Dogali Obelisk

This obelisk and its twin, now housed in the Boboli Gardens in Florence, originate from the ancient Egyptian city of Heliopolis. They were moved to Rome during the Imperial age, after the Roman conquest of Egypt, to decorate the temple dedicated to the goddess Isis. Made of red granite and over nine meters tall, it bears inscriptions dedicated to the Sun god.

Its summit was discovered by chance in 1719 during excavation work at the Casanatense Library; however, the obelisk was only fully unearthed in 1883, during excavation campaigns launched after the Unification of Italy.

A few years later, the monument was designated to commemorate the Italian soldiers who fell in the Battle of Dogali on January 26, 1887, an episode linked to Italy's colonial expansion policy in the Horn of Africa and the resistance of the Ethiopian Empire and the local populations. Initially located in front of Termini Station and inaugurated on June 5, 1887, it was moved to its current location on via delle Terme di Diocleziano in 1924, taking on additional political significance during the Fascist period in colonial propaganda. The statue of the Lion of Judah, symbol of the Ethiopian monarchy, was later placed on its base. It was taken from Addis Abeba during the Italian occupation and returned to Ethiopia in 1970.

Today, the obelisk represents a layering of different memories: a monument to ancient Egypt, a reminder of imperial Rome, and a testament to Italian colonialism and its legacies. In recent years, it has been the focus of research and development initiatives, including the project "Echoes from ዶግዓሊ/Dogali. Weaving Memories, Intertwining Stories", dedicated to a decolonial reinterpretation and an in-depth exploration of the historical events evoked by the monument. The project was conceived by the associations Attitudes_spazio alle arti and Tezeta as part of the Yekatit Network's activities, February 12-19.

Photo: Dogali Obelisk, photo: Turismo Roma