 The official ceremony for erecting the obelisk was held February 22, 1881.The surface of the stone is heavily weathered, nearly masking the rows of Egyptian hieroglyphs engraved on all sides.Photographs taken near the time the obelisk was erected in the park show that the inscriptions or hieroglyphs, as depicted below with translation, were still quite legible and date first from Thutmosis III (1479–1425 BC) and then nearly 300 years later, Ramesses II the Great (1279–1213 BC).