What Happened to the Twin Obelisk that stood in front of Luxor Temple ? What is the symbolic meaning of an Obelisk ?

Ancient Egyptians referred to obelisks as 'tekhenu,' which means 'to pierce the sky.' They were dedicated to the sun-god Ra and were a symbolic representation of the sun’s rays, they became known as Obelisks during the period of Greek Rule in Egypt because the Greek historian Herodotus was the first to write about them and gave them the name obelisk.

Luxor Temple originally had two Obelisks standing outside it's front pylons, they were created for Ramses the Great to ensure that his name would live forever, on the back wall of the first courtyard is a relief showing the two Obelisks that stand 75ft high -  the taller they are the higher they reach the sun and the God Ra. The tip of the Obelisk was covered in Electrum which is a mixture of gold and silver, so that the sun's energy would hit the Obelisk bringing life and protection to the temple from the Sun God Ra and the name of the pharaoh who had erected the obelisk.

If you visit Luxor Temple today only a single Obelisk stands beneath the pylon. The self-declared Khedive of Egypt, Muhammad Ali Pasha, offered the 3,300-year-old Luxor Obelisk to France in 1829 in recognition of Champollion having deciphered the Rosetta stone, which allowed the world to read and understand the words of the ancient Egyptians that had remained silent for thousands of years. Jean-Baptiste  Apollinare Lbas was a French Engineer who in 1930 was charged with transferring the Obelisk from Luxor to France, he was widely celebrated in France for this achievement

The twin obelisk now stands in The Palace de la Concorde at Paris, and so  the spell of protection that the two combined Obelisks offered the perimeters of the temple have been severed. Standing beneath the remaining obelisk at Luxor Temple it’s perfect sharp edged sides reach for the sun, paying homage to the god Ra, whose rays flash down it to highlight   bold vertical lines of deep inscriptions that inspire the traveler to utter the names of Ramses making him immortal once  more, his authority of the land is invoked and assured again, The Horus, Mighty Bull, Exalter of Thebes, Favorite of the Two Goddess, establishing monuments for his father Amun who placed him on the Throne, Golden Horus seeking excellent things for him who fashioned him King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Usamatre, Chosen of Re. Ramses the great commissioned the greatest number of obelisks for temples and encouraged the continued practice of presenting offerings to the Temple.

Because the Obelisk of Luxor Temple was so large and heavy it caused many problems for the French to transport it from Egypt back to France. The French government ordered a purpose-built seagoing freighter to be built to transport the Obelisk, it was named 'Louqsor' and was sailed up the River Nile where 300 workmen had  dug a canal to allow the ship to come close to the obelisk. The French seamen then lowered the obelisk with an array of blocks and tackles, yardarms and capstans. In August 1832, the French paddle ship 'Sphinx' sailed to Alexandria to rendezvous there with the barge ' Louqsor', which was to load the obelisk and bring it to Paris. The ship was towed to France and arrived in Cherbourg on April 12th 1833.

The re-erection of the obelisk on the Place de la Concorde during a ceremony that was carefully planned by King Louis-Philippe It was placed on a pedestal where drawn diagrams explaining the complex machinery that was used for the transportation.

Because the Pyramideon on the tip of the Obelisk was believed to have been stolen during the 6th century B.C. the government of France have added a new gold-leafed pyramid cap to the top of their obelisk in 1998 in it's position on the Palace de La Concorde, so Ramses 11 name has been evoked and will live forever.