The obelisks called “Cleopatra's Needles” are older than Cleopatra by 1,400 years
The two pink-granite obelisks that today stand in London and New York's Central Park are nicknamed “Cleopatra's Needles,” yet they have nothing to do with her: they were carved for the pharaoh Thutmose III at Heliopolis around 1450 BCE — some fourteen centuries before Cleopatra was born. The Romans later moved them to Alexandria near a temple she had begun, which is how her name stuck.
How we know
Both obelisks were originally erected by Thutmose III (r. c.1479–1425 BCE) at Heliopolis, c.1450 BCE; the Romans moved them to Alexandria under Augustus c.13/12 BCE, near the Caesareum (a temple begun under Cleopatra VII), which is the source of the nickname. c.1450 BCE is about 1,400 years before Cleopatra.
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