Obelisk of Hatshepsut

Not long after her consort Thutmose II died, leaving the throne to his young son Thutmose III, Hatshepsut declared herself “king”. According to Egyptologist James Henry Breasted, she is also known as “the first great woman in history of whom we are informed”. 

She erected twin obelisks at Karnak, at the time the tallest in the world, erected at the entrance to the temple of Amun-Re at Karnak. This obelisk still stands, as the tallest surviving ancient obelisk on Earth; the other has broken in two and toppled. The official in charge of those obelisks was the high steward Amenhotep.