[SunkenCiv]

Oh So Mysteriouso!

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks Fractal Trader. Despite her gender, Hatshepsut erected (ahem) more obelisks than any other single pharaoh; a 1200 ton obelisk would have wound up seeming even more mysterious had it been finished and were standing on its base today.

Hatshepsut erected four large obelisks at Karnak, but only this one is still standing. Its 100 foot twin is shattered on the ground nearby. Two much larger ones have gone missing. This one is the second tallest standing obelisk in the world, overtopped only by the one in Lateran square in Rome. Thutmosis III didn't destroy this obelisk, but he did build structures immediately adjacent to it that hid her name. A picture of the taller obelisk in Rome is at vatican18_11.jpg, where it, frankly, seems dwarfed by surrounding Vatican Renaissance architecture.