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Abdel Aleem
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Meet the Team
Abdel Aleem, Chief Foreman
NOVA: How long have you been in the quarrying business?
Aleem: Forty-eight years.
NOVA: Do you think we'll get the obelisk up when we
try?
Aleem: One hundred percent sure, with the willing of
God.
NOVA: What do your men think of this project?
Aleem: All of my men are preparing for the erecting of
the obelisk. This is my personal crew—they always work
with me. Once I am convinced of a project, they are convinced
as well. They don't follow me without thinking, but they think
the project is good, because I think it's good.
NOVA: What sort of experience have you had pulling
large pieces before?
Aleem: I have moved objects up to 400 tons before,
using steel rollers.
NOVA: Do you use techniques borrowed from the ancient
Egyptian quarrymen?
Aleem: With small objects, I can use old, traditional
techniques, like rollers and levers. But with a big object, I
use modern machines. I look to the object, and then I think,
"What is available?" I will use an old technique or a modern
technique depending on what is available. Of course, I got
this profession from my parents, who were using old
techniques, so it's something in my blood.
NOVA: Could you move the giant
Unfinished Obelisk
of Aswan?
Aleem: I could use a modern technique to move it. To
lift from the ground 1,200 tons with the ancient methods would
be very difficult. But using new methods and new technology, I
could lift it. There are giant cranes that can hold 350 tons.
I could use three of these in order to lift it. I would have
to coordinate so that the three cranes lift every millimeter
at the same time.
NOVA: Do you think that animals may have been used to
transport the obelisks?
Aleem: I believe the ancient Egyptians used the animals
that existed in their time, such as cows. They also used the
technique of the flood. When the tide went down, they put the
object on wood by the river, then, when the water comes up, it
would raise it. So they used the phenomenon of the flood,
which comes at summertime, to lift up or set down an object.
NOVA: How would you raise NOVA's obelisk?
Aleem: I would use a huge, four-ton block as a
counterweight to make the effort less. I would hang this
weight to a sort of A-frame structure tied to the obelisk.
NOVA: What are some of your achievements in raising
heavy objects?
Aleem: I have constructed a chimney 60 meters (198
feet) high without using any cranes. We built the chimney step
by step—building the top piece first and then raising it
up to fit the next piece. Then we lifted these top two pieces
and put the third piece in and so on.
I am the one who erected the giant statue of Ramses in Cairo
Station. At the time, in 1953, I was helping to build a bridge
in Cairo called the Giza bridge. The government decided to
move the statue of Ramses from Sakkara, a village nearby
Cairo, to the main railway station in Cairo. My men and I
erected this statue in 15 days, without using any modern
cranes, using only primitive methods like hand cranes. It was
a great achievement.
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| Updated November 2000
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