Monolith

For the computer game company, see Monolith Productions. For the movie, see Monolith (movie).

A monolith is a monument or natural feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock. Erosion usually exposes these, which are most often made of very hard and solid metamorphic rock such as granite.

The word derives from the latin word monolithus from the Greek word μονόλιϑος (monolithos), derived from μόνος ("one" or "lonely") and λίϑος ("stone").

Table of contents

1 Natural monoliths
2 Manmade monoliths

2.1 Obelisks
2.2 Others

3 See also

Natural monoliths

The two largest are:

Uluru (Ayers Rock), in the Outback of Australia
Stone Mountain, near Atlanta, Georgia, USA

Others include:

Odin Stone (Stenhouse, Orkney; destroyed in 1814)
Frau Holle Stone, near Fulda, Germany
King Arthur's Stone (Cornwall)
Logan Stone (Trereen, Cornwall)
Bottleneck Peak and Moon, Sids Mountain, Utah
El Capitan, Yosemite National Park, California
Haystack Rock, Cannon Beach, Oregon
Mount Coolum, Queensland, Australia
Stawamus Chief, Squamish, California

Many of these have legends attached.

Manmade monoliths

Obelisks

Pharaoh Tuthmosis I (Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt)
Pharaoh Tuthmosis III (now in Central Park, New York)
Pharaoh Tuthmosis III (now on Victoria Embankment, London)
Pharaoh Tuthmosis III (now in Square of Horses, Istanbul)
Pharaoh Ramses II (Luxor Temple, Egypt)
Pharaoh Ramses II (now in Place de la Concorde, Paris)
Pharaoh Hatshepsut (Karnak Temple, Luxor)
Pharaoh Sesostris I, (Heliopolis, Cairo)

Others

Ogham Stone, Dingle Peninsula, Ireland
Adam and Eve Stones, Avebury Stone Circle, Wiltshire, England
Merlin Stone, Avebury Stone Circle, Wiltshire, England
Washington Monument, USA
Manzanar National Historic Landmark, USA