Heritage Stone 6. Gneiss for the Pharaoh: Geology of the Third Millennium BCE Chephren's Quarries in Southern Egypt

A remarkable campaign of decorative stone quarrying took place in the southwestern Egyptian desert almost 5000 years ago. The target for quarrying was Precambrian plagioclase−hornblende gneiss, from which several life-sized statues of King Chephren (or Khafra) and thousands of funerary vessels were produced. The former inspired George Murray in 1939 to name the ancient quarry site 'Chephren's Quarries.' Almost 700 individual extraction pits are found in the area, in which free-standing boulders formed by spheroidal weathering were worked by stone tools made from local rocks and fashioned into rough-outs for the production of vessels and statues. These were transported over large distances across Egypt to Nile Valley workshops for finishing. Although some of these workshop locations remain unknown, there is evidence to suggest that, during the Predynastic to Early Dynastic period, the permanent settlement at Hierakonpolis (Upper Egypt) could have been one destination, and during the Old Kingdom, another may have been located at pyramid construction sites such as the Giza Plateau (Lower Egypt). Chephren's Quarries remains one of the earliest examples of how the combined aesthetic appearance and supreme technical quality of a rock made humans go to extreme efforts to obtain and transport this raw material on an ‘industrial’ scale from a remote source. The quarries were abandoned about 4500 years ago, leaving a rare and well-preserved insight into ancient stone quarrying technologies. RÉSUMÉUne remarquable campagne d’extraction de pierres décorative a été mené dans le sud-ouest du désert égyptien il y a près de 5000 ans. La roche cible était un gneiss à plagioclase–hornblende, de laquelle ont été tiré plusieurs statues grandeur nature du roi Khéphren (ou Khâef Rê) et des milliers de vases funéraires. C’est pourquoi George Murray, en 1939, a donné au site de l’ancienne carrière le nom de 'Chephren’s Quarries.' On peut trouver près de 700 fosses d’extraction sur le site, renfermant des blocs de roches formés par altération sphéroïdale qui ont été dégrossis avec des outils de pierre pour la production de vases et de statues. Puis ils ont été transportés à travers l’Égypte jusqu’aux ateliers de finition de la vallée du Nil. Bien que la localisation de certains de ces ateliers demeure inconnue, certains indices permettent de penser que, de la période prédynastique jusqu’à la période dynastique précoce, l’établissement permanent à Hiérakonpolis (Haute Égypte) aurait pu être l’une de ces destinations; durant l’Ancien empire une autre destination aurait pu être située aux sites de construction de pyramides comme le Plateau de Giza (Basse Égypte). Les Chephren’s Quarries l’une des plus anciennes exemples montrant comment la combinaison des qualités esthétiques et techniques remarquables de la roche ont incité les humains à consentir de si grands efforts pour extraire et transporter ce matériau brute à une échelle industrielle d’un site éloigné. Les carrières ont été abandonnées il y a environ 4500 ans, nous laissant une fenêtre rare et bien conservé sur des technologies anciennes d’extraction de pierre de taille.Traduit par le Traducteu

Quarrying and Mining (Stone)

Ancient quarrying and mining sites, which represent some of the most threatened archaeological sites in Egypt, often present extensive cultural landscapes comprising a range of material culture; however, their research potential is still not fully recognized. Hard and soft stone quarrying and gemstone mining in ancient Egypt are poorly understood activities, although both are well attested throughout the Pharaonic era. Current research is re-shaping ideas about, for example, the major use of stone tools and fire in extracting hard stones, transmission of stone-working technologies across often deep time depths, and the role of skilled kin-groups as a social construct rather than large unskilled labor forces

Who were the pharaohs' quarrymen?

The monumental statuary, pyramids, temples and other major structures made of stone are among the most arresting and well known of the cultural achievements of ancient Egypt. The production of these involved the quarrying, preparation, transport and skilled working of huge masses of very hard rock. How were such massive rocks quarried and by whom? How were the quarries of ancient Egypt organized? These are some of the questions explored here

Quarrying and Mining (Stone)

Ancient quarrying and mining sites, which represent some of the most threatened archaeological sites in Egypt, often present extensive cultural landscapes comprising a range of material culture; however, their research potential is still not fully recognized. Hard and soft stone quarrying and gemstone mining in ancient Egypt are poorly understood activities, although both are well attested throughout the Pharaonic era. Current research is re-shaping ideas about, for example, the major use of stone tools and fire in extracting hard stones, transmission of stone-working technologies across often deep time depths, and the role of skilled kin-groups as a social construct rather than large unskilled labor forces

The organisation, transportation and logistics of hard stone quarrying in the Egyptian Old Kingdom : a comparative study

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Investigating the Predynastic origins of greywacke working in the Wadi Hammamat

The Wadi Hammamat greywacke quarries in the Eastern Desert are the source of some of Egypt’s most important cultic objects, such as the ceremonial palettes of the Predynastic to Early Dynastic period. Research of the quarrying region has usually been polarised between Egyptological attention to the wealth of inscriptional data, with more sporadic investigations made by geologists and archaeologists of the quarries and other material culture. The Wadi Hammamat Project is first of its kind to undertake a holistic, multi-disciplinary study of the quarry landscape, its initial objective being to understand the linkages between changes in resource procurement and emerging social complexity in early monumental states. Focussing on the first phases of elite stone production in the Predynastic, this article discusses our discovery of the Predynastic to Early Dynastic quarries and adds fresh data to Debono’s 1949 investigations of a greywacke workshop in the Bir Hammamat region. Investigating the origins of raw materials brought into the quarries and workshops has been the main basis for our understanding of the social dynamics surrounding early stone production in the area. These investigations have illuminated the extent to which the quarry landscape was a central place of interaction between local and regional social networks, either directly or indirectly involved in stone crafting. The article also assesses how these networks were central to the flow of materials into the quarries, as well as outwards in terms of finished products. It further looks at the extent to which more intensive production of stone vessels, by the Early Dynastic, may have impacted on these networks, and therefore what we can deduce in terms of ideas about the increasing centralisation of stone-working by elites in the run-up to state formation.Les carrières de grauwacke du Ouadi Hammamat dans le désert Oriental sont la source de certains des plus importants objets de culte de l’Égypte, comme les palettes cérémonielles de la période pré- et protodynastique. Les recherches menées dans cette région se sont surtout focalisées sur la richesse des données épigraphiques, avec des études plus sporadiques de géologues et d’archéologues sur les carrières et autres questions touchant à la culture matérielle. Le Wadi Hammamat Project est le premier de son genre à entreprendre une étude globale et multidisciplinaire de cette région de carrières, son objectif initial étant de comprendre les liens entre les modifications des sources d’approvisionnement et le développement de la complexité sociale des premiers états émergents. Cet article est consacré aux découvertes que nous avons réalisées dans les carrières pré- et protodynastiques. Il s’intéresse aux premières phases de production de pierres destinées à l’élite du Prédynastique et complète les données initiales fournies par Debono en 1949 lors de la prospection d’un atelier de grauwacke dans la région de Bir Hammamat. Enquêter sur l’origine des matières premières utilisées dans les carrières et les ateliers a été le principal élément qui a permis une meilleure compréhension de la dynamique sociale entourant les débuts de la production de pierre dans cette région. Ces recherches révèlent de quelle manière le paysage de carrière était le lieu central des interactions entre les réseaux sociaux fonctionnant à l’échelle locale ou régionale, directement ou indirectement impliqués dans l’artisanat de la pierre. Elles montrent également la place de ces réseaux concernant la distribution des matériaux à al fois au sein des carrières et vers l'extérieur pour les produits finis. Cet article évalue enfin l’impact sur ces réseaux de la production plus intensive des vases en pierre durant la période protodynastique, et les conséquences d’une centralisation accrue des élites sur le contrôle de l’artisanat de la pierre durant la période de formation de l’État.Bloxam Elizabeth, Harrell James A., Kelany Adel, Moloney Norah, El-Senussi Ashraf, Tohamey Adel. Investigating the Predynastic origins of greywacke working in the Wadi Hammamat. In: Archéo-Nil. Revue de la société pour l'étude des cultures prépharaoniques de la vallée du Nil, n°24, 2014. Prédynastique et premières dynasties égyptiennes. Nouvelles perspectives de recherches. pp. 11-30

Preservation and promotion of the Sagalassos quarry and town landscape, Turkey

At the Hellenistic–Roman town of Sagalassos most natural building stones used in the ashlar architecture originate from local lithological units, both in the immediate vicinity of the city and on its territory. Imported white limestone and white and coloured marbles represent only a small fraction of the total amount of building stones used. The proximity of the stone quarries supplying Sagalassos to the monumental centre of the town, offers great potential of contextualising this quarry landscape as part of the extended urban landscape. When the quarries of the city of Sagalassos are seen as an integral part of the monumental town, their significance can be easily demonstrated to the public and the need for their conservation becomes evident. As Sagalassos is an archaeological site where guided tours are offered and where the excavation and reconstruction of the town and its environs can be directly observed, the local quarries and their history can be disclosed to the broader audience. Although the number of people reached is moderate, such a model may hopefully serve as an example for making other similar monumental cities and their associated quarries accessible to a wider public, hence ensuring their long-term preservation.status: publishe