April 11, 2022
A team of Egyptian archaeologists and restorers have successfully re-erected an obelisk belonging to queen Hatshepsut at Karnak Temple in Luxor.
The obelisk is made of pink granite and stands at 11 meters tall and weighs over 90 tones. The obelisk contains reliefs depicting queen Hatshepsut with the god Amun. The monument had collapsed in antiquity, probably due to an earthquake, and laid with other debris from the temple.
Obelisks were a prominent feature in ancient Egyptian architecture and religious mythology. They symbolized the sun god and the pyramid-pointed top of the obelisk, called the pyramidion, symbolized the mound of creation that arose from the primordial waters where the creator god appeared.
Jerilyn Rickard
