Hi, everyone!
It’s Chris.
Welcome to World 5 List.
The Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the world’s oldest and largest man-made monuments.
But as glorious as it is, it's also shrouded in mystery.
Here are 8 of the biggest mysteries and theories about the Great Sphinx.
8.
WHO BUILT IT?
When it comes to remarkable architecture, it's practically tradition to acknowledge
and commend those who designed and built these great structures, but when it comes to the
Great Sphinx, giving due credit is not that simple.
Why?
Well, because there is no definitive proof as to who built or commissioned the Sphinx.
Despite the monument’s intricate details, there is no indication of who its creators
were.
There are plenty of theories about who might have ordered the Sphinx to be built.
The biggest, and most popular, theory is that the project was carried out under the leadership
of a Pharaoh known as Khafre.
Many feel that certain aspects of the Sphinx, including the shape and detail of its face,
indicate not only that Khafre commissioned it, but that he had it made to resemble him.
Some scholars, on the other hand, doubt that the Sphinx was built by the Ancient Egyptians.
A prominent ancient astronaut theorist named Zecharia Sitchin believes that it was constructed
by a group of highly intelligent extraterrestrial deities called the Annunaki.
What do you think?
Is the Sphinx the product of hard-working human hands - and if so, who? - or was it
created by aliens?
Let me know in the comments below!
7.
WHO SAW WHAT?
Egypt is a harsh place to live due to its harsh climate, which was no more forgiving
during ancient times than it is now.
The intense, dry heat and blistering sand affected not only the people themselves, but
it also had an impact on their monuments.
The Great Sphinx wasn't always as "complete" as it is now in terms of visibility.
Over the many centuries since its completion, it's been buried by varying levels of sand.
At certain points, only parts of the Sphinx could be seen.
When Napoleon embarked on his failed attempt to conquer Egypt, the only visible part of
the Sphinx was its head, which was sticking out from the sand.
Many of history’s most notable figures likely witnessed the monument in a similar state.
A Frenchman and engineer named Emile Baraize was compelled to fix the "error" that the
sand caused.
He spent a decade between 1925 and 1936 meticulously excavating the area around the Great Sphinx
so that it could be viewed in its entirety.
To this day, thanks to Baraize, we can still see the whole Sphinx.
His excavation also led to further study of the Sphinx.
6.
A POSSIBLE CONNECTION TO ATLANTIS It's not uncommon for legends of grand design
to be attached to cultures and civilizations that don't have an overt connection to them.
Some people believe that the Great Sphinx is connected to Atlantis, and this is admittedly
one such far-out theory.
Yet, it persists.
The Sphinx is said to possess the head of a human but the body of a lion, and if you
ask me, it sure looks that way.
But in the eyes of some, it has supernatural features.
This notion led to the idea that the Sphinx was a being that lived on Atlantis before
the island disappeared.
This theory has been around for centuries.
When Plato first mentioned Atlantis in his writings, some interpreted his words to mean
that Egypt had a connection to the fallen island.
This thought was bolstered by a psychic named Edgar Allan Cayce, who had a "vision" one
day that there was a hidden chamber underneath the Sphinx of Giza, and that within this chamber
was knowledge of Atlantis.
Despite much searching, such a chamber has never been found.
However, some people cling steadfastly to their belief that the Sphinx and Atlantis
are somehow associated with one another.
5.
IT WAS ALIVE?
Many cultures have tales about ancient creatures that defy the imagination, and according to
some writings about the Great Sphinx, the monument was once alive and able to communicate
with people.
There’s only one "confirmed" case of the Sphinx talking, and that was to a man called
Thutmose, who hailed from a royal family in ancient Egypt.
One night, Thutmose slept under the head of the Sphinx - which, at that point in time,
was the only part of the monument not buried in the sand.
As he slept, he heard a voice coming from the Sphinx.
According to the legend, the Sphinx asked Thutmose to free it from its sand prison,
and should Thutmose do so, he would be made Pharaoh of Egypt.
The moment that Thutmose awoke from his dream, he set out to free the Sphinx from its sandy
tomb.
And sure enough, he did it.
The Sphinx was free to be experienced by its people.
True to its "word,” Thutmose would eventually become the Pharaoh of Egypt as Thutmose IV.
The story of Thutmose IV can be found in a tablet between the paws of the Sphinx.
4.
ITS ORIGINAL NAME The Great Sphinx of Giza does not appear in
any literature of the Old Egyptian Kingdom.
It is therefore impossible to determine the name given to the statue by its creators.
There are also no inscriptions that contain information about the monument’s original
purpose or details about its construction.
During the New Kingdom of Egypt, the structure was known as Horemakhet, in association with
the ancient Egyptian god Horus.
The term “Sphinx” most likely came into use about 2,000 after the statue was built.
“Sphinx” is an English word borrowed from Greek vocabulary.
In ancient Greek mythology, the Sphinx was a human-headed lion.
Scholars can’t say with certainty, however, when the term “Sphinx” began being used.
James Allen, an Egyptologist at Brown University, explained in an interview with Smithsonian
Magazine that because the Egyptians didn’t write history, it’s unknown what the Sphinx
was known as to its builders, other than something with divine properties.
3.
WHEN AND WHY IT WAS BUILT There are many highly-debated aspects of the
Great Sphinx, including when it was built.
The year 2500 BC is the commonly accepted date for the construction of the monument.
If this estimation is correct, the Sphinx is around 4,500 years old.
Some people believe that the Great Sphinx might have been created earlier.
Studies carried out in the late 1990’s suggested that the structure may have been built as
far back as 7,000 BC.
This theory was formulated based on the “precipitation-induced weathering” on the upper portion of the
Sphinx.
Archaeologists in support of the theory determined that the last time there was enough precipitation
to cause the pattern of rainfall erosion present on the Sphinx was around 9,000 years ago.
This view was rejected by more “traditional” Egyptologists, who pointed out that there’s
no known evidence of an Egyptian civilization having existed that long ago.
Skeptics of the theory also criticized researchers for ignoring certain factors, such as the
known fact that the Sphinx is a rapidly eroding structure that likely appears older than it
actually is.
The original purpose of the Sphinx is unknown.
One legend states that Khafra wanted to make a pyramid, but the rock they were intending
to use was unstable, so he had a monument dedicated to himself built instead.
Some researchers believe that the Sphinx and its surrounding monuments shared common purposes,
or were built for similar reasons, even if they were built at different points throughout
history.
2.
A SECOND SPHINX?
Almost every time the Sphinx was depicted in ancient Egyptian art, they were featured
in pairs, leading some to researchers to believe that there was a second Sphinx somewhere out
there that was yet to be discovered.
Some scholars believe that within these pairs, one Sphinx was male and the other was female.
In August 2018, a statue that looked similar to the Sphinx was unearthed by construction
workers while they built a road between the ancient temples of Karnak and Luxor in Egypt.
It is believed to be the second Sphinx that scholars have long searched for.
While photos of the newly-discovered monument are conspicuously absent from the news archives,
officials confirmed that it possesses the head of a human and the body of a lion, and
the discovery site is open to the public as the delicate excavation process takes place.
This was the first possible discovery of another Sphinx, despite long-standing rumors of the
existence of such structures.
Of course, there’s always the possibility that there were other Sphinxes, and that some
of them got destroyed, meaning we may never know about them.
1.
HOW IT WAS BUILT The Great Sphinx of Giza is 66 feet tall and
240 feet long, and it was built long before the emergence of modern technology out of
a single, massive piece of limestone.
This huge limestone slab was exposed when workers in the Giza Plateau dug a horseshoe-shaped
quarry.
The most commonly accepted theory about how the Sphinx was built holds that some sort
of pulley system was used and that massive manpower was required to get the job done.
There are conflicting theories regarding whether slave labor was used for the construction
of the Sphinx and other nearby monuments, such as the Pyramids of Giza.
Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s chief archaeologist, strongly believes that the workers who built
these structures were paid laborers that came from poor families, but that they were highly
respected for their hard work.
Regardless of who built the Sphinx, the labor was, without a doubt, backbreaking, and how
this and other monuments came to be can only be partially explained by the experts.
Thanks for watching!
What are YOUR theories about the mysteries of the Great Sphinx?
Let me know in the comments below, and remember to subscribe!
Thanks for watching, and I’ll see you next time!