Tag Archives: Ancient Egypt

Egyptian archaeology: Chephren’s Quarry now largely destroyed by the Toshka Megaproject

Posted on November 30, 2023 by Per Storemyr

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 … Continue reading →

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New paper in new book: The ancient game traps across Lower Nubia

Posted on March 19, 2022 by Per Storemyr

A much awaited book, “The Gazelle’s Dream: Game Drives of the Old and New Worlds”, edited by Alison Betts and W. Paul van Pelt, was published a few months ago. The book is the first dealing with, on a global … Continue reading →

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Gneiss for the Pharaoh: Geology of the Third Millennium BCE Chephren’s Quarries in Southern Egypt

Posted on April 18, 2016 by Per Storemyr

Chephren’s Quarry. A name imbued with splendour. It was not the first quarry from which stone vessels and sculpture were provided in Ancient Egypt, but it was definitely the most spectaular one. Work started here, far south in the Western Desert of Egypt, already by the Predynastic period or earlier. By the Old Kingdom, 4500 years ago, it was a huge work site, comprising 700 quarry pits in the flat desert, covering an area of some 50 square kilometres. With Tom Heldal as the lead author, Ian Shaw, Elizabeth Bloxam and I have now written an account of how geology shaped Chephren’s Quarry. It is a story spanning millions of years, explaining the beauty of this hard, bluish stone – and how it could be exploited. Continue reading →

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Ny bok: “Nidarosdomens grunnfjell”. En kulturhistorisk reise i steinbryternes fotspor

Posted on June 14, 2015 by Per Storemyr

Da er det visst offisielt. Og da er en god del års arbeid over. Boken min er i trykken og det blir lansering med foredrag under selveste Olavsfestdagene i Trondheim 30. juli 2015, kl. 12:30.

Boken er en 400 sider lang kulturhistorisk reise i stein – fra Det gamle Egypt og enda lengre tilbake, via romertid og middelalder, helt frem til vår egen tid. Alltid med Nidarosdomen i fokus. Nokså tåket fokus i de riktig gamle dager, naturlig nok, da grunnfjellet til domen ble lagt i et utall steinbrudd under helt andre himmelstrøk enn våre egne. Men så forsvinner tåken mer og mer fra jernalderen og tidlig middelalder – fra da av dreier det seg om det regionale grunnfjellet: steinbruddene som ble brukt til å bygge og restaurere Europas nordligste katedral. Og om steinbryterne som jobbet i bruddene. Hvor er alle disse steinbruddene – og hvem jobbet egentlig i dem?

Jeg kommer tilbake med en utførlig omtale av boken, som blir utgitt av Nidaros Domkirkes Restaureringsarbeiders forlag i samarbeid med Norges geologiske undersøkelse. Boken er støtter av Norsk faglitterær forfatter- og oversetterforening. Continue reading →

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Palaeolithic rock art at risk: New discoveries in Wadi Abu Subeira, Upper Egypt

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Per Storemyr

The number of discovered Late Palaeolithic rock art sites in Wadi Abu Subeira (Upper Egypt) is ever increasing, now with finds also outside of the wadi, at el-Aqba el-Saghira. Archaeologist Adel Kelany of the Ministry of Antiquites (MAS) in Aswan has just published an overview paper, now listing ten sites, all with numerous panels. The largest site has a much as a hundred ones. As previously noted on this blog, this world-class rock art is under heavy pressure from modern mining, though efforts to protect the sites have shown some effect recently. Continue reading →

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New ways of looking at highly organised stone quarrying in Ancient Egypt

Posted on May 20, 2015 by Per Storemyr

The ancient Egyptians are considered “conservative” as regards technology and crafts. Yet, with their mastery of organisation, they took quarrying of stone to new levels, especially from the New Kingdom on, from about 3500 years ago. The manner, in which they quarried their huge amount of stone from then on, is reflected even in modern-day stone quarrying.

In a brand new paper James Harrell and I take a fresh look at the evidence for very systematic extraction of sandstone and limestone that commenced by the New Kingdom. Key is the introduction of very long chisels and broad extraction platforms. The organised quarrying was obviously related to the grand building projects by well-known kings such as Ramesses II. And it is particularly well-displayed at famous quarrying sites, such as Gebel el-Silsila between Luxor and Aswan, and el-Sawayta by Minya. We also follow the manners in which quarrying took place prior to the New Kingdom – and we look at analogies from many periods and cultures, from the Minoans until today.

Read on, and you will get the abstract, a gallery of quarry images and link to the PDF. Continue reading →

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Steinhoggerne – hvem var de? En reise i tid og rom

Posted on April 28, 2015 by Per Storemyr

Mange spør meg om hvem steinhoggerne var i gamle dager. Var de frie folk, var de treller, var de svært proffe? Eller hadde de et yrke som egentlig alle kunne utøve? Ikke lett å svare på! For bryting, hogging og … Continue reading →

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The ancient stone quarries in Egypt as a new, serial World Heritage Site?

Posted on October 28, 2014 by Per Storemyr

Stone quarries were extremely important in ancient cultures, yet they are hardly represented on the World Heritage List. This might be due to misconceptions of the nature of such sites, as producers of raw materials “only”. But in reality many … Continue reading →

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A Palaeolithic, life-size Nubian ibex carved on rock: Adel Kelany with new discoveries in Wadi Abu Subeira, Upper Egypt

Posted on October 27, 2014 by Per Storemyr

Archaeologist Adel Kelany of MSA Aswan recently published a key paper on the Late Palaeolithic rock art in Wadi Abu Subeira, Upper Egypt. The paper reports findings from the site CAS-13, which features a true rock art masterpiece: a life-size, almost two metres long Nubian ibex, accompanied by large-scale images of aurochs. The findings tie in with previously reported Late Palaeolithic rock art in Subeira, a wadi north of Aswan. It is also similar to the now famous Late Palaeolithic rock art analysed by Dirk Huyge and team at Qurta near Gebel el-Silsila and at el-Hosh further downstream of the Nile river. This is rock art dating 15-20.000 years back in time and similar to the grand European Late Palaeolithic rock art traditions. Read on for link to Adel’s paper and more information. Continue reading →

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Fire on the rocks! New paper on firesetting in ancient Egyptian stone quarrying

Posted on September 30, 2014 by Per Storemyr

It started with Egyptologist and engineer Reginald Engelbach almost a hundred years ago. By the early 1920s he found evidence that fire would have been used in extraction of the famous Unfinished Obelisk at the Aswan granite quarries. But he … Continue reading →

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