The New-York Historical Society the opening of the Suez Canal, to William Henry Hurlbert, later Editor of the New York World, but nothing came of it until in 1877 after the removal of the prostrate obelisk from Alexandria to England, when we opened negotiations for the one left standing there and known as "Cleopatra's Needle." If: if: pWWiiw.ii>il,!i,i,,'i11^i MRPi From Gorringe's Egyptian obelisks "CLEOPATRA'S NEEDLE" IN ALEXANDRIA, EGYPT, 1879 The Khedive wasn't keen about letting "Cleopatra's Needle" go — it was really the most important object of antiquity in Alexandria, whereas the one given to England had been lying half buried at the water's edge for years — so he suggested that in order not to excite the populace and to make things easier for him, we take one of those from Ancient Thebes. However, ~ 106 —