The obelisk—properly termed a stele or "hawelt/hawelti" in the local languages Tigrinya, Amharic, and church language Ge'ez, (not a literal obelisk as it is not topped by a pyramid)—is found along with many other stelae in the city of Axum in modern-day Ethiopia. The stelae were probably carved and erected during the 4th century CE by subjects of the Kingdom of Aksum, an ancient Ethiopian civilization. Erection of stelae in Axum was a very old practice (today it is still possible to see primitive, roughly carved stelae near more elaborate "obelisks"), probably borrowed from the Kushitic kingdom of Meroe. Their function is supposed to be that of "markers" for underground burial chambers. The largest of the grave markers were for royal burial chambers and were decorated with multi-story false windows and false doors, while lesser nobility would have smaller, less decorated ones. While there are only a few large ones standing, there are hundreds of smaller ones in various "stelae fields". The last stele erected in Axum was probably the so-called King Ezana's Stele, in the 4th century CE.