Egyptologist uncovers hidden messages on Paris’s iconic obelisk

Link and Article Framing

• Commenters quickly replace the original link with a better one and describe the coverage as clickbait.
• Several note that calling the text “secret” or “cryptographic” is misleading, since the content is standard royal propaganda (“god-king,” offerings to gods) and likely meant to be seen, not hidden.

Is This Really Cryptography?

• Some point out that crypto-hieroglyphic writing is a documented phenomenon: non-standard signs, invented symbols, and puzzles intended for highly literate readers.
• Others counter that in this case the “hidden” message seems to just restate what the imagery plainly depicts: king kneeling, offering to a god.
• One detailed comment argues that what’s being described is more like reading a rebus or visual description than true cryptography, and that similar scenes are common across Egyptian art.

Media Sensationalism vs. Egyptological Practice

• Multiple comments suggest the “secret code” angle likely comes from journalists seeking clicks, not from the underlying scholarship.
• There is skepticism about claims that only a tiny handful of experts (e.g., “six Egyptologists”) can read such messages and questions about how such interpretations are validated.
• Some express general doubts about Egyptology, suspecting over-interpretation and tourism-driven narratives; others respond that the field is evidence-rich, methodical, and well-documented, especially linguistically.

Who Could Read the Obelisk?

• One interpretation in the thread: these messages were simply placed on the river-facing side, aimed at boat-borne elites, not hidden from the public in any cryptographic sense.
• Another commenter doubts the idea that only nobles on boats could understand them, arguing that boat travel and participation in festivities were widespread in ancient Egypt.

Repatriation and Ownership

• A substantial subthread debates whether the obelisk should be returned to Egypt.
• One side emphasizes it was a colonial-era “gift” from the Ottoman ruler, not from Egyptians themselves, and criticizes Europe’s reluctance to confront colonial theft.
• The other side argues that you can’t redress all historical wrongs, that the original context is long gone, and questions what “giving it back” even means after many conquests and population changes.
• A counterpoint insists modern Egyptians are largely descendants of the ancient population, reinforcing a claim to such monuments.