Aswan - Southem Quarries

From the quarries the causeway continues south, first passing through the hills and then descending into a picturesque valley, after which it follows a level course and comes in some 45minutes to the Southem Quarries, facing eastward towards the desert. Here, too, there are rough hewn blocks abandoned by the ancient stone cutters. On a rock face is carved an inscription in the name of Amenophis III, but the name and figure of the stone cutter who carved it have been obliterated. Beside it are two trough shaped sarcophagi of the Ptolemaic or Imperial period on which work has only been begun, and near by are a colossal statue of a king (of which all but the feet have been covered with sand) and a large rectangular block, perhaps intended for the shrine of a god. Some 5minutes' walk farther on, near the top of the cliff above the wide valley through which the railroad runs on to Shelial, stands a figure of Osiris (popularly called Ramesses), measuring some 20ft/6m, with a crown and beard, the arms crossed over the breast.