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It was built in a very unique manner as it depended on a Greek style of architecture that had four sides converging to a mini pyramidal shape at the top of the obelisk. It was built in the new kingdom during the 18th dynasty by Queen Hatshepsut, the Wife of King Thutmose II (1478-1458 B.C) to be placed in the Karnak temple and to complement the Lateran Obelisk, originally located in Karnak before being moved to Rome. It is located in its original location a red granite quarry in Aswan and if completes, it would have measured 42 m making it the tallest obelisk in history but the project was unfortunately abandoned due to the discovery of numerous cracks in the obelisk. It would also have been the heaviest obelisk weighing 1200 tons.
The obelisk was carved into the bedrock of red granite and designed to resemble the primeval hill from the myth of creation where the world appeared for the first time. The ancient Egyptians called the obelisk 'Tekhenu" which means "To pierce the Sky" as they have associated with the BenBen an immortal mound that the creator god Atum stood above at the time of creation. Many scholars also believe that obelisk origin can be traced back to a natural astronomical event connected to the zodiac lights, constellations, and the sun.
The location that holds the obelisk is considered to be an open-air museum. The obelisk is able to tell us about the instruments used to construct this massive monument such as dolerite which is a small ball made of a mineral harder than granite to carve the obelisk out. They also used many creative building techniques to free the obelisk from the bedrock as they made some small cavities in the rock and those cavities were filled with wood chips. The chips were soaked with water. The soaking would expand causing the obelisk to detach from the base.
There are additional eight great Obelisks, which remain in Egypt till today:
There are a lot of mesmerizing ancient Egyptian attractions in Cairo, Luxor, Aswan, and Alexandria that should be discovered, so if you are interested in history and ancient landmarks, then you can check our luxury Egypt tours and Nile river cruise and choose your favorite trip to Egypt.
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