Model Of The Obelisk Of The Temple Of Amun At Luxor, Walnut, Circa 1840.

Carved walnut obelisk model, depicting that of the Place de la Concorde in Paris, France, circa 1840. The Obelisk of Luxor is an obelisk originally from the Temple of Amun at Luxor in Egypt, erected since 1836 in the center of the Place de la Concorde in Paris. The obelisk of Luxor was classified as a historical monument in 1937. Taking into account its manufacture which dates back to the ancient Egyptian civilization, it is the oldest monument in Paris, predating the founding of the capital. Entrance to Luxor Temple; in the foreground, the void created by the missing obelisk It was Mehemet Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, as a sign of goodwill who, with the agreement of Baron Taylor and then Jean-François Champollion, offered Charles X and France in early 1830 the two obelisks erected in front of the Luxor temple, but only the one on the right (looking at the temple) was pulled down and transported to France. President François Mitterrand officially announced on September 26, 1981 that France was definitely renouncing to take possession of the second obelisk, which had remained there, thus restoring its property to Egypt. In exchange for the obelisks, Louis-Philippe I offered in 1845 a copper clock which today adorns the citadel of Cairo, but which, for the record, almost never worked, at least according to the people of Cairo, having probably been damaged. upon delivery.