After parting ways with Minerva, Pomona walked down the street toward the River Thames.
She passed an opera house along the way, but did not stop to look at the program, even though she had originally planned to see a performance after visiting the museum.
She wandered aimlessly until she reached Victoria Embankment. The broad view and cityscape did nothing to improve her mood.
Just then, a steamer passed by with its whistle blaring. She looked toward the sound and saw it slowly passing an obelisk.
That was Cleopatra's Needle. However, it had not been carved for Cleopatra. Antony had transported it from elsewhere to Alexandria. In 1819, Muhammad Ali Pasha gave the obelisk to Britain in commemoration of the Battle of the Nile and the Battle of Alexandria.
However, because of the costly freight charges, Britain initially refused to pay for its transportation to London. It was not until private sponsorship in 1877 that the obelisk was transported, with two Sphinxes guarding it.
In 1917, a German bomb exploded near the obelisk, damaging its pedestal. There was an account of the incident nearby.
Pomona leaned against the railing and gazed at the obelisk.
Though only one obelisk stood here, it had originally stood in a pair before an Egyptian temple. The other "Cleopatra's Needle" was in New York. Place de la Concorde in Paris also had a Luxor Obelisk, while its counterpart remained in Egypt.
Unlike the British, when the French learned that Ali Pasha was willing to offer this "gift," they immediately commissioned a ship called the Luxor to transport it, with another ship called the Sphinx providing the power. They brought it to Paris at almost any cost.
There was also an obelisk in Istanbul, named the Obelisk of Theodosius. It was said that after Rome conquered