An obelisk is a stone rectangular pillar with a tapered top forming a pyramidion, set on a base, erected to commemorate an individual or event and honor the gods. The ancient Egyptians created the form at some point in the Early Dynastic Period (c. 3150-c. 2613 BCE) following their work in mud brick mastaba tombs and prior to the construction of the Step Pyramid of Djoser (c. 2670 BCE). It is thought that the earliest obelisks served as a kind of training for working in stone on monumental projects which was a necessary step toward pyramid building.
The name "obelisk" is Greek for "spit", as in a long pointed piece of wood generally used for cooking, because the Greek historian Herodotus was the first to write about them and so named them. The Egyptians called them tekhenu which means "to pierce" as in "to pierce the sky". The earliest obelisks no longer exist and are only known through later inscriptions but appear to have been only about ten feet (3 metres) tall. In time they would reach heights of over 100 feet (30 metres). Although many cultures around the world from the Assyrian to the Mesoamerican employed the obelisk form, only ancient Egypt worked in monolithic stone, almost always red granite. Each ancient Egyptian obelisk was carved from a single piece of stone which was then moved to its location and raised onto a base. While archaeologists and scholars understand how these monuments were carved and transported, no one knows how they were raised; modern day efforts to replicate the raising of an obelisk, using ancient Egyptian technology, have failed.
An obelisk a stone rectangular pillar with a tapered top forming apyramidion, set on a base, and erected to commend an individual, celebrate an event, or honor the gods. The Egyptians used metal, copper, and stone. Volcanic rock was also used to losen the stone oonce holes had been made. They were generally made from granite coming from well-known quarries located near the banks of the Nile, mainly in the region of Aswan. The carving was done on geanite. It is unknown how the regularly spaced “scallop” cuts were made, but some believe it was pounded out by using pieces of volcanic rock. Once the sides were cut down into the rock, the stone piece had to be separated from the bedrock. A series of cuts were made, again using the unknown scallop-cutting process. Obelisks made out of sandstone were extracted from the bedrock by first drilling holes in the rock and then driving in wooden spikes. The wood was then wetted with water until saturated. The wood expanded with the water thus preferentially cracking the rock along the line of the wooden spikes. They were usually lifted by teams of workers using thick ropes. They faced many challenges such as securing the obelisk, the obelisk cracking, and making sure not to let go of the rope. The physical exertion was extremely high considering obelisks ranged from 3 tons to 450 tons.
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Long before concrete made its appearance on the building scene in Rome, the Romans utilized a volcanic stone native to Italy called tufa to construct their buildings. Although tufa never went out of use, travertine began to be utilized in the late 2nd century B.C.E. because it was more durable.
