Illustration on the base of the obelisk, showing how it was raised into place in 1836
Hieroglyphs on the obelisk.
Hieroglyphs on the upper obelisk. The Pharaoh on his throne is portrayed at the top
The centrepiece of the Place de la Concorde is an ancient Egyptian obelisk decorated with hieroglyphics exalting the reign of the pharaoh Ramesses II. It is one of two which the Egyptian government gave to the French in the 19th century. The other one stayed in Egypt, too difficult and heavy to move to France with the technology at that time. On 26 September 1981 President François Mitterrand formally returned the title of the second obelisk to Egypt.[16]
The obelisk once marked the entrance to the Luxor Temple. The wali of Egypt, or hereditary governor, Muhammad Ali Pasha, offered the 3,300-year-old Luxor Obelisk as a diplomatic gift to France in 1829. It arrived in Paris on 21 December 1833. Three years later, it was hoisted into place, on top of the pedestal which originally supported the statue of Louis XV, destroyed during the Revolution. The raising of the column was a major feat of engineering, depicted by illustrations on the base of the monument. King Louis Philippe dedicated the obelisk on 25 October 1836.[17]
The obelisk, a yellow granite column, rises 23 metres (75 ft) high, including the base, and weighs over 250 tonnes (280 short tons). Given the technical limitations of the day, transporting it was no easy feat – on the pedestal are drawn diagrams explaining the machinery that was used for the transportation. The government of France added a gold-leafed pyramidal cap to the top of the obelisk in 1998, replacing the missing original, believed stolen in the 6th century BC.[18]
You may know Paris for its cathedral Notre-Dame, the Eiffel Tower, its café culture and its amazing museums and art galleries. The French capital is also famous for its fantastic perspective that runs from the Louvre to La Défense. This is the ‘Voie Triomphale’, aka the Historical Axis of Paris.
This line is one of the most prestigious perspectives in the world. In fact, its design has inspired cities such as Buenos Aires, Washington DC, New Delhi and Canberra. In this article, we’ll learn more about the Historical Axis of Paris. We’ll discover the stunning monuments and I reveal to you some stunning facts.
More than just a series of monuments placed along the axis, it seems that a complex symbolism was at work in the mind of the successive urban planners.
The Historical Axis runs through some of Paris’ most celebrated monuments and squares:
The Louvre: the Glass Pyramid, the equestrian statue of Louis XIV portrayed as ‘Alexander the Great’ in the Cour Napoléon, and the Inverted Pyramid.
The Seine-Arche project endeavours to push the axis beyond La Défense, to the Seine.
Let’s move along the Historical Axis of Paris, from East to West, starting from the Louvre.
The Palace of the Louvre
Today the great perspective starts at the Louvre, immediately beyond the Church of St Germain l’Auxerrois.
The crab-shaped Palace was the main residence of the kings of France until 1682, when Louis XIV, the ‘Sun King’, moved his court to Versailles. It currently houses one of the world’s most wonderful museums in a complex that is known as the “Grand Louvre”.
President François Mitterrand left his mark with his pharaonic project of “Le Grand Louvre”. He wished to complete it for the bicentennial celebration of the French Revolution in 1989. The titanic project comprised of major renovation works and the construction of a new landmark along the Historical Axis: the celebrated (and controversial) Glass Pyramid.
But if you look closer, you’ll notice that the glass pyramid is not aligned with the other monuments on the Historical Axis.
That’s why something had to be added in this vast courtyard of the Louvre…
You may know Paris for its cathedral Notre-Dame, the Eiffel Tower, its café culture and its amazing museums and art galleries. The French capital is also famous for its fantastic perspective that runs from the Louvre to La Défense. This is the ‘Voie Triomphale’, aka the Historical Axis of Paris.
This line is one of the most prestigious perspectives in the world. In fact, its design has inspired cities such as Buenos Aires, Washington DC, New Delhi and Canberra. In this article, we’ll learn more about the Historical Axis of Paris. We’ll discover the stunning monuments and I reveal to you some stunning facts.
More than just a series of monuments placed along the axis, it seems that a complex symbolism was at work in the mind of the successive urban planners.
The Historical Axis runs through some of Paris’ most celebrated monuments and squares:
The Louvre: the Glass Pyramid, the equestrian statue of Louis XIV portrayed as ‘Alexander the Great’ in the Cour Napoléon, and the Inverted Pyramid.
The Seine-Arche project endeavours to push the axis beyond La Défense, to the Seine.
Let’s move along the Historical Axis of Paris, from East to West, starting from the Louvre.
The Palace of the Louvre
Today the great perspective starts at the Louvre, immediately beyond the Church of St Germain l’Auxerrois.
The crab-shaped Palace was the main residence of the kings of France until 1682, when Louis XIV, the ‘Sun King’, moved his court to Versailles. It currently houses one of the world’s most wonderful museums in a complex that is known as the “Grand Louvre”.
President François Mitterrand left his mark with his pharaonic project of “Le Grand Louvre”. He wished to complete it for the bicentennial celebration of the French Revolution in 1989. The titanic project comprised of major renovation works and the construction of a new landmark along the Historical Axis: the celebrated (and controversial) Glass Pyramid.
But if you look closer, you’ll notice that the glass pyramid is not aligned with the other monuments on the Historical Axis.
That’s why something had to be added in this vast courtyard of the Louvre…
La Llama de la Libertad, ofrecida al pueblo francés por donantes de todo el mundo como símbolo de la amistad franco-americana, en la plaza Diana (París).
La Llama de la Libertad (en francés, Flamme de la Liberté) de París es una réplica del mismo tamaño de la nueva llama situada en el extremo de la antorcha que lleva en la mano la Estatua de la Libertad de Nueva York desde 1986.1 El monumento, que tiene aproximadamente 3,5 metros de longitud, es una escultura de una llama de cobre dorado, apoyada en un pedestal de mármol gris y negro. Está situado cerca del extremo norte del puente del Alma, en la plaza Diana, en el distrito 8 de París, Francia.2
Fue ofrecida a la ciudad de París en 1989 por el International Herald Tribune en nombre de los donantes, que habían contribuido aproximadamente 400 000 dólares para su realización. Representaba la culminación de las celebraciones de 1987 del periódico por su cien aniversario de la publicación de un periódico en inglés en París. Más importante, la Llama era una muestra de agradecimiento por la restauración de la Estatua de la Libertad realizada tres años antes por dos empresas francesas que hicieron el trabajo artesanal del proyecto: Métalliers Champenois, que hizo el trabajo del bronce, y Gohard Studios, que aplicó el pan de oro. Aunque el regalo a Francia fue motivado por el centenario del periódico, la Llama de la Libertad es un símbolo más general de la amistad que une los dos países, igual que la Estatua de la Libertad cuando fue regalada a los Estados Unidos por Francia.
Este proyecto fue supervisado por el director de la unión de artesanos franceses en aquel momento, Jacques Graindorge. Propuso la instalación de la Llama de la Libertad en una plaza pública llamada Place des États-Unis en el distrito 16, pero el alcalde de París, Jacques Chirac, se opuso a esto. Tras un prolongado período de negociaciones, se decidió que la alama se situaría en una zona abierta cerca de la intersección de la Avenue de New-York y la Place de l'Alma. El monumento fue inaugurado el 10 de mayo de 1989 por Chirac.
En la base del monumento hay una placa conmemorativa que relata la siguiente historia:
"La Llama de la Libertad. Una réplica exacta de la llama de la Estatua de la Libertad ofrecida al pueblo de Francia por donantes de todo el mundo como símbolo de la amistad franco-americana. Con ocasión del centenario del International Herald Tribune, París 1887-1987."
La llama se convirtió en un monumento no oficial de Diana de Gales después de su muerte en 1997 en el túnel bajo el Pont de l'Alma.3 La llama es una atracción para turistas y seguidores de Diana, quiens pegan pósteres y folletos con material conmemorativo en la base. El antropólogo Guy Lesoeurs dijo que "la mayoría de las personas que vienen aquí piensan que se construyó para ella."2 La plaza del monumento se llama desde entonces Plaza Diana (París).
El monumento está cerca de la estación del Metro de París llamada Alma-Marceau en la línea 9 y de la estación Pont de l’Alma Línea 'C' del RER, así como por los buses número 42, 63, 72, 80, 92, y los autobuses turísticos Balabus.
Timeline: June 18-24: Gov. Sanford missing/crying in Argentina June 21: 'Impact' Part 1 on ABC; Prince William birthday June 22: DC Metro Red Line trains in collision June 23: US Moon probes (LRO/LCROSS) reach Moon June 24: Gov. Sanford reveals Argentine affair June 25: Death of Michael Jackson & Farahh Fawcett
'Metro' means 'meter' in Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, etc. The meter is historically defined as 1/10,000,000 of the distance between the North Pole and the equator through Paris, or in other words the Paris Meridian between the North Pole and the equator. The Paris Meridian is also the 'Rose Line' (an esoteric concept popularized by The Da Vinci Code) i.e. a 'Red Line'...
DC Metro Red Line = French/Columbian Rose Line
...traditionally implying the Blood Royal/Sangraal or the Marian/Columbian Bloodline of the Holy Grail.
In Bloodline of the Holy Grail Laurence Gardner writes of the House of Stuart, the royal bloodline to which Princess Diana and her children belong (pp. 344-5):
Of the the famous Seven Wonders of the Ancient World the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops) at Giza is the only one still standing. Even for modern men it is amazing how this man-made structure lasted so long.
The Giza pyramids must have made an incredible visual impact - at the edge of the desert three abstract geometrical symbols were rising, huge luminous white triangles reflecting the blinding light of the sun!
The pyramids on the Giza plateau are with 146.59m (Khufu / Cheops) and 143.87m (Khafre / Chefren) respectively the largest, however there are over 30 major pyramids and a myriad of smaller pyramids in Egypt.
Cheops-Pyramid 1. Entrance 2. Entrance cut by grave robbers 3. Subterranean chamber 4. Grand Gallery 5. King's chamber, relieving chambers, granite portcullis slabs 6. Queen's chamber 7. Shaft 8. Limestone plugging the air shaft A= "Air shafts"
Khufu (Chuefui-Chnum or Khnum-Khuf, Cheops in Greek) during the 4th dynasty of the old kingdom
Time to build
Probably max. 23 years (Khufu reigned from2551 to 2528 before Christ *). Herodotus writes about 10 years of preparation and 20 years of building (details of the text)
Per day
With 2'500'000 stones 342 stones have to be moved daily (working during 365 days a year) or 431 stones daily (working during 290 days a year).
Per minute
10-hour day: every 2 minutes a stone (34 to 43 per hour) 8-hour day: nearly a stone every minute (42 to 53 stones per hour)
Rule of thumb
While construction the pyramid the rate of delivery was 1 stone weighting 2.5 tons every minute.
For our calculations we assume 500 stones a day. This is a rough estimate, assuming a 8-hour day, during 290 days a year, with 20 years to build the pyramid. Also assuming, that more time had to be used for the huge granite blocks for the King's chamber and for the more difficult upper part of the pyramid, where work went slower than in the lower parts. There probably were also other factors delaying the building of the pyramid such as the weather or a temporary shortage of certain building materials.
Building materials for the Cheops-pyramid
The Khufu-pyramid (Cheops) probably originally had 210 stone layers. At 50m height already 82% of the entire pyramid was built [3].
Originally probably 210 stone layers, now only 201 layers [2]
Stone size
The stone blocks usually are larger in the lower layers (1.5m = 3 cubit) and smaller in the upper layers. Most are between 1.5 and 2 cubit large (average of 127 x 127 x 71cm). 1 cubit = 0.524m - Details
Weight of the stone blocks
With an average density of 2,6 - 2,9 t/m³ the large limestone blocks weighted 6.5 - 10 tons and the smaller ones about 1.3 tons. For all calculations on this website an average weight of 2.5 tons was used.
Special blocks
For the King's chamber granite blocks weighting 40 to 50 tons were used
Total weight
6'500'000 tons (average weight of a block was about 2.5 tons)
Pyramidion
The final stone on the top was a large block in the shape of a pyramid. It was perhaps around 1.5m by 1.5m wide and 1.3m high (about 3 cubits). It was made from white Tura limestone (Turah), granite or perhaps diorite and perhaps gold plated. More information
Building materials
Pyramid: Nummulite limestone from quarries about 200-400m south of the pyramid were used for the core stones. Casing: light white limestone, so called Tura-limestone from quarries from the eastern shores of the Nile King's chamber: Rose granite from Aswan 900km away Further materials: Graywacke from the Wadi Hammamat (Eastern desert), basalt from the northern Faiyum Map of quarries in Egypt
Dimensions of the pyramid of Khufu
Length (a) -------------------
The average length of the edge is ~ 230.360m (230,12m = 440 cubits). Northern edge 230.328m - eastern edge 230.369m - southern edge 230.372m - western edge 230.372m. Largest difference is only 4.4cm. [3]
Height (h)
Originally 146.59m high (= 280 cubits), the pyramid is now only 138.75m high [7]
Diagonal (d)
325.77m
Ridge (g)
219m
Height of the lateral surface
186.42m
Pyramid angle α
51° 50' 40' = inclination of the lateral surface (= 52° rounded off) [3] which corresponds to a seked of 5½ palms
Pyramid angle β
58.3° = the two angles of the triangular lateral surface (62° = angle of the apex or tip of the pyramid) - nearly forming an equilateral triangle!
Pyramid angle γ
41.9° = angle of the ridge
Corner angle
Right angle base with angles from 89° 59' to 90°
Base area
53'065.73m²
Superficies surface
85'890.69m²
Pyramid volume
2'592'968.43m³ including the rock core. This would be a cube with a length of 137.38m. Probable volume of stones used: 2'583'283m³ [1] or 2'326'501m³ [2].
Alignment
Exactly to the north (deviation only 2' 28')
Latitude and longitude
N 29° 58’ 44.3830” latitude and E 31° 07’ 57.0194” longitude [5]
Altitude
The base of the pyramid of Khufu lies about 60m above sea level, so the tip of the pyramid used to be on 206m above sea level [6].
Dimensions of the pyramid of Khufu in Egyptian Royal Cubits
Length (a)
440 Royal Cubits
Height (h)
280 Royal Cubits
Height of the lateral surface (c)
356 Royal Cubits (356.09)
Diagonal (d)
622.25 Royal Cubits
Ridge (g)
418.56 Royal Cubits
Pyramid angle α
51.843°
Pyramid angle β
58.3°
Pyramid angle γ
41.9°
Corner angle
90°
It is suggested, that the Egyptians used a right angled triangle to determinate the angle of inclination of the pyramid, using the numbers a=11 and b=14 with c=17.8 (or a=22 - b=28 - c= 35.6). This determines a so called seked of 5½ palms. Alignment of the pyramids and controlling the shape of the pyramid (seked)
Sources
[1] M. Lehner The Complete Pyramids of Egypt [2] G. Goyon Die Cheops-Pyramide [3] R. Stadelmann Die grossen Pyramiden von Giza [4] F. Abitz Der Bau der grossen Pyramide mit einem Schrägaufzug [5] GPS-coordinates of a brass disk on top of the pyramid of Khufu, Giza Plateau Mapping Project (GPMP) [6] Maps of the Giza Plateau Mapping Project show the altitude as 60m [7] D. Arnold Building in Egypt
* Dates according to conventional Egyptian chronology are used in this website. These are based on several list of the dynasties of pharaohs, for example the Aegyptiaca of Manetho of Sebennytos.
The lunar phase on Friday, April 25, 1969 was a Waxing Gibbous. At 11:00pm ET, the face of the moon was 63% illuminated, 8.6 days old, and 29% of the way through the lunar cycle.
During the Waxing Gibbous phase, the moon is more than halfway illuminated. The moon will continue to grow with each passing night.
Check out our interactive lunar calendar or enter a date below to see the moon phase on your birthday, anniversary, or other special date in history or the future.
The Moon phase on Wednesday, December 31, 1997 is Waxing Crescent with an illumination of 7.18%. This indicates the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. On Wednesday, December 31, 1997, the Moon is 2.55 days old. This number shows how many days have passed since the last New Moon.
Moon phase details at Wednesday, December 31, 1997
Moon Phase details
Phase
???? Waxing Crescent
Horoscope
♑ Capricorn
Illumination
7.18% Visible
Rise/Set
8:24 AM / 9:59 PM
Moon Age
2.55 Days
Moon Angular
30.81º
Moon Distance
370,378.60 km
Frequently Asked Questions
On Wednesday, December 31, 1997, the Moon is in the Waxing Crescent phase with 7.18% illumination, is 2.55 days old, and located in the Capricorn (♑) constellation. Data from phasesmoon.com.
The Moon's illumination on Wednesday, December 31, 1997 is 7.18%, according to phasesmoon.com.
Primer
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Flip
The Moon phase on Wednesday, December 31, 1997 is Waxing Crescent with an illumination of 7.18%. This indicates the percentage of the Moon illuminated by the Sun. On Wednesday, December 31, 1997, the Moon is 2.55 days old. This number shows how many days have passed since the last New Moon.
AVERAGE MOON RISE
