The Unfinished Obelisk

Egypt Holidays - Unfinished Obelisk

Aswan's Northern Quarries supplied the Ancient Egyptians with fine red granite for their temples and colossi.  Today you may visit the quarries to view the famous Unfinished Obelisk, a gigantic piece of rock roughly dressed and almost cut free from the surrounding rock.  The project was abandoned after a flaw in the stone was discovered but the obelisk has proved useful in revealing pharaonic quarrying techniques.

It is believed that this obelsik was intended to be erected at the Temple of Karnak.