The Hanging Obelisk

The hanging obelisk at GEM's main entrance is the only structure of its kind in the world. Suspended by hidden steel cables in a 36 meter glass shaft, it greets every visitor with the same solar geometry the ancients used to mark the new year. Discovered in 1893 at Tanis, broken into seven fragments, the reconstruction took over four years. The engineering team designed a custom suspension system that lets the granite breathe with temperature changes without straining the inscriptions. The base sits below ground level, so when you walk underneath you can read the king's titulary from a position no Egyptian priest ever stood in. It is, accidentally, the most democratic monument in the museum.