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 nearly 1,090 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.

History

The obelisk was possibly ordered by Hatshepsut (1508-1458 BC), perhaps as a partner for what later became the Lateran Obelisk, first raised at Karnak and later taken to Rome. The workers began cutting it straight from the bedrock, but cracks opened in the granite and the work was abandoned; finished, it would have been about 41.75 metres long and weighed nearly 1,090 tonnes, nearly a third larger than any obelisk the Egyptians ever raised. Reginald Engelbach studied it in detail in 1922, in 1979 the obelisk and its quarry were inscribed as part of the Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae, and in 2005 an unfinished obelisk base was found in the same quarries (Wikipedia, Unfinished obelisk).

The main sights

• 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.

Good to know

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.

Key facts