The famous Chisel quarry, a vital part of Chephren’s Quarry. Intact in 2014, destroyed by agricultural development in 2023. Source: Google Earth
Over the last two years Chephren’s Quarry in the Western Egyptian Desert has been largely destroyed by the Toshka Megaproject. Providing tens of thousands of fine, bluish hardstone vessels and superb statuary almost 5000 years ago, the quarry is among the most special ones from Ancient Egypt. As the world’s oldest, large-scale quarry for sculpture and stone vessels, it covers an area of roughly 50 square kilometres of boulder terrain in the flat desert west of Abu Simbel, and has been at risk from the Toska Megaproject since the 1990s. This enormous land reclamation project was initiated in order to use water from Lake Nasser for producing wheat and other crops in the region’s hyper arid environment and make Egypt less dependent on imports for feeding a rapidly growing population. Continue reading
