The largest known obelisk, the Great Stele at Axum, now fallen, at 33 m high and 3 by 2 metres at the base (520 tons) is one of the largest single pieces of stone ever worked in human history (the largest is either at Baalbek or the Ramesseum) and probably fell during erection or soon after, destroying a large part of the massive burial chamber underneath it.
Po letih pritiska je leta 2003 italijanska vlada naredila prve korake za njegovo vrnitev, leta 2008 pa je bil končno ponovno postavljen.