Roman Cargo Ship,reconstructed in the form of a raft,being used to transport the Montecitorio obelisk from Egypt to Rome in 10 BC. This obelisk is an ancient Egyptian,red granite obelisk of Psammetichus II (595-589 BC) from Heliopolis. Augustus erected it as the gnomon of the Solarium Augusti,his giant sundial,in the Campus Martius,Rome. It is now in the Piazza Montecitorio. Detail from a map of Civitavecchia in the Gallery of Maps in the Vatican Museum. These maps were commissioned between 1578 and 1580 to show the regions of Italy and territories of the church. They are based on the work of Ignazio Danti,a 16th century Italian priest,mathematician,astronomer and cosmographer,and are an important record of 16th century geography |