Unfinished Obelisk in the Granite Quarry

The captain of the boat we were on dropped us off at the dock near the Old Cataract Hotel so that we could walk to the old granite quarry where Egypt’s giant obelisks were made.

An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape at the top. For Egyptians, the obelisk was a monument that was very erected to commemorate an individual or event, and honor the gods.

We wanted to go there to see what would have been the largest of all Egyptian obelisks (1280 BC) but … it’s construction was abandoned due to the appearance of a crack in its shaft. Theories say that it could have cracked during an earthquake. If it had been finished it would have stood 42.5 m tall and weighed about 1,200 tons.

Apparently, workers carved the obelisk using very hard dolorite balls to pound the granite rock into shape. I cannot imagine how hard the work would have been in the searing summer heat. To release the obelisk, depressions were made around the obelisk and wedges of palm wood were placed under its edges. These were soaked in water so they would expand and crack the rock.

Once the obelisk is released, the hard work of transporting the tower to the shore and then up the Nile to the the great temples of the north, started. Then, raising it upright. The four of us tried hard to figure out how in the world they did it! An amazing feat.Leia mais