''Egypt Carrying the Light to Asia'', also known as ''Progress Carrying the Light to Asia'', was a plan for a colossal

neoclassical sculpture Neoclassicism (also spelled Neo-classicism) was a Western cultural movement in the decorative and visual arts, literature, theatre, music, and architecture that drew inspiration from the art and culture of classical antiquity. Neoclassicism w ...

. Designed in the late 1860s by French sculptor

Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi ( , ; 2 August 1834 – 4 October 1904) was a French sculptor and painter. He is best known for designing ''Liberty Enlightening the World'', commonly known as the Statue of Liberty. Early life and education Barthold ...

, the project was to be a statue of a robed female ''

fellah A fellah ( ar, فَلَّاح ; feminine ; plural ''fellaheen'' or ''fellahin'', , ) is a peasant, usually a farmer or agricultural laborer in the Middle East and North Africa. The word derives from the Arabic word for "ploughman" or "tiller". ...

'' or peasant bearing a torch at the entryway of the Suez Canal in Port Said,

Egypt Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Medit ...

. The statue was to stand high and its pedestal was to rise to a height of . The proposed statue was declined by the Khedive, citing the expensive cost, and in 1869 the Port Said Lighthouse, designed by

François Coignet François Coignet (10 February 1814 – 30 October 1888) was a French industrialist and a pioneer in the development of reinforced concrete as the first person to use iron-reinforced concrete to construct buildings.Day, p. 284 Biography Coign ...

, was built in the same location. The idea for a statue on the mouth of the Suez was inspired by Bartholdi's encounter with ancient Egyptian giant statuary at

Abu Simbel Abu Simbel is a historic site comprising two massive rock-cut temples in the village of Abu Simbel ( ar, أبو سمبل), Aswan Governorate, Upper Egypt, near the border with Sudan. It is situated on the western bank of Lake Nasser, about ...

. Bartholdi further researched the ancient Colossus of Rhodes (one of the

Seven Wonders of the Ancient World The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, also known as the Seven Wonders of the World or simply the Seven Wonders, is a list of seven notable structures present during classical antiquity. The first known list of seven wonders dates back to the 2 ...

, which was a 33 meter tall statue of the Greek god Helios at the entrance to the islands main port) and came up with the design of the female ''fellah'', which later in the process evolved into that of a classical goddess. After the failure of the Egyptian project, Bartholdi recycled his design as ''Liberty Enlightening the World'', better known as the Statue of Liberty, which was installed in the New York Harbor in 1886.

References

1860s sculptures Unfinished sculptures Statue of Liberty Abu Simbel Sculptures of women Neoclassical sculptures Sculptures by Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi {{egypt-stub