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.
