Obelisk building technology in ancient Egypt

Obelisk building technology in ancient Egypt

Obelisk making technology in ancient Egypt is an archaeological matter that is quite well understood today. Ancient Egyptian Obelisks are tapering stone pillars which have a square cross-section, were used for ornamental purposes in temples and had religious connotations. They were generally made from granite coming from well-known quarries located near the banks of the Nile, mainly in the region of Aswan. In a quarry in this area, the northern quarry which is now an open-air museum, there is the famous unfinished obelisk of huge proportions. It has been partially carved out of the rock, but its bottom face is still attached to the ground. When it cracked, unsuccessful attempts were made to salvage some of the effort by carving a smaller obelisk from it. It is only crudely carved, marks are left which hint to the technology employed in its extraction.

The carving procedure

The carving was done on granite directly on the surface of the stone at the ground, by cutting four sides. It is now known that the tools employed for carving the granite were small balls of Dolerite that is a mineral harder than granite. Once the sides were cut off, the process of separating the stone piece from the ground was a bit more complicated but very trivial. A series of perforations were made, again using Dolerite-made tools. These perforations were then filled with wood and these wood pieces were water saturated. The small pieces of wood expanded with the humidity breaking the separations between successive perforations and then effectively separating the carved piece from its bed. Many residues left at the rock beds and measuring nearly the size of many of the famous obelisks (for example the Cleopatra's Needles) are now known to exist at the Unfinished Obelisk open air museum.

The transportation

The obelisks were conveniently made at quarries situated in the banks of the Nile so that the heavy weight structures were easily transported by navigating the river in specially built ships that cruised at the flooding days when the river was more deep. This seems to be a very difficult task to perform but the engineers at the time managed perfectly well without modern machinery or steel cranes.

Raising obelisks

External links

* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/transcripts/2405obelisk.html The unfinished obelisk at NOVA]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/egypt/dispatches/990325.html Building obelisks at NOVA]
* [http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/lostempires/obelisk/ More about building obelisks at NOVA]
* [http://www.handshouse.org/obelisktf1.html Rasing an Obelisk]


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем сделать НИР

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Obelisk making technology in ancient Egypt — Modern Egyptian shows the use of Diorite balls as carving tools for granite, at Aswan Obelisk making technology in ancient Egypt is an archaeological matter that is quite well understood today. Ancient Egyptian Obelisks are tapering stone pillars …   Wikipedia

  • Outline of ancient Egypt — Ancient Egypt was an ancient civilization of eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern country of Egypt. Egyptian civilization coalesced around 3150 BC (according to conventional… …   Wikipedia

  • Ancient Egypt — was an ancient civilization in eastern North Africa, concentrated along the lower reaches of the Nile River in what is now the modern nation of Egypt. The civilization began around 3150 BC [Only after 664 BC are dates secure. See Egyptian… …   Wikipedia

  • Unfinished obelisk — The unfinished obelisk is the largest known ancient obelisk, located in the northern region of the stone quarries of ancient Egypt in Aswan (Assuan), Egypt. It is nearly one third larger than any ancient Egyptian obelisk ever erected. If finished …   Wikipedia

  • Ancient Egyptian technology — The characteristics of Ancient Egyptian technology are indicated by a set of artifacts and customs that lasted for thousands of years. The Egyptians invented and used many basic machines, such as the ramp and the lever, to aid construction… …   Wikipedia

  • History of Africa — Pre Colonial African States …   Wikipedia

  • Egyptian pyramid construction techniques — There have been many hypotheses about the Egyptian pyramid construction techniques. The construction techniques seem to have developed over time; the earliest pyramids were built in different ways than later ones. Most of the construction… …   Wikipedia

  • Rosetta Stone — For other uses, see Rosetta Stone (disambiguation). The Rosetta Stone in the British Museum The Rosetta Stone is an ancient Egyptian granodiorite stele …   Wikipedia

  • List of Yu-Gi-Oh! anime and manga characters — This article lists the supporting characters that appear in two or more of the three major pieces of Yu Gi Oh media: the original manga, and its two anime adaptations, the 1998 Yu Gi Oh! anime by Toei Animation and 2000 s Yu Gi Oh! (known as Yu… …   Wikipedia

  • Western sculpture — ▪ art Introduction       three dimensional artistic forms produced in what is now Europe and later in non European areas dominated by European culture (such as North America) from the Metal Ages (Europe, history of) to the present.       Like… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”