THE RIDDLE OF THE SPHINX

One of the oldest and largest statues in the world, Giza’s Great Sphinx has stood the test of time titillating all who have come to look on it. There are historical versions of the origins of this monolith, but there has also been controversy about its origins and its purpose on the Giza Plateau in Egypt. It has stood the test of time watching over Egypt and causing mystery as to who the Sphinx was built for, whose image the Sphinx’s head is, and if in fact there are any secrets underneath the imposing giant.

In mythological history, a sphinx is creature with the body of a lion and the head of a human. Occasionally, in Greek history, the sphinx has also had wings to accompany its lions body and human head. It is a creature that has a menacing demeanor and is told to be treacherous. It is often stated in the myths that the sphinx will have a riddle and those who cannot solve the riddle correctly are killed and eaten by this beast. 

Traditionally, the Greek sphinx is depicted as a woman, whereas the Egyptian Great Sphinx is in the image of a man. Generally, these massive statues compliment royal tombs and religious temples and the oldest known sphinx is located near the Gobleki Tepe at a site called Nevali Çori in Turkey and it dates back to about 9,500 BC.

The Great Sphinx in Egypt is thought to have been constructed during the Old Kingdom (2558-2532 BC) under the reign of Pharaoh Khafre who was responsible for the second great pyramid on the Giza Plateau. In fact, the head of the Sphinx is believed to be in the image of Pharaoh Khafre. This is of course the most widely held historical theory of the builder and time frame for the Sphinx, but there are many dissenting theories that continue to be discussed and hypothesized.

There are a group of historians that believe the time frame for the construction of the Sphinx is wrong by many years. They theorize that the construction of the Sphinx far predates the reign of Khafre. 

Auguste Mariette who was the founder of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo theorized in 1857 that the Sphinx was much older. He was pivotal for the unearthing of the Inventory Stela that dates back to approximately 678-525 BC. This Stela is an account that discusses how Pharaoh Khufu (father of Pharaoh Khafre) found the Sphinx which had already been mostly buried by the sands.

Rainer Stadelmann was the director of the German Archeological Institute in Cairo and had a different theory altogether. He wasn’t of the theory that Khufu came upon the already buried Sphinx, but that Khufu, the catalyst for the first great pyramid at Giza, was responsible for the construction of the Great Sphinx. 

His theory is supported by the causeway, built in the reign of Pharaoh Khafre, connected to the existing structure with similar building style. Later, in 2004, a new theory was born that the Sphinx was the product of Khafre’s half-brother, Pharaoh Djedefre.

Of course, there are those that believe the Sphinx is even much older than the reigns of Khufu, Khafre, and Djedefre. There is the erosion theory that posits the Sphinx shows signs of generations of rainfall that has caused the erosive structures on the Sphinx, indicating the age of the Sphinx to be much older than that of the reign of Khufu or Khafre.

For thousands of years there have been restoration projects on the Great Sphinx. The first recorded restoration effort on the Sphinx was around 1,400 BC and was under the direction of Pharaoh Thutmose IV. 

By the time Thutmose IV came upon the Sphinx, it was buried up to its shoulders in the sand. He put together an excavation team that eventually had dug out the front paws. This is where they placed the granite slab inscribe with Thutmose’s Dream Stele which reads, “… the royal son, Thothmos, being arrived, while walking at mdday and seating himself under the shadow of this mighty god, was overcome by slumber and slept at the very moment when Ra is at the summit [of heaven]. He found that the Majesty of this august god spoke to him with his own mouth, as a father speaks to his son, saying: Look upon me, contemplate me, O my son Thothmos; I am thy father, Harmakhis-Khopri-Ra-Tum; I bestow upon thee the sovereignty over my domain, the supremacy over the living… Behold my actual condition that thou mayest protect all my perfect limbs. The sand of the desert whereon I am laid has covered me. Save me, causing all that is in my heart to be executed”.

There have been other excavations as well. There is documentation that Rameses II attempted an excavation.  There was another monumental undertaking for excavation in AD 1817 under the direction of Italian archeologist, Giovanni Ballista Caviglia. Under his tutelage, the Sphinx was uncovered all the way down to its chest. Finally, between 1925 and 1936, the entire Sphinx was finally unearthed from its sandy tomb.

There are several legends associated with there being secret passageways and chambers beneath the Sphinx. During scans and other such technological measurements of the Sphinx, several anomalies have been detected that lead credence to this theory. In 1995, a renovation of a parking lot near the Sphinx was being undertaken and the workers uncovered several forgotten passageways, some of which plunge far underground nearing the area of the Sphinx.

Will we ever know the actual age of the Sphinx, or the mysteries that lie underneath in possible tunnels and chambers? This remains one of history’s mysteries.