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GeoloGical Survey of Norway Special publicatioN n 12

Kn, a., Ng, m., th, a. nd Hd, t. (2009) Gn s n h asn gn, eg: shddng n gh nnn ng. In a-J, N., bx, e.G., Dgs, p. nd Hd, t. (ds.) QuarryScapes: ancient stone quarry landscapes

in the Eastern Mediterranean, Gg S N S pn,12, . 8798.

Introduction

Te Aswan Granite was the third most

important stone used in Egyptian civili-

sation, ater sandstone and limestone. Its

use or vases, stelae, statues, sarcophagi

and buildings commenced rom at least

the Early Dynastic Period (Aston et al.

2000). In terms o quantities, its largest

use was during the Old Kingdom, par-

ticularly associated with the 4th Dynasty

pyramid complexes at Giza, and again

during the New Kingdom or obelisks

and colossal statues (Rder 1965, Ha-

bachi 1984). Te stone was also exten-

sively used during the GraecoRoman

Period, and even today several compa-

nies are exploiting dierent varieties as

dimension stone.

Although granite oten is used as

a collective, industrial term or the

plutonic rocks in the area, it is slightly

misleading. Tey constitute a range o

granitoid rocks, varying rom granitic

to tonalitic in composition (Brown and

Harrell 1998, Klemm and Klemm 1993,

2008, Harrell and Storemyr 2009). Te

most widely used type is the Aswan

red or pink granite, which is essentially

coarse grained to very coarse grained,

In the QuarryScapes project, a detailed survey o granite quarries east o the Aswan region was made

by the Supreme Council o Antiquities (SCA), Egypt, being one o the partners in the project. Localis-

ing and recording the ancient granite quarries were the main goals o the survey work. During the

survey, key material remains associated with ancient quarrying were ound and studied, such as

inscriptions, grafti, unnished objects, roads, shelter areas and transportation ramps. In addition, a

detailed investigation to dene the boundaries o the remaining parts o the ancient granite-quarry

areas was made as a necessary step in preparing plans or their immediate protection. Due to the ur-

gent threats to the ancient quarries, some o the modern dimension stone quarries have to relocate

to other granite-deposit areas, in particular in the Alaki region urther to the south.

Adel Kelany1, Mohamed Negem1, Adel Tohami1 and Tom Heldal2

1Supreme Council of Antiquities, Saddat ST. Aswan, Egypt.2Geological Survey of Norway, 7491 Trondheim, Norway.

E-mail: [email protected]

Granite quarry survey in the Aswan region,

Egypt: shedding new light on

ancient quarrying

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n aDel KelaNy, moHameD NeGem, aDel toHami aND tom HelDal

but porphyritic and gneissic varieties are

occasionally ound. Te so-called black

granite is essentially o granodioritic to

tonalitic composition, medium- to coarse

grained and commonly porphyritic, con-

taining large, pink to white phenocrysts.

A third type is red to grey, ne-grained

granite (Younger granite by Klemm and

Klemm 2008). In-between these types

there are transitional varieties, making

the outcrop area a source o a wide range

o dierent subtypes. For simplicity, we

have, however, chosen to apply granite

as a collective term when speaking o

such quarrying in general.

Te ancient Egyptians calledthe pink granite

m3t,which was the general term or this

stone throughout all periods. Later it

was used as a special term or the red

granite ater the word

m3t rwdt.On the other hand, the black

granodiorite and tonalite were called

inr km.Sometimes the Egyptians added the

place name to the term o the stone.

For example, the granite rom

Elephantine was called

m3t 3bw(Harris 1961).

Te importance o the quarrying ac-

tivity over such a long period has given

Aswan its unique character. Key loca-

tions o granite quarrying can be oundalong the east bank o Aswan and islands

within the First Cataract (Figure 1). Te

publication rom the Napoleon Cam-

paign reers to these large areas o quar-

ries, starting rom the modern town to

Philae and thus covering most o the east

bank o Aswan (Jomard 1809). Over the

last our years the Joint Swiss and Egyp-

tian Archaeological Mission has discov-

ered some new extensions o the ancient

quarries, dated to the Old and MiddleKingdoms, to the north o the ancient

city o Aswan (von Pilgrim, in press).

Previous research of theAswan granite quarries

Te Unnished Obelisk and the colossal

statue at Shallal are the most attractivesites in the granite quarries on the east

bank o Aswan. Many researchers and

travellers have paid attention to these

two sites, in particular Engelbach (1922,

1923) who was the rst person to exca-

vate the Unnished Obelisk quarry. He

turned the direction o the archaeolo-

gists and Egyptologists to become more

interested in ancient quarry sites, espe-

cially ater his work at the Unnished

Obelisk and at Chephrens quarry in

Lower Nubia (Engelbach 1933, 1938).

Important research in the Aswan region

was also undertaken by De Morgan et al.

(1894), who described the quarries and

Figure 1. Map o the Aswan area.

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GraNite quarry Survey iN tHe aSwaN reGioN, eGypt: SHeDDiNG New liGHt oN aNcieNt quarryiNG n

the inscriptions, as well as Ball (1907),

who published several studies o the rst

cataract region, including the ancient

quarries.

More recently, important studies

o the Aswan granite quarries include

Rder (1965) and Klemm and Klemm

(1993, 2008), providing the most com-

prehensive geological and archaeological

surveys o the granite quarries. Many

archaeological eatures were ound, rom

inscriptions to ancient ortications

that have subsequently attracted many

researchers. Although not directly con-

nected with quarrying activity, the study

o such diverse material culture has been

needed to understand the greater story othe Aswan region (Jaritz 1981, 1993).

In 2002, the Egyptian Supreme

Council o Antiquities carried out an ex-

tensive excavation o the Unnished Obe-

lisk quarry. Tis has enabled us to gain a

greater understanding o ancient tech-

niques used in the quarrying o granite

(Kelany 2003). Tis, in turn, encouraged

us to commence the demanding task o

surveying the rest o the granite quarries

as discussed in the present paper.

Surveying the quarries

In recent years, modern quarrying and

urbanisation have caused destruction o

a large number o ancient quarry sites

(Storemyr 2009), even many o which

were described by Klemm and Klemm

(1993). Te main objectives or the sur-

vey o the granite quarries were thus to

identiy remaining quarry areas, charac-terise them and delineate them on the

map, in order to ensure uture protec-

tion o the last remains. Our survey rst

ocussed on the high-risk areas in the

northeastern part o the quarries. Tis

was later extended to the central and

southern parts. Te area under investi-

gation is located between the southern

parts o the modern houses o Aswan

city in the north, to the southern part

o Shallal village in the south. Te NileRiver borders the survey area to the west,

and the road between Mohmoudiya and

Shallal to the east (Figure 2).

As developed during the Quarry-

Scapes survey o the Aswan west bank

(Bloxam et al. 2007) we used hand-held

GPS (with an accuracy o approximately

5 m) together with satellite images such

as IKONOS and QUICKBIRD to locate

the quarries. In addition, we used survey

maps o Aswan no. NG 36 B3b (scale

1:50,000), Aswan map sheet 15/810 and

15/795 (scale 1:25,000), compiled by

the Egyptian Geological Survey 2007,

as well as maps made by Klemm and

Klemm (1993), to locate the sites.

Data recorded during the survey will

be put into the main database o all an-

cient quarries o Egypt, as developed by

EAIS (Egyptian Antiquities InormationSystem, see Shawarby et al. 2009) and

subsequently into a GIS system to use

or both analysis and as a planning tool

in terms o protecting ancient quarries

rom modern activities. Tis work aims

to demonstrate a transerable method

o documenting and protecting sites o

archaeological signicance, in terms o

conservation strategies.

Geology and quarries

Te geology o the Aswan area and the

connection between the geology and

ancient quarrying have been the subject

o numerous studies since the early 20th

century by scholars such as Ball (1907),

Engelbach (1923), El-Shazly (1954),

Rder (1965), Klemm and Klemm

(1993), and Brown and Harrell (1998).

Te outcrops o igneous rocks are ound

where the younger, sedimentary rocks othe Nubian Group (Whiteman 1970)

have been removed by erosion, essentially

on the east bank o the Nile (between

Aswan and the Shallal district) as well

as on the islands in the river. Spheroidal

weathering o the granitoid rocks caused

the ormation o so-called woolsack mor-

phology, where the terrain is covered with

a layer o in situ, rounded boulders o

various sizes. Such morphology is a com-

mon phenomenon in the region, and theboulders, which can measure up to hun-

dreds o cubic metres, are considered to be

valuables sources or granite blocks even

by the modern stone industry. At present

time, such morphology is seen only in

parts o the Aswan outcrop area. As men-

tioned by Klemm and Klemm (1993) it

is likely that these missing boulders were

the main source or the ancient quarry-

ing. Only when they were too small (as

in the case o the obelisks) or when the

quarrying technology became more e-

cient or bedrock quarrying (as in theRoman Period) was it avourable to target

the solid bedrock. Hence, the natural ter-

rain has been strongly modied by the an-

cient quarrying, but largely this modica-

tion implied removal o surace boulders,

leaving ew and scattered remains rom

the quarrying activity. In modern times,

quarrying and urbanisation have demol-

ished many o these remains, and more

are under urgent threat.

Te chemical and mechanical weath-

ering causing the ormation o the boul-ders initiates along natural joints in the

rock mass, commonly occurring in granit-

ic rocks in three directions perpendicular

to each other. Tus, the spacing o such

joints determines the size o the boulders.

Similarly, the spacing o joints is important

when quarrying in bedrock, determining

the maximum achievable block size. Te

main quarrying areas were thereore most

likely situated in places where the joint-

ing was most avourable, whilst outcropsdisplaying more closely spaced joints were

let. Tis could also explain why the ner-

grained younger granite was rarely used,

Figure 1. Map o the Aswan area.

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due to closely spaced ractures (Engelbach

1923, Arnold 1991, p. 37, Aston et al.

2000, p. 36).

Quarrying techniques

During the Pharaonic Period, quarry-

ing largely involved the extraction o

loose boulders. Tey were worked with

hammer stones (pounders) o dolerite

originating rom dykes in the granitoids,

or (less common) aplitic granite. Such

pounding is among most scholars con-

sidered to be the only technique involved

until the stone block reached the rough

shape o a statue or other object. In theUnnished Obelisk quarry (S1 in Figure

3), channels were made directly into the

granitic bedrock. Te massive amounts

o dolerite hammer stones ound in the

quarry lead Rder (1965) to the conclu-

sion that the channelling was made by

pounding only. However, in recent exca-

vations (Kelany 2003) massive amounts

o charcoal, ash and burned mud bricks

were ound, suggesting that heat must

have been an important agent in oneor more steps o the quarrying process.

Later, rom the Ptolemaic Period on-

wards, iron tools took over in the gran-

ite quarrying. According to Klemm and

Klemm (2008) chiselled channels were

introduced in the Ptolemaic Period,

whilst splitting with iron wedges quickly

became the dominant extraction method

in the Roman Period.

Transport of granite objects

Tere were two aspects in the transpor-

tation o granite objects rom the quar-

ries to their places o use: land transport

and river transport. Here, the discussion

mainly concerns land transport, in terms

o transporting objects rom the quarries

to the Nile.

ransport o large objects rom the

granite quarries usually involved two

steps: rst, rom the quarry pits out othe actual extraction area, and second,

rom the quarry areas to the main branch

o the Nile. Te rst step was relatively

easy when the quarrying targeted stone

boulders which were normally close to

the surace.

But when quarrying deep into the

granite bedrock, it became more dicult

to remove large stones rom the quarry

pit. Evidence rom the excavations un-

dertaken at the Unnished Obelisk

quarry suggested that another large

quarry operation was needed to remove

remaining granite on the north side o

the Unnished Obelisk, beore the ac-

tual piece could be moved (1168 tons).

When clear, a pillow o sand would

Figure 3. Te quarry areas, S1S17 as described in the text. Background satellite image rom Google Earth.

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probably have been used to protect it

rom hard suraces and or evening out

the slope. Sand, probably rom dry wadis

nearby and rom wind action, was ound

within the quarry debris (Kelany 2003).

In other cases, ramps were built to trans-

port stones rom the quarries down to

lower levels. In the quarries at the Aswan

west bank, there are many well-preserved

examples o this type o ramp, connected

to stone-paved roads, creating a wide

stone transportation network (Heldal

et al. 2005, Bloxam et al. 2007). Many

similar ramps were documented in the

granite quarries, although limited in

comparison with the west bank. Te

reason or this may be poor preservationo most o the Northern quarries, which

was the main area or the production o

large objects, or the prevalence o dry

wadis in-between ancient quarries which

were used as canals or the transport o

stones (Kelany et al. 2007).

Many kilometres o paved quarry

roads were made using local rubble

stones in one or several layers, similar to

the roads ound at the Aswan west bank

quarries. Tese roads are largely built inquarries located deep into the granite

hills, or on the plateau, where they are ar

away rom wadis or canals. Most o these

roads were made in connection with the

New Kingdom quarries and later reused

during Roman times.

Te longest known road in the

granite quarries, constructed with local

granite, is 350 m long and leads rom

a New Kingdom quarry on the top o

the plateau to a lower level towards the

northwest (Figure 4ac). Another pavedroad was ound in the eastern part o the

Northern quarries, built o 2 to 4 levels

o rubble stones (Figure 4d) and asso-

ciated with an area o large-object quar-

rying. A short, paved road, comprising

only built stone edges with nothing in-

between, was ound in the western part

o the Northern quarries (Figure 4g),

crossing a small, sandy wadi, leading to a

small work area. Te same type o cleared

tracks aligned with stones on both sidesis ound at the Aswan west bank, but

the unction o the alignments is not yet

completely understood.

Another type o transport methodused or small objects rom granite quar-

ries, in the New Kingdom and Roman

Period, was via ootpaths or animal

paths. Tere are only a ew places where

these ancient paths can be clearly seen

(Figure 4h), given the overprinting by

modern quarry activities.

The Northern quarries

Most o the Northern quarries (Figure

3) have been heavily aected by modern

activities, except the Unnished Obelisk

site (S1) and the quarries at the Fa-timid cemetery (S2), which are under

the protection o the Egyptian SCA. Te

rest o the ancient quarries now remain

as islands surrounded by modern activity

(Figure 3). Our survey identied three

main quarry areas (S3, S4 and S5, Figure

3) in addition to the above mentioned.

Essentially, the boulder layers have been

the target or extraction. Numerous

large and small objects were quarried

rom this area during the New Kingdomand GraecoRoman Period, as well as in

small scale during Islamic times.

Ashy layers with charcoal mixed with

Figure 4. Diferent types o stone transportation roads (New Kingdom and Roman Periods) in the granite quarries.(a,b,e) paved roads, (c,d) built-up roads, (d) track with stone alignments, (g) ootpath, (h) ramp.

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the quarry debris suggest that re setting

was widely applied in the quarrying pro-

cess during the Pharaonic Period, also

outside the Unnished Obelisk quarry. In

addition, dolerite stone tools were ound

scattered across these areas, suggesting

their use in pounding and trimming o

extracted blocks. Pottery shards ound in

the quarries dated to both the New King-

dom and GraecoRoman times.

Many large unnished objects were

ound inside the quarries, probably let

behind because o cracks or other ea-

tures that made the blocks unusable.

Tese included a circular base rom the

New Kingdom (according to the quarry-

ing techniques and pottery shards oundin the quarry debris) (Figure 5h) and a

large square base, probably o an obelisk

(Figure 5c). Several reused, unnished

granite stelae were ound inside a modern

blacksmiths workshop (Figure 5a). Un-

ortunately, we could not nd out rom

which quarry they were extracted. Col-

umn capitals and bases, as well as large

millstones, all rom the GraecoRoman

Period, were ound at several locations in

the area (Figure 5b, d, , g).In the northwestern corner o the

Northern quarries (S3) there are several

trenches in the granite bedrock, in partic-

ular connected to dykes o dolerite and/

or aplite. Beside these trenches there are

roughly shaped pieces o rock mixed with

quarry debris. Tese pieces have a more

or less uniorm size, compatible with the

sizes o discarded pounders ound in the

quarries. Tus, these trenches seem to rep-

resent quarries or the production o stone

tools in the Pharaonic Period. Potteryshards around the trenches indicate more

specically a New Kingdom age. Such

tool quarries have previously been docu-

mented by Klemm and Klemm (2008) in

the western and southern part o the gran-

ite outcrop area. However, the ones in the

Northern quarries are the rst to be ound

in this area, and so ar the closest ones to

the Unnished Obelisk quarry. Tus, the

area may be o signicant importance

or revealing more knowledge about thePharaonic stone technology.

In the southern part o the area, a

granite quarry (100x100 m) designated

or the extraction o rotating millstones

was ound. Many pieces o discarded

millstones are ound in the quarry (Fig-

ure 5g). Te rotary hand mills came into

use in the Roman Period in the area, and

are commonly ound in settlements rom

that period.

We documented a ew stone shelters

inside the ancient quarries, although

these are probably not associated withthe large ancient quarrying activities. Te

absence o shelters or dwellings or the

ancient quarries may be because places o

more permanent settlement, or instance

at Elephantine Island and Aswan, were

very close by. Hence, the workmen may

have travelled daily rom these places to

the quarries. A similar situation is also

ound in the quarries at the Aswan west

bank (Bloxam and Kelany 2007).

The Central quarries

Tis quarry area is located south o the

Northern quarries (Figure 3) and includes

Figure 5. Unnished objects rom the Northern quarries. (a) Unnished granite stele reused in modern black-smiths room, (b, d, , g) diferent types o unnished rotary millstones, (c) unnished granite object base, (e)

granite-column capital, (h) large circular granite object base.

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ve identied quarry sites (S6S10).

Some o the quarries have previously

been described by Klemm and Klemm

(1993, Map 355). Te survey work

started rom the northern part o these

quarries, which is located directly south

o the Mahmoudiya Houses (S6).

Tere are two sandstone hills on top

o the granite at quarry sites S6 and S7.

Quarries within the sandstone unit most

likely date to the Roman Period (based on

pottery shards and marks rom typical Ro-

man wedging techniques) and the target

or quarrying was probably ashlar blocks

or buildings in Aswan. Some small granite

quarries were also ound in the same areas

(S9), which were mainly or extraction osmall granite objects in the Pharaonic

Period, such as stelae and stone tools.

Te Hatshepsut quarry (S8) corre-spond to Quarry No. 11 o Klemm and

Klemm (1993, Map 355). Te name o

the quarry relates to inscriptions ound

above it (see below). wo unnished

baths rom the Roman Period are ound

here, let in the quarries because o faws

in the stone blocks (Figure 6b, c). One

o these baths is o particular interest, asit shows us how the quarrymen split and

shaped large granite boulders (Figure

6b). Although the most visible objects

are rom the Roman Period, these quar-

ries were clearly heavily exploited also in

the New Kingdom, illustrated by mas-

sive layers o quarry debris containing

stone-tool ragments and ash as well as

pottery shards rom that period.

O particular interest in these quarries

is the occurrence o numerous pounders

o coarse-grained granite (Figure 7). Suchare not common in any o the other quar-

ry areas, and in general one believes that

the granite was less suitable or pounders

than dolerite and aplite. Te reasons or

the common occurrence o such pound-

ers in this particular area is, however, not

clear. Te suraces o these tools clearly

show marks and wear rom their use as

pounders.

Te most important discoveries made

in these quarries were the hieroglyphicinscriptions. Tese were ound on a sand-

stone cli, quite high above the granite

quarries (Figure 8). Stone walls rom pos-

sibly a small shrine or chapel, built or a

high ocial, were also ound beside these

inscriptions. Beside the walls we observed

a large area o quarry debris containing

ragments o dolerite tools and pottery

shards dating to the New Kingdom.

Tere are a total o seven small in-

scriptions ound on this sandstone cli.

Importantly, one o these inscriptionscan be clearly identied as giving the

name o Queen Hatshepsut o the New

Kingdom (Figure 9). Tis is a highly

Figure 6. Unnished Roman Period granite baths, Southern quarries.

Figure 7. Used granite pounders, Central quarries.Figure 9. Hieroglyphs giving the name o QueenHatshepsut o the New Kingdom, Central quarries.

Figure 8. Te location o the hieroglyphic inscription(red arrow) in sandstone clif, Central quarries.

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signicant nding in terms o locating

where quarrying o granite was under-

taken during her reign (Porter and Moss

1937, Habachi 1984).

Te other inscriptions ound on the

sandstone cli are still under study, but it

is important to mention that they mostly

contain titles linked to quarry activities.

Grati o obelisks and ostriches were

also ound here. Tese inscriptions and

grati will be published in detail ater

urther study.

Te location o the inscriptions and

the small shrine is signicant. From

this point, one can get a good view o

the granite-quarry landscape. Tis situ-

ation is quite similar to the inscriptionsand grati ound in the Khnum Quarry

on the west bank o Aswan (Bloxam and

Kelany 2007). Possibly it had a unction

as a place o worship, and/or a site or

overseeing the quarrying activity.

o the west o the Roman-bath quar-

ries and the New Kingdom inscriptions

many small quarries were recorded. In

one o them, two unnished objects

are ound. One looks like an unnished

granite statue (Figure 10), whilst the

other may represent an intended altar or

boat base rom the New Kingdom (Fig-

ure 10e). Te other small quarries display

evidence o limited, Roman activities.

Beside the cli edge at el-Aquad, a

paved road, 350 m long, leads to a small

quarry areathe long-road quarry (S10

in Figure 3, see also Figure 4a and b).Tis paved road is the longest we have

seen in the granite quarries in Aswan and

is discussed urther below. Te quarry

area displays evidence o the extraction

and removal o at least some large blocks,

and numerous smaller, initial workings

on others. On the quarry ace in ront

o the site, where the largest block was

extracted, there is a hieroglyphic inscrip-

tion, which could have been a mark or

the quarry team (Figure 11a). Te debris

rom quarrying here contains pottery

shards dating to the New Kingdom and

Roman Periods, many dolerite pounder

ragments, charcoal and ashy debris. In

addition, we observed many oval-shaped

stone tools which came rom aplitic veins

in the granite, and several small quarries

or such. Tis type o tool is characteris-tic o the area.

Many stone shelters were ound in

these quarries. Some o them were high-

ly deteriorated, others better preserved.

Tis may suggest the same as the pottery

shards, namely the presence o people in

the area both in the New Kingdom and

in the Roman Period.

Te Karor Quarry and the sur-rounding area as mapped by Klemm

and Klemm (1993, quarry number VII,p. 307, Map 355) is now largely de-

stroyed by modern development (Figure

3, S15). Out o its original quarrying

context, the only object remaining in

this quarry area is a Roman bath (Figure

5d). o the north, several small quarries

were located in an area largely disturbed

by modern development. Production

remains here suggest that large objects

were extracted. Tis makes sense logisti-

cally due to their proximity to the main

road rom Aswan to Philae.

The Southern quarries

Tis is the richest quarrying area in

terms o archaeological evidence related

not only to ancient quarrying, but also

to an ancient wall (see below) and many

rock inscriptions. Te quarry landscape

is generally well preserved and can be di-

vided into several small sites.Te Shallal Quarry (S13, Figure 3) isone o the most amous quarrying areas

ater the Unnished Obelisk quarry. Egyp-

Figure 10. Colossus and large unnished granite objects o the New Kingdom rom the Southern quarries. (a)Shallal colossus, (b) laina colossus, (c) possible base o laina colossus, (d) tool quarry on the top o laina colos-sus mountain, (e) unnished block, possible alter or boat base, () unnished seated statue.

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tologists usually call this area Te Southern

Quarry or Ramses II Statue Quarry given

the large statue that is lying here. Yet, there

is no specic archaeological evidence that

conrms such a connection with the reign

o Ramses II. oday, this area o quarrying

is now split in two by a modern asphalt

road. In addition to the statues, many oth-er unnished objects, such as our Roman

baths, are ound across the landscape. En-

croaching modern quarrying is gradually

eating away these quarries, with the loss

o archaeological remains that were earlier

described by de Morgan (1894).

During our recent archaeological

survey many new ndings were made,

such as inscriptions and grati and ele-

ments o the inrastructure related to the

ancient quarrying here. A small sand-stone quarry was ound located just to

the north o the unnished statue in the

sandstone layers that cap the granite.

A limited number o sandstone blocks

were quarried here, probably used or

building the large transport road beside

the unnished statue and or building

workers shelters.

On the quarry ace o the sandstone

quarry there is some grati depicting

the hieroglyphic sign cnh and a stone jugwith a handle sign which reers to the

god Khnumone o the local triad o

cataract gods. Tis type o sign has been

ound in many other places in west bank

quarries (Bloxam et al. 2007, p. 212).

Another grati ound beside these hi-

eroglyphic signs depicts a shrine aade,

this type o shrine being ound on New

Kingdom papyrus (Clark and Engelbach

1930, Badawy 1968). In the sandstone

quarries at Gebel el-Silsila, a similar gra-ti o a rock-cut shrine was made on

a quarry ace dating to the New King-

dom reign Amenhotep III (Klemm and

Klemm 1993, p. 247). Te purpose o

such shrines in ancient Egyptian quar-

ries, especially during the New King-

dom, was worship and commemoration

(Caminos 1963, p. 2).

Another inscription, although di-

cult to interpret, was ound just be-

side the unnished statue. Inscribed on

a boulder that has allen down rom a

sandstone layer capping the top o a

hill, only the name oImn could be read(Figure 11c). Te location o this in-

scription and the methods by which it

was engraved suggest it was the work o

a lower rank o cratsman. In addition,

two small shelters that utilised existing

natural holes in the sandstone cli weredocumented. Many small dolerite rag-

ments were ound on the foors o these

shelters, with one unnished (but bro-

ken) dolerite stone bowl. Te type and

technique o manuacturing this bowl

indicate that it dates to the Roman Pe-

riod, when the quarry was reopened or

producing granite baths.

Te laina Quarry is located to thewest o the Shallal quarry and approxi-

mately 100 m north o the SCA maga-zine, which was the earlier camp o the

Italian mission who relocated the Philae

temple (Figure 3, S14). It is a small

quarry with an abandoned colossus let

close to the top o a granite hill (Figure

10b) (Klemm and Klemm 1993). Be-

tween the oot o this hill and the colos-

sus, a cleared ramp has been made or

transporting the colossus down rom the

quarry. Close investigation o the colos-

sus shows a crack in the shoulder region,

suggesting that this could have been whythe object was abandoned.

At the oot o the granite hill, about

75 m rom the colossus, an unnished,

square granite base was ound during our

survey work which was not documented

by Klemm and Klemm (1993) (Figure

10c) Te size, shape and location o this

granite base may suggest that is was in-

tended to be the base or the colossus.

Tis is suggested particularly because we

have not seen any other quarrying activi-ties here, except or a limited amount re-

lated to the roughing out o small granite

blocks and tool making (Figure 10d).

Figure 11. Epigraphic data rom granite quarries. (a) Inscribed hieroglyphic mark, (b) hieroglyphic signs depict-ing a shrine aade, (c) inscription on stone boulder with name oImn, (d) Predynastic rock art o a boat.

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Te Shisah Quarry (Figure 3) is lo-cated at the southern part o the Shallal

area. Te position and unction o Shal-

lal village has made it dicult to save

archaeological remains here, especially

the ancient quarries. It seems likely that

the small Roman Period quarries, located

between the modern houses, were used

or the production o building stone and

other granite objects associated with the

Philae temples opposite (Arnold 1999).

One important unnished object, a stele,

was ound at the oot o the granite hills

(Figure 12).Tis type o stele was usually

used or unerary, votive and commemo-

rative purposes and ound all over Egypt

in a range o dynastic contexts (Shawand Nicholson 2002).

A sandstone quarry was also located

close to the southern boundary o the

Central quarries, on the top o a hill (Fig-

ure 3, S11). Chisel marks, pottery shards

and grati suggest this to be a Roman Pe-

riod quarry. In addition, on the northeast-

ern slope o the hill, we ound what we

believe to be the rst recorded Predynastic

rock art in the granite quarry area, a de-

piction o a boat (Figure 11d).

Quarries along the ancientwall

In the southern part o the quarries, the

amous ancient ortication wall, whichdates to the Middle Kingdom, crosses

the granite outcrops. (Figure 13 and Fig-

ure 3, S16) Te outer ace o the wall is

built with mud bricks, with the interior

lling comprising granite pieces prob-

ably quarried rom nearby outcrops.

Tese quarries probably represent the

earliest quarrying in this particular area.

Considering the length o the ancient

wall, starting rom the opposite side o

Philae temple to the ancient Aswan city,

this type o construction would haveneeded massive quarrying nearby. Te

recent investigation o the wall shows

three phases o development and repair-

ing. Te last two phases belonging to

GraecoRoman times (von Pilgrim, in

press). Tis later quarrying has largely

destroyed evidence with respect to de-

termining where the Middle Kingdom

quarries might be.

Dolerite tool quarries

Te dolerite tool quarries mentioned by

Klemm and Klemm (1993) on the As-

wan east bank have been extremely di-

cult to locate. In the Northern quarries,

these have been completely destroyed by

modern building, and in the Southern

quarries, it was dicult to nd traces o

where the tools were manuactured. In

addition, the dolerite dykes here did not

appear to be o suitable quality or mak-

ing such tools. However, a possible new

tool quarry was ound very close to the

entrance o Philae temple (S12), where

a dolerite layer o high-quality stone is

located. Te quarries are represented by

small stone heaps with associated New

Kingdom and Roman pottery (Figure

14ad). In the lower area o the quarry,

chisel and wedge marks on stone fakes

suggest these being representative o

Roman Period or later activities (Figure14c) (Kelany et al, in press).

Risks and threats

In the last 20 years, the ancient granite

quarries have suered much rom ur-

banisation and modern quarrying, butmost o all rom ignorance; not recog-

nising the signicance o these quarry

landscapes and the rich archaeological

remains therein. Many modern granite

quarries are situated in ancient quar-

ries, especially in the area with the best

quality o granite (Northern quarries).

Not surprisingly, the modern stone in-

dustry has the same quality measures as

the ancient quarrymenuniorm colour

and large blocks. Most o the ancient

quarry landscape in these northern areashas been obliterated by modern quar-

rying as well as house building. Hence,

our main survey work in this area o-

cussed on investigating and protecting

the last surviving ancient sites let in-

between these activities. Te Middle and

Southern quarries are, however, still in a

relatively good condition, and our ocus

here is to relocate and/or stop modern

quarrying activities in order to protect

the quarry landscape. In addition, we areworking on the last phase o setting up a

site-management plan or the Southern

quarries so that they can be opened to

visitors.

Te building o houses has greatly a-

ected the Northern quarries, especially

around the Unnished Obelisk quarry.

Most o the buildings were erected in

the last 15 years, without any control

or intervention rom the SCA. Learning

rom this, the SCA now supervises the

area with respect to new building and

other activities. Other areas aected by

house building linked with the growth

o Aswan city can especially be seen in

the Nubian areas close to the Nile on the

east bank, such as at Karor agog, Soheil

island and others close by.

Conclusions

Te purpose o the presented survey wasto investigate the remains o the ancient

granite-quarry landscape in Aswan, in

order to get an idea about their signi-

Figure 12. Unnished granite stele rom the Shisahquarry.

Figure 13. Section o the ancient ortication wallbetween old Aswan city and Philae temple (built lateMiddle Kingdom and reused/rebuilt during GraecoRoman times) showing granite and dolerite stoneinterior.

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97


cance and preservation. Moreover, to

obtain knowledge o how much o the

quarry landscape described by previous

scholars has actually been destroyed over

the last 20 years. For obvious reasons,

the Unnished Obelisk quarry is a site

o tremendous importance, being one o

the most impressive quarries in the world

and a monument over ancient Egyptian

technology, yet not completely under-

stood. Te other remaining sites are at

rst sight ar less impressive, but on the

other hand also less disturbed, and may

provide the largest potential or uture

research, also or obtaining better knowl-

edge about the obelisk site itsel. Tus,the survey has helped in highlighting the

signicance o all these smaller quarry

sites and uncovered many questions or

uture research.

Unortunately, the survey also re-

vealed an alerting degree o destruction

o quarry sites, particularly in the North-

ern quarries. Urbanisation and modern

quarrying have demolished most o the

ancient quarry landscape in a short pe-

riod o time. On the other hand, theSouthern quarries are still in relatively

good condition, but in desperate need o

protection, representing the last unbro-

ken part o the ancient granite quarries

in Aswan. Te rst step towards long-

term protection o the sites has now been

taken, and in the continuation we see

that with such a survey, delineating the

most important sites, a ruitul coopera-

tion with the many stakeholders in the

area may take place.

Te newly ound inscriptions and

other new eatures o the granite quar-

ries, described above, have also shown

how easy it is to miss important ele-

ments o such sites, even in an area that

has been crowded with scholars or the

last centuries. Clearly, the uture will

reveal more discoveries in the same ar-eas. Another important outcome o this

work, in terms o proessional develop-

ment, was the building o our experi-

ence, knowledge and practices or SCA

inspectors (inside and outside Aswan) in

the recognition and documentation o

ancient quarries through training courses

given during this eldwork.

Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Sixth Frame-

work Programme (FP6) o the European

Union or the nancial support o the

project, the coordinator the Geological

Survey o Norway (NGU) and the Egyp-

tian Antiquities Inormation System

(EAIS). Also, we would like to thank

Elizabeth Bloxam, om Heldal and Per

Storemyr or joining part o the eld

work and discussions. And or the Eng-

lish correction we would like to thank

Elizabeth Bloxam and Heather Edward

or this hard work.

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