A view of the obelisk at the Karnak temple in Luxor

The ancient Egyptian pharaohs used to erect obelisks at locations such as at the entrance to temples (and later, invaders carried away many of these obelisks and these are now located at many capitals of the world). This is an obelisk that was placed at the entrance to the Karnak temple by the female pharaoh Hatshepsut (one of the obelisks that she tried to get was cracked and hence left at its quarry site in Aswan, now known to tourists as the 'Unfinished Obelisk'). The lower section of the obelisk is all corroded, the carvings worn away over time.
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