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Location: Cairo, Egypt Height: 20.75 meters Weight: 121 tons Red granite The oldest surviving obelisk. Erected in 1942 B.C. at the entrance of a sun god temple in Heliopolis by Sesostris I of the Twelfth Dynasty to mark the thirtieth year of his reign. It was erected as one of a pair of obelisks, and the other one of the pair was said to have fallen during the Middle Ages. By 1950, the obelisk was in danger of collapse because the Nile had risen and the obelisk was under water during part of the year. Recently, a German firm raised the obelisk about 2 meters higher. The origin of obelisks is a pyramid-shaped stone, benben, in Heliopolis. Such stones were dedicated to the sun god. It is called "ON" in the Bible.
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