Aswan,The High Dam and the Unfinished Obelisk

The High Dam

The famous High Dam at Aswan was built in the 1960s in a joint project between Russia and Egypt. The Dam is 11,811 feet long, 3215 feet thick at the base and and 364 feet tall. It provides irrigation and electricity for the whole of Egypt. From the top of the two mile long High Dam you can see across Lake Nasser, the huge reservoir created when it was built. The top of the dam is beautifully finished in highly polished pink granite stone.

		The lake is about 500 miles long and is probably the world's largest artificial lake.
	The High Dam created a 30% increase in the cultivatable land in Egypt. The electricity producing capability of the dam has enabled most of Egypt to receive a power supply. The political situation between Egypt and its surrounding countries means that there is a request for the visitors not to take video footage of the dam.
		The instantly recognisable Egyptian Russian monument is visible for miles around the Aswan area. It was erected as a monument to the project and co-operation between the two countries.
The Unfinished Obelisk
The obelisk mine at Aswan is now a monument. Historically obelisks were mined then ferried down the Nile on beds of reed to the temple building sites down river such as those of Luxor and Karnak. The whole area of the monument is made up of the natural stone. Steps are carved into the stone and several smaller obelisks have left impressions from where they have been  mined.		The monument known as the Unfinished Obelisk is evidence of the quarrying and working techniques of the New Kingdom, when large numbers of obelisks were carved for the temples at Luxor and elsewhere. It measures nearly 42 meters in length. It derives its name from the fact that is was abandoned before it was finished due to faults in the stone. You can see clearly the cracks that caused the problems all those years ago.

The Banks of the Nile  ~ The Valley of the Kings ~ Messing about on the river ~ Aswan ~ Pyramids ~ Lord Kitchener's Island ~ Luxor from the air ~ The Nubian Museum ~ Luxor and Karnak   ~ Abu Simbel ~ Kom Ombo ~ Edfu and Philae ~ The Desert Landscape ~ The Nile Adventure ~ Homes ~ Esna and Edfu Town ~ Miscellaneous Pictures ~ Home