Obelisk of Heliopolis

The obelisk was raised by Senusret I around 1950 BC in front of the temple of Ra at Iunu, the city the Greeks called Heliopolis, and it is still standing where it was put, which almost no other Egyptian obelisk can claim. Twenty metres of red Aswan granite with a single column of hieroglyphs on each face, it is the oldest standing obelisk in Egypt and the last visible fragment of what was for millennia one of the most important religious centres in the country, a temple complex that Herodotus and Strabo both described and that was quarried away for building stone in the Islamic period. The ground around it is now a small archaeological enclosure a few metres below street level, surrounded by apartment blocks, and excavation continues in the neighbourhood whenever a plot is cleared.

What to look for

• A twenty-metre granite obelisk - standing on its original ground.
• Hieroglyphic columns of Senusret I - one line carved on each face.
• The sunken enclosure - the ancient ground level below the modern street.
• Excavated blocks - fragments recovered from the vanished temple of Ra.

When to go

October to April. Any morning; the site is rarely visited and never crowded. One hour. Combining it with the Virgin Mary's Tree a short distance away makes the journey out worthwhile.

Good to know

There is one monument here and very little else, hemmed in by apartment blocks, so it is a stop rather than a visit. Interpretation is minimal. The enclosure is sometimes locked outside posted hours. Matariya is a long drive from central Cairo in traffic.

Nearby

The Virgin Mary's Tree is close by in the same district; Heliopolis proper is to the east.

Key facts