3 photographs · Egypt
Unfinished Obelisk
Aswan — abandoned in the quarry, cracked.
Still attached to its bedrock in the northern granite quarry, this obelisk would have stood about 42 metres and weighed near 1,100 tonnes — a third larger than any obelisk ever raised. It was abandoned when a crack opened through it during cutting. Because work stopped mid-process it is the best evidence anywhere for how the job was done: the trenches around it still carry the pounding marks left by dolerite balls.
3 of 3 frames carry coordinates
