Luxor Obelisk © T-Shirt

The Luxor Obelisk is an Egyptian obelisk standing at the center of the Place de la Concorde in Paris, France. It was originally located at the entrance to Luxor Temple in Egypt over 3,000 years ago (its twin still remains at the temple to this day ). It first arrived in Paris in December 1833, having been shipped from Luxor via Alexandria and Cherbourg (it was gifted to France by Muhammad Ali Pasha who was the ruler of Egypt at the time). Three years later it was moved to the center of Place de la Concorde by King Louis-Phillipe. The obelisk is a yellow granite column, 23 metres (75 ft) high, including the base, and weighs over 250 metric tons. It is decorated with hieroglyphs exalting the reign of King Ramses II of Egypt. On t...