First of all the stone had to be selected. It should have nodefects, such as cracks or blemishes. Next the rock was cleaned andthe surface of the rock was scraped until it was smooth and flat.After smoothing, the contours of the obelisk were marked out on theground and a deep ditch was bashed out of the rock out around themby gangs of slaves hammering away with pounding balls made fromdolerite. These were especially hard stones made from dolerite,dark coloured basalt found in the desert valleys of Egypt. Thesestones weighed anything up to 5 kilograms each. This process tookweeks perhaps months to complete depending on the size of theobelisk.The fourth face of the obelisk was torn from the seam of rockwith enormous wooden wedges which were driven into previouslyprepared holes at regular intervals. The wedges were soaked withwater, and as they expanded the rock split.
At this stage hundreds maybe thousands of naked slaves, worked withropes and jacks to raise the obelisk from the ditch and to heave iton to planks resting upon a massive sledge. It was a scene oforganised chaos. Although there was no throbbing machinery therewas noise: of stone grinding on stone, the creaking of strainingtimber, the shouts of the foremen and the chanting of slaves. Onceit rested safely on its sledge, long lines of slaves, their nudebodies glistening with sweat, dragged the obelisk to the bank ofthe Nile. Here it was received by more gangs of slaves who thenloaded it onto a barge to be taken to its destination.

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