Canal Linking Ancient Egypt Quarry to Nile Found
Experts have discovered a canal at an Aswan rock quarry that they believe was used to help float some of ancient Egypt’s largest stone monuments to the Nile River.
It has long been suspected that ancient workers moved the massive artifacts directly to their final destinations over waterways.
Ancient artwork shows Egyptians using boats or barges to move large monuments like obelisks and statues, and canals have also been discovered at the Giza pyramids and the Luxor Temple. (Related: “Ancient Flowers Found in Egypt Coffin” [June 29, 2006].)
But the newfound canal, which has since been filled in, is the first proof discovered at the granite quarries in Aswan. Almost all obelisks, including those at the Luxor and Karnak Temples, were originally hewn in the Aswan area.
“What you have is very strong evidence that they may have loaded these stones in at the quarry … and as a result not dragging and hauling them over land,” said Richard R. Parizek, a professor of geology at Penn State University who led the scientific tests confirming the canal’s existence.
“It eliminates that land connection.”
Read the full story at National geographic
