Ранее об обелиске есть только скудные упоминания.
"American annual cyclopaedia and register of important events: 1876-95", "American annual cyclopaedia and register of important events: Том 24, 1889".
А так же: " Cleopatra's needle : a history of the London obelisk" вышедшая между 1905 и 1920 годом. "In the quarries at Syene may yet be seen an unfinished
obelisk, still adhering to the native rock, with traces of
the workmen s tools so clearly seen on its surface, that
one might suppose they had been suddenly called away,
and intended soon to return to finish their work. This
unfinished obelisk shows the mode in which the ancients
separated these immense monoliths from the native rock.
In a sharply cut groove marking the boundary of the
stone are holes, evidently designed for wooden wedges.
After these had been firmly driven into the holes, the
groove was filled with water. The wedges gradually
absorbing the water, swelled, and cracked the granite
throughout the length of the groove."