Monument · Egypt
Unfinished Obelisk
المسلة الناقصة
A giant obelisk abandoned in an ancient Aswan granite quarry after cracks appeared, still lying where it was cut.
Where it is
24.0769, 32.8954
Why go
Lying in an ancient Aswan granite quarry, this obelisk was abandoned when flaws and fissures appeared in the stone. It is thought to have been ordered by Hatshepsut for Amun’s temple at Karnak. Had it been completed it would have stood about 42 metres tall and weighed some 1,168 tonnes. Seeing the half-freed shaft in its trench shows how such monoliths were worked out of the hard stone that made Aswan’s quarries famous.
Near Unfinished Obelisk
Historic site
Fatimid Cemetery of Aswan
One of the oldest Muslim cemeteries, on Aswan's east side, with early domed mausoleums from the Fatimid period.
0 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Museum
Nubian Museum
Aswan’s Nubian Museum presents the archaeology, history and living traditions of Nubia.
1 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Archaeological site
Temple of Isis (Aswan town)
A small, roofed Ptolemaic temple of Isis on Aswan's east bank, later used as a church; not the Philae temple.
1 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ
Archaeological site
Elephantine archaeological site
Excavated ancient town on Elephantine Island in Aswan, with temples of Khnum and Satet, a Nilometer and a site museum.
1 km · straight-line distance; driving distance and time differ