I have completed half the drawings required. Every day I go to the Temple of the Sun to deliver new pictures to Omari and then watch the sculptors carving them into the obelisk. I can see it is easier for them to do their job when the obelisk is lying on its side than if they were to do it after it is standing up. But they will have to wait to do the final side, because that side is lying face down.
It is going to be beautiful when the carving is done. People are already coming from all over Egypt to look at the obelisk. The sculptors are working very hard. They know that if they make one small mistake, they will be flogged.
DAY 16
When I was at the Temple of the Sun today, I saw something unusual. Hundreds of workers were outside the temple digging with shovels. Surely they are not planning to place the obelisk underground. That is where it came from in the first place.
I watched as they dug up dirt and sand, then carried it and piled it up to make a hill next to the bottom part of the obelisk. Very strange.
DAY 17
Omari told me why the workers are building the giant sand hill. They are going to use that hill to help stand up the obelisk. I do not understand how they are going to do that, but Omari says it will all become clear.
DAY 20
My obelisk drawings are finished. I am very proud of my work. After I delivered each drawing to Omari, he gave his approval. Sometimes he would ask me to make a small change in the drawing, which I did. The stone carvers work very fast. Soon they will be finished with their carvings and the obelisk will be raised.
DAY 25
Big news! The pharaoh Thutmosis III has arrived! He has come here to witness the raising of his obelisk. I have heard that the pharaoh has even brought one of his sons with him. Tomorrow will be the big ceremony.
DAY 26
All the citizens of Heliopolis came out to see the pharaoh and his young son, who looks like he is no more than four years old. I waited a long time until the two of them finally paraded through the main square. The pharaoh wore brightly colored robes. He looks very different from the way he looks in my drawing. I was expecting a tall, godlike creature, not even human. But he looks much like a regular man. I will draw him again.
Today is the big day and a very joyous occasion for all of Heliopolis. We are going to stand up the obelisk near the Temple of the Sun. Omari instructed me to bring papyrus and draw pictures so future generations of Egyptians will see how it was done. I will do as he says, but I still refuse to believe we will be successful. It looks like an impossible job. The obelisk is too large and heavy to stand up.
It appears that every able-bodied man in the surrounding area has been summoned to the Temple of the Sun.
Thick ropes have been attached to all sides of the obelisk.
The men have been gathered at the top of the sand hill. Pharaoh was hoisted up so he could stand on the obelisk. All of our eyes were on him.
“Pull!” the pharaoh shouted. “Pull!”
While the men pulled on the ropes with all their might, I drew a picture....
Hundreds of men pulled Cleopatra’s Needle up the sand hill.
I could see their glistening sweat and hear their groans as they strained at the ropes. Very slowly, the sled that the obelisk lay upon began to slide up the slope of the hill. When the bottom of the obelisk reached the top of the hill, the men were ordered to stop pulling. Each of them was then given a shovel.
“Now dig!” shouted the pharaoh.
The men dug their shovels into the sand and dirt around the bottom of the obelisk. And slowly, almost by magic it seemed, the bottom of the obelisk began to sink into the sand as the top of the obelisk tilted upward.
“Keep digging!” shouted the pharaoh as the obelisk continued to tilt upward. They were digging a hole in the top of the hill for the bottom of the obelisk to gently slide into.
When the obelisk was somewhat tilted, the men were told to stop digging. They were then divided into five large groups. Four of the groups were moved to the side near the bottom part of the obelisk. One of the groups was positioned on the side close to the top of the obelisk. The pharaoh was helped down from the obelisk.
He is a very smart man. Upon his order, workers brought his young son to the top of the obelisk and tied him to it with ropes. I asked a woman next to me why they were doing this. She told me that tying the pharaoh’s son to the obelisk will ensure that the workers will be very careful when they pull it to its upright position. If they make a mistake and the obelisk topples over, it will break and the pharaoh’s son will die.
That would be very sad. But the woman next to me said that it would not be too sad, because the pharaoh has one hundred sons.
Each of the five groups of men was ordered to take hold of a thick rope coming off the obelisk. Four of the groups were told they would pull the obelisk until it was upright. The other group was told to hold their rope tightly to make sure the obelisk did not get pulled too far upright and topple over.
“Go!” the pharaoh shouted.
The pharaoh’s son is very brave. He only screamed and cried a little. I suppose he is used to helping his father in this way.
As the men pulled and strained at the ropes, I drew this picture....
They dug a hole at the top of the hill for the obelisk to slide into.
I could not believe my eyes. The strength of hundreds of men—motivated by the pharaoh and the fear of killing his son—was somehow overcoming the weight of the obelisk. It was tilting upward.
“More!” the pharaoh shouted. “Harder!”
The obelisk continued tilting upward. When it was standing fully upright on its flat base, the men were ordered to stop pulling on the ropes. There were deafening cheers and congratulations from the people all around. The obelisk, for the first time, stood up on its own.
Somebody yelled, “It looks like a needle pointing up to the sun!”
DAY 27
After the obelisk was successfully raised, the workers were given shovels again and ordered to remove the dirt and sand that had been used to stand it up. Then they leveled the ground so you would never even know the hill had been there.
