List of the largest monoliths in the world

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Relocation of the 361 t heavy Vatican obelisk by Domenico Fontana in 1586; here the laying down.

The following tables list the largest monoliths in the world according to their weight (in t ). For the purposes of this list, a monolith is a stone that has been detached from the mother rock by human hands and consists of a single piece.

description

When using monumental stones, the real technical challenge is the transport from the quarry and the installation at the destination; this suggests a division into four categories, namely those monoliths that

The latter two operations require the use of cranes , which have been used in the Greco - Roman cultural area since the end of the 6th century BC. Are detectable.

Caution: The weight information is practically nowhere based on weighing , but estimates of the volume and density of the stone (weight = volume × density). Determining precise dimensions is often made more difficult by the fact that the monoliths have meanwhile broken, are in the built-up state or - such as colossal statues - do not have an easily calculable geometric shape. Normally, no rock samples are taken to determine the type of rock, but standard values ​​are used (e.g. 2.75 t / m³ for marble ). This leads to a wide range of weight information in the specialist literature, so that the numerical material can only be used to a limited extent and should be understood as an indicator of the order of magnitude rather than an exact value.

Monoliths in the quarry

This list shows monoliths that have remained in the quarry and are mostly not completely separated from the bedrock on the underside.

image Mass
in t 		Name / location Type place builder comment
Monolith Baalbek.jpg 1,650 Unnamed Monolith II Building block Baalbek ( Lebanon ) Roman Empire 19.6 m long, 6.5 m wide, at least 5.5 m high; only discovered in 2014; lies next to the stone of the pregnant woman
Newly discovered, as yet unnamed monolith 1,242 Unnamed Monolith I Building block Baalbek ( Lebanon ) Roman Empire 19.5–20.5 m long, 4.34–4.56 m wide, 4.5 m high; only discovered in the 1990s
Unfinished Aswan Obelisk 1,100 Unfinished obelisk obelisk Aswan ( Egypt ) Old Egypt 41.75 m long, 2.5–4.4 m wide
Stone of the south 1,000 Stone of the Pregnant Woman (also "Stone of the South") Building block Baalbek ( Lebanon ) Roman Empire 20.31–20.76 m long, 4–5.29 m wide, 4.21–4.32 m high
1.207 NN Column shaft Mons Claudianus ( Egypt ) Roman Empire Approx. 17.7 m long

Transported monoliths

This list shows monoliths that were transported over land and possibly also by water.

image Mass
in t 		Name / location Type place builder comment
The thunder stone, on it the equestrian monument of Peter the Great 1,250 Thunder stone Boulder St. Petersburg ( Russia ) Russian Empire Pulled 6 km overland, then ship transport
Colossal statue of Ramses II. 1,000 Ramesseum statue Thebes ( Egypt ) Old Egypt Almost 19 m high, red Aswan granite , around 1260 BC Chr.
Podium of the Temple of Jupiter with the Trilithos (top row) ∅ 800 Trilith /
Jupiter Temple from Baalbek 		Building blocks, three Baalbek ( Lebanon ) Roman Empire Podium of the Temple of Jupiter
Colossi of Memnon ∅ 700 Colossi of Memnon Statues , two Thebes ( Egypt ) Old Egypt The north of the two statues is composed of several stones after a partial collapse and restoration in Roman times.
'Western Stone' 1.550-600 Wailing Stone /
Wailing Wall 		Building block Jerusalem ( Israel ) Ancient Israel (Jews)
'Stele Park in Axum' 1.517 Great stele from Aksum stele Aksum ( Ethiopia ) Aksumite Empire Large stele lying (upright height 33 m) behind the 25 m high stele (Obelisk von Axum) returned from Italy in 2005
Podium of the Temple of Jupiter with the 800-ton trilithos and the 350-ton stones below ∅ 350 Jupiter Temple of Baalbek Building blocks, seven Baalbek ( Lebanon ) Roman Empire Podium of the Temple of Jupiter, stone layer under the three 800-ton trilithos
The great menhir broken today 1.350 Big menhir megalith Locmariaquer ( France ) Megalithic culture In the 5th millennium BC Built in BC
The great menhir broken today > 200 Sacsayhuamán Building block Cuzco ( Peru ) Inca Wall built in the second half of the 15th century, the largest stone is 9 m high, 5 m wide, 4 m thick and was transported 20 km overland

Crane moving monoliths

This list includes monoliths that were transported over land and possibly also by water and brought into their final position at their destination with cranes .

Erected monoliths

Monoliths that are known or suspected to have been pulled into an upright position by cranes.

image Mass
in t 		Name / location Type place builder comment
Alexander Column on Palace Square 600 Alexander Column Column shaft St. Petersburg ( Russia ) Russian Empire Established in 1834
Vatican obelisk 361 Vatican obelisk obelisk Rome ( Italy ) Pope Sixtus V. Relocated and erected by Domenico Fontana in 1586
Pompey column 285 Pompey column Column shaft Alexandria ( Egypt ) Roman Empire Erected in 297 AD

Elevated monoliths

Monoliths that are known or assumed to have been lifted from the ground by cranes.

image Mass
in t 		Height
in m 		Name / location Type place builder comment
Mausoleum of Theodoric 230 Mausoleum of Theodoric Domed roof Ravenna ( Italy ) Ostrogoth Empire
108 ≈19th Jupiter Temple Cornice block Baalbek ( Lebanon ) Roman Empire
163 ≈19th Jupiter Temple Architrave - frieze block Baalbek ( Lebanon ) Roman Empire
Top of the Trajan Column. The capital is the protruding, rectangular stone with the metal parapet, not far from the top. 153.3 ≈34 Trajan's Column Capital block Rome ( Italy ) Roman Empire Dedicated in 113 AD

See also

Remarks

  1. ↑ Last installer

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Coulton 1974, p. 7
  2. ↑ a b Lebanese-German research team discovers the world's largest ancient stone block in Baalbek. German Archaeological Institute , November 21, 2014, accessed on November 23, 2014 .
  3. ↑ Ruprechtsberger 1999, p. 17
  4. ↑ Klemm & Klemm, 1993, p. 323f.
  5. ↑ Ruprechtsberger 1999, p. 15
  6. ↑ Maxfield 2001, p. 158
  7. ↑ Scaife 1953, p. 37
  8. ↑ Adam 1977, pp. 42-45
  9. ↑ Schulz; Seidel 1997, p. 193
  10. ↑ a b Adam 1977, p. 52
  11. ↑ Isler 2001, p. 236f.
  12. ↑ Isler 2001, p. 236
  13. ↑ Lancaster 1999, p. 428
  14. ↑ Adam 1977, pp. 50f.
  15. ↑ Heidenreich, Robert; Johannes, Heinz 1971, p. 63
  16. ↑ a b Coulton 1974, p. 19
  17. ↑ Lancaster 1999, pp. 419, 426

literature

  • Adam, Jean-Pierre (1977): "On the subject of trilithon de Baalbek: Le transport et la mise en oeuvre des mégalithes", in: Syria , vol. 54, no. 1/2, pp. 31-63
  • Coulton, JJ (1974): "Lifting in Early Greek Architecture", in: The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Vol. 94, pp. 1-19
  • Heidenreich, Robert; Johannes, Heinz (1971): Theodoric's tomb in Ravenna , Franz Steiner Verlag, Wiesbaden
  • Isler, Martin (2001): "Sticks, Stones, and Shadows. Building the Egyptian Pyramids", University of Oklahoma Press, ISBN 0-8061-3342-2
  • Klemm, Rosemarie; Klemm, Dietrich D. (1993): Stones and Quarries in Ancient Egypt , Springer, Berlin, ISBN 3-540-54685-5
  • Lancaster, Lynne (1999): "Building Trajan's Column", in: American Journal of Archeology , Vol. 103, No. 3, pp. 419-439
  • Maxfield, Valerie A. (2001): "Stone Quarrying in the Eastern Desert with Particular Reference to Mons Claudianus and Mons Porphyrites", in: Mattingly, David J .; Salmon, John (Ed.): Economies Beyond Agriculture in the Classical World , Leicester-Nottingham Studies in Ancient Society, Vol. 9, Routledge, London, pp. 143-170, ISBN 0-415-21253-7
  • Ruprechtsberger, Erwin M. (1999): "From the quarry to the Jupiter temple of Heliopolis / Baalbek (Lebanon)", in: Linzer Archäologische Forschungen , Vol. 30, pp. 7–56
  • Scaife, CHO (1953): "The Origin of Some Pantheon Columns", in: The Journal of Roman Studies , Vol. 43, p. 37
  • Schulz, Regine; Seidel, Matthias, Ed. (1997): Egypt. The world of the pharaohs , Könemann, Cologne, ISBN 3-89508-541-3