Pink Granite Obelisk

The unfinished obelisk offers unusual insights into ancient egyptian stone working techniques with marks from workers tools still clearly visible.

Pink granite obelisk.

Four sacred baboons are carved on the pedestal and the names of ramesses appear on each side of the obelisks. Among them is the tale of its transportation from egypt to dorset. The pink granite of which the unfinished obelisk is composed has a mohs hardness that sits between the scale of 6 and 7 the maximum being diamond at 10 and thus is more or less the same hardness as dolerite making the latter a poor material for shaping the former. The bottom side of the obelisk is still attached to the bedrock.

Unsurprisingly this was no small undertaking. The obelisk of hatshepsut built in the year 1457 bc during the xviii dynasty is the second biggest of all the ancient egyptian obelisks. The aswan pink granite obelisk which now stands in the pincian hill gardens was commissioned by hadrian after 130 ad to honour the deceased antinous. It was hewn from a single block and stands 25 31 m.

The grade ii listed pink granite needle one of a pair of obelisks which dates from 150 bc holds a number of fascinating stories. High on a base 8 25 m. This was the major site of pink granite. The reason you need granite is if you re going to do a really big obelisk you need a stone with internal structural strength that can support its own weight.

The monument was unearthed in august 2019 in zagazig. The obelisk was found in three pieces by the saccocci brothers in their vineyards in 1570 and was later bought by cardinal francesco barberini in 1632. Two 80 foot 25m pink granite obelisk built by ramesses once stood before the gateway but today only one remains the other stands in the place de la concorde in paris. Obélisque de louxor are a pair of ancient egyptian obelisks carved to stand either side of the portal of the luxor temple in the reign of ramesses ii the left hand obelisk remains in its location in egypt but the right hand stone 23 metres 75 ft high is now at the centre of the place de la concorde in paris france.

All obelisks come from the same quarry at aswan. The obelisk which comes from heliopolis egypt where it was built by the pharaoh mencares in 1835 bc in honor of the sun was brought to rome in 37 bc by the emperor caligula 37 41 and. The obelisk s creators began to carve it directly out of bedrock but cracks appeared in the granite and the project was abandoned. Made of one single piece of pink granite it has a height of 28 58 metres and its weight is 343 tons.

It is located in the big temple of amon in karnak. The luxor obelisks french.