... 1992) detailed the work of Robert M. Schoch, a geologist whose research demonstrated that the limestone core of the Sphinx dates from 5000 B.C.E. The Wear Patterns on the other buldings, Supposedly built at the same time, are textured by sand and wind, which is consistent if the buildings are, as believed, around 4000 years old. Great Sphinx of Giza, colossal limestone statue of a recumbent sphinx located in Giza, Egypt, that likely dates from the reign of King Khafre ( c. 2575– c. 2465 bce) and depicts his face. Georgia Guidestones: Who Paid for It and Why? The Great Sphinx of Giza, a giant limestone figure with the body of a lion and the head of a man wearing a pharaoh’s headdress, is the national symbol of Egypt—both ancient and modern—and one of the world’s most famous monuments. I've set myself the goal of knocking my 166,000 word manuscript 'The Sphinx Scrolls' into shape during 2010 and 2011. Because it is carved out of stone, carbon dating is out of the question. Historic Mysteries is an Amazon Associate and earns from qualifying purchases. Carved from the natural limestone of the Giza Plateau, known as the Mokkatam Formation, the Sphinx is known to erode very quickly, which would explain why it looks older than its age. The features of the face, the headdress, and the shape of the head are reminiscent of the 4th Dynasty (2613-2494 BC). However, some recent studies have suggested that … Most Egyptologists link it to Pharaoh Khafra (2558-2532 BC) who built the second largest pyramid in the Giza plateau. Much heavier rains occurred before 5000 BC, making a date around or before then more feasible to him and others. Despite its iconic status, geologists, archaeologists, Egyptologists and others continue to debate the Sphinx’s enduring “riddle”: Exactly how old is it? He's gone as far as to say Yonaguni is partially man-made (which most geologists will scoff at). © 2021 A&E Television Networks, LLC. We have the tomb of the pyramid builders. Supporters of this hypothesis point to extensive erosion of the limestone near the top of the Great Sphinx, arguing that the last time the region experienced enough rainfall in the region to cause this type of erosion on limestone was 7000 B.C. Dr. Hawass has said that none of these theories (regarding an earlier date) “has any basis in fact.”. FACT CHECK: We strive for accuracy and fairness. | Privacy Policy | Contact Us | DMCA Notice, This website uses cookies to improve your experience. How old exactly the Sphinx is, remains subject to debate. This lecture will consider recent physical evidence and the theories that have been proposed to explain this evidence. The head of the Sphinx emerging from the sand in 1867. We do know that the Sphinx has been buried for the better part of its existence. According to the literature of Theosophical Society, Sphinx is about 70000 years old. It is one of the largest and oldest statues in the world. Twice a week we compile our most fascinating features and deliver them straight to you. Many place it to about 4,500 years old during the tyrant King Khafre’s rule, while others suggest it was even earlier than that. According to the Ancient Egypt Research Association (AERA), the architectural and geological evidence both support the conclusion that the Sphinx and its adjoining temple were built along with the rest of Khafre’s pyramid complex, and were in fact among the last of the monuments to be completed. Despite this, it is also one of the most mysterious man-made objects in the world. However, not everyone accepts the general consensus and therefore, the Sphinx is even more of an enigma to them. A debate has been raging for several decades over what is the actual age of the Great Sphinx at the Giza Plateau in Egypt. Khafre is the man for whom the second largest of the Great Pyramids was built. There is quite a bit of evidence to support this, but the most obvious is the style of the statue. On top of that, computers have calculated that it would take a minimum of 1000 years of continuous, torrential rains dumped on the Sphinx— nonstop for twenty-four hours a day—to cause that kind wear. Geophysical evidence in particular points to the Sphinx being much older than what academic egyptologists would have us believe. According to Egypt’s premier archaeologist, Dr. Zahi Hawass Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, the Great Sphinx of Giza was built during the Old Kingdom in Egypt (2649-2150 BC). He took shelter from the sun in the shadow of the great head. SEE-August27th: The age of Egyptian Great Sphinx which was built during the reign of the Pharaoh Khafre between 2558–2532 BC. Theories that go against Hawass’s findings put carving of the Sphinx thousands of years before the 4th Dynasty. Observation and deduction tell us that no one could have carved the Great Sphinx that long ago. He has also found that similar erosion does not exist in other monuments in the area dating from the Old Kingdom. Despite its iconic status, geologists, archaeologists, Egyptologists and others continue to debate the Sphinx’s enduring “riddle”: Exactly how old is it? Most scholars still accept the traditional dating of the Sphinx to Khafre’s era, arguing that the new theory doesn’t take into account all the evidence on the table. The Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the most recognizable man-made objects in the world. Originally Posted by OpanaPointer It's not water erosion. The Sphinx circa 1880s, by Beniamino Facchinelli. One of the mysteries of the Sphinx that has possibly been answered, but often disputed, is how old is the Sphinx. The Great Sphinx of Giza is a giant 4,500-year-old limestone statue situated near the Great Pyramid in Giza, Egypt. Given the lack of evidence and inscriptions referring to the Sphinx, it is nearly impossible to know how it depicts and when it was carved. She is a writer for the Boston History Examiner, Military History Examiner and the Boston American Revolution History Examiner. It is the largest and most famous Sphinx, situated at the Giza Plateau adjacent to the Great Pyramids of Giza on the west bank of the Nile River, it has puzzled Egyptologists and researchers for centuries. Discovery of Ancient Shipwrecks in the Black Sea. Case closed this is the problem, your yelping with a bunch of "historians'. The most famous Sphinx is the Great Sphinx of Giza. However, concrete evidence cannot be applied to the Sphinx, as there is none. We know that the statue is so old that the first restoration of the statue took place around 3,500 years ago. There is no record of it being carved and there is no way of dating it conclusively. Even if we did, we still have the fact that others have credited blowing sand with the Sphinx’s erosion. Is the Great Sphinx twice as old as Egyptologists and archaeologists think, based on recent geological evidence?Viewpoint: Yes, recent evidence suggests that the Great Sphinx is much older than most scientists believe.Viewpoint: No, the Great Sphinx was built about 4,500 years ago during the reign of the pharaoh Khafre, as has long been believed by most archaeologists and Egyptologists. HISTORY reviews and updates its content regularly to ensure it is complete and accurate. Sphinx at the Giza plateau in Egypt. Her main focus is military and political history. Who could have possibly carved the Great Sphinx before 5000 BC? The sphinx, a lion with a human head, represents the power of the Egyptian king. In other words, even if you do accept that the Sphinx was built when most Egyptologists say it was, there is still the question of in which pharaoh’s reign it was built. But the Sphinx itself echoes throughout Egyptian culture. He claims that the sort of rainfall that has occurred in the Giza Plateau since 5000 BC would not have been enough to cause this sort of damage. Sphinx there are wear patterns that cut twelve feet deep into its surface, and this type of wear pattern is totally different from the patterns on other buildings in Egypt. Löwenmensch figurine – The 32,000-year-old Aurignacian Löwenmensch figurine, also known as "lion-human" is the oldest known anthropomorphic statue, discovered in the … The Great Sphinx of Giza, commonly simply known as the Sphinx is one of the most impressive as well as one of the most mysterious monuments of the ancient world. Lo and behold, beyond any doubt at all, the Sphinx does have water wear patterns—and in a desert that’s at least 7000 years old, it puts it well over the age of 6000 years. When Was the Great Sphinx Built If you deny the general consensus of the age … To make up for its lesser size, Khafre’s pyramid was built at a higher elevation and surrounded by a more elaborate complex with numerous statues, including the Sphinx, the head of which is thought to be built in the pharaoh’s own image. Historic Mysteries provides captivating articles on archaeology, history, and unexplained mysteries. The site is a plateau containing the three great pyramids of Khufu, Khafra, and Menkaura, together with the Sphinx and a number of smaller pyramids, temples, and tombs. The colossal statue with a human head and the body of a lion is traditionally believed to be about the same age as the pyramids in Giza (ca. Facing directly from West to East, it stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile in Giza, Egypt. There is a Sphinx in Luxor, and the Temple of the Moon has 900 sphinxes with ram heads – so it’s lion body with a ram head. In fact, it was only unearthed again in 1936. We have no such evidence of who built the Sphinx. The Great Sphinx of Giza belongs to the Giza necropolis west of Cairo. 20 Facts About The Great Sphinx Of Egypt. If Schoch is the robust one, it should also be noted that he's got an agenda himself: he's a proponent of a "progenitor civilisation". 2650-2550 BC) which means that it is about 4,500 years old. The Great Sphinx faces the … I'm just wondering how old the Sphinx is. The only methods available to us are those of observation and deduction. But if you see something that doesn't look right, click here to contact us! Too much candy: Man dies from eating black licorice More recently, a new theory emerged that places the statue’s origins much further back, to some 9,000 years ago. It is impossible to use most modern scientific methods to learn how old is the Sphinx. We'll assume you're ok with this, but you can opt-out if you wish. The rest of the statue was buried in the sand. One of the mysteries of the Sphinx that has possibly been answered, but often disputed, is how old is the Sphinx. Moreover, water drainage beneath the ground’s surface or flooding from the Nile River could have caused the erosion in question, rather than precipitation. Some experts believe that it was built during the reign of Khufu (2589-2566 BC), the man for whom the Great Pyramid was built. A Net Inceptions project. why don't you for about 10 seconds do a "geological weathering" pattern search on the web. All rights reserved. Dating the Sphinx back this far suggests the statue was the work of an advanced civilization predating the ancient Egyptians—an intriguing, if highly controversial, proposition. Archeologists believe that it was carved around 2500 BC and that the head is meant to be the likeness of the Pharaoh Khafra. New studies show the Great Sphinx might have been possibly built around 9,000 years ago — a hypothesis that predates the ancient civilization of Egypt. One of the prevailing arguments for the Great Sphinx being older than the Old Kingdom is that some of the erosion on the Sphinx appears to have been caused by water. Egyptologists, geologists and others have rejected the water erosion hypothesis and the idea of an older Sphinx, offering various alternative expla… As far back as the mid-19th century, some Egyptologists pointed out that even though the Sphinx is located within the pyramid complex traditionally identified as Khafre’s, no contemporary inscriptions directly link him with the statue. Of course, it begs many other questions as well. A photo of the Great Sphinx taken in 1895. Hanging Gardens of Babylon May Have Been in... Isolated Stairs in the Woods and Their Creepy Stories, Belmez Faces: Mystery of the People in the Floor, Genghis Khan Facts – 5 Interesting Details That May Surprise You. The face of the Sphinx is generally believed to represent the pharaoh Khafre. Roswell Rock: Magnetic Anomaly Linked to Crop Circles. In his book 'Shambhalla : Oasis of Light' an Australian writer Andrew Tomas has written about his discussion held about forty years back with three learned lamas of Tibet. If we are to believe that Thutmose IV unearthed the Sphinx, then we know the Sphinx dates back much farther than his reign, which began around 1400 BC. Follow this massive redrafting process on my blog as I add characters, subplots and twists whilst improving the quality of the language and dialogue, and … It is one of Egypt’s most famous landmarks and is arguably the best-known example of sphinx art. This being the third time that we are aware of, including Thutmose’s tale. Artifacts found at the Sphinx … When he awoke, the prince remembered the dream and the deal was completed on both sides. How old is the Sphinx? That question may be answered as well, but it doesn’t answer who built it. However, for the purposes of this article, we will ignore that question, as it is still disputed within the realm of general consensus. All Rights Reserved. If you accept that the Great Sphinx of Giza was carved during the Old Kingdom, you still have to wonder exactly when. Additionally, the idea that the style of art would have remained the same in Giza for all that time is absurd. For years, Egyptologists and archaeologists have thought the Great Sphinx of Giza to be about 4,500 years old, dating to around 2500 B.C. Sphinx is the human-headed lion in ancient Greek mythology; the term likely came into use some 2,000 years after the statue was built. Scientists: Geological evidence shows the Great Sphinx is 800,000 years old. While there, he drifted off to sleep and dreamed that the Sphinx wanted him to dig out the rest of the statue in exchange for making him king. The Sphinx water erosion hypothesis is a fringe claim contending that the main type of weathering evident on the enclosure walls of the Great Sphinx was caused by prolonged and extensive rainfall that would have predated the time of Djedefre and Khafre, the Pharaohs credited by most modern Egyptologists with building the Great Sphinx and Second Pyramidat Giza around 2500 BC. Carved of a single block of red granite, quarried at Aswan, the five-fold titulary of Ramses II appears along the base of this sphinx. IN other words, I've been way beyond even those, which like to date the Sphinx to the Egyptian subpluvial period (and hence, to an age of about 8-10,000 BC). Dr. Robert Schoch of Boston University studied the Sphinx water erosion and says that it appears to have been made by heavy rainfall. © 2009-2020 Historic Mysteries. However, we have no way of knowing if it was buried in wet sand. Even if you accept the general consensus of who built the Sphinx, how was the Sphinx built, you are still left with many questions that have not been, or cannot be, explained. Over the years, various researchers have credited the Sphinx to Khafre’s father, Khufu, and to Djedefre, another of Khufu’s sons. If you deny the general consensus of the age of the Sphinx, you are left with the question of who built it. His pyramid is the second tallest of the pyramids built at Giza, next to his father Khufu’s Great Pyramid. Roughly every two thousand years (2160 to be exact), and because of the precession of the equinoxes, the sun on the vernal equinox rises against the stellar background of a different constellation. The Great Sphinx of Giza, commonly referred to as the Sphinx of Giza or just the Sphinx, is a limestone statue of a reclining sphinx, a mythical creature. Others believe that it was built during Khafre’s reign (around 2500 BC). The most common wisdom holds that the monolith is around 4,500 years old, and was built for Khafre, a pharaoh of Egypt’s Fourth Dynasty who lived circa 2603-2578 B.C. 1878. According to a study titled, “Geological Aspect of the Problem of Dating the Great Egyptian Sphinx Construction,” the Sphinx could be about 800,000 years old. remains controversial. The Sphinx actually echoes throughout many different cultures, from Greece, even Rome, they’ve got the modern version of the Sphinx. Interesting history topics are just a click away. A pair of Ukrainian researchers Manichev Vjacheslav I. and Alexander G. Parkhomenko said that the statue is way older … Not everyone believes that the Sphinx was built for Khafre, however. Until recently, experts thought that King Djedefre was a murderer and outcast who couldn't possibly have had the power to create the Great Sphinx. It is an ancient construction that has baffled researchers ever since its discovery and until today, no one has been... Home. According to translations of the “Dream Stela” at the foot of the Sphinx, King Thutmose IV came across the head of the Sphinx when he was still a prince. Introduction . In the Giza Plateau region, the mark of the upper deep hollow from the Great Egyptian Sphinx’s foot is about 160 metres above the present sea level. THE SPHINX,that familiar symbol of undeciphered mystery, is at it again. The Great Sphinx partially excavated, ca. The head of the Sphinx emerging from the sand in 1867. The Great Sphinx is believed to be around 4500-years-old and to date from the Old Kingdom Period and the rule of the Fourth Dynasty Pharaoh Khafre circa 2603 BCE to 2578 BCE. The difference is only that of a few hundred years. That begs the question, why would artistic style have remained the same in Egypt for so many thousands of years? Why would it appear to be an Old Kingdom structure thousands of years after it was built? Accept Read More. 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