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Ancient hi-tech lies behind Nile splendour: The Asian Age
Egypt,Aug 31: When the Aswan High Dam was built across the Upper Nile in the 1960`s, international teams managed to rescue ancient temples and other monuments from the rising waters upstream. They were moved and restored to dry land.
Egypt,Aug 31: When the Aswan High Dam was built across the Upper Nile in the 1960’s, international teams managed to rescue ancient temples and other monuments from the rising waters upstream. They were moved and restored to dry land.
A less grand but important Aswan site avoided submersion but not the neglect of years. Only recently have Egyptian archaeologists begun work on a major quarry that yielded the black granite for the sarcophagi, statues and obelisks.
Sediment and debris buried the quarry floor. Once it was cleared, archaeologists found pits in the shapes of the extracted obelisks and materials for removing and finishing the stone. They also uncovered remains of the harbour where boats picked up the stones.
On a visit to the United States this month, Mr Zahi Hawass, director of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, reported that the discoveries were expected to provide new insights into the technology behind the splendour of the pharaohs. Mr Hawass is also a visiting professor at the University of California at Los Angeles.
"This is telling us a lot about the cutting and moving of the huge obelisks," he said. "Graffiti on some stones tell us something about life of the people working at the quarry."
Scholars are studying an inscription from the 25th year of the reign of Tuthmosis III in the 18th dynasty, more than 3,400 years ago. It apparently concerns the pharaoh’s order of two obelisks for the temple at Karnak. Several inscriptions record the dates of work on an order and the lengths of quarried stones.
The remains of seven obelisks, each 19 meters long, about 60 feet, still rested on the quarry floor. Nearby were thousands of balls of dolerite, a stone harder than granite.
Archaeologists theorise that the dolerite, imported from Nubia, was used to pound slabs free from the bedrock and put some finishing touches on the works.
A less grand but important Aswan site avoided submersion but not the neglect of years. Only recently have Egyptian archaeologists begun work on a major quarry that yielded the black granite for the sarcophagi, statues and obelisks.
Sediment and debris buried the quarry floor. Once it was cleared, archaeologists found pits in the shapes of the extracted obelisks and materials for removing and finishing the stone. They also uncovered remains of the harbour where boats picked up the stones.
On a visit to the United States this month, Mr Zahi Hawass, director of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, reported that the discoveries were expected to provide new insights into the technology behind the splendour of the pharaohs. Mr Hawass is also a visiting professor at the University of California at Los Angeles.
"This is telling us a lot about the cutting and moving of the huge obelisks," he said. "Graffiti on some stones tell us something about life of the people working at the quarry."
Scholars are studying an inscription from the 25th year of the reign of Tuthmosis III in the 18th dynasty, more than 3,400 years ago. It apparently concerns the pharaoh’s order of two obelisks for the temple at Karnak. Several inscriptions record the dates of work on an order and the lengths of quarried stones.
The remains of seven obelisks, each 19 meters long, about 60 feet, still rested on the quarry floor. Nearby were thousands of balls of dolerite, a stone harder than granite.
Archaeologists theorise that the dolerite, imported from Nubia, was used to pound slabs free from the bedrock and put some finishing touches on the works.
Sometimes, it appears, the artisans could not resist a blank stone wall. On one wall, they left drawings of ostriches. Elsewhere, they etched a fish.