Obelisk of Theodosius

This obelisk is said to be 3500 years old (doesn't look it!) and started out as one of two 35 metres tall flanking the entrance to the temple at Karnak in Egypt around 1500 BC around the time of Thutmose III.

Roman Emperor Constantine wanted it to help decorate his newly constructed Hippodrome in what became Constantinople. Unfortunately it took almost 60 years for the obelisk to arrive after spending about 50 years at the port city of Alexandria, Egypt...going nowhere fast. By the time it was ready to install (390 AD) Constantine was long gone and the then current Emperor Theodosius benefitted from its placement at the then centre of public mass entertainment.

The original obelisk was much taller but suffered a mishap and was broken in two during the last stages of transport to its final resting place. The hieroglyphs are said to depict and celebrate the full geographic extent of the then Egyptian empire from Egypt to Mesopotamia.