“The purpose of the Sphinx is becoming a little clearer today. The Atlanteans of Egypt built it as a grandiose statue, the greatest memorial statue and dedicated it to their bright god - the Sun. - Paul Brighton.
"A pile of cobblestones left by the builders of the Great Pyramids during the extraction of stones turned in the time of Khafren (Cheops) into a huge lying lion with the head of a man." - I. E. S. Edwards.
These passages illustrate polar opinions about the Great Sphinx: from mystical perception to cold pragmatism. The statue, which has been in the sand for centuries, has always been enveloped in an aura of mystery, giving rise to speculation about the age of the sphinx, the purpose and method of its creation, the existence inside hidden chambers, as well as about the prophetic gift of the statue and its connection with no less mysterious pyramids.
Mostly similar theories were put forward by desperate Egyptologists and archaeologists, who tried in vain to single-handedly uncover the secrets of the Sphinx. Probably, the national symbol of ancient and modern Egypt, standing like a sentry on the plateau in Giza, at all times played the same role: for centuries it has excited the imagination of poets, scientists, mystics, travelers and tourists. The Sphinx of Giza contains the whole essence of Egypt.
Facing the rising sun, the Great Sphinx sculpture is located on the Giza plateau 6 miles west of Cairo on the west bank of the Nile. The Egyptian government considers him to be the embodiment of the sun god, whom the Egyptians call Khor-Em-Akhet (Horus in the sky). The Sphinx occupies part of the territory of the necropolis in ancient Memphis - the residence of the pharaohs, where the three largest Egyptian pyramids are located - the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops), Khafre (Khafre) and Menkaur (Mikerin). The monument is the largest surviving sculpture of the ancient world - 241 feet long and 65 feet high at its highest point.
Part of the ureya (a sacred snake that protects against evil forces), his nose and ritual beard collapsed over time. The beard is now in the British Museum. The elongated element on the forehead of the Sphinx is a fragment of the royal headdress. Although the head of the sphinx has undergone the devastating effects of erosion for thousands of years, traces of the paint with which it was originally coated can still be seen near the ear of the statue. It is believed that once the face of the sphinx was painted burgundy. A small temple nestled between his paws contains a dozen painted steles erected in honor of the sun god.
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The Sphinx has suffered greatly from the ravages of time, human activities and environmental pollution in our time. In fact, a long stay in the sands saved it from complete destruction. Over the centuries-old history of the monument, many attempts have been made to reconstruct the statue. They began as early as 1400 BC. e., during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose IV.
Once, after a hunt, the pharaoh dozed off in the shadow of a sphinx, and he dreamed that a huge beast was suffocating from the sand absorbing the statue. In a dream, the sphinx told the pharaoh that if he pulled out the beast and cleansed it of the sand, he would receive the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt. Today, between the front paws of the sphinx, you can see a granite stele called the Stele of Dreams, on which the legend of the pharaoh's dream is written.
Although the sculpture was cleared away, it soon found itself in the sand again. When Napoleon appeared in Egypt in 1798, the sphinx was already without a nose. However, the nose disappeared long before the arrival of Napoleon, which is captured in the paintings of the 18th century. One legend says that the nose broke during a bombing raid during the period of Turkish rule. According to another version, probably more plausible), in the VIII century. he was knocked down with a chisel by a Sufi who considered the Sphinx a pagan idol.
In 1858, the founder of the Egyptian Antiquities Service Auguste Mariette began excavating the sculpture, but only a part of it was cleared. In 1925-1936. French engineer Emile Barez, acting on behalf of the Antiquities Service, completed the excavation of the Sphinx. And, probably, for the first time since the time of the legendary Ancient Egypt, the sculpture became available for public viewing.
Most Egyptologists prefer to explain the mystery of the Great Sphinx as follows: the sculpture belongs to Khafren, the pharaoh of the IV dynasty. The image of a lion carved in stone with the face of Khafre himself was created in 2540, at about the same time as the nearby pyramid of Khafre was erected. However, until now, not a single inscription has been found confirming the connection between Khafre and the Sphinx, and no records about the time and purpose of the sculpture's creation either.
Given the grandeur of the monument, such a fact seems rather strange and mysterious. Although not all Egyptologists agree with the traditional version, no one can yet say exactly when and by whom the Sphinx was erected. In 1996, a New York detective, an expert in identification, came to the conclusion that the Great Sphinx did not look like Khafre, but rather resembled his elder veil Djedefre. Discussions on this matter are ongoing.
The unresolved issue of the origin and purpose of the creation of the Sphinx gave rise to more and more versions of the mystical character, such as the theory of the British occultist Paul Brighton or the version of the American medium and seer Edgar Cayce, put forward in the 40s of the XX century. While in a trance, Case predicted that a chamber would be discovered under the sphinx's forepaws, which contains a collection of manuscripts about the lives of those who survived the destruction of Atlantis.
The Great Sphinx was carved from the soft limestone left over from the quarry, from which materials were taken to build the pyramids. The paws were created separately from limestone blocks. One of the main features of the sculpture is that its head is out of proportion to its body. Perhaps it was repeatedly altered, changing the face of the sphinx at the direction of each subsequent pharaoh.
By stylistic features, it can be determined that it is unlikely that changes were made after the period of the Late Kingdom, which ended around 2181 BC. e. It is likely that the head originally depicted a ram or a falcon and was later converted into a human head. Repairs carried out over millennia to preserve the sphinx's head may have also transformed or altered the proportions of the face.
Any of these explanations could cause a change in the size of the head compared to the body, especially if we assume that the Great Sphinx is much older than conventional science believes.
Recently, there has been a lively debate regarding the dating of the monument. The author of one of the versions, John Anthony West, was the first to draw attention to the fact that the surface of the sphinx was exposed to the forces of nature - and to a greater extent suffered from water erosion than from wind and sand.
However, other structures on the plateau have not experienced such a glow. West turned to geologists, and Boston University professor Robert Schoch, having studied the latest findings, confirmed that these were the results of water erosion. Although Egypt's climate is arid today, it was humid and rainy about 10,000 years ago. West and Schoch concluded that in order for it to undergo water erosion, the sphinx must have existed 7,000 to 10,000 years ago. Egyptologists rejected Schoch's theory as flawed. They argued that the frequent once heavy thunderstorms in Egypt had ceased long before the appearance of the Sphinx.
A serious approach to the matter raises the question: why were no other traces of water erosion found on the Giza plateau that could confirm the theory of West and Schoch? It could not rain only over the sphinx. West and Shoha were also criticized for not taking into account the high level of industrial pollution of the local atmosphere, which has had a devastating effect on the monuments of Giza for the past century.
The author of another version about the time of creation and purpose of the Sphinx is Robert Bauvel. In 1989s. he published a paper in which he hypothesized that the three Great Pyramids at Giza, together with the Nile, are creating on earth a kind of three-dimensional hologram of the three stars in Orion's belt and the nearby Milky Way.
Based on Graham Hancock's version of the famous book "Footprints of the Gods", Bauval put forward the theory that both the Sphinx and the nearby pyramids, and all kinds of ancient manuscripts are part of a certain astronomical map associated with the constellation Orion. He came to the conclusion that this hypothetical map corresponded best to the position of the stars in 10,500 BC. e., discarding the version that the sphinx was created in more ancient times.
There are many legends about unusual phenomena, in one way or another connected with the Great Sphinx. Researchers at Florida State University, Waseda University in Japan and Boston University have used supersensitive technology to find a series of atmospheric anomalies over the site. However, these phenomena could also be natural. In 1995, during repair work in the parking lot near the statue, several tunnels and passages were discovered, two of which went deep underground next to the Sphinx. Bauwell suggested that the passages were created at the same time as the statue.
In 1991 - 1993 A group of researchers led by Anthony West, studying the traces of erosion on the monument using a seismograph, discovered something strange: a few meters below the surface between the legs of the statue, as well as on the other side of the sculpture of the sphinx, holes, cavities or chambers of the correct shape were found. However, the expedition did not receive permission to conduct further research. The question arises: maybe there is a grain of truth in the prediction of Edgar Cayce regarding the collection of manuscripts?
Today the great statue is crumbling from winds, humidity and Cairo smog.
In 1950, the development of a large-scale and expensive project for the restoration and conservation of the monument began. The first attempts to restore the monument led to its even greater destruction, since cement was used to restore the structure, which is incompatible with limestone. For six or even more years of reconstruction, about 2000 limestone blocks were used, various chemicals were used, but the efforts were in vain. By 1988, the blocks of the left shoulder of the sphinx had collapsed.
At present, there are ongoing attempts to restore the statue under the strict supervision of the High Council of Antiquities. Restorers are trying to repair a shattered shoulder using a portion of the subsoil. Thus, today all attention is focused on the preservation of the monument, and not on excavation and further research. We can only wait. It will take a long time for the Great Sphinx to reveal its secrets.
B. Houghton
"Great secrets and mysteries of history"