Truth behind Sunken Obelisks in Nile River, Op-ed

We are always digging for monuments between sand and the middle of houses and in the waters of the Mediterranean but nobody has thought that we could dig in the Nile River.

The project to recover sunken monuments in the Nile River came after many studies and ideas. There was an idea for this project to be funded by a foreign archaeologist, but we preferred that this work be purely Egyptian.

What led us to think about this project is the number of stones of all kinds that were transported throughout the Pharaonic history to make statues, temples, and pyramids, which were transported by the Nile River.

This river is the only archaeological site in Egypt that has not yet been uncovered, especially since it was the main artery for the transportation of huge monuments blocks from quarries to various archaeological sites during the Pharaonic era.

I think the transfer of these monumental masses is one of the most important works facing the archeologists. We can imagine that there are granite obelisks that weigh about 400 tons were transported throughout the Nile.

This is in addition to the Memnon statue that weighs 750 tons and is currently located in front of the Temple of King Amenhotep III on the western mainland from Luxor, the statue of King Ramses II located in the Temple of Ramesseum on the Western mainland and weighs 1000 tons of granite, and another statue of the same king located inside the museum of Meit Rahinah.

There is also the statue, which was transported on August 25, from about 12 years from Ramses Station to the site of the Grand Egyptian Museum, which weighs 83 tons.

There are other works of statues, paintings, and coffins, and we can imagine these weights on wooden boats. Some believe that these effects cannot be transferred, and this is a mistake; Because the ancient Egyptians were adept at the process of transporting them, and they were familiar with the stone anatomy.

I think that the Pharaohs had many experiences of failure until they reached this great success. There are several incomplete engineering projects such as the incomplete Obelisk in Aswan, and many statues, panels, and columns missing.

There are also theories about the pharaohs learning from their mistakes in the process of loading, transporting and emptying these huge stone blocks during the Nile cruise, and this is what makes them know the correct method of transportation.

By Dr. Zahi Hawass