This is a printer-friendly version of an article from Zip06.com.

Ancient Egyptian Obelisks, a Tragic Incident at Sea, and Marine Art Subject of Upcoming Talk

There will be a presentation on Cleopatra’s Needle, and Marek Sarba’s paintings of an incident when an ancient Egyptian obelisk was almost lost at sea in the 1800s, on Saturday, May 20 from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Acton Public Library, 60 Old Boston Post Road, Old Saybrook.

Sarba, an artist based in Old Saybrook, will discuss the two paintings, how they were created, along with the references he used, and the broader subject of marine art composition.

Sarba says Cleopatra’s Needle is the popular name for the three Ancient Egyptian obelisks that were re-erected in London, Paris, and New York City during the 19th century. The obelisks in London and New York are a pair, and the one in Paris is from a different pair, he says.

The three needles are genuine ancient Egyptian obelisks, but Sarba says their shared nickname is not entirely accurate because they are not connected with the Ptolemaic Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, but rather they were created in the era of the fifth pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt, around 1507-1458 BC. The London Cleopatra’s Needle, created in Heliopolis, Egypt and commissioned by Thutmose III around 1450 BC, remained in Alexandria until October 1877.

At that point, Sir William James Erasmus Wilson paid to have it transported to London on a sort of floating pontoon to be towed by the ship Olga, commanded by Captain Booth.

On Oct. 14 1877, there was a violent storm in the Bay of Biscay. The pontoon carrying the Cleopatra became wild and uncontrollable. A rescue effort, from a boat with six volunteers from the Olga, capsized. All six crew members were lost. Other crew members were rescued, but the Cleopatra was reported “abandoned and sinking.”

Instead, she somehow managed to stay above water and drifted until found four days later by trawler boats. She was rescued and taken to Spain for repairs. The London needle was finally erected in September 1878, with a bronze plaque attached memorializing the crew members lost during the rescue effort

Sarba will discuss the paintings he created about this incident, including The Passing The Ferrol Castillos and I Must Abandon The Vessel.