New "Fascinating Fact" (for me, anyway) is that the obelisk in St Peter's Square in Rome was transported from Egypt in a ship filled with lentils to prevent any damage to the red granite structure. What an ingenious idea, and such a simple solution to a difficult problem. I may be a little late coming to this story, but I had to find out more.
The obelisk is 82 feet tall and weighs 320 tons - which is really a lot of lentil support. It was originally made in Egypt and transported to Rome in 37AD by the Emporer Caligula. He then had it placed in the Circus of Nero which was in the same general area as the future St Peter's Basilica. In 1586, Pope Sixtus V had his architect Domenico Fontana move it. This operation, which required hundreds of workmen, was directed by Fontana with the help of his brother, Giovanni, and took four months. The whole endeavor was carried out using hemp ropes and iron bars weighing 40,000 pounds, plus 900 men and 72 horses.
After the voyage the ship was filled with pozzolana - a Roman version of cement, I think - and sunk so it could be used as the base for the left pier of Claudius' harbour, at the mouth of the Tiber.
I love getting a glimpse into the scientific minds of ordinary people in history. But what REALLY intrigues me is .... what happened to all those lentils?
After the voyage the ship was filled with pozzolana - a Roman version of cement, I think - and sunk so it could be used as the base for the left pier of Claudius' harbour, at the mouth of the Tiber.
London, Paris and New York all have an obelisk - the one in London is often referred to as Cleopatra's Needle - and it was interesting to find that the 68ft high structure destined for London was dug out of the sand where had been buried for nearly 2,000 years and was encased in an iron cylinder, 92 feet long and 16 feet in diameter. It had a stem, stern, a rudder, two bilge keels, a mast for balancing sails, and a deck house. This acted as a floating pontoon which was to be towed to London. In the Bay of Biscay they encountered a storm and the obelisk and its packaging was violently thrown around by the waves. Six crew members were lost in the storm, and the pontoon, named the Cleopatra, was eventually abandoned, to be later washed up on the shores in Spain. After a tense and expensive disagreement on salvage rights, the whole thing was floated back to London and taken up the Thames river to stand on the Embankment where it still resides.
I love getting a glimpse into the scientific minds of ordinary people in history. But what REALLY intrigues me is .... what happened to all those lentils?
No comments:
Post a Comment