How Obelisks were produced in Ancient Egypt.

The huge 'Unfinished Obelisk' in Aswan provides us with a valuable insight into how the Ancient Egyptians produced the Obelisks we see today in the historical sites within Egypt and in many places around the world. It shows us just how much hard work by skilled craftsmen it would have taken to end up with a 'Perfect' monument.

The Aswan obelisk failed, not due to anything the workmen did but to an unexpected and unseen fault in the granite they were using.
It must have been totally heart-breaking for the craftsmen to have had to abandon that particular piece of rock after all of the time and hard work they had already invested in trying to shape it, but their 'failure' teaches us valuable lessons today about the methods they used.

The 'Unfinished Obelisk' can still be seen lying in its quarry and it is detached from the rock surrounding it on all sides except its lower side. If the granite had not cracked and the obelisk had been completed as planned it would have been a magnificent monument standing at 41.75 metres high with a base of about 4.2 metres on each side and weighing 1168 tons, the heaviest single piece of stone ever handled by the ancient Egyptians.

Finding the right section of the quarry from which to obtain the perfect

piece of granite for the obelisk must have been a difficult task. Workers would move around the quarry testing the quality of the rock by making 'test shafts' in the area to be used. If the rock was considered to be good and flawless then work on carving out the obelisk would begin and the 'test shafts' would be included in the trenches made around the obelisk to detach it on the north and south from the main body of the rock.

Once the 'perfect' piece of granite had been found, the first task was to

remove the uneven surface of the rock. This was done by placing bricks on the surface which was to be removed, heating them to a hot temperature and then pouring cold water over them. This caused the surface of the rock to fracture and it could then be easily removed leaving the surface underneath reasonably smooth.
Then began the most delicate stage of work, the shaping and detachment of the two sides of the obelisk. We are not completely certain about how this was done but large balls of Dolerite, a very hard volcanic rock, each weighing about 5.5 kilograms and measuring 15 to 30 centimetres, were found near the obelisk. Countless numbers of these balls were brought from the valleys in the Eastern Desert where they occur naturally. It is believed that the balls were attached to 'rammers' and then used to strike the rock with great force in a vertically downward movement, therefore 'bashing out' the shape of the obelisk. There is evidence in the features of the trench
surrounding the obelisk that everything was rounded and without corners so it is believed that the only tools which could have produced this effect were the dolerite balls. One can imagine the scene of the workers arranged in groups of three around the outside of the obelisk, two of them standing to hold and raise the rammer and the third squatting and directing the ball to make sure that it strikes exactly the right spot.

We are not completely certain how long it would have taken to complete the work on the obelisk but on the base of another obelisk still standing in Karnak Temple, Queen Hatshepsut recorded that it was quarried and completed within seven months.

If the Unfinished obelisk had been flawless and therefore completed the lower side would have been detached from the main body of rock by pounding. Long grooves would have been dug out underneath the obelisk and

planks of wood would have been inserted until the whole lower side of the obelisk was completely detached. Once the obelisk was free from the rock the workers would insert wooden levers and other packing materials into the trench to lift it. Handling ropes could then be attached to the levers and with a backwards and forwards rocking movement the workers would gradually raise the base of the obelisk to about 2.43 metres above its present level. The rock in the area in front of the base of the obelisk would be removed and a path cleared so that the obelisk could be dragged down the slope by ropes to the river and transported by barge to its final destination. Near the Unfinished obelisk two embankments were found over which heavy blocks had been pulled.
The exact point at where the obelisks arrived at the river is not known and there has been no indication on how the obelisk could have been loaded onto the barge, although suggestions have been made that this could have been done by bringing the barge as close as possible to the bank, building an embankment around and over it, pulling the obelisk directly over the barge and letting it down into place by removing the filler from around the barge. The obelisk could then begin its journey to Thebes.

One very delicate task still remained to be done – the erection of the

obelisk in its final destination. To complete this, a ramp of earth or sand had to extended from the river to the place where the obelisk was to stand. The obelisk was then dragged to that location and the work began to erect it.
There have been many theories about how this was done and one of these is that a chamber would have been built at the spot where the obelisk was to stand and sand would have been taken through a hole in the bottom. The obelisk would then have been slid onto the surface of the sand until it rested at an angle of 34 degrees. At this point the obelisk would have been pulled up to a vertical position by means of ropes and the remaining sand removed at the bottom.

The successful erection of monuments such as obelisks would certainly not have been an easy task because of their great weight and slim, fragile shape.