The Probert Encyclopaedia of Architecture

OBELISK

An obelisk is a stone pillar having a square or rectangular cross section and sides that taper towards a pyramidal top. They were often used as monuments in ancient Egypt, where they symbolised the supreme god. They were known as Pharaoh's needles by the Arabs, and fingers of the sun by the Egyptians. The first recorded obelisk was described during the reign of Rameses II about 1322 BC, but the Romans also took to them, emperor Augustus erecting one in the Campus Martius on the base of which was a sundial. Cleopatra's Needle on the Thames Embankment in London is an example of an Egyptian obelisk.
Research Obelisk