The Great Sphinx at Giza, Egypt

The Great Sphinx of Giza (Arabic: أبو الهول "The Father of Fear") is a half-human, half-lion Sphinx statue in Egypt, on the Giza Plateau at the west bank of the Nile River, near modern-day Cairo. The largest monolith statue in the world, it stands 73.5 metres (241 feet) long, 6 m (20 ft) wide, and 20 m (65 ft) high. Commonly believed to have been built by ancient Egyptians in the 3rd millennium BC, it is the earliest known monumental sculpture.^[1] Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 988 KB) Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 988 KB) Licensing I, the creator of this work, hereby grant the permission to copy, distribute and/or modify this document under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1. ... For other uses, see Sphinx (disambiguation). ... The Giza pyramid field, viewed from the southwest. ... For other uses, see Nile (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Cairo (disambiguation). ... A monolith is a geological or technological feature such as a mountain, consisting of a single massive stone or rock. ... Map of Ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was the civilization of the Nile Valley between about 3000 BC and the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 BC. As a civilization based on irrigation it is the quintessential example of an hydraulic empire. ... The 3rd millennium BC spans the Early to Middle Bronze Age. ...

Origin and identity

The Great Sphinx is one of the world’s largest and oldest statues, yet basic facts about it such as the real-life model for the face, when it was built, and by whom, are debated. These questions have collectively earned the title “Riddle of the Sphinx,” a nod to its Greek namesake, although this phrase should not be confused with the original Greek legend. For other uses, see Sphinx (disambiguation). ...

The Sphinx against Khafre’s pyramid

The Great Sphinx is thought by most Egyptologists to represent the likeness of King Khafra (also known by the Hellenised version of his name, Chephren) who is often credited as the builder as well. This would place the time of construction somewhere between 2520 BC and 2494 BC. Because the limited evidence giving provenance to Khafra is ambiguous and circumstantial, the idea of who built the Sphinx, and when, continues to be the subject of debate. As Dr. Selim Hassan stated in his report regarding his excavation of the Sphinx enclosure of the 1940s: Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 982 KB) Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Great Sphinx of Giza Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high resolution version (2272x1704, 982 KB) Licensing File links The following pages link to this file: Great Sphinx of Giza Metadata This file contains additional information, probably added from the digital camera or scanner used to create or digitize it. ... The Pyramid of Khafra and the Great Sphinx of Giza Portrait of Khafra, originally found at Mit Rahina, now residing in the Egyptian Museum, in Cairo. ... Provenance is the origin or source from which anything comes. ...

Taking all things into consideration, it seems that we must give the credit of erecting this, the world’s most wonderful statue, to Khafre, but always with this reservation that there is not one single contemporary inscription which connects the Sphinx with Khafre, so sound as it may appear, we must treat the evidence as circumstantial, until such time as a lucky turn of the spade of the excavator will reveal to the world a definite reference to the erection of the Sphinx.^[2]

Supporting Egyptologists believe that the context of the Sphinx resides within part of the greater funerary complex credited to Khafra which includes the Sphinx and Valley Temples, a causeway, and the 2nd pyramid.^[3] Both temples display the same architectural style employing stones weighing up to 200 tons. It is generally accepted that the temples, along with the Sphinx, were all part of the same quarry and construction process.

One circumstantial piece of evidence used to support the Khafra theory includes a diorite statue of the king that was discovered buried upside down along with other debris in the nearby Valley Temple. Because of its relative proximity to the Sphinx, it is from this relationship that Egyptologists further associate Khafra with the Sphinx. Categories: Mineral stubs | Igneous rocks ...

In addition, the Dream Stela erected by Pharaoh Thutmose IV in the New Kingdom is believed by Egyptologists to associate the Sphinx with King Khafra. When discovered, however, the lines of text were incomplete, only referring to a “Khaf,” and not the full “Khafra.” The missing syllable “ra” was later added to complete the translation by Thomas Young, on the assumption that the text referred to “Khafra.” Young’s interpretation was based on an earlier facsimile in which the translation reads as follows:^[4] Stele is also a concept in plant biology. ... For other uses, see Pharaoh (disambiguation). ... Menkheperure Established in forms is Re Nomen Thutmose Thoth bore him Consort(s) Nefertari, Iaret, Mutemwiya Issues Amenhotep III, Siatum (?), Amenemhat, Tiaa, Amenemopet, Petepihu, Tentamun Father Amenhotep II Mother Tiaa Died 1391 BC or 1388 BC Burial KV43 Thutmose IV (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis IV and meaning Thoth... The New Kingdom is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BCE and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt. ...

...which we bring for him: oxen... and all the young vegetables; and we shall give praise to Wenofer ...Khaf.... the statue made for Atum-Hor-em-Akhet.

Regardless of the translation, the stela offers no clear record of in what context the name Khafra was used in relation to the Sphinx – as the builder, restorer, or otherwise. The lines of text referring to Khafra flaked off and were destroyed when the Stela was re-excavated in the early 1900s.

In contrast, the “Inventory Stela” (believed to date from the 26th dynasty 664-525 BC) found by Auguste Mariette on the Giza plateau in 1857, describes how Khufu (the father of Khafra, the alleged builder) discovered the damaged monument buried in sand, and attempted to excavate and repair the dilapidated Sphinx. Because of the late dynasty origin of the document and reference to Khufu as the builder and not the accepted Khafra, this particular section of the Inventory Stela is often dismissed by Egyptologists as late dynasty historical revisionism ^[5] despite other sections relating to Khufu being used by Egytologists as plausible historical reference ^[6].

Traditionally, the evidence for dating the Great Sphinx by Egyptologists has been based primarily on fragmented summaries of early Christian writings gleaned from the work of the Hellenistic Period Egyptian priest Manethô, who compiled the now lost revisionist Egyptian history Aegyptika. These works, and to a lesser degree, earlier Egyptian sources, mainly the “Turin Canon” and “Table of Abydos” among others, combine to form the main body of historical reference for Egyptologists, giving a consensus for a timeline of rulers known as the “King’s List,” found in the reference archive; the Cambridge Ancient History.^[7][8] As a result, since Egyptologists have ascribed the Sphinx to Khafra, establishing the time he reigned would date the monument as well.

In 2004, French Egyptologist Vassil Dobrev announced the results of a 20-year reexamination of historical records, and uncovering of new evidence that suggests the Great Sphinx may have been the work of the little known Pharaoh Djedefre, Khafra’s half brother and a son of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid of Giza. Dobrev suggests it was built by Djedefre in the image of his father Khufu, identifying him with the sun god Ra in order to restore respect for their dynasty.^[9] Year 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Egyptian pharoah Djedefra was the successor and the only surviving son of Khufu. ... For other uses, see Khufu (disambiguation). ... The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now Cairo, Egypt in Africa, and is the only remaining member of the Seven Wonders of the World. ... For other uses, see Ra (disambiguation). ...

Former director of the German Institute of Archaeology in Cairo, Rainer Stadelmann, suggests it was Khufu, and not his son Khafra, who was responsible for constructing the monument. Stadelmann bases his ideas on the distinct iconography of the headdress and missing collapsed beard (the remains are housed in the Cairo museum), which he argues is more indicative of the style of Khufu than Khafra.^[10]. He supports this by suggesting that Khafra’s causeway was built to conform to a pre-existing structure, which he concludes, given its location, could only have been the Sphinx.^[11]

Early Egyptologists

Many of the most prominent early Egyptologists and excavators of the Giza plateau believed the Sphinx and its neighboring temples to pre-date the 4th dynasty. British egyptologist E. A. Wallis Budge stated in his 1904 book Gods of the Egyptians: E. A. Wallis Budge in his office at the British Museum around the turn of the century. ... 1904 (MCMIV) was a leap year starting on a Friday (see link for calendar). ...

This marvelous object [the Great Sphinx] was in existence in the days of Khafre, or Khephren, and it is probable that it is a very great deal older than his reign and that it dates from the end of the archaic period.

French Egyptologist and Director General of Excavations and Antiquities for the Egyptian government, Gaston Maspero, who surveyed the Sphinx in the 1920s asserts: Gaston Camille Charles Maspero (June 23, 1846 - June 30, 1916), French Egyptologist, was born in Paris, his parents being of Lombard origin. ...

The Sphinx stela shows, in line thirteen, the cartouche of Khephren. I believe that to indicate an excavation carried out by that prince, following which, the almost certain proof that the Sphinx was already buried in sand by the time of Khafre and his predecessors.^[12]

Notwithstanding this, the Sphinx’ link with Khafra continues to be the view most widely held by Egyptologists. An Egyptologist is any archaeologist, historian, linguist, or art historian who specializes in Egyptology, the scientific study of Ancient Egypt and its antiquities. ...

Description

The Great Sphinx in 1867. Note its unrestored original condition, still partially buried body, and a man standing beneath its ear.

What name ancient Egyptians called the statue is unknown. The commonly used name “Sphinx” was given to it in antiquity based on the legendary Greek creature with the body of a lion, the head of a woman and the wings of an eagle, though Egyptian sphinxes have the head of a man. The word “sphinx” comes from the Greek Σφιγξ — Sphinx, apparently from the verb σφιγγω — sphingo, meaning “I strangle,” as the sphinx from Greek mythology strangled anyone incapable of answering her riddle. A few, however, have postulated it to be a corruption of the ancient Egyptian Shesep-ankh, a name applied to royal statues in the Fourth Dynasty, though it came to be more specifically associated with the Great Sphinx in the New Kingdom. In medieval texts, the names balhib and bilhaw referring to the Sphinx are attested, including by Egyptian historian Maqrizi, which suggest Coptic constructions, but the Egyptian Arabic name Abul-Hôl, which translates as “Father of Terror,” came to be more widely used. The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... The two-dimensional work of art depicted in this image is in the public domain in the United States and in those countries with a copyright term of life of the author plus 100 years. ... For other uses, see Sphinx (disambiguation). ... Classical antiquity is a broad term for a long period of cultural history centered on the Mediterranean Sea, which begins roughly with the earliest-recorded Greek poetry of Homer (7th century BC), and continues through the rise of Christianity and the fall of the Western Roman Empire (5th century AD... The bust of Zeus found at Otricoli (Sala Rotonda, Museo Pio-Clementino, Vatican) Greek mythology is the body of stories belonging to the Ancient Greeks concerning their gods and heroes, the nature of the world and the origins and significance of their own cult and ritual practices. ... For other uses, see Lion (disambiguation). ... The Fourth dynasty of Egypt was the second of the four dynasties considered forming the Old Kingdom. ... The New Kingdom is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BCE and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt. ... Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhammad al-Maqrizi (1364 - 1442); Arabic: , was an Egyptian historian more commonly known as al-Maqrizi or Makrizi. ... The Coptic language is a direct descendant of the ancient Egyptian language which was once written in Egyptian hieroglyphic, hieratic, and demotic scripts. ... Egyptian Arabic (MarÄ« مصري) is part of the Arabic macrolanguage of the Semitic branch of the Afro-Asiatic language family. ...

The Great Sphinx is a statue with the face of a man and the body of a lion. Carved out of the surrounding limestone bedrock, it is 57 metres (185 feet) long, 6 m (20 ft) wide, and has a height of 20 m (65 ft), making it the largest single-stone statue in the world. Blocks of stone weighing upwards of 200 tons were quarried in the construction phase to build the adjoining Sphinx Temple. It is located on the west bank of the Nile River within the confines of the Giza pyramid field. The Great Sphinx faces due east, with a small temple between its paws. For other uses, see Lion (disambiguation). ... For other uses, see Limestone (disambiguation). ... Look up ton in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ... For other uses, see Nile (disambiguation). ... Gizeh is also a popular brand in Germany of cigarette rolling papers; see Mascotte (rolling papers). ...

Restoration

After the Giza Necropolis was abandoned, the Sphinx became buried up to its shoulders in sand. The first attempt to dig it out dates back to 1400 BC, when the young Thutmose IV formed an excavation party which, after much effort, managed to dig the front paws out. Tutmosis IV had a granite stela known as the Dream Stela placed between the paws. The stela reads, in part: 19th-century tourists in front of the Sphinx - view from South-East, Great Pyramid in background The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. ... Centuries: 16th century BC - 15th century BC - 14th century BC Decades: 1450s BC 1440s BC 1430s BC 1420s BC 1410s BC - 1400s BC - 1390s BC 1380s BC 1370s BC 1360s BC 1350s BC Events and Trends Palace of Minos destroyed by fire (1400 BC) Several board games, including Alquerque, carved... Menkheperure Established in forms is Re Nomen Thutmose Thoth bore him Consort(s) Nefertari, Iaret, Mutemwiya Issues Amenhotep III, Siatum (?), Amenemhat, Tiaa, Amenemopet, Petepihu, Tentamun Father Amenhotep II Mother Tiaa Died 1391 BC or 1388 BC Burial KV43 Thutmose IV (sometimes read as Thutmosis or Tuthmosis IV and meaning Thoth... For other uses, see granite (disambiguation). ... This article is about the stone structure. ...

...the royal son, Thothmos, having been arrived, while walking at midday and seating himself under the shadow of this mighty god, was overcome by slumber and slept at the very moment when Ra is at the summit (of heaven). He found that the Majesty of this august god spoke to him with his own mouth, as a father speaks to his son, saying: Look upon me, contemplate me, O my son Thothmos; I am thy father, Harmakhis-Khopri-Ra-Tum; I bestow upon thee the sovereignty over my domain, the supremacy over the living ... Behold my actual condition that thou mayest protect all my perfect limbs. The sand of the desert whereon I am laid has covered me. Save me, causing all that is in my heart to be executed.^[13] For other uses, see Ra (disambiguation). ... Khepri as a scarab beetle, pushing the sun across the sky In Egyptian mythology, Khepri (also spelt Khepera, Kheper, Chepri, Khepra) is the name of a minor god. ... For other uses, see Ra (disambiguation). ... History Atum (alternatively spelt Tem, Temu, Tum, and Atem) is an early deity in Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred on the Ennead of Heliopolis. ...

Ramesses II may have also performed restoration work on the Great Sphinx. Usermaatre-setepenre The Justice of Re is Powerful, Chosen of Re Nomen Ramesses (meryamun) Born of Re, (Beloved of Amun) Horus name [2] Kanakht Merymaa Golden Horus [2] Userrenput-aanehktu[1] Consort(s) Henutmire, Isetnofret, Nefertari Maathorneferure Issue Bintanath, Khaemweset, Merneptah, Amun-her-khepsef, Meritamen see also: List of children...

It was in 1817 that the first modern dig, supervised by Captain Caviglia, uncovered the Sphinx’s chest completely. The entirety of the Sphinx was finally dug out in 1925. 1817 was a common year starting on Wednesday (see link for calendar). ... Year 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

The Great Sphinx on December 26, 1925, undergoing restoration.

Image File history File links Download high resolution version (963x741, 104 KB) Summary Restoration work (December 26, 1925), published photograph is publicly made available by Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, on its worldwide web site and may be downloaded, . Image is publicly released subject to conditions publicly posted at http... Image File history File links Download high resolution version (963x741, 104 KB) Summary Restoration work (December 26, 1925), published photograph is publicly made available by Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, on its worldwide web site and may be downloaded, . Image is publicly released subject to conditions publicly posted at http... is the 360th day of the year (361st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1925 (MCMXXV) was a common year starting on Thursday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ...

Missing nose

The one-metre-wide nose on the face is missing. Some legends claim that the nose was broken off by a cannon ball fired by Napoléon’s soldiers and that it still survives, as do diverse variants indicting British troops, Mamluks, and others. However, sketches of the Sphinx by Dane Frederick Lewis Norden made in 1737 and published in 1755 illustrate the Sphinx without a nose. The Egyptian historian al-Maqrizi, writing in the fifteenth century, attributes the vandalism to Muhammad Sa'im al-Dahr, a Sufi fanatic from the khanqah of Sa'id al-Su'ada. In 1378, upon finding the Egyptian peasants making offerings to the Sphinx in the hope of increasing their harvest, Sa'im al-Dahr was so outraged that he destroyed the nose, and was hanged for vandalism. Al-Maqrizi describes the Sphinx as the “Nile talisman” on which the locals believed the cycle of inundation depended. For other uses, see Nose (disambiguation). ... Napoléon I, Emperor of the French (born Napoleone di Buonaparte, changed his name to Napoléon Bonaparte)[1] (15 August 1769; Ajaccio, Corsica – 5 May 1821; Saint Helena) was a general during the French Revolution, the ruler of France as First Consul (Premier Consul) of the French Republic from... Mamluk Flag Eastern Mediterranean 1450 Capital Cairo Language(s) Arabic, Kipchak Turkic[1] Religion Islam Government Monarchy [[Category:Former monarchies}}|Mamluk Sultanate, 1250]] History  - As-Salih Ayyubs death 1250  - Battle of Ridanieh 1517 Today part of  Egypt  Saudi Arabia  Syria  Palestine  Israel  Lebanon  Jordan  Turkey  Libya A Mamluk cavalryman... Frederic Louis Norden (October 22, 1708 – September 22, 1742), Danish naval captain and explorer. ... Taqi al-Din Ahmad ibn Ali ibn Abd al-Qadir ibn Muhammad al-Maqrizi (1364 - 1442); Arabic: ‎, was an Egyptian historian more commonly known as al-Maqrizi or Makrizi. ... Sufism (Arabic تصوف taṣawwuf) is a system of esoteric philosophy commonly associated with Islam. ... Fanaticism is an emotion of being filled with excessive, uncritical zeal, particularly for an extreme religious or political cause, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby. ... It has been suggested that this article or section be merged with Tekke. ...

Another possible reason for the missing nose is the action of 4500 years of wind and weather on the soft limestone. ^[14]

In addition to the lost nose, a ceremonial pharaonic beard is thought to have been attached, although this may have been added in later periods after the original construction. Egyptologist Rainer Stadelmann has posited that the rounded divine beard may not have existed in the Old or Middle Kingdoms, only being conceived of in the New Kingdom to identify the Sphinx with the god Horemakhet (citation needed-see ref.11&12). This may also relate to the later fashion of pharaohs, which was to wear a plaited beard of authority—a false beard (chin straps are actually visible on some statues), since Egyptian culture mandated that men be clean shaven. Pieces of this beard are today kept in the British Museum and the Egyptian Museum. London museum | name = British Museum | image = British Museum from NE 2. ... Main entrance of the Egyptian Museum The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to the most extensive collection of pharaonic antiquities in the world. ...

Centuries of Sphinx images

In the last 700 years there have been an endless number of travel reports from Lower Egypt, unlike Upper Egypt where reports prior to the mid 18th century are a rarity. Alexandria, Rosetta, Damietta, Cairo and the Giza Pyramids are described repeatedly, but not necessarily comprehensibly. Many travellers gained fame and fortune due to their often highly popular works, such as: George Sandys, André Thévet, Athanasius Kircher, Balthasar de Monconys, Jean de Thévenot, John Greaves, Johann Michael Vansleb, Benoît de Maillet, Cornelis de Bruijn, Paul Lucas, Richard Pococke, Frederic Louis Norden and many more. But there is an even larger crowd of more anonymous people that have left us reports, whose reports exist only in obscure and little read works, sometimes only as unpublished manuscripts in libraries or private collections, such as; Henry Castela, Hans Ludwig von Lichtenstein, Michael Heberer von Bretten, Wilhelm von Boldensele, Pierre Belon du Mans, Vincent Stochove, Christophe Harant, Gilles Fermanel, Robert Fauvel, Jean Palerne Foresien, Willian Lithgow, Joos van Ghistele, etc. Map of Lower and Upper Egypt Lower Egypt is the northern-most section of Egypt. ... Map of Upper and Lower Egypt Ancient Egypt was divided into two kingdoms, known as Upper and Lower Egypt. ... (17th century - 18th century - 19th century - more centuries) As a means of recording the passage of time, the 18th century refers to the century that lasted from 1701 through 1800. ... This article is about the city in Egypt. ... Rosetta Rosetta is the anglicised name of the city of Rashid, a harbor on the Mediterranean coast in Egypt. ... Damietta is a port in Dumyat, Egypt on the Mediterranean Sea at the Nile delta, about 200 kilometres north of Cairo. ... For other uses, see Cairo (disambiguation). ... 19th-century tourists in front of the Sphinx - view from South-East, Great Pyramid in background The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. ... George Sandys (March 2, 1578 - 1644), English traveller, colonist and poet, the seventh and youngest son of Edwin Sandys, archbishop of York. ... André de Thevet (1502 in Angouleme - November 23, 1590 in Paris) was a French Franciscan priest, explorer, cosmographer and writer who travelled to Brazil in the 16th century and described the country, its aboriginal inhabitants and the historical episodes involved in the France Antarctique, a French settlement in Rio de... Athanasius Kircher ( ) (sometimes erroneously spelled Kirchner) was a 17th century German Jesuit scholar who published around 40 works, most notably in the fields of oriental studies, geology and medicine. ... Balthasar de Monconys (1611 - 1665), French diplomat, physician and a magistrate. ... Jean de Thévenot (June 16, 1633 - November 28, 1667) was a French traveller in the East, who wrote extensively about his journeys. ... John Greaves (1602 - October 8, 1652), English mathematician and antiquary, was the eldest son of John Greaves, rector of Colemore, near Alresford in Hampshire. ... Johann Michael Vansleb (November 1, 1635 in Erfurt - 1679) was a German theologian, linguist and Egypt traveller. ... Benoît de Maillet, from Description de lÉgypte Paris, 1735. ... Cornelis de Bruijn (c. ... Paul Lucas (1664 in Rouen - 1737 in Madrid) was a French merchant, naturalist, physician and antiquarian to King Louis XIV. He travelled extensively in Greece, Turkey, the Levant and Egypt, in three major voyages (1699-1703), (1704-1708) and (1714-1717). ... Richard Pococke (1704-1765) was an English prelate and anthropologist. ... Frederic Louis Norden (October 22, 1708 – September 22, 1742), Danish naval captain and explorer. ... Wilhelm von Boldensele (c. ...

Nevertheless it took Europeans some time to focus accurately on the image of the Sphinx. Seven years after visiting Giza, André Thévet (Cosmographie de Levant, 1556) describes the Sphinx as "the head of a colossus, cause to be made by Isis, daughter of Inachus, then so beloved of Jupiter". He pictured it as a curly haired monster with a grassy dog collar. Athanasius Kircher (who never visited Egypt) depicts the Sphinx as a Roman statue, reflecting his ability to conceptualize, rather than to depict accurately (Turris Babel, 1679). Johannes Helferich's (1579) Sphinx is a pinched-face round breasted women with straight hair, the only edge over Thevet that the hair suggests the flaring lappets of the headdress. George Sandys states that the Sphinx is a harlot; Balthasar de Monconys interpret the headdress as a kind of hairnet, while François de La Boullaye-Le Gouz's Sphinx has a rounded hairdo with bulky collar. William Hogarths 1731 engraving of A Harlots Progress is about a young woman, Mary Hackabout, who arrives in London from the country. ... La Boullaye-Le Gouz from his travel book Les Voyages et Observations, 1657 edition. ...

Richard Pococke's Sphinx is an adoption of Cornelis de Bruijn's drawing of 1698, featuring only minor changes, but is closer to the actual appearance of the Sphinx than anything previously. With Norden arrives the first near realistic drawings of the Sphinx (Voyage d'Egypte et de Nubie, 1755), and he is the first known to depict the missing nose. Voyage dEgypte et de Nubie (1755) records Frederic Louis Nordens extensive documentation and drawings of his voyage though Egypt in 1737-1738. ...

Gallery

André Thévet, Cosmographie de Levant (1556) Image File history File links Size of this preview: 494 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (961 × 1166 pixel, file size: 380 KB, MIME type: image/png)The Great Sphinx of Giza in André Thévet, Cosmographie de Levant (1556) This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in...	Hogenberg & Braun (map), Cairus, quae olim Babylon (1572), exists in various editions, from various authors, with the Sphinx looking different. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...	Jan Sommer, (unpublished) Voyages en Egypte des annees 1589, 1590 & 1591, Institut de France, 1971 (Voyageurs occidentaux en Égypte 3) Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 531 pixelsFull resolution (1429 × 949 pixel, file size: 2. ...	George Sandys, A relation of a journey begun an dom. 1610 (1615) Image File history File links Size of this preview: 773 × 600 pixelsFull resolution (1551 × 1203 pixel, file size: 4. ...
François de La Boullaye-Le Gouz, Les Voyages et Observations (1653) Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 597 pixelsFull resolution (823 × 614 pixel, file size: 85 KB, MIME type: image/png)The Great Sphinx of Giza in François de La Boullaye-Le Gouz, Les Voyages et Observations (1653) This image is in the public domain because...	Balthasar de Monconys‎, Journal des voyages (1665) Image File history File links Size of this preview: 429 × 599 pixelsFull resolution (454 × 634 pixel, file size: 248 KB, MIME type: image/png)The Great Sphinx of Giza in Balthasar de Monconys, Journal des voyages (1665) This image is in the public domain because its copyright has expired in...	Olfert Dapper, Description de l'Afrique (1665), note the two different displays of the Sphinx. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Olfert Dapper (1635/1636? in Amsterdam - 1689 in Amsterdam) was a Dutch physician, writer and expert on Africa. ...	Cornelis de Bruijn, Reizen van Cornelis de Bruyn door de vermaardste Deelen van Klein Asia (1698) Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...
Johanne Baptista Homann (map), Aegyptus hodierna (1724) Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...	Frederic Louis Norden, Voyage d'Égypte et de Nubie (1755) Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...	Frederic Louis Norden, Voyage d'Égypte et de Nubie (1755) Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ...	Description de l'Egypte (Panckoucke edition), Planches, Antiquités, volume V (1823), also published in the Imperial edition of 1822. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... IDescription de lÉgypte (English: Description of Egypt) is the monumental French comprehensive scientific description of ancient and modern Egypt as well as its natural history. ...
Description de l'Egypte (Panckoucke edition), Planches, Antiquités, volume V (1823), also published in the Imperial edition of 1822. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... IDescription de lÉgypte (English: Description of Egypt) is the monumental French comprehensive scientific description of ancient and modern Egypt as well as its natural history. ...	Jean-Léon Gérôme's Bonaparte Before the Sphinx, 1867–1868. Image File history File links Size of this preview: 800 × 474 pixelsFull resolution (2048 × 1214 pixel, file size: 146 KB, MIME type: image/jpeg) File links The following pages on the English Wikipedia link to this file (pages on other projects are not listed): Napoleon I of France User:D... Pollice Verso by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1872, is the immediate source of the thumbs down gesture in popular culture. ...

Mythology

The Great Sphinx was believed to stand as a guardian of the Giza Plateau, where it faces the rising sun. It was the focus of solar worship in the Old Kingdom, centered in the adjoining temples built around the time of its probable construction. Its animal form, the lion, has long been a symbol associated with the sun in ancient Near Eastern civilizations. Images depicting the Egyptian king in the form of a lion smiting his enemies appear as far back as the Early Dynastic Period of Egypt. During the New Kingdom, the Sphinx became more specifically associated with the god Hor-em-akhet (Greek Harmachis) or Horus at the Horizon, which represented the Pharaoh in his role as the Shesep ankh of Atum (living image of Atum). A temple was built to the northeast of the Sphinx by King Amenhotep II, nearly a thousand years after its construction, dedicated to the cult of Horemakhet. The Giza pyramid field, viewed from the southwest. ... The Old Kingdom is the name commonly given to that period in the 3rd millennium BC when Egypt attained its first continuous peak of civilization in complexity and achievement – this was the first of three so-called Kingdom periods, which mark the high points of civilization in the lower Nile... Overview map of the ancient Near East The terms ancient Near East or ancient Orient encompass the early civilizations predating classical antiquity in the region roughly corresponding to that described by the modern term Middle East (Egypt, Iraq, Turkey, Israel, Palestinian Authority, Lebanon, Jordan, Syria), during the time roughly spanning... The Early Dynastic Period of Egypt is taken to include the First and Second Dynasties, lasting from 2920 BC, following the Protodynastic Period of Egypt, until 2575 BC, or the beginning of the Old Kingdom. ... The New Kingdom is the period in ancient Egyptian history between the 16th century BCE and the 11th century BC, covering the Eighteenth, Nineteenth, and Twentieth Dynasties of Egypt. ... For other uses, see Pharaoh (disambiguation). ... History Atum (alternatively spelt Tem, Temu, Tum, and Atem) is an early deity in Egyptian mythology, whose cult centred on the Ennead of Heliopolis. ... Aakheperure Great are the forms of Re Nomen Amenhotep Heka Iunu Amun is Satisfied, Ruler of Heliopolis Horus name Ka Nakht Wer Pekhty Strong Bull, Great of Power Nebty name User Fau Sekha Em Wast Powerful of Splendour, Appearing in Thebes Golden Horus Ity Sekhemef em Tau Neb Who seizes...

Alternative theories

In common with many famous constructions of remote antiquity, the Great Sphinx has over the years been the subject of numerous alternative theories and assertions. These alternative theories of the origin, purpose and history of the monument typically invoke a wide array of sources and associations, such as neighboring cultures, astrology, lost continents and civilizations (e.g. Atlantis), numerology, mythology and other esoteric subjects. Hand-coloured version of the anonymous Flammarion woodcut (1888). ... Lost lands are continents, islands or other regions believed by some to have existed during prehistory, but to have since disappeared as a result of catastrophic geological phenomena or slowly rising sea levels since the end of the last Ice Age. ... For other uses, see Atlantis (disambiguation). ... Numerology is any of many systems, traditions or beliefs in a mystical or esoteric relationship between numbers and physical objects or living things. ... For other uses, see Mythology (disambiguation). ... Look up Esotericism in Wiktionary, the free dictionary. ...

Water erosion

French scholar, mathematician, philosopher, and amateur Egyptologist R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz in the 1950s was the first to note water erosion to the Sphinx, an idea expanded upon by writer John Anthony West in the 1970s. In the 1990s Robert M. Schoch of Boston University investigated the geology of the Sphinx at the urging of John Anthony West, and concluded based solely on the geological evidence that the Sphinx must be much older than currently believed. Schoch has argued that the particular weathering found on the body of the Sphinx and surrounding “ditch” or “hollow” the monument was carved from, displays evidence that can only be caused from prolonged water erosion.^[15] Egypt’s last time period where there was a significant amount of rainfall ended during the late 4th to early 3rd millennium BC. Schoch claims the amount of water erosion the Sphinx has experienced indicates a construction date no later than the 6th millennium BC or 5th millennium BC, at least two thousand years before the widely accepted construction date and 1500 years prior to the accepted date for the beginning of Egyptian civilization. R.A. Schwaller de Lubicz (1887--1961),born in Alsace-Lorraine, was one of the most important philosophers, mathematicians, and Egyptologists of the twentieth century. ... Robert M. Schoch is an American geologist and academic with an especial interest in pyramid monuments around the world. ... For the similarly named institution in Chestnut Hill, see Boston College. ... The 3rd millennium BC spans the Early to Middle Bronze Age. ... During the 6th millennium BC, agriculture spreads from the Balkans to Italy and Eastern Europe and from Mesopotamia to Egypt. ... // Events 4860 BC - Mount Mazama in Oregon collapses, forming a caldera that later fills with water and becomes Crater Lake, the deepest lake in the United States. ...

English geologist Colin Reader concludes that the Sphinx is only several hundred years older than the traditionally accepted date believing the Sphinx to be a product of the Early Dynastic period.^[16] Independently, geologist David Coxill has also come forward to confirm in principle Schoch’s findings, but like Reader has taken a more conservative approach to the dating of the Sphinx, yet concludes: “Nevertheless, it (the Sphinx) is clearly older than the traditional date for the origins of the Sphinx-in the reign of Khafre, 2520-2490 B.C.”^[17] Both Schoch and Reader base their conclusions not only on the Sphinx and surrounding enclosure, but have also taken into account other congruent weathering features found on the Giza plateau from monuments such as the Sphinx Temple which are known to be consistent with the time period the Sphinx was constructed. Colin Reader is an English geologist with an interest in Ancient Egypt and is also secretary of The Manchester Ancient Egypt Society. ...

Because these conclusions require a re-dating of the Sphinx to an earlier time, this theory has not been accepted by mainstream Egyptologists. Alternative theories offered by Egytologists to explain this type of erosion include wind and sand, acid rain, exfoliation or the poor quality of the limestone used to construct the Sphinx. Schoch, Reader, and Coxill have independently argued, regardless of when the Sphinx was actually built, that none of these explanations can account for what they consider as geologists to be “classic” water erosion patterns which clearly differ from erosion caused by wind and sand as suggested by Egyptologists ^[18]. The term acid rain is commonly used to mean the deposition of acidic components in rain, snow, fog, dew, or dry particles. ... Geological exfoliation of granite at Enchanted Rock State Natural Area, Texas, USA Exfoliation in geology is a weathering process, mainly caused by freeze-thaw cycles. ... A geologist is a contributor to the science of geology. ...

Schoch has also noted as have others that the clearly evident disproportionately small size of the head compared to the body suggests the head to have been originally that of a lion, but later re-carved to give the likeness of a pharaoh. This implies that the Egyptian Kings were the inheritors of an already existing structure of which they re-made in their own image to give provenance over the monument.^[19]

Hancock and Bauval

One well-publicised debate^[20] was generated by the works of two writers, Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval, in a series of separate and collaborative publications from the late 1980s onwards. Their claims include that the construction of the Great Sphinx and the monument at Tiwanaku in modern Bolivia was begun in 10,500 BC; that the Sphinx's lion-shape is a definitive reference to the constellation of Leo; and that the layout and orientation of the Sphinx, the Giza pyramid complex and the Nile River is an accurate reflection or “map” of the constellations of Leo, Orion (specifically, Orion’s Belt) and the Milky Way, respectively. Graham Hancock (born August 2, 1950) is a British writer and journalist. ... Robert Bauval was born on 5 March 1948 in Alexandria, Egypt to parents of Belgian origin. ... Area of the Middle Horizon The Gate of the Sun Tiwanaku (Spanish spellings: Tiahuanaco and Tiahuanacu) is an important Pre-Columbian archaeological site in Bolivia. ... The Upper Paleolithic (or Upper Palaeolithic) is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. ... For other uses, see Lion (disambiguation). ... This article is about the star grouping. ... Leo (IPA: , Latin: , symbol , ) is a constellation of the zodiac. ... 19th-century tourists in front of the Sphinx - view from South-East, Great Pyramid in background The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. ... For other uses, see Nile (disambiguation). ... Orion (IPA: ), a constellation often referred to as The Hunter, is a prominent constellation, one of the largest and perhaps the best-known and most conspicuous in the sky[1]. Its brilliant stars are found on the celestial equator and are visible throughout the world, making this constellation globally recognized. ... For other uses, see Milky Way (disambiguation). ...

Their initial claims regarding the alignment of the Giza pyramids with Orion (“…the three pyramids were an unbelievably precise terrestrial map of the three stars of Orion’s belt”— Hancock’s Fingerprints of the Gods, 1995, p.375) are later joined with speculation about the age of the Sphinx (Hancock and Bauval, Keeper of Genesis, published 1997 in the U.S. as The Message of the Sphinx). By 1998’s The Mars Mystery, they contend: Fingerprints of the Gods is a book first published in 1995 by speculative author Graham Hancock, in which he contends that some previously unidentified ancient but highly-advanced civilization had existed in prehistory, one which served as the common progenitor civilization to all subsequent known ancient historical ones. ...

…we have demonstrated with a substantial body of evidence that the pattern of stars that is “frozen” on the ground at Giza in the form of the three pyramids and the Sphinx represents the disposition of the constellations of Orion and Leo as they looked at the moment of sunrise on the spring equinox during the astronomical “Age of Leo” (i.e., the epoch in which the Sun was “housed” by Leo on the spring equinox.) Like all precessional ages this was a 2,160-year period. It is generally calculated to have fallen between the Gregorian calendar dates of 10,970 and 8810 BC. (op. cit., p.189) Position of vernal equinox occurring in Pisces after leaving Aries constellation (through the precession of the equinoxes backward motion). ... Most Western astrological systems divide the horoscope into a number (usually twelve) of houses whose positions depend on time and location rather than on date. ... Europe and surrounding areas in the 9th millennium BC. Blue areas are covered in ice. ...

A date of 10,500 B.C. is chosen because they maintain this is the only time in the precession of the equinoxes when the astrological age was Leo and when that constellation rose directly east of the Sphinx at the vernal equinox. They also suggest that in this epoch the angles between the three stars of Orion’s Belt and the horizon was an “exact match” to the angles between the three main Giza pyramids. This time period coincidentally also coincides with the American psychic Edgar Cayce’s “dating” of Atlantis. Precession of the equinoxes refers to the precession of the Earths axis of rotation. ... Position of vernal equinox occurring in Pisces after leaving Aries constellation (through the precession of the equinoxes backward motion). ... Leo the lion Leo is an astrological sign, which originated from the constellation Leo, and is the fifth sign of the zodiac. ... Illumination of Earth by Sun on the day of equinox The vernal equinox (or spring equinox) marks the beginning of astronomical spring. ... This article is about the astronomical object. ... Edgar Cayce (1877 – 1945) was one of the best-known American psychics of the 20th century and made many highly publicized predictions. ... Edgar Cayce (March 18, 1877 – January 3, 1945) (pronounced or like Casey) was an American who claimed psychic abilities. ... For other uses, see Atlantis (disambiguation). ...

In 2007 Bauval’s Orion Correlation Theory (OCT) was offered substantial corroboration by writer and researcher, Scott Creighton, who showed that the relative placement of the two sets of ‘Queens Pyramids’ concord with the precessional motion of the Orion Belt stars across a period of some 13,000 years. Creighton’s work demonstrates how the three Queens Pyramids of Menkaure in the SW of the plateau mimic the alignment of the three Orion Belt stars on the SW horizon c.10,500BC (at minimum culmination) and then rotated 90° and placed on the eastern horizon c.2,500AD (at maximum culmination) as depicted by the three ‘Queens Pyramids’ of Khufu. Thus the ‘Queens Pyramids’ effectively mimic the precessional ‘pendulum swing’ of the three belt stars as depicted by the three main Giza pyramids. Creighton’s work may also explain why the Pharaoh Khafre – who had five known wives – has built no Queens Pyramids beside his tomb in the centre of the plateau. As precessional markers there is only the need to mark the beginning and end points of the ‘pendulum swing’ – there is no need for intermediary precessional markers thus no ‘Queens Pyramids’ of Khafre.^[21]

Also in 2007, Creighton presented an hypothesis which demonstrates how – using the asterism generated by the three Orion Belt stars - the actual dimensions (length and breadth) of the three main pyramids at Giza can be easily determined.^[22]

These and other theories are used to support the overall belief in an advanced and ancient, but now vanished, global progenitor civilization. Central New York City. ...

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Great Sphinx of Giza

• Great Pyramid of Giza
• Sphinx
• Giza
• Giza pyramid complex
• Lion (heraldry)

Image File history File links Commons-logo. ... The Great Pyramid of Giza is the oldest and largest of the three pyramids in the Giza Necropolis bordering what is now Cairo, Egypt in Africa, and is the only remaining member of the Seven Wonders of the World. ... For other uses, see Sphinx (disambiguation). ... Gizeh is also a popular brand in Germany of cigarette rolling papers; see Mascotte (rolling papers). ... 19th-century tourists in front of the Sphinx - view from South-East, Great Pyramid in background The Giza Necropolis stands on the Giza Plateau, on the outskirts of Cairo, Egypt. ... The winged lion of Mark the Evangelist for centuries has been the national emblem and landmark of Venice (detail from a painting by Vittore Carpaccio, 1516) The lion is a common charge in heraldry. ...

Notes

This article concerns the British newspaper. ... is the 179th day of the year (180th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 2005 (MMV) was a common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... John Lloyd (born 1951 in Dover, England; birth name: John Hardress Wilfred Lloyd), British comedy writer and producer. ... John Mitchinson is the head of research for the British television panel game QI, and co-author of The Book of General Ignorance with QIs creator John Lloyd. ... QI: The Book of General Ignorance (UK cover) The Book of General Ignorance is a series of books based on the final round in the intellectual British panel game QI, written by John Lloyd and John Mitchinson. ...

External links

• An academic article arguing the case for water erosion evidence
• Egypt—The Lost Civilization Theory
• Satellite images of Great Sphinx of Giza at WikiMapia = Google maps + wiki
• The Sphinx’s Nose
• Sphinx photo gallery
• Al Maqrizi’s account in Arabic

v • d • e Ancient Egypt

Architecture · Art · Chronology · Cuisine · Dynasties · Geography · History · Mathematics · Medicine · Religion · Pharaohs · People · Language · Sites · Technology · Writing // WikiMapia is an online map and satellite imaging resource that combines Google Maps with a wiki system, allowing users to add information (in the form of a note) to any location on Earth. ... Khafres Pyramid and the Great Sphinx of Giza, built about 2550 BC during the Fourth Dynasty of the Old Kingdom,[1] are enduring symbols of the civilization of ancient Egypt Ancient Egypt was a civilization in Northeastern Africa concentrated along the middle to lower reaches of the Nile River... Image File history File linksMetadata Size of this preview: 800 × 532 pixelsFull resolution (4372 × 2906 pixel, file size: 4. ... For at least ten thousand years, the Nile valley has been the site of one of the most influential civilizations in the world which developed a vast array of structures known as Ancient Egyptian architecture. ... Ancient Egyptian art refers to the style of painting, sculpture, crafts and architecture developed by the civilization in the lower Nile Valley from c. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... An Egyptian couple harvesting from a painting in the tomb from the early Ramessid period. ... This page lists articles on dynasties of Ancient Egypt. ... Archaeological evidence indicates that a distinct culture was developing in the Nile valley from before 5000 BC. What is now called the Pharaonic Period is dated from around 3100 BC, when Egypt became a unified state, until its survival as an independent state ceased in 332 BC, with its conquest... This article or section is in need of attention from an expert on the subject. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ... For other uses, see Pharaoh (disambiguation). ... The following is a list of Ancient Egyptian people. ... Map of Ancient Egypt List of Ancient Egyptian sites, throughout all of Egypt and Nubia Sites are listed with their classical name whenever possible, else their modern name and last if no other available their ancient name. ... The characteristics of Ancient Egyptian technology are indicated by a set of artifacts and customs that lasted for thousands of years. ... The writing systems of ancient Egypt include: Egyptian hieroglyphs Cursive hieroglphs Hieratic Demotic the Coptic alphabet Other texts discovered in Egypt and dating to the period before Islam include those written in: the Greek alphabet the Latin alphabet the Cuneiform script the Old Persian cuneiform script Tifinagh the South Arabian... Egyptology · Egyptologists · Ancient Egypt portal The Great Sphinx of Giza against Khafres Pyramid at the Giza pyramid complex. ... Egyptologist is the designation given to an archaeologist or historian who specialises in Egyptology, the scientific study of Ancient Egypt and its antiquities. ...

Coordinates: 29°58′31″N 31°08′16″E / 29.97528, 31.13778 Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically), Eckert VI projection; large version (pdf, 1. ...