CodexMira
DeepEarlyNeolithicBronze AgeIron Age and ClassicalMedievalEarlyModern

Serapeum boxes

MegalithContested

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This wonder is underground; the view shows the site above it.

Twenty-four colossal boxes, each cut from a single block of granite or basalt, set inside the underground galleries. Estimates run from 60 to 100 tonnes including lids.

ContinentAfricaConfidence: disputed
Group count24Confidence: disputed
Heaviest stone100tConfidence: disputed
MaterialGraniteMohs 6-7 (mineral hardness scale)
QuarryAswan granite quarries (666.0km)calculated straight-line

Claims

FieldConsensusAlternative
Date

664 BCE - 30 BCE

Late Period to Ptolemaic, some inscribed

UNESCO World Heritage List #86
No claims found.
Purpose

Sarcophagi for Apis bulls

UNESCO World Heritage List #86
No claims found.
Method

Copper tools and abrasives

UNESCO World Heritage List #86

Surface precision implies advanced machining

Christopher Dunn (2010) • Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt, 2010

Precision & Alignment

alternativePrecision

Inner faces flat and square to very fine tolerances, implying machining

Christopher Dunn • Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt, 2010
consensusPrecision

Cut and polished with copper tools, abrasive sand and long skilled labor

Egyptological studies of Late Period stoneworking

Related Wonders at Saqqara

Sources: Egyptological studies of Late Period stoneworking • Lost Technologies of Ancient Egypt, 2010 • UNESCO World Heritage List #86

Iron Age and Classical — Serapeum boxes in context.

Iron Age and Classical, 1,200 BCE to 500 CEDates supported by mainstream archaeology. Natural formations remain undated.TimelinePavlopetri, 3,000 BCE - 1,100 BCEUffington White Horse, 1,380 BCE - 550 BCESerapeum galleries, 1,390 BCE - 30 BCEThonis-Heracleion, 700 BCE - 100 BCESerapeum boxes, 664 BCE - 30 BCE4Antikythera mechanism, 205 BCE - 60 BCEAl-Khazneh, Petra, 300 BCE - 100 CE3Colosseum, 70 CE - 80 CE2Aksum stelae, 300 CE - 400 CESerpent Mound, 300 BCE - 1,100 CEGreat Wall of China, 700 BCE - 1,644 CEPavlopetriSerapeum galleries1,000 BCE500 BCE0 CE

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Approximate - counted from January 1, 347 BCE (UTC). Based on the midpoint of 664 BCE - 30 BCE.

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