The Obelisk in Central Park, better known as Cleopatra's Needle, is a 21-metre (69-foot) granite shaft on a small wooded hill directly behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art. It was made for the pharaoh Thutmose III about 3,500 years ago, which makes it by far the oldest man-made object in the park. Despite the nickname, it has nothing to do with Cleopatra, who lived some 1,400 years later.
The Obelisk at a glance
- Where: Greywacke Knoll, beside the East Drive at about 81st Street, just west of the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Created: in the 15th century BC for Thutmose III; raised in Central Park on 22 January 1881.
- What it is today: an ancient Egyptian obelisk of pink Aswan granite weighing roughly 200 tons, set on bronze crabs in a small plaza with benches.
- Time needed: 10–15 minutes, longer if you read the translation plaques.
From Heliopolis to Manhattan
Thutmose III had a pair of obelisks cut from granite at Aswan and set up at the sun temple of Heliopolis, near today's Cairo, to mark his third jubilee. About two centuries later Ramesses II added inscriptions of his own. Around 12 BC, under the emperor Augustus, the Romans moved the pair to Alexandria and stood them in front of the Caesareum. The twin went to Britain and has stood on the Thames Embankment in London since 1878.
New York's obelisk was a gift from the Khedive Ismail of Egypt, secured in 1877 by the American consul general in Cairo, Elbert E. Farman; the railway magnate William H. Vanderbilt paid most of the cost of moving it. A US Navy officer, Lieutenant Commander Henry Gorringe, took it down and loaded it onto the steamship Dessoug, which left Alexandria on 12 June 1880. Getting it from the Hudson River to the park took 112 days: the stone was inched along on beams and rollers, and crossing the 86th Street transverse alone took 19 days. After a Masonic cornerstone ceremony in October 1880, the obelisk was raised upright on 22 January 1881 in front of thousands of people standing in the snow.
What to look for
- The bronze crabs under the four corners of the shaft. They are copies of the Roman crabs that propped up the obelisk in Alexandria, each weighing about 400 kilograms; the Roman originals are in the Metropolitan Museum. Their inscriptions record both moves, to Alexandria around 12 BC and to New York in 1881.
- The hieroglyphs running down all four faces: the original carvings for Thutmose III and the later additions made in the name of Ramesses II.
- The bronze plaques with English translations of the inscriptions on each face, donated by the film director Cecil B. DeMille.
- The base and steps, added in Alexandria, and the decorative fence designed by Jacob Wrey Mould, one of the architects who shaped Central Park.
- The benches around the plaza, placed so you can sit and compare the translations with the hieroglyphs above.
Why 'Cleopatra's Needle'?
The name is a nickname, shared with the twin in London. Cleopatra VII died in 30 BC, long after the obelisk was carved. The most likely link is Alexandria, her capital, where the Romans set the pair up in front of the Caesareum, the temple honouring the Caesars. The obelisk's age has also made it a point of pride for Egypt: in 2010 Zahi Hawass, then in charge of Egypt's antiquities, wrote an open letter criticising its condition and threatening to take it back. The plaza around it has since been restored.
Tips for your visit
- It is easy to miss: the obelisk hides among trees on a knoll behind the Met. From Fifth Avenue, walk into the park just south of the museum and follow the path west round its back.
- Come in the morning or late afternoon, when the low sun brings out the carvings, and bring binoculars or a zoom lens: the hieroglyphs near the top are hard to make out with the naked eye.
- The East Drive below the knoll is busy with cyclists and runners; cross at the marked crossings.
- Pair your visit with the Met's Egyptian galleries, where you can see the Temple of Dendur and other objects from the same civilisation.
Nearby
- Metropolitan Museum of Art: one of the world's great museums, right next door, with its Egyptian wing a few steps from the obelisk.
- Belvedere Castle: the small stone castle on Vista Rock, a short walk west, with views over Turtle Pond and the Great Lawn.
- Delacorte Theater: the open-air theatre by Turtle Pond, home of the free Shakespeare in the Park performances in summer.
- Great Lawn: the large oval lawn just west of the obelisk, popular for picnics and ball games.
See Central Park with World City Trail
Our Central Park scavenger hunt turns the park into a game you play on your phone. The route links 10 stops and takes around 3 hours, with about 43 minutes of walking. Cleopatra's Needle is one of the stops, along with Belvedere Castle and the Delacorte Theater. You can play in English, German, French, Italian, Spanish and Dutch.
If you prefer a different format, there is also a self-guided walking tour and an outdoor escape game in Central Park.
Play the Central Park scavenger hunt →
Take the self-guided walking tour of Central Park →
Play the outdoor escape game in Central Park →
Facts checked in October 2026.