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The Hanging Obeliskالمسلة المعلقة

The world's first suspended obelisk — an ancient obelisk of Ramses II raised on supports at the museum entrance, so you can walk right beneath it.أول مسلّةٍ معلّقة في العالم — مسلّةٌ قديمة لرمسيس الثاني رُفعت على دعاماتٍ عند مدخل المتحف، لتسير تحتها مباشرة.

In the plaza outside the Grand Egyptian Museum stands a world first: a genuine ancient obelisk, raised up off the ground on supports so that visitors can walk directly beneath it. Known as the Hanging Obelisk, this monument of Ramses II lets you do something impossible anywhere else — pass underneath an Egyptian obelisk and look up at its carved base, a surface normally hidden from view for thousands of years.

في الساحة خارج المتحف المصري الكبير تقف سابقةٌ عالمية: مسلّةٌ مصرية قديمة حقيقية، رُفعت عن الأرض على دعامات بحيث يمكن للزوّار السير تحتها مباشرة. وتُعرف بالمسلّة المعلّقة، وهي نصبٌ لرمسيس الثاني يتيح لك ما يستحيل في أي مكانٍ آخر — أن تمرّ أسفل مسلّةٍ مصرية وتنظر إلى قاعدتها المنقوشة، وهي سطحٌ ظلّ محجوبًا عن الأنظار آلاف السنين.

المسلة المعلقة
A world first

A World First · سابقةٌ عالمية

Walk Beneath an Obeliskامشِ تحت مسلّة

A display unlike any other.عرضٌ لا مثيل له.

For all of history, obelisks have stood firmly planted in the ground, their bases buried or set in stone. The GEM's Hanging Obelisk breaks that rule: it is the first obelisk in the world displayed raised on supports, lifted just enough for people to stand and walk beneath it. The clever, carefully engineered mounting turns a familiar monument into something entirely new, and offers one of the most memorable photo opportunities at the whole museum — all in the open-air entrance plaza, before you even buy a ticket.

An Obelisk of Ramses II · مسلّةٌ لرمسيس الثاني

Ancient Stone, Royal Nameحجرٌ قديم واسمٌ ملكي

Carved for one of Egypt’s greatest kings.نُقشت لأحد أعظم ملوك مصر.

The obelisk itself is a genuine ancient monument associated with Ramses II, the great pharaoh of the 19th Dynasty, and is thought to come from the ancient city of Tanis (San el-Hagar) in the Nile Delta. Carved from hard granite and weighing many tons, its sides bear royal inscriptions and the cartouches — name-rings — of the king. Like so much at the GEM, it links the cutting-edge museum directly to the towering figures of Egypt's imperial age.

The Hidden Base Revealed · القاعدة المخفيّة تتكشّف

See What Was Never Seenشاهد ما لم يُرَ من قبل

Carvings hidden for millennia.نقوشٌ ظلّت محجوبة آلاف السنين.

The real magic of the Hanging Obelisk is what it reveals. Because it is raised, visitors can look up at the underside of its base — carved with royal cartouches that, on a normally planted obelisk, would be permanently hidden in the ground. It is a rare chance to see a part of these monuments that almost no one in history has ever laid eyes on, turning a clever piece of museum design into a genuine moment of discovery.

Quick Facts · حقائق سريعة

The Hanging Obelisk at a Glanceالمسلة المعلقة في سطور

What it is: the world's first obelisk displayed raised so you can walk beneath it.
Arabic name: المسلة المعلقة (the Hanging Obelisk).
Whose it is: an ancient obelisk associated with Ramses II.
Likely origin: the ancient Delta city of Tanis (San el-Hagar).
The highlight: seeing the carved cartouches on its underside, normally hidden.
Where: the open-air entrance plaza of the GEM.

Sources include the Grand Egyptian Museum and Egyptian heritage guides. Some details, such as the obelisk's precise origin, are as reported.