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Overview
The Two Obelisks: two square stones standing upright along their length, the upper part narrower than the lower, with writing on them in an ancient script. al-Idrisi reports, on the authority of the people of the account, that they were hewn from mountain stone and set up by the order of a king 2.
According to al-Maqrizi
Al-Maqrizi, quoting al-Qada'i, lists the two obelisks among the wonders of Alexandria. They stood on bronze crabs at their corners, one crab to each corner 3.
Sources
- Al-Idrisi, Nuzhat al-Mushtaq fi ikhtiraq al-afaq (Cairo: Maktabat al-Thaqafa al-Diniyya, 2002), 2 vols. , p. 321
- Al-Idrisi, Nuzhat al-Mushtaq fi ikhtiraq al-afaq (Cairo: Maktabat al-Thaqafa al-Diniyya, 2002), 2 vols. , p.321
- Al-Maqrizi, al-Mawaiz wa-l-i'tibar bi-dhikr al-khitat wa-l-athar (al-Khitat al-Maqriziyya), ed. Muhammad Zaynhum and Madiha al-Sharqawi (Cairo: Maktabat Madbuli, 1998) , p.141
Cite this page
islam.museum contributors. “The Obelisks of Alexandria”. islam.museum, https://islam.museum/en/place/al-masalla-iskandariyya/. CC BY-SA 4.0. Last updated 2026-10-24.