WORKING PROCESS FOR PRODUCING STONE BLOCKS : ANCIENT EGYPTIAN QUARRY AT QURNA

Abstract

Through a brief reconnaissance on the ancient quarry at Qurna in Egypt, some inscriptions with red lines still preserved on the walls and ceilings of the rock-cut galleries were found. Considering from many epigraphic evidences in the late New Kingdom period and suggestion by Petrie, these inscriptions and lines could be progress records of producing stone blocks on a daily output during the reign of Amenhotep III. To our knowledge, such records directly indicating industrial activity at a quarry site are quite rare. This information would open the way for a study on the origins of mankind's construction industry.