NYC Cleans Egyptian Relic

Can you guess what New York's oldest landmark is? No, it isn't the Statue of Liberty that, oddly enough, was initially intended for Egypt. The oldest landmark in New York is the Egyptian granite obelisk in New York's Central Park.

Standing at 69-foot tall, and around 3,500 years old, the ancient relic has been in Central Park for 130 years. Due to its fragile nature, not once has it ever been cleaned, as conservationists feared that hosing it down would destroy it. For decades, it seemed like there would be no solution to this problem, however that was before we invented lasers.

After careful testing, the Central Park Conservancy, a non-profit organisation, have determined that it is possible to clean the obelisk by using a gentle bath of infrared lasers. Using lasers to clean the monument is not only the safest way to clean the obelisk without damaging it, but is also the most environmentally friendly method.

It will take several months before the CPC will be able to vaporise the monument's centuries' old collection of dust. At the same time project planners are working away at identifying fragile areas on the obelisk surface and are planning to patch it up with granite adhesives.

Egyptians love New York, but we recommend waiting to book your flight to see the newly cleaned obelisk, as this project hopes to be completed sometime this autumn.