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The plan has not worked, and now many are concerned that the obelisk may crash down on the many who have gathered to move it. The difficult decision is made to abandon NOVA's second attempt in Egypt to raise an obelisk. The ropes are untied. Archeologist Mark Lehner believes that the team made a fundamental mistake by trying to use the complicated rope-and-wood scaffolding inspired by the Egyptian boats. The result was a "monster," he says, concluding: "We should have asked, 'What is the simplest way they could have done it?'" Previous Next How Big Were They? | Cutting Granite with Sand | NOVA Raises an Obelisk Lever an Obelisk | Explore Ancient Egypt | Mysteries of the Nile | Resources | Transcript Medieval Siege | Pharaoh's Obelisk | Easter Island | Roman Bath | China Bridge | Site Map Editor's Picks | Previous Sites | Join Us/E-mail | TV/Web Schedule About NOVA | Teachers | Site Map | Shop | Jobs | Search | To print PBS Online | NOVA Online | WGBH © | Updated November 2000 |