User:CabbageP/Stone quarries of ancient Egypt

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The stone quarries of ancient Egypt once produced quality stone for the building of tombs and temples and for decorative monuments such as sarcophagi, stelae, and statues^[1]. These quarries are now recognised archaeological sites. Ancient quarry sites in the Nile valley accounted for much of the limestone and sandstone used as building stone^[1]. Eighty percent of the ancient sites are located in the Nile valley; some of them have disappeared under the waters of Lake Nasser and some others were lost due to modern mining activity.

Some of the sites are well identified and the chemical composition of their stones is also well known, allowing the geographical origin of most of the monuments to be traced using petrographic techniques, including neutron activation analysis.

In June 2006, the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) of Egypt established a new department for conservation of ancient quarries and mines in Egypt. The new department was designed to work in close cooperation with the regional SCA offices, and special training programmes for Inspectors of Antiquities will be carried out to enable the regional authorities to tackle inventory, documentation, risk assessment and management of the ancient quarries and mines.

This article details some of the most important ancient quarry sites in Egypt.

Article body

The quarries of Aswan[edit]

The quarries of Aswan are located along the Nile near the city of Aswan. There are a number of well-known sites: Shellal, consisting of northern and southern quarries within an area of about 20 km² (7.7 sq mi) on the west bank, and the islands of Elephantine and Seheil. One of the known directors of the Aswan sites was Hori during the reign of Ramses III. Great amounts of granite were quarried from Aswan at an extent only comparable to ancient Egypt's limestone and sandstone quarries^[2].

In the present days, the quarry area is to become an open-air museum.

Typical materials known from this site are:

Coarse-grained pinkish to reddish granite^[3]
Coarse-grained gray to black granodiorite^[3]
Fined-grained pinkish to gray granite^[3]
Black Dolerite^[3]

Some of the monuments known to come from this site are:

Cleopatra's Needle
The unfinished obelisk still on site, at the northern quarry
The unfinished partly worked obelisk base, discovered in 2005
The sarcophagus made from granite at the burial chambers of the Third Dynasty Pharaoh Djoser at Saqqara and the Fourth Dynasty Pharaoh Sneferu at Dahshur
The "King's Chamber" within the pyramid of Khufu used up to 80 tons of granite blocks ^[4]
Many burial chambers, sarcophagi, columns, and other structures in the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure at Giza

Gebel el Ahmar[edit]

Gebel el Ahmar is located near Cairo on the east bank of the Nile, near the suburb of Heliopolis. The name means Red Mountain. The site was in full production in the times of Amenhophis III, Akhenaton, Tutankhamon, and Ramses III. The quarry was directed by Huy, known as "Chief of the King's Works", and also by Hori.

Typical materials known from this site are:

Red and brown silicified sandstone or quartzite^[1]

Some of the monuments known to come from this site are:

The Colossi of Memnon

Widan el-Faras[edit]

Widan el-Faras is located on Gebel el-Qatrani, Faiyum, 60 km (37 mi) southwest of Cairo in the Western Desert. The quarry landscape of the Northern Faiyum Desert comprise both the Umm es-Sawan and Widan el-Faras basalt quarries, both heavily exploited for hardstone during the Old Kingdom pyramid age due to their proximity to the Nile Valley^[1].

Typical materials known from this site are:

basalt
gypsum

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Abu-Jaber, Nizar, ed. (2009). QuarryScapes: ancient stone quarry landscapes in the Eastern Mediterranean. Geological survey of Norway special publication. Trondheim: Norges Geologiske Undersøkelse. ISBN 978-82-7385-138-3.
^ "quarries in Egypt". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "C:\HMPRO2\gifs\geoarc30.htm". www.eeescience.utoledo.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-29.
^ Lehner, Mark, ed. (1997). The complete pyramids. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-05084-2.

[:0-1] Abu-Jaber, Nizar, ed. (2009). QuarryScapes: ancient stone quarry landscapes in the Eastern Mediterranean. Geological survey of Norway special publication. Trondheim: Norges Geologiske Undersøkelse. ISBN 978-82-7385-138-3.

[2] "quarries in Egypt". www.ucl.ac.uk. Retrieved 2024-02-29.

[:1-3] "C:\HMPRO2\gifs\geoarc30.htm". www.eeescience.utoledo.edu. Retrieved 2024-02-29.

[4] Lehner, Mark, ed. (1997). The complete pyramids. London: Thames and Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-05084-2.

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