The Aswân Obelisk / With some remarks on the Ancient Engineering

The work examines an unfinished obelisk in an Aswân quarry through systematic description of its dimensions, tool marks, trenches, and quarry-face features, and reports on archaeological clearance and measurements. Subsequent chapters analyze ancient techniques for detaching, lowering, transporting, and erecting obelisks, considering wedges, levers, ropes, sleds, rollers, boats, and mechanical stresses, with practical calculations and comparisons to known monuments. Illustrations, plans, and plates support the technical discussion, and the volume concludes with miscellaneous finds, inscriptions, and a bibliography of classical and modern sources.