Syene Granite Quarries
Aswan Quarries · Unfinished Obelisk · Sehel Quarries
Old Kingdom to Roman (2700 BCE–500 CE; peak 1500–30 BCE)·Ancient Egyptian / Roman·🇪🇬 Aswan Governorate, Egypt
About
About Syene Granite Quarries
Syene (Aswan) granite quarries are Old–Ptolemaic hardstone source producing 100-m-long unfinished obelisk of Hatshepsut (1,200 t) abandoned in bedrock crack, plus sarcophagi, colossi and pavements shipped downstream. Quarry walls show dolerite pounder scars, wedge channels and ostraca quarry marks. Combined with Elephantine Island and Sehel's Famine Stela, quarry documents Nilotic hardstone economy generating Karnak and Giza granite roofs.
Why it mattersHardstone source for all pharaonic granite; Unfinished Obelisk quarry engineering type-site.
Open questions
Mysteries & theories
Mysteries
- 01Crack cause vs intentional abandonment
- 02Transport crew size for 1,200 t obelisk
Theories
- 01Lever and sand ramp extraction (Stocks)
- 02Nile barge 150-t capacity (Ward)
Theories are interpretations, not findings. The seal above tells you how much scholarly weight the place carries.
History
How it came to be
- Built
- Old Kingdom beginnings; Unfinished Obelisk 1472 BCE
- Period
- Old Kingdom to Roman (2700 BCE–500 CE; peak 1500–30 BCE)
- Culture
- Ancient Egyptian / Roman
- Builders
- Royal quarry gangs (stonemasons)
- Purpose
- Rose granite and granodiorite quarry for royal monuments (obelisk, sarcophagi)
- Excavation
- Excavation ongoing
2700 BCE
Old Kingdom quarrying starts
1472 BCE
Unfinished Obelisk abandoned (crack)
664 BCE
Saite sarcophagus quarrying
1907
De Morgan quarry survey
On the ground
Structures & features
24.0780° N · 32.8930° E · 90 m · 2 mapped features
Unfinished Obelisk
obelisk41 m obelisk of Hatshepsut in bedrock
24.0775° N · 32.8925° EQuarry Wall Ostraca
quarryQuarry walls with pounder scars and marks
24.0785° N · 32.8935° E
Gallery