Granite Use in Ancient Egypt

Timeless Granite

We have been using natural stone for millennia. As early as 2890 BCE, the ancient Egyptians used red granite to make the tekhenu (obelisks in greek) more than four thousand years ago. Ancient Egyptian granite quarries were mined remarkably similar as they are today, albeit without the technology we have today. The ancient granite tekhenu were made to honor the gods and commemorate events and pharaohs of the time.

It is quite amazing that four thousand years ago, without the machinery that we have today, they were able to mine granite. Now, granite isn't sandstone, it is very hard. This is due to the large percentage of quartz contained in granite.

Granite "grows" in horizontal beds. Between each sheet of granite lies a thin layer of quartz or sinter. When the granite is cut, it must be cut all the way down to the next sheet of granite.

The ancient Egyptians cut granite with hammers and wrought-iron chisels. This task usually required 4 men. One would hold the chisel, while the other three would rhythmically strike the chisel with sledgehammers in a rotation. Each time the chisel was struck, the chisel-man would turn it one-eighth of a circle. They would bore several holes along the cut-line and insert wooden wedges. After the wedges were in place, they were soaked with water. This caused the wedges to expand, which cracked the granite. Granite shears relatively easy at right-angles to the cleavage plane.

Of course, advances in technology used in quarrying granite has made the task much easier. The tools and methods used in modern-day granite mining have made significant changes, but the overall strategy has really changed very little. Nowadays, explosives, diamond-tipped saw blades of huge diameter, diamond-tipped drill bits, machines equipped with hydraulic arms and buckets, and massive trucks for transportation, make mining granite today a breeze. At least, compared to the ancient Egyptian's experience.

This is a very good article on how ancient Egyptians used advanced tools to cut granite.