The Aswân Obelisk With some Remarks on the Ancient Engineering

The unfinished obelisk of Aswân lies in a quarry on the south-east side of the mediæval Arab cemetery, being about twenty minutes walk from the Cataract Hotel. It is approached by a small valley leading up south-eastwards from the track of the old Barrage railway. Up to the time of the visit of King Fuad—then Sultan—in the winter of 192021, only about 22 metres of the obelisk were exposed to view, the remainder running down into a vast heap of blocks and chips. The curious trench, made round the obelisk for the purpose of detaching it from the rock, has long interested visitors, and His Majesty expressed a desire that the whole obelisk be cleared in order to obtain, if possible, new data as to ancient methods of quarrying, and to expose a unique monument. I wish to tender my thanks to Mr. Somers Clarke for his kindness in putting his notes on the quarrying of granite at my disposal, and for reading and criticising my MS. before sending it to press; to Prof. Flinders Petrie for reading the proofs and giving many valuable suggestions; to Mr. W. Golénischeff for the references on the Anastasi papyrus and the Hammâmât inscriptions; to Mr. D. Watt, Resident Engineer of the Aswân Barrage, for the loan of books on the properties and working of granite and of surveying instruments from the Barrage works; to the Geological and Chemical Departments for their report on specimens submitted to them, and to the Survey Department for taking much trouble in preparing my plans for publication.