the granite from which the obelisk is carved comes from aswan and the inscriptions are dedicated to atum, the deity of the city of heliopolis. it is suspected to have been first erected in that city during the reign of ramesses ii. in the first century ad, it was moved to rome by domitian and placed in the temple of isis in the campus martius, along with three other obelisks still in rome: the obelisk at the monument to those fallen at dogali, the obelisk of piazza of the pantheon, and the obelisk in front of santa minerva.