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[[File:Geograph-1789450-by-Eugene-Birchall.jpg|thumb|The Philae obelisk with [[Kingston Lacy]] in the background]]
The '''Philae obelisk''' is one of two [[obelisk]]s found at [[Philae]] in [[Upper Egypt]] in 1815 and soon afterward acquired by [[William John Bankes]], which included an important [[bilingual inscription]].
He noted two [[inscription]]s on it, one in [[Ancient Egyptian language|Egyptian]] [[Egyptian Hieroglyphics|hieroglyphs]], the other in [[Ancient Greek language|ancient Greek]].<ref>The Greek inscription has been referred to by scholars as "OGI 137–139; SB 8396; Lenger, C. Ord. Ptol., 51 f.; A. Bern., 19".</ref> By comparing the two texts, although they were not translations of one another, Bankes believed that he recognised the names ''Ptolemy'' and ''Cleopatra'' in hieroglyphic characters. His identification was confirmed afterward by [[Thomas Young (scientist)|Thomas Young]] and [[Jean-François Champollion]], and the obelisk was useful to Champollion in his eventual [[decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs]].{{citation needed|date = June 2015}} The inscriptions record a petition by the [[Ancient Egyptian religion|Egyptian priests]] at Philae and the favourable response by [[Ptolemy VIII of Egypt|Ptolemy VIII Euergetes]] and queens [[Cleopatra II of Egypt|Cleopatra II]] and [[Cleopatra III of Egypt|Cleopatra III]]. The obelisk has been dated to approximately 118 or 117 BC.{{citation needed|date = June 2015}}
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