HOW DID ANCIENT QUARRYMEN AND STONEMASONS WORK?
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Created on Thursday, 05 March 2015 10:31
The latest excavations can give answers to questions frequently asked by contemporary people. Unique drawings, which show loading and transport of blocks made from materials extracted in quarries situated there, were found in late January 2015 on the archaeological site in Gebel El Silsila on the banks of the Nile.
They were discovered 65 kilometres north of the city of Aswan where the largest quarries of sandstone in ancient Egypt were situated. They were exploited from the times of the Middle Kingdom of Egypt (ca. 2133-1786 BC) to the Roman period (30-395 BC). The inscriptions show various phases of work starting from obtaining suitable stone blocks from rock surface through their precise processing to their loading onto boats and transporting along the Nile. The inscriptions prove good work organisation and great skills of ancient Egyptian craftsmen. According to archaeologists, it was nature which helped ancient stonemasons. Sandstone rock formations created high cliffs on the banks of the Nile. Thanks to that, craftsmen’s work was easier. It also enabled building chapels directly carved into cliffs.
Photo: www.cheops-pyramide.ch