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Monuments
crafted in natural stone stand as witnesses to civilizations - past
and present. Egypt, the land of ancient achievement and modern development,
situated at the crossroads of Asia and Africa, best embodies this.
As
the art of construction is one of the earliest features of civilization,
it is an expression of human life that is as old as culture, virtue and
religion. Buildings and monuments left behind by the great civilizations
have become symbols of the essence of human culture and historical
glory. In this sense, marble and granite have served as the most
magnificent materials history was written with.
It
is universally acknowledged that a body of norms and principles are
common to all civilizations. Different
mentalities behind the varied civilizations led to diverse expressions
of culture, consequently impacting
future lives and generations in a variety of ways.
Again, it was natural stone that, even though not the easiest to
handle among building materials, proved a universal medium to bring
about amazingly different expressions of humanity’s creative genius.
The
world famous pyramids, temples and obelisks attest to the importance
of natural stone to the ancient Egyptian civilization. Beheld in awe
over three millennia by those who came to see them, in centuries past
some of these treasures were taken to grace the capitals of Europe. More
recently, their ingenious forms were copied by architects and builders
the world over.
In
ancient Egypt, building and constructing was one of the ruler’s main
privileges. However, the
actual process of locating the right, non-weathering building
material, cutting chunks of stone large enough to build with and small
enough to be moved, was the everyday work of the slaves.
Some
natural stones found in the deserts of Egypt are not hard, and are
fairly easy to cut, whereas others like the granite found in Aswan are
among the hardest in the world. To obtain such had stones, the old
Egyptians used the technique of cutting and then filling the cuts with
wood, subsequently pouring water onto the wood causing it to expand
and consequently cause the block of stone to break loose. The hardship
of acquiring natural stone, however, was sometimes made easier by one
very specific feature of Egypt’s climate, namely the huge temperature
differences occurring in some regions. Those extreme changes from heat
to cold caused the stone pieces of several kinds to crack and break.
Workers only had to collect them.
Stone
quarries were located very close to the river Nile. When the Pharaoh
decided to build a palace or a temple, he usually called upon a whole
team of workers and artists with all necessary supplies to finish what
ever was ‘commanded by the gods’. The skills mastered by those
artisans and passed along over generations were such that even today
the actual process of building and moving the obelisks all the way from
Heliopolis to Aswan presents itself as a mystery.
Ethnic
mythology and worship of the gods played a more than significant role
in the lives of ancient Egyptians. The art of sculpture, developed
over centuries of Pharaonic culture, was one of the major methods of
preserving its rich heritage. And, of course, no other material but
natural stone marble, granite, diorite and chest - could serve the
artisans’ needs in terms of longevity. Stone rendered eternity to the
monuments, and lent the old Egyptian civilization its undying history.
In
early Islamic times, natural stone was not commonly used, especially on
the Arabian peninsula. Mainly, old stones from derelict buildings and
monuments were reused. Numerous early mosques and Islamic buildings in
Egypt were even erected with stones taken from the pyramids.
As
the Islamic civilization blossomed in later centuries, Arab Architects
came to appreciate the beauty and uniqueness of natural stone. Once
introduced to Islamic Architecture, natural stone proved to be more than
harmonious with it, and became indispensable for all its forms and
manifestations.
The
leading presence of marble and granite in the art of Islamic
construction is evident in all its epochs. In modern times, however, the
use of marble and granite gained further dimensions of creativity
adding to their natural beauty. Marble and granite were considered the
main classy building materials.
Among
the features that make natural stone today preferable to other materials
today, are its physical and chemical characteristics.
No manufactured and industrial building material offers the same
natural, self-protective features, found in natural stone. Concrete and
industrial building materials rarely measure up to the beauty of stone.
Also climate changes and weather conditions have strong effects upon
manufactured materials, resulting in rupture and breakage, and
eventually collapse.
Stone,
is the best embodiment of the building of Egyptian civilization and the
Islamic culture on the Nile, and remains the undisputed material of
choice in the construction of lasting and aesthetically pleasing
buildings in the Egypt of today.
Several types of
stone quarried and used in Egypt, with their characteristics:
| Stone Type |
Pressure
tolerance kglm2 |
Basalt-Diabeez,
some Quartz
Fine grained granite-Diorite- Basalt |
More than 2900
From 1800 – 2900 |
Quartzite -
Limestone - Sandstone
(fine-grained with adhesives) |
|
| Sandstone -
Limestone - Granite (Medium grained) |
From 700 to 1800 |
Lime stone and
porous sand stone
Chalk and high porous sand and lime stone |
From 350 to 700
Less than 350 |
Porous and
absorption values for some types of natural stone:
| Stone
Type |
Porosity
(%) |
Absorption(%) |
| Andizite |
0.72 |
0.28 |
| Basalt |
1.1 |
0.13 |
| Diabiz |
0.17
- 1.0 |
0.06-
0.35 |
| Jabro |
0.29 |
0.13 |
| Granite |
1.11 |
0.44 |
| Granodiorite |
0.5 |
0.19 |
| Brisha
(lime stone) |
0.78 |
0.28 |
| Lime
stone |
1.7 |
0.65 |
| Sandstone |
9.25 |
4.12 |
| Marble |
0.62 |
0.23 |
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