Democratic Sentinel, Volume 17, Number 37, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 29 September 1893 — Ancient Engineering. [ARTICLE]

Ancient Engineering.

A fragment of bas-relief discovered in Egypt has shown how the obelisks and other large monoliths were transported from the quarry to their site The stone is depicted upright on a great galley or vessel, which is being towed by a number of small boats alongside. This method of detaching a monolith from the mother rock is also explained by a semi-de. Bached block in one of the quarries of Syene. After having been hewn clear on three sides a deep groove was cut into the side still attached to the rock, and the holes were pierced, into which wooden pegs were driven. The pegs were then wetted and the wood in swelling broke off the monolith from the quarry.