Pagan London 11: The Obelisk of Ra

Cleopatra's Needle was first erected in the Egyptian city of Heliopolis by on the orders of Thutmose III, around 1450 BC.

In 12 BC the Romans moved it to Alexandria and set it up in the Caesareum – a temple built by Cleopatra in honour of Julius Caesar.

And in 1878 it was brought to London and the Victoria Embankment.