Egypt Is Threatening To Take Back Cleopatra's Needle In Central Park Over Deterioration

"I have a duty to protect all Egyptian monuments whether they are inside or outside of Egypt. If the Central Park Conservancy and the City of New York cannot properly care for this obelisk, I will take the necessary steps to bring this precious artifact home and save it from ruin." - Zahi Hawass

Close-up of text on the obelisk which has been severely eroded from exposure to the elements. Egypt is threatening to take back Cleopatra's Needle in Central Park.The beautiful obelisk commemorates King Thutmose III has stood in Central Park since 1880. Zahi Hawass, secretary general for Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, sent a letter to the president of the Central Park Conservancy and Mayor Bloomberg asking for their assistance in caring for this artifact. (Photo: Richard Paschal and Dorothy McCarthy)

Manhattan

The Egyptian government is threatening to take back "Cleopatra’s Needle," the iconic obelisk behind the Metropolitan Museum of Art that has been in Central Park since 1880, according to DNAinfo.

It was not being cared for properly, according to Zahi Hawass, the secretary general for Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities, who is alarmed over the erosion of its hieroglyphics and wanted the city to restore it — or else.

"I am glad that this monument has become such an integral part of New York City, but I am dismayed at the lack of care and attention that it has been given," Hawass wrote in a letter to Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the Central Park Conservancy, and posted on his blog on Tuesday.

"Recent photographs that I have received show the severe damage that has been done to the obelisk, particularly to the hieroglyphic text, which in places has been completely worn away," wrote Hawass, a world-renowned Egyptologist featured on the History Channel show, "Chasing Mummies."

The obelisk is one of the few "true antiquities" in the parks monuments collections, according to New York City Park Department officials. It was created in 461 B.C (along with its match now residing in Westminster in London) to commemorate Pharaoh Thutmose 111.

"I have a duty to protect all Egyptian monuments whether they are inside or outside of Egypt," wrote Hawass, whose warning was reported by LiveScience.com on Thursday. "If the Central Park Conservancy and the City of New York cannot properly care for this obelisk, I will take the necessary steps to bring this precious artifact home and save it from ruin."

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Egypt Threatens to Take Back Beloved Central Park Obelisk

DNAinfo - January 6, 2011 - By Amy Zimmer