Is the Egyptian obelisk still in the ground?

It remains as you see it today in one of the Aswan quarries, famous for its supply of hard and high-quality stone. Believed to have been commissioned by Hatshepsut (c. 1473–1458 BC) for the temple of Amun in Karnak, work was abandoned because of flaws in the stone and the presence of multiple fissures.



Yes, the world's largest known ancient obelisk, known as the Unfinished Obelisk, is still partially "in the ground" at its original quarry in Aswan, Egypt. Commissioned likely by Queen Hatshepsut over 3,500 years ago, it was intended to stand about 42 meters (137 feet) tall—nearly a third larger than any obelisk ever erected. However, during the carving process, a massive crack appeared in the granite bedrock, causing the project to be abandoned. Because it was never detached from the surrounding rock on its bottom side, it remains a permanent part of the quarry. Today, the site is an open-air museum that provides unique insights into ancient Egyptian engineering. You can still see the marks from the workers' dolerite tools and the red ochre lines used for measurements. If it had been finished and successfully raised, it would have weighed approximately 1,200 tons. It remains a staggering testament to the ambition of the New Kingdom pharaohs and the inherent risks of monumental stone-working in antiquity.

People Also Ask

During the Napoleonic invasion of Egypt, the French attempted to steal the two obelisks and take them back to Paris. The campaign ended before they were successful, but the French did not give up then. A mere 30 years later, the obelisks were “gifted” to the French by the Ottoman monarch Muhammed Ali Pasha.

MORE DETAILS

Believed to have been commissioned by Hatshepsut (c. 1473–1458 BC) for the temple of Amun in Karnak, work was abandoned because of flaws in the stone and the presence of multiple fissures.

MORE DETAILS

An obelisk is a tall, four-sided, tapering monument that ends at the top with a pyramid. They were carved from a single piece of stone, whereas modern ones tend to be made from several stones and are often hollow.

MORE DETAILS

The Obelisk, also known as Cleopatra's Needle, arrived in Central Park more than 130 years ago. Standing between the Great Lawn and the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Obelisk is the oldest outdoor monument in New York City and the oldest man-made object in Central Park.

MORE DETAILS

The Egyptian monument represented a given pharaoh, expressing the fusion of earthly and divine power, a solar symbol of creation and regeneration. With a square base, the structure gradually tapered high up in a pyramid shape, called pyramidion.

MORE DETAILS

Offered to France in 1830 by Mehemet Ali, Viceroy of Egypt, as a token of friendship, this 23-metre-high, 230-tonne Egyptian jewel, made of 3300-year-old pink Aswan granite, comes from the Temple of Amun in Luxor . It reached its destination in 1833 after a two-year voyage on the waves.

MORE DETAILS

The upside down obelisk expresses the reality of loss and pain over the ways that communities and societies are not living up to the highest ideals. The hope in the dream of restored obelisk is reflected in the water. It created a vision of a future not yet fully-realized but for which we deeply yearn.

MORE DETAILS

The inscriptions on the dark grey granite slab became the seminal breakthrough in deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics after it was taken from Egypt by forces of the British empire in 1801.

MORE DETAILS