(Detail from the Obelisk)

(Detail from the Obelisk).At the center of the Place de la Concorde. Paris is a giant Egyptian obelisk decorated with hieroglyphics exalting the reign of the pharaoh Ramses II. It is one of two the Egyptian government gave to the French in the 19th century. The obelisk once marked the entrance to the Luxor Temple. The self-declared Khedive of Egypt. Muhammad Ali Pasha. offered the 3.300-year-old Luxor Obelisk to France in 1829. It arrived in Paris on 21 December 1833. Three years later. on 25 October 1836. King Louis Philippe had it placed in the center of Place de la Concorde. (Photo by: Universal History Archive/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)