Obelisk of Hatshepsut

The Obelisk of Hatshepsut at Karnak is the tallest obelisk in Egypt, standing 29.5 m (97 ft) tall and carved from a single piece of pink granite. Commissioned by female pharaoh Hatshepsut (r. 1473-1458 BC), it was quarried and erected in just seven months within the Temple of Amun. The obelisk bears carved scenes of offerings to the god Amun. Her successor Thutmose III later enclosed both obelisks behind false walls in an act of damnatio memoriae. A paired obelisk that had toppled in antiquity was restored and re-erected near the Sacred Lake in 2022.