The standing obelisk of Ramses II before the entrance pylon, Luxor, Egypt

"The present entrance is through the pylon of Ramesses II, once fronted with six colossi of the king (two seated and four standing) and two obelisks. One of the obelisks and two of the statues were transported to Paris in the last century, but those that remain provide impressive examples of these monuments. Especially common in New Kingdom times, obelisks were often erected in pairs before the temple entrance proper and only came to be enclosed within the temple form as the precincts grew and new pylons were added. As major gifts to the gods, obelisks were important monuments comemorating royal jubilees, victories or other notable events." [Wilkinson R., 2000: The Complete Temples of Ancient Egypt. Thames and Hudson]. "With the village of Karnak, Luxor (Al Uqsur) is on the site of ancient Thebes (capital of the New Kingdom). When Thebes declined, Luxor remained the more heavily populated part of the ancient city and grew into a modern market town." [The J.P.Getty Fund: Thesaurus of Geographic Names]. This photograph was taken when Eliot Elisofon was on assignment for Life magazine and traveled to Africa from January 8, 1947 to end of June 1947.