For a while I have been wanting to post on the use of Obelisks as markers in cemeteries. Obelisks I think originated with the Egyptians a very long time ago. If they were not the first, they were certainly the most spectacular to use these elegant stone monuments. Unfortunately, I have never had the opportunity to travel to Egypt and therefore have no pictures of the actual Egyptian Obelisks. I do have a
link here to the Wikipedia article on them. The word obelisk isn't Egyptian, but Greek from the word ὀβελίσκος (obeliskos), meaning something like pointed pillar.
Fortunately, there are samples of American Obelisks in most cemeteries that go back to the 19th Century or before. I therefore have some American Obelisks to show you.
The above picture contains several obelisks of different sorts and heights. This is not really the best photo, but it does illustrate some typical forms of American obelisks.
Though this picture is large, the monument is quite small. It is an obelisk shape but it measures less than three feet in height. Surprisingly there are many samples of this kind of monument throughout the cemeteries I have seen.
These are very large monuments measuring 10 feet or more in height. The obelisk to the far right of the right-most photo is wide and about 4 feet tall.
This is a sample of a modified obelisk. It has a bulging ornate top that replaces the pyramid at the top. Surprisingly to me this is a very common variation.
I personally like the very clean lines of the basic and pure obelisk!
Next I will post some modern stones that I have photographed. I have mostly concentrated on the older stones, but this generation has produced some striking monuments.
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