Unfinished Obelisk

The obelisk lies on its side in the granite quarry at the edge of Aswan, cut on three faces and still joined to the bedrock along the fourth, abandoned when a crack opened across it during work. It would have been about forty-two metres long and something near a thousand tonnes had it been finished, larger than any obelisk ever raised, and it is generally attributed to Hatshepsut. Because it was left in mid-work, the quarry around it is the clearest surviving evidence of how the ancients extracted hard stone: the surface still shows the trenches pounded out with dolerite balls, the marks of the pounding, and traces of the working teams. Ramps, chisel channels and partly cut blocks lie around it, and interpretive panels explain the process.

What you actually see

• A forty-two-metre obelisk in the rock - abandoned where it cracked.
• Pounding marks in the trenches - the surface left by dolerite hammers.
• Working ramps and channels - the quarry method laid bare.
• Partly cut blocks - other pieces left unfinished nearby.

When to go

October to April. One hour. Early morning or late afternoon; the granite quarry becomes brutally hot in the middle of the day with no shade whatsoever.

Honest expectations

There is one object and a quarry, so the visit is short. Heat is severe, the walkway is exposed and there is nowhere to sit. Vendors work the entrance. Some visitors find the ticket price high for what is essentially one abandoned block.

Nearby

The Nubian Museum is a short drive; the High Dam lies south.