A thorough study of the history of Ancient Egypt and a parallel study of archaeological evidence has led scientists to assert that the Sphinx had a couple.
“Have you ever seen single sphinxes among the architectural monuments of later Egypt? The second Sphinx was mentioned not only by ancient Egyptian sources, but also by the Greeks, Romans, and Arabs. It was destroyed relatively recently - between 1000 and 1200 AD,”says Bassam al-Shammah, a researcher who spent more than ten years searching for the lost structure.
The Second Sphinx, a guardian monument, one of the greatest mysteries of Ancient Egypt, once occupied its place at the pyramids, and now rests on the Giza plateau, hidden under tons of sand and stones. The circumstances under which he disappeared are very mysterious. But the details left in the written documents testify in favor of its real existence.
Ancient Egyptian artifacts testify to the dualistic mindset of the people who created them. Black earth and white sand of the desert, Upper and Lower Egypt, Set and Horus, good and evil, masculine and feminine - duality served as the basis of an ordered world and stood at the origins of polytheism. Hence, a natural question follows: was the second Sphinx "sexless"? If the building we know has a male face, it is likely that the paired architectural monument portrayed a "lioness". In Ancient Mesopotamia, for example, sphinxes could be both male and female. The second hypostasis was characteristic of the art of Syria, Phenicia and Ancient Greece.
Confirmation of this hypothesis can be found in the writings of al-Shamma. After examining numerous ancient texts and satellite images of the pyramids, he concludes: "Whenever we encounter a solar cult, we invariably discuss one lion and one lioness, face to face, back to back, or sitting parallel to each other."
The Egyptologist mentions the ancient Egyptian myth of the creation of the world, in which the almighty Atum gives birth to paired deities - the son of Shu and the daughter of Tefnut - in the form of a lion and a lioness.
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The researcher also points to the Sleep Stele, which is believed to have been carved by order of Pharaoh Thutmose IV and located between the paws of the Great Sphinx. It depicts two lions.
So the second Sphinx of Giza may have been made in the shape of a lioness. But what happened to this structure and where to look for its traces?
Alexander Temarov's "Gizekh trap" also speaks of Thutmose's Stele, which "depicts two Aker lions in the form of sphinxes, personifying sunrise and sunset, east and west":
“Lions Aker, like Atum, are mentioned in the Pyramid Texts, which speaks of the prevalence of the Aker cult during the Old Kingdom. But if the first of the two lions, Horus-m-Aket, Horus on the Horizon, has been perfectly preserved to our time, then did the second Sphinx ever exist? Undoubtedly, if we assume that there were once two sphinxes on the Giza plateau, you need to look for a second, missing lion somewhere in the west. In addition, given the desire of the ancient Egyptians for symmetry, it is safe to assume that the second Sphinx is located on the other side of the north-south axis passing through the center of the pyramid … But which of the pyramids, the first or the second?
Answering his question, the archaeologist gives clear coordinates: “If we consider the stele of Thutmose as a map, we can safely assume that the second Sphinx should be located directly under the pyramid of Khafre, exactly 59 cubits (30.8 m) north of the middle of the southern side of the pyramid, approximately 41 meters below the outer surface of the pyramid”.
But why did the Egyptians have to bury the lion so deep? The fact is that the second Sphinx, apparently, was associated with the other world of the dead. Hence its underground location.
Unfortunately, the Egyptian authorities are unlikely to give permission to drill a well in the pyramid. "And if it suddenly happened," writes Temarov, "it is quite possible that archaeologists would find in this place a chamber with the symbol of the second Sphinx, or even an underground passage leading to the unexplored depths of the Giza plateau …"
Unlike Temarov, al-Shamma believes that the lioness was not in one of the underground chambers, but on the surface. According to the Egyptologist, she was struck and destroyed by a powerful lightning.
The researcher believes that documentary evidence is stored in the texts of the pyramids. For example, one of the gods utters mysterious words: "I was with two, now I am with one." Something terrible must have happened and it destroyed the ancient structure.
The theory of the second Sphinx can be confirmed by satellite photos from the archives of NASA. Thanks to these images, the scientist was able to analyze the density of geological layers on the Giza plateau. In the area where, according to the assumption of al-Shamma, the lost "lioness" was once located, a distinct trace can be seen in the photograph (it is colored yellow).
“This signal,” Bassam explains, “is usually received in the form of pulses of a given length. Waves from 1 cm to 1 m correspond to frequency ranges from 300 MHz to 30 GHz. Echoes become digital information, which is then projected onto the image. Any area consists of many points or pictographic elements, each of which represents a specific location scanned on the ground by the radar. If my hypothesis works, then the remains of the second Sphinx should be looked for in this place."
“The lioness once wore a double metal crown,” the archaeologist continues. "Obviously, a strong lightning struck the structure's neck, destroying it."
Archaeologist Michael Poe agrees with the opinion of ash-Shamma: “In the ancient Egyptian sources of the Middle Kingdom it is said that on the other side of the Nile River there was another Sphinx. Both monuments were built to mark the demarcation line between Northern and Southern Egypt."
However, Poe has his own theory as to where the "Mother of Fear" disappeared: "The second structure was partially destroyed during a powerful flood, and then completely destroyed by the Muslims."
It is impossible to prove which of the scientists is right. The only way to find out the truth is to get permission to excavate and demonstrate to the whole world the evidence for the existence of the second Sphinx. Reports of the beginning of such excavations have appeared since the early 2000s. But time passes, "and the Sphinx is still there." The mystery of the lioness, buried in the silent sands, has not yet been revealed.
Elena Muravyova for neveroyatno.info
