Granite obelisk, Istanbul

Granite obelisk, Istanbul (ancient Byzantium, later Constantinople), Turkey. This Egyptian obelisk of the fifteenth century B.C. pharoah Thothmes III was transported to Byzantium from Heliopolis by the emperor Theodosius in the fourth century B.C. There it was erected along the spina (the long, low wall running down the middle of a racecourse, usually decorated with monuments) of the Hippodrome of Severus (the modern Atmeidan). Later in the fourth century B.C. it was toppled by an earthquake, but Theodosius had it re-erected on the same site. Note the absence of significant weathering of the hard granite stone. Â© Craig R. Bina [Images] [Archaeology]