Unfinished obelisk

[1] The obelisk and wider quarry were inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1979 along with other examples of Upper Egyptian architecture, as part of the "Nubian Monuments from Abu Simbel to Philae" (despite the quarry site being neither Nubian, nor between Abu Simbel and Philae).

If finished it would have measured around 41.75 metres (137.0 ft)[1] and would have weighed nearly 1,090 tonnes (1,200 short tons).

[3] The obelisk's creators began to carve it directly out of bedrock, but cracks appeared in the granite and the project was abandoned.

[5] Also discovered were some rock carvings and remains that may correspond to the site where most of the famous obelisks were worked.

All these quarries in Aswan and the unfinished objects are an open-air museum and are officially protected by the Egyptian government as an archaeological site.