The Statue of Liberty celebrates its 125th birthday in New York, not Egypt, which could have been her home

The Statue of Liberty could have been celebrating her 125th birthday at the entrance of the Suez Canal and not New York City.

In 1869, the statue’s sculptor, Frenchman Frédéric Bartholdi, traveled to Egypt with a miniature of the Statue of Liberty to meet with prince Khedive Ismail Pasha who wanted a giant statue to be placed at the entrance of the canal.

Bartholdi suggested it be an Egyptian peasant statue, as large as the New York Statue of Liberty with the only difference being that the woman would have been a darker one carrying a jar, not a torch. The jar, also called “Balfalis” by the Egyptian people, has been known since the Pharaoh era for its ability to increase the supply of honey, cheese or olives. The lady in the statue is the symbol of good in modern Egypt.

Bartholdi said the statue would be a symbol of free navigation and friendship between the people of the world with the words “Egypt the Beacon of Asia” carved on the pedestal where the statue should have stood at the entrance of the Suez Canal. The statue inauguration was scheduled for November 16, 1870.

However, Khedive was shocked by the enormous cost of the statue, as the country’s budget was near empty; he could not afford $600,000 as he had already spent a great deal on the digging of the tunnel to the canal.
Bartholdi’s statue was forgotten about and the French sculptor set his eyes on the United States. It must be noted here that he was more lenient on the price with the Americans than he was with the Egyptians.

The French sculptor proposed that France present his statue as a gift to the United States on the centenary of the country’s independence provided that the Americans would be to build the pedestal. The Americans immediately agreed.

Bartholdi thus left the Egyptians with a cheaper and smaller statue of De Lesseps that was built in France 30 years late and did not even cost them $50,000, with his nine meters tall pedestal.

France is believed to have spent a fortune on the Statue of Liberty. They collected about $2.25 million on the design, raw material, sculpture and manufacture and shipping of the statue. It was shipped on board a French frigate that carried its 350 pieces to the United States. On their part, the Americans also raised funds and built the statue’s pedestal and accessories.

On October 28, 1886, President Grover Cleveland, unveiled the statue in a majestic festival where he said: “We will never forget that Liberty here made her home”.

The 125 ton statue now at home in New York City represents a lady breaking the shackles of tyranny while holding in her right arm a torch that symbolizes freedom. In her left arm, she holds a tablet that reads “July 4, 1776” the date of America’s Independence Day. On her head, she wears a seven-ray crown which allegedly represents the seven seas and continents of the world.

“The international shrine of freedom” is visited by more than 3.5 million tourists every year. But it is hard to find someone who knows that the Lady of Liberty, Auguste –Charlotte Beysser, Bartholdi’s mother, is in fact an Egyptian peasant seen by Bartholdi in the Egyptian city of Al Kasser. Her statue should have been built 125 years ago, at the most important water canal in the world, but the Egyptian budget did not contain $600,000.

(This article was translated from Arabic by Stalenla Khalil.)