Stone quarries of ancient Egypt

The Stone quarries of ancient Egypt (now archaeological sites) once produced quality stone for the construction of decorative monuments such as sculptures and obelisks. Some of these 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 will 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. 80% of the ancient quarry sites are in the Nile valley: some of them have disappeared under the waters of Lake Nasser and some others are disappearing due to modern mining activity.

Some of the most important ancient quarry sites in Egypt are:

The quarries of Aswan

The quarries are located along the Nile in the city of Aswan. There are a number of well-known sites: Shellal, the northern and southern quarries within an area of about 20 km² in the west bank and the islands of Elephantine and Seheil. One of the known directors of these Aswan sites was Hori during the times of Ramses III. In the present days, the quarry area is to become an open-air museum [http://weekly.ahram.org.eg/2003/656/hr1.htm] .

Typical minerals known from this site:
* Red, grey and black GraniteSome of the monuments known to come from this site are:
* Cleopatra's Needles
* The unfinished obelisk still on site, at the northern quarry [http://www.cheops-pyramide.ch/foto/steinbearbeitung/assuan-obelisk.jpg] .
* The unfinished partly-worked obelisk base, discovered in 2005 [http://www.quarryscapes.no/news_dec1_05.php]
* The sarcophagus made from granite at the burial chambers of Djoser and Sneferu at Saqqara
* Many burial chambers, sarcophagus, columns etc. in the pyramids of Khufu, Khafre and Menkaure at Giza

Gebel el Ahmar

Gebel el Ahmar (30.05 N, 31.3 E) [http://www.satelliteviews.net/cgi-bin/w.cgi?c=eg&UF=-289580&UN=-445824&DG=MT] is located near Cairo on the banks of the Nile, near Heliopolis. The name means "Red Mountains". The site was in full production in the times of Akhenaton, Amenhophis III, Tutankhamon and Ramses III. The quarry was directed by Huy also known as "Chief of the King's Works" and also by Hori.

Typical minerals known from this site:
* Celestine, Quartzite or red sandstone. Some of the monuments known to come from this site are:
* Colossi of Memnon

Silsileh

Gebel el-Silsila or Gebel Silsileh is 40 miles north of Aswan along the banks of the Nile and was a very famous quarrying area throughout all of ancient Egypt due to the quality of the building stone quarried here. The site is a rich archaeological area having temples cut directly on the hills. Examples include the rock temple of Horemheb on the west bank. Many of the monuments here bear inscriptions of Merenptah, Ramesses II, Hatshepsut, Amenhotep II and Ramesses III. The quarries and the stone temples here are visible from a boat when cruising the Nile.

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

Edfu

These quarries are located 8 km north of Edfu.

Some of the monuments known to come from this site are:
* Stone blocks used by the engineers of Septimius Severus to reconstruct the north colossus of Memnon.

Wadi Hammamat

Wadi Hammamat is a quarrying area located in the Eastern Desert of Egypt. This site is famous because it is described in the first ancient topographic map known nowadays: the Turin Papyrus Map describing a quarrying expedition prepared for Ramesses IV. Typical minerals known from this site:
*Basalt

Widan el-Faras

Widan el-Faras on Gebel el-Qatrani, Faiyum. Located 60 km south-west of Cairo in the Western Desert. The quarry landscape of the Northern Faiyum Desert comprises both the Umm es-Sawan and Widan el-Faras basalt quarries, both exploited in the early 3rd millennium BC [http://www.quarryscapes.no/news_april1_06.php] .

Typical minerals known from this site:
*Basalt
*Gypsum

Muqattam hills

Muqattam hills is a site located near Memphis.

Typical minerals known from this site:
*Limestone

El Amarna

Near El Amarna, a few hours walking.

Typical minerals known from this site:
*Alabaster

Idahet

The site is located a few kilometers near Idahet in barren desert terrain. It was abandoned during the Middle Kingdom

Typical minerals known from this site:
*Diorite

Gabal Abu Dukhan

This site, near modern Hurghada was important above all for the Roman Empire. Pliny's Natural History affirmed that the "Imperial Porphyry" had been discovered at an isolated site in Egypt in AD 18, by a Roman legionnaire named Caius Cominius Leugas. The location of the site was lost for many centuries until it was rediscovered in the XIX century.

Typical minerals known from this site:
*Purple porphyry

Some of the monuments known to come from this site are:
*The baptismal font in the Cathedral of Magdeburg, Germany

Koptos

Koptos is located in Wadi Rohanu.

Typical minerals known from this site:
*Black slate

Qurna

Qurna is located near Thebes. It was an active site during the reign of Amenhotep III.

Typical minerals known from this site:
*Limestone

Other important quarry sites include:
*Tura
*Ed-Dibabiya, opposite Gebelein

References

* R. F. Heizer et al. "The Colossi of Memnon Revisited", Science 21 December 1973: Vol. 182. no. 4118, pp. 1219 - 1225

External links

* [http://www.quarryscapes.no/egypt_aswa.php QuarryScapes project]
* [http://www.cheops-pyramide.ch/khufu-pyramid/stone-quarries.html Quarries in Ancient Egypt]
* [http://www.eeescience.utoledo.edu/Faculty/Harrell/Egypt/Quarries/Quarries_Menu.html Ancient Egyptian Quarries]
* [http://nefertiti.iwebland.com/timelines/topics/stonework.htm Ancient Egyptian resources: Stone]
* [http://www.museumphotography.com/SILSILEH.HTM Photo gallery of Gebel Silsileh]