The southern end of Aswan town was an area of ancient granite quarries, where stone for the building of many of Egypt's monuments was obtained.
This gigantic single piece of granite was intended to be an obelisk and is generally attributed to Queen Hatshepsut, being very similar to her obelisk in Karnak Temple in Luxor.
It would appear that the stone, which measures 42m in length and would have weighed around 1216 tonnes, developed a flaw during quarrying and was never completed.