Volume V Plate 32 - Cleopatra's Needles ~ The two red granite obelisks in this illustration, one standing and the other almost completely buried, were removed after standing for 1,500 years at Heliopolis in 14 B.C. and erected near the great harbor of Alexandria. They were intended as a tribute to Mark Anthony by Cleopatra. In 1878, the fallen obelisk was removed by the British and taken to the Thames Embankment in London. In 1880, the standing obelisk was removed to New York City where it stands today in Central Park. The remains of the great Pharos, or lighthouse of Alexandria, a member of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, can be seen in the background.

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