The massive unfinished obelisk weighs 1,168 tons and stands approximately 42 meters tall, featuring cracks from an ancient mishap that prevent it from being erected as a monument.
There are around 30 obelisk structures in the ancient Egyptian style around the world, with the tallest being the Lateran Obelisk in Rome, which reaches a height of 45.7 meters. However, there is an even more monumental structure that many people have never heard of, perhaps because it has never been erected. This is the Unfinished Obelisk—one of the most significant archaeological discoveries related to ancient Egypt to date. It is also the heaviest single monument that the ancient Egyptians ever worked on, as reported by IFL Science on March 31.
The Unfinished Obelisk weighs 1,168 tons and stands approximately 42 meters tall. (Photo: Aline Fortuna)
The Unfinished Obelisk was discovered in the early 20th century in a quarry in Aswan, southern Egypt. This 3,500-year-old monument is embedded in a massive granite block, seemingly forgotten over time.
Hatshepsut, the fifth pharaoh of Egypt’s 18th dynasty, ordered the construction of the Unfinished Obelisk between 1473 and 1458 BC as a supplementary obelisk to the Lateran Obelisk. During its construction, some mishap occurred, leaving large cracks on the stone block that can still be seen today. This made the structure unusable as a monument. Nearby, experts also discovered a partially carved base for the obelisk, which may have been intended to help keep the obelisk upright.
If erected, the Unfinished Obelisk would be about one-third taller than any other monument ever discovered. The Lateran Obelisk itself is only 32 meters tall if not counting its current base. With a weight of up to 1,168 tons and a height of approximately 42 meters, even moving the Unfinished Obelisk from the ground would be a technical marvel, let alone raising it upright. This raises questions for scientists about how the ancients managed to handle such a massive granite block.
Many experts believe that the Egyptians would have rolled the obelisk onto sledges, transported it to the banks of the Nile, and placed it on boats. The boats would carry the obelisk downstream to larger settlements. Once at the desired location, workers would utilize a large hill with a stable slope to pull the obelisk up with ropes and pulleys until it reached the top. Here, they would slowly lower the obelisk to position it upright. Since such techniques have been described in ancient papyrus, and the Egyptians successfully moved extremely heavy stones to build pyramids, this method is considered feasible.
The obelisk in Aswan has never stood upright, but its unfinished nature has made it an invaluable tool for unraveling the stone-cutting techniques of the ancient Egyptians. Experts can observe chisel marks along the edges of the granite and red ochre lines that guided the workers on where to cut, much like how modern artisans mark with pencils.
