echiromani:PincianoThis 30-foot obelisk has moved many times in its history. It is currently located
echiromani:PincianoThis 30-foot obelisk has moved many times in its history. It is currently located in a piazza among the tree-lined streets of the Villa Borghese. It was commissioned by Hadrian (reigned 117–138 AD), and was erected in Tivoli for the tomb of his lover, Antinous. Later it was moved to Rome by Elagabalus to decorate the spina of the Circus Varianus. It was found near the Porta Maggiore in the 16th century, and has moved three times since; first to the Palazzo Barberini; then to the Vatican by Pope Clement XIV; and finally, on the Pincian Hill by Pope Pius VII in 1822.The hieroglyphic inscriptions on the pyramidion record the words of the gods, spoken to the deceased youth Antinous. Thoth says, “I give thee festivals of hundreds of thousands of years.” (East side.) Amun Ra says, “I give thee thy titles.” (South side.) Ra says, “I give thee all life and health forever.” (North side.) Hadrian himself—apparently a god too—says, “By the son of the Sun, Hadrianus the ever-living, I give thee glory which thy heart loves.” (Also north side; the west side records no inscriptions.) -- source link