Obelisk is traditionally means as a tall and slender monument, with four sides converging to a mini pyramidal shape at the top. Though it’s technically a Greek type of architecture, there are few obelisks in Egypt and the unfinished obelisk of Aswan is known to be one of the largest among them. It was constructed by Hatshepsut.
The Unfinished Obelisk is still in its original location, a granite quarry in Aswan. It is 42m in length and is thought to have been abandoned during its construction when some cracks appeared in the rock. Had this obelisk been completed, it would have been the heaviest obelisk ever cut in Ancient Egypt, weighing nearly 1100 tons! It is believed that it was started and then later abandoned during the reign of Queen Hatshepsut, during the 18th dynasty.
Another mini obelisk is also found on the same site, which was probably just started to be carved from the quarry of Aswan, along with few other rock-carvings there. Now the modern Egyptian government has announced the whole place as an open museum and arranged to preserve these structures as archaeological treasures of the country. This quarry of Aswan probably also provided granite for other obelisks of Egypt, as many residues of similar size are found here.
