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A n c i e n t P l a n e t O n l i n e j o u r n a l
A series of quarry marks depicting, from left to right, a tree, an offering table, an Egyptian star, and a situla. Photos courtesy of Author.
Within the main quarry, the six smaller sections are clearly differentiated in illustrated marks: in the northern section we find a concentration of offering tables and horned altars, while the eastern section emphasises harpoons in various forms, often combined with hourglasses, and in the southern section is a combination of jugs and ankhs. All these marks appear in also other quarries, but the combination with other marks, or the obvious focus in amount, separate them from each other. Then, on the contrary, the western section presents a series of marks that are non-existent in the others, possibly indicating a different time period of workmanship.
Khnum, whose name in hieroglyphs begins with this sign, and it is known that the stone making up the Temple of Khnum at Elephantine Island was quarried from Silsila. Similarly, one part in the main quarry has a high concentration of harpoons, which combined with textual graffiti can be linked with the falcon-god Horus of Edfu, another temple which received its building blocks from Silsila.
This dissimilarity in theme may indicate a purely practical function as we discussed briefly above, but we can explore also the possibility that a specific mark or combination of marks indicates instead an estimated destination. For example, in the combination of the jug and ankh that we mentioned above, the jug (the so called nxmvessel) can be linked with the Egyptian ram-god
For this reason it is important that we look closer at also quarry marks that are preserved within the temples, more exactly on the individual stone blocks that were once extracted from the quarry. Let us use the two temples at Elephantine and in Edfu as we know from above. Belonging to the Temple of Khnum at Elephantine Island is a terrace, which along with an extensive seaside
Above: Quarry mark of a jug, possibly connected with the ram-god Khnum; Below: A group of quarry marks in the form of horned altars and a spiral. Photos courtesy of Author.
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