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The Sphinx - Egypt

The Riddle of the Sphinx

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By Paul DarinEpoch Times

Some say the Great Sphinx of Egypt is thousands of years older than it is commonly held to be, a point of controversy that has rippled through the archaeological community for decades. 

In the early 1990s, Boston University geologist Dr. Robert M. Schoch was the first to rock the boat, starting those ripples, when he announced that the Sphinx might date back to 5000 or 7000 B.C., predating dynastic Egyptian culture. 

“In 1990, I first traveled to Egypt with the sole purpose of examining the Great Sphinx from a geological perspective. I assumed that the Egyptologists were correct in their dating. But, soon I discovered that the geological evidence was not compatible with what the Egyptologists were saying,” said Schoch on his website. 

Egyptologists and historians commonly believe that the Sphinx was built during the reign of Pharaoh Khafre. Khafre, also known as Pharaoh Chephren, allegedly commissioned the construction in 2500 B.C. 

However, the geologic evidence seems to point to more remote times. The Sphinx is carved from the bedrock at the site and the site consists of the Sphinx body structure as well as the bedrock walls of the enclosure surrounding it. 

“I found heavy erosional features that I concluded could only have been caused by rainfall and water runoff,” Schoch continued. “The thing is, the Sphinx sits on the edge of the Sahara Desert and the region has been quite arid for the last 5000 years.”

Schoch was fortunate to have several nearby structures solidly dated to the Old Kingdom period of ancient Egyptian history to which he could compare the Sphinx. These structures had definite examples of wind and sand erosion which differs quite noticeably from water erosion. 

He concluded that the Sphinx must date to a much older period. The Sphinx, he said, may date anywhere from 5000 to 9000 B.C., when the area yielded much more rainfall. 

Furthermore, upon closer inspection, Schoch believes that Pharaoh Khafre had the Sphinx refurbished as it was incorporated into his funeral complex, at which time the Sphinx was already thousands of years old. The Sphinx may have received other alterations throughout the dynastic era of ancient Egypt.

Sphinx

Robert Schoch claims the head of the sphinx was added on later and may have originally been a lion. Source: BigStockPhoto

“It is clear to me that the current head is not the original head. The original head would have become severely weathered and eroded. It was later re-carved during dynastic times, and in the re-carving it naturally became smaller,” Schoch said. 

He suggested that in its original form, the Sphinx may not have been a sphinx at all, but may have been a lion.

Naturally, these findings shocked many scientists, historians, and Egyptologists who claimed there is no evidence for a civilization in Egypt that could have built the Sphinx so far back in time. Since the early 1990s, however, several other archaeological sites have been uncovered that predate known civilization. One such site is Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, which dates to approximately 9000 B.C. 

The article ‘The Riddle of the Sphinx and its Controversial Answer’ was originally published on The Epoch Times and has been republished with permission.

Featured image: The Sphinx of Giza, Egypt. Source: BigStockPhoto

 

Comments

The fact most Egyptologists don't want or are unwilling to submit to is that there was once older civilization that was there before the well known Egyptian civilization.Take a point of the Great pyramids,the technology of constructing them was so far reaching to believe it was done by aid of chisels and hands of thousands of slaves.The case of the sphinx is also to complicated,the erosion that eroded it maybe caused by the flow of river Nile which has migrated 60km from the initial way.What is hard to incorporate is how the structure six stories tall was erected by simple tools.

Luineto

The fact most Egyptologists don't want or are unwilling to submit to is that there was once older civilization that was there before the well known Egyptian civilization.Take a point of the Great pyramids,the technology of constructing them was so far reaching to believe it was done by aid of chisels and hands of thousands of slaves.The case of the sphinx is also to complicated,the erosion that eroded it maybe caused by the flow of river Nile which has migrated 60km from the initial way.What is hard to incorporate is how the structure six stories tall was erected by simple tools.

Luineto

I agree with geologist Dr. Robert M. Schoch, and his thorough analysis. As he explained, these monuments are really, really pre-dynastic Egypt. Like Golbeki Tepi which is at least 10kya, there were technologically skilled cultures in the anti-diluvian world. The mainstream archaeologists refusing to believe anything earlier the the 1st dynasty of Egypt(and they're not even sure of that, like the romans creating the arch), need to wake up and realise that their tenure at XYZ university isn't the end game. The end-game is research and clarity, be damn the peer-review, and lets get on with the science of the planets rich cultural history. So much has been lost, but so, so much still is available to analyze, and who knows what will be truly uncovered. Personally, I've seen too many things and places not to be always curious and never,, never say it just didn't happen, like 'Rama's Bridge between India and Sri Lanka; it's still there and visible from space under a mere 20mtrs of water on a shallow day.

Ciao!
Anne

I have always believed that Schoch and West were exactly correct in their theory. The egyptologists are so blinckered and unwilling to expand their minds that I despair of any progress in this area for another decade or two. Golbeki Tepi at least throws it back in their faces but they will still attempt to explain it away as a bunch of hunter gatherers who felt like camping somewhere for a year or two and also deciding to build massive stone monuments just to amuse themselves. The sphinx is so obviously a lion and the Pharaoh's head is so obviously out of scale that Schoch's theory is a perfect explanation, plus the erosion evidence.. Connected with this of course are the 3 pyramids which are beyond modern building techniques. As long as egyptologists continue to believe their own fairy tales that they were built with slave labour a lots of ropes and levers then there is not much chance of the world finding out the amazing truths about our true history.

JAW is the man. Too bad the ignorant Egyptologists don't want to consider the fact that they are wrong in their teachings and beliefs about the Pyramids and the Sphinx. They are holding back the history of Egypt by being pricks. These Egyptologists once mocked JAW that if the Sphinx was much older than they thought, where was the evidence that there was and older civilization? Gobekli Tepe was then discovered and that must have been so satisfying for JAW and Schoch.

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