Aswan
The southern frontier town at the First Cataract whose quarries supplied the granite for Egypt's obelisks and columns.
- Ancient name
- Swenet (Greek Syene)
- Location
- First Cataract of the Nile, southern Egypt
- Modern country
- Egypt
- Known for
- Red granite quarries; the Unfinished Obelisk; Elephantine Island
- Status
- Nubian monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae, UNESCO (1979)
What is Aswan known for?
Aswan, ancient Swenet or Syene, sits at the First Cataract of the Nile, the traditional southern border of Egypt. Elephantine Island in the river was a frontier fortress and trading post with Nubia from the earliest dynasties.
Aswan's quarries supplied the hard red and black granite used for obelisks, sarcophagi, statues and temple columns all over Egypt. The Unfinished Obelisk, abandoned in the quarry after it cracked, shows how such stones were cut and would have been about 42 meters long. Heavy blocks were shipped downstream on large barges.
Reliefs on the causeway of the pyramid of Unas at Saqqara show boats bringing granite columns from Aswan, alongside the famous scene of starving people. The Greek scholar Eratosthenes later used the sun's position at Syene to estimate the size of the Earth.
Reliefs at Unas' pyramid show boats bringing granite columns from Aswan.
Mentioned on these pages
- Rabbit holeUnas
- PersonEratosthenes
Sources
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Aswan'Reference
- UNESCO World Heritage Centre, 'Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae'Reference
- Encyclopaedia Britannica, 'Obelisk'Reference
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