Cleopatra's Needle, London Editorial Image

Cleopatra's Needle is the popular name for each of three Ancient Egyptian obelisks re-erected in London, Paris, and New York City during the nineteenth century. The obelisks in London and New York are a pair, and the one in Paris is also part of a pair originally from a different site in Luxor, where its twin remains. Although all three needles are genuine Ancient Egyptian obelisks, their shared nickname is a misnomer, as they have no connection with the Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, and were already over a thousand years old in her lifetime. The London and New York needles were originally made during the reign of 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Thutmose III. The Paris needle dates to the reign of 19th Dynasty Pharaoh Ramesses II and was the first to be moved and re-erected. The New York needle, was the first to acquire the nickname, L'aiguille de Cléopâtre in French where it stood in Alexandria.