[SunkenCiv]

Well put -- they worked in stone because they were rooted in the Neolithic. They used stone to cut stone, and the discarded, worn out tools looke like, well they're bits of stone. The job was extravagant of labor and time, but a large number of workers accomplished a lot by each doing a little simultaneously. The finer work was done by a smaller number who were just better at it.

Even tomb-painting got done that way -- the text was roughed in, and the corrections were made by the master, who proofread the work. The corrections are found over the originals, seen now because the final painted versions have flaked off.

This isn't a criticism of the ancient Egyptians -- they did magnificent work, even if it isn't all the gleaming perfection seen in those coffeetable books. The fact that they did it with sweat and effort makes it even more impressive. I'm also glad I didn't have to do the work.

• Evidence of a lost Ancient Civilization at the Serapeum of Saqqara [ch 5, Conclusion] | Posted on 06/09/2019

[wildbill]

Forget about the smooth outsides of “sarcophagi” in the Serapheum Lets assume you can get hordes of diorite rock chippers banging away for years.

But Try to hollow out huge “sarcophagi” with granite hammers and then achieve plumb sides, edges and squared corners inside. As well as finely fitted lids that form a seal?????

I don’t see how it could be done because there wouldn’t be room to swing a hammer with any force. And how many workers could you get into such a cramped workspace to hammer at the same time??/ Maybe some kind of acid might work??

Maybe someone could post a picture or two of those granite boxes.

[SteveH]

Spirochete:

which egyptian museum did you visit? the stuff in most museums can be hand-me-down objects of relatively little value (significance and beauty). my impression is that the egypt government and modern culture frowns upon objects kept outside of egypt (sometimes acquired by quasi-legal means or worse).

SunkenCiv:

Your explanation does not explain the unknown means of production of the petri cores and holes and of high precision of the planed and inscribed granite work. I believe those remain unsatisfactorily explained by archaeologists. Getting more people involved does not necessarily result in higher quality. It seems more likely that it would take different and higher levels of skill to coordinate large numbers of skilled individuals into making single sculptures of (net) high precision. Again, think of doing such a thing today, even with modern advanced precision tools. Also, iron for iron chisels (alleged by some to be used for granite holes in preparation for splitting) would be only 4 on the Mohs scale. Also, IIRC some of the obelisk inscriptions are in bas relief, which would seem to interfere with any simple methods used for accurate granite planing.