical and cultural significance and turn it on its side? It is a potent symbol of the colonial project, one in which entire cultures and histories are uprooted, displaced, and reoriented to serve the interests of the colonizer. The image leaves us to consider the emotional weight of cultural displacement and the ongoing reverberations of colonial legacies.