When the soldiers of Rome first encountered the Sphinx they gazed upon an ancient structure
which was already older than the ruins of the ancient Roman Empire are today.
Staring with mouths no doubt agape in wonder, they likely formulated questions which for
over two millennia have remained largely unanswered.
What was it?
Who built it?
Why?
The great head which appeared before them (the body of the Sphinx was buried in the
desert sands, unseen for hundreds of years before and after the Romans visited) may have
retained the colors applied by its builders, adding to the mystery which stood before them.
Or they may have already been scoured away by the sands of the desert and of time.
Since its rediscovery the Sphinx has added to its mysteries, with every proposed answer
and theory leading to others, yet more secretive.
It has left impressions upon its visitors throughout time.
Napoleon gazed upon it in awe.
Archaeologists, explorers, historians, and tourists have attempted to understand and
explain its purpose, its meaning to those who built it and to those who followed.
Yet it remains among the most mysterious artifacts of the ancient world.
Why it was built, how it was built, what it represented, and what it continues to represent
remain matters of speculation, mysteries unsolved, further enshrouded by the passage of time.
Here are some of the mysteries of the Sphinx, the eternal lion of the Egyptian desert, silent
guardian of the Pyramids.
10.
Who built it?
The short answer, and one which has changed frequently over the centuries, is nobody knows.
At least not to a certainty.
Theories have abounded, with differing views presented based on science, religion, and
even the study of extraterrestrials.
It has been called a device representing astronomical configurations.
It has been called a tribute to the dead.
The bulk of the evidence regarding its origin is circumstantial, and its construction has
been described to support other theories regarding ancient Egypt, each of questionable accuracy
on their own.
Some believe the statue to predate the nearby pyramids, others posit that it was added later.
Today, the consensus is that the face of the statue represents the pharaoh Khafre, though
some maintain that earlier known images of Khafre bear little likeness to the face on
the statue.
Khafre is regarded as the builder of the second pyramid at Giza, and the theory that he built,
or rather had built, the Sphinx is supported by those who believe that a statue in his
likeness was included in the Sphinx Temple, part of the overall complex which was built
as a funerary.
Other Egyptologists of past years disputed Khafre’s contribution to the construction,
claiming it to predate his reign by centuries.
Accurately dating the construction is difficult, as there are no references to the statue,
at least not by name, in any contemporaneous documentation yet discovered.
A causeway near the statue, generally believed to have been built during Khafre’s reign,
is believed by some to have been designed with the existing statue in mind, rather than
as a part of the construction of the statue itself.
Who built the Sphinx remains one of its riddles, to date unanswered, and to many unanswerable
given the existing evidence.
9.
What is the Sphinx?
Whoever built what is now known as the Sphinx aside, it is also unknown by what name the
statue was called by its creator or creators.
No inscriptions have yet been discovered which describe the statue, refer to it by name,
or describe the purpose for which it was intended.
The great statue was not referred to as the Sphinx until over 2,000 years after it was
built, if the most widely accepted date of construction is used as a point of reference.
The term itself is borrowed from the Greek, referring to a mythological being with the
body of a lion, wings of eagles, and the head of a woman.
Other Egyptian “sphinxes” which have been discovered bear the head of a man, the body
of a lion, and lack wings.
Even the name Sphinx comes from Greek, meaning (loosely) to squeeze.
The term refers to the beast squeezing to death those unfortunates who failed to solve
the riddle she presented.
Nearly all known inscriptions connected to the statue refer to it as the “Terrifying
One.”
It has been linked to the sun-god Ra, as well as the god appearing in the form of a jackal,
Anubis.
Anubis was the god of the Necropolis, the city of the dead.
Over 1,000 years after the generally accepted date of its construction it was excavated
and restored for the first time, or rather attempts at such restoration were made.
The pharaoh Thutmose IV directed the excavation of the statue (which had been buried in the
desert sand over the preceding 1,000 years, only its head showing above ground), though
his attempt managed to expose only the front paws.
To mark the event, Thutmose had a granite slab placed between the paws.
Thutmose inscribed the slab, known as the Dream Stele, on which he linked the statue,
already approximately 1,200 years old, with Ra.
8.
How was the Sphinx built?
The Sphinx, contrary to common belief, is not a construction but a carving.
It was hewn out of the rock of a quarry which also provided the limestone blocks for the
construction of the nearby pyramids and the temples and causeways which surround them.
The rock appeared in layers, with each layer presenting differing qualities regarding resistance
to erosion and the ravages of time.
How it was carved is, like all else about the statue, a subject of debate.
It may have been hewn by hammer and chisel, shaped with saws, or blasted with water.
Water, routed through leather hoses, pressurized by decreasing the diameter of the vessels
transporting it, and used to wear away the rock might have been used.
But if water was used, what was its source?
There are those who believe, as much because they have to believe it to support their theory
as for any other reason, that the valley, now arid desert, was once fertile and well-watered.
The theory is given some support through the belief, not fully accepted by the scientific
community, much of the erosion which has damaged the statue is the result of rainwater, rather
than desert sands driven by the winds.
The theory that extensive rainfall damaged the statue furthers the argument that it predates
the time of Khafre, during whose reign the region was arid, much as it is today.
Nonetheless, by the time of the reign of Thutmose IV the Sphinx was buried up to the neck in
the sands of the desert, as has been seen.
Climatologists believe that the last period of heavy and persistent rainfall in the region
occurred over 4000 years BCE, and the level of erosion, if the theory is accepted, indicates
that the statue was built as early as 6000 BCE.
The dates alone lead Egyptologists to consider the theory to be a fringe idea, lacking credence
and scientific evidence, especially since it conflicts with theories of their own.
7.
How was the Sphinx used in Ancient Egypt?
Over time, according to the experts, the significance and use of the Sphinx changed.
In ancient Egypt, the lion was symbolic of the sun, and thus it is believed that the
statue was used for solar worship more than 2,500 years before Christ.
One thousand years later the statue was connected to the worship of the god Harmachis, another
god of the sun.
The Sphinx was at least one thousand years old when a temple to the god Harmachis was
built nearby by the Pharaoh Amenhotep II.
Yet the massive statue meant different things to different beholders.
The Canaanites, a polytheistic people of many tribes often referred to in the Old Testament
of the Hebrews and modern day Christians believed the Sphinx to refer to the god Horon, one
of two gods who held sway as lords of the netherworld.
Despite the beliefs of the Canaanites, covered in detail in the Old Testament which describes
the many conflicts between them and the monotheistic Israelites, the massive statue is not referred
to or otherwise described in the biblical narratives.
How it could be overlooked, when it was a focal point of so many of the ancient tribes
and cultures, is one of its enduring mysteries (particularly given the large number of Israelites
held as slaves by the Egyptians, according to the narrative in Exodus).
The Book of Jeremiah does refer to what it calls “…signs and wonders in the land
of Egypt,” but a more specific description is lacking.
If Moses, or his brother Aaron, or any of the Israelites saw the Sphinx, they evidently
did not find it worthy of comment in the books of the Old Testament.
6.
Why was the Sphinx vandalized in ancient times?
A fairly well-known feature of the Sphinx is that the massive head is lacking a nose.
Instead there is an irregular and roughly textured area of the face where the nose once
was displayed.
For many centuries it was assumed that the facial feature had fallen to the ravages of
the desert and time.
In other words, it simply fell off the face.
The same fate was assumed to have befallen the beard which once adorned the chin of the
statue.
A myth developed in the nineteenth century that a cannonball fired by Napoleon’s troops
during the Battle of the Pyramids destroyed the nose.
In fact, subsequent archaeological research revealed that the nose was deliberately removed,
using either lengthy rods or other instruments designed for the purpose, sometime prior to
the tenth century of the common era.
The unanswered question regarding the act?
Why?
One theory is that Islamic peasants prayed to the Sphinx, offering it sacrifices, in
the belief that the gods would intervene to ensure a better harvest, a sacrilege which
Sufi Muslim leaders could not abide.
The statue was thus desecrated to discourage the practice.
Other sphinxes throughout the region were similarly defaced during the 13th and 14th
century, for similar reasons.
The desecration of the statue was also rumored to be the source of retribution, including
the Crusade of Alexander in 1365.
The status of the beard reputed to once have been a feature of the statue is disputed,
with some scholars believing the beard was an original part of the carving.
Others believe that it was a later addition, though all are in agreement that the beard
is no longer a part of the face, with portions of the stone which formed it recovered from
the sands between the beast’s paws.
5.
Is the human portion of the statue a man or a woman?
The presence of a beard adorning the chin of the massive head of the statue would lead
an observer to assume it depicts the head of a man.
But beginning in the 1500s CE, and continuing well into the nineteenth century, visitors
regularly described the statue as depicting a woman’s head and upper body melded with
the body of a lion.
The description of the statue as being that of a woman was reflected in both written form
and in sketches and paintings by western artists.
The Sphinx was described as having the breasts and neck of a woman, as well as a woman’s
face.
Traces of coloration which remain around the statue’s eyes and the lower face suggested
that the statue at one time presented a garishly multi-colored visage, as that of a woman wearing
heavy makeup.
George Sandys, an English poet, translator of the ancient classics, and extensive traveler
who chronicled his journeys, described the Sphinx as a harlot.
A noted contemporary, German writer Johannes Helferich, described the Sphinx as a “round-breasted
woman.”
Prior to the French Revolution, the overwhelming majority of images of the statue available
in Europe depicted the Sphinx as decidedly feminine in appearance.
Only after the French invasion of Egypt led by revolutionary general Napoleon Bonaparte
were images of the Sphinx which were more interested in accuracy than romanticism widely
available in Europe.
Interestingly it was not until 1755 that European drawings of the statue presented the absent
nose.
4.
Who are the Anunnaki and did they build the Sphinx?
The Anunnaki were the temple gods of the Ancient Sumerians, a trading people who recorded their
activities in cuneiforms, and gave to history among other things the twenty-four hour period
known as one day, divided into periods of sixty minutes each.
An agricultural society, they also left behind a method of preserving grain for consumption
in liquid form, a beverage we know today as beer.
According to a believer in ancient visitors from alien realms, Zecharia Sitchin, the Anunnaki
built the Sphinx, as well as the pyramids, centered in Giza as a port for other visitors.
Sitchin’s theories have been dismissed as both pseudoscience and pseudohistory, but
his works have sold millions of copies around the world to followers of his beliefs.
Though it is easy to dismiss Sitchin’s work, it is not easy to deny the influence he has
over those who believe in extraterrestrial visitations in the ancient world.
The seeming impossibility of explaining much of the mystery which surrounds the Sphinx
and the ancient peoples who saw it in the background every day, just as modern people
see cell towers and giant aircraft soaring overhead, leads some to seek otherworldly
explanations.
Sitchin’s numerous books and interviews have inspired motion pictures, video games,
religious fringe groups, and various clubs and groups who believe that there is no mystery
at all to the Sphinx, it is simply evidence of alien visitation, created by the gods of
the ancient Sumerians.
3.
How has the Sphinx survived for so many thousands of years?
It is no secret that the part of the Sphinx which has had the most difficulty weathering
the passage of time is the head and upper torso.
There is a simple explanation for that seeming mystery.
For most of its existence the majority of the statue has been buried beneath the sands
of the desert which filled the quarry in which it was carved.
Before it was submerged, evidence of erosion was present (remember the postulation that
water was eroding the statue), and the carving was protected by covering the damaged areas
with limestone and sandstone blocks, carved for the purpose, as a sort of laminate.
During an excavation in 2010, a wall was discovered surrounding much of the statue, built of mudbrick,
which ran for more than 400 feet around the Sphinx.
It was determined it was intended to act as a windbreak, erected around the same time
that Thutmose installed the Dream Stele between the paws.
Most of the statue was still buried in the sand at the time.
Not until the 20th century, in a project which began in 1925 and took 11 years to complete,
was the entire statue exposed to view, and thus also to the elements.
The face on the other hand was exposed continuously throughout the millennia since its completion,
as well as being the subject of vandalism, or at the very least religious censorship,
since it was first completed at a time still unknown.
2.
Is the Sphinx linked to the constellation known as Orion, the Hunter?
According to some theorists (Robert Bauval, Graham Hancock, et al) the Great Pyramids
of Giza are aligned in the same manner as the stars which create the “belt” of the
constellation Orion, and when considered along with the Sphinx and the nearby Nile River
present a model of the relationship of Orion and its position with the Milky Way.
According to their calculations, the positions of the stars, if established in relationship
to the pyramids and the Sphinx, are depicted as they were 10,500 years ago.
That would mean that the Sphinx is part of a model displaying the astronomical positions
at that time, and is thus 10,500 years old.
To those subscribing to the theory, Giza is a map, presumably for the use of visitors
from beyond the stars.
They are undaunted by the fact that no artifacts of any kind supporting such an early appearance
of the Sphinx, the Pyramids, or any other man-made structure of the kind have ever been
found in the region.
They are equally undaunted by the fact that their method of establishing the date has
been proven to be inaccurate.
While it is possible that the belt of the constellation could have been used as a guide
for the layout of the Pyramids (the Sphinx is also laid out in a manner which annually
measures the sun’s attitude during the solstices), that in and of itself does not necessarily
indicate a link to interstellar visitation.
Alien influence in the construction of the Sphinx also does not take into account one
important fact about the statue.
After surviving thousands of years, through earthquakes, floods, world wars, the rise
and fall of empires, and all of the vagaries of human existence, the statue is rapidly
crumbling into dust.
1.
Can the Sphinx survive the 21st century?
Modern man is destroying the Sphinx.
The greatest single culprit is the air pollution emanating from the city of Cairo, as well
as high winds and humidity, both of which are increasing and for both of which climate
change is a contributing factor.
Since 1950 – almost three-quarters of a century – organized efforts to save the
statue have been underway.
They are failing.
Concrete used to reinforce the statue was found to be incompatible with the original
stone, and did more damage than good.
Chemical injections to help the stone resist the effects of modern pollution failed to
do so.
Additional limestone blocks were added to reinforce the stone, but they were unable
to prevent further erosion of the original structure.
By the 1980s portions of the left shoulder were crumbling, falling to the ground in pieces,
and attempts to reattach them, or replace them with modern substitutes, also failed.
The structure is crumbling so badly, and its decay accelerating so quickly, that further
exploration of the Sphinx has been for the most part set aside in order to concentrate
on saving what is left before it is too late.
The Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities is responsible for protecting and hopefully
saving the massive structure, the oldest extant relic of the ancient world, as well as the
largest.
With them lies the answer to the greatest of all the mysteries of the Sphinx; can a
marvel created by ancient man survive the foibles and shortsightedness of their modern
successor?
As with all of the mysteries of the Sphinx, the answer remains unknown.