Stonework was one of the earliest industries in traditional Egypt.2 traditional ala baster quarry sites have been identified, one at Wadi Gera and the other near Helena and in an area south of Mania. While Egyptian alabaster, geologically known as Calcium carbonate, was worked from the Pre-Dynastic time on, it was most well liked in the New Dominion . The employment of alabaster in Egypt dates well into the Pharaonic period of Egyptian history, and it is clear when one visits the churches, crypts and museums in Egypt. The first alabaster was a kind of Calcite, a see though spread of gypsum.

On the toughness scale of one to ten, the alabaster would stand at just two to 2.5 soft enough to scrape with a fingernail. Due to the low toughness, it is easy to cut and polish, but it's also simply weathered, particularly in wet conditions. Due to its softness , alabaster is sometimes carved for statuary and other ornamental purposes.

Traditional pharaohs used alabaster for many purposes, including home goods, ritual objects, and for a range of different funerary purposes like sarcophaguses and canopic equipments. The Working of hard stone reached its height in the 3rd and 4th dynasties (2600 2400 BC). The early vessels were of straightforward but chic shape, frequently with flat broad edges and little lug handles for suspension. The traditional workmen demonstrated their mastery of this medium as they formed hard stone as though it were clay, manufacturing a variety of finely crafted vessels. There have been no intact stone drilling tools recovered from traditional Egypt, though part of a stone employee toll kit survived. Ornamental crypt paintings showing daily existance scenes have been the top source of info as to how stone pots were carved.