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The equinox reveals one of the secrets of Egypt's iconic Sphinx
Live Science ^ | March 23, 2020 | Laura Geggel

Posted on 03/28/2020 11:56:37 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

The Sphinx had a "distinctive astronomical" moment with the sun during the spring equinox when, in a shining flourish, the sun set on the shoulder of the half-man, half-lion statue on March 19, according to the Egypt Ministry of Antiquities.

This phenomenon happens only twice a year, during the spring in March and the fall equinox in September, according to the ministry.

During the equinox, Earth's axis doesn't point toward or away from the sun, meaning that the Northern and Southern hemispheres receive equal amounts of the sun's light. In other words, the day and the night are equal in length.

Related: Day and night are perfectly balanced in spring equinox photo snapped from space...

The Sphinx is also strategically placed for the summer solstice in June, when the sun sets between the pyramids of pharaohs Khufu and Khafre.

The Sphinx's position during the equinoxes and summer solstice suggests that the ancient Egyptians purposefully positioned the hybrid lion-man statue. "This phenomenon proves that archaeologists were wrong when they said that the ancient Egyptians had found an ancient rock by accident and turned it into a statue of a human face and a non-human body," the Egypt Ministry of Antiquities wrote in a Facebook post.

(Excerpt) Read more at livescience.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: archaeoastronomy; egypt; equinox; giza; godsgravesglyphs; megaliths; sphinx
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To: SunkenCiv

Always enjoyed your ancient history posts.


21 posted on 03/28/2020 12:52:57 PM PDT by blogOps (don't bite me. i'm newbie)
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To: webheart

Yes, of course. The operative word being “tilt”. They may have confused the axis with the equator. The plain of the equator does point directly towards the center of the Sun on an equinox. My seven-year-old granddaughter understands this. We talk about it a lot.


22 posted on 03/28/2020 12:57:35 PM PDT by HandyDandy (All right then I will go to hell. Huckleberry Finn)
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To: SunkenCiv

Everyone knew

Run of the mill Ancestral Pueblo dwellings had holes in the wall that showed the sun on special days. They built the calender into the house.

Hovenweep National Monument, Colorado / Utah


23 posted on 03/28/2020 12:59:06 PM PDT by bert ( (KE. NP. N.C. +12) Progressives are existential American enemies)
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To: SunkenCiv

Nice segue. Didn’t Napoleon’s men shoot the nose off of the Sphinx? And is it true or not that they did this so that the Sphinx would align with Paris?


24 posted on 03/28/2020 1:06:44 PM PDT by HandyDandy (All right then I will go to hell. Huckleberry Finn)
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To: Flash Bazbeaux
The National Geographic vid is an old fave of mine, but it has been taken down; OTOH, relevant footage can be seein in the "New Evidence" vid linked below, and I *thing* also in the Lexxtex vid linked below (it's been a while since I'd watched these). The Dassault Systemes vid is derived from their 3d experience doodad, and DS is the company that has sponsored Jean-Pierre Houdin's research.
The Great Pyramid Mystery Solved - National Geographic Documentry [sic]
[This video contains content from National Geographic, who has blocked it on copyright grounds.]

The Great Pyramid Mystery Solved - National Geographic Documentry [sic]
Great Pyramid Mystery Solved? | National Geographic [trailer]

Great Pyramid Mystery Solved? | National Geographic [trailer]
The Great Pyramid of Egypt New Evidence Full Documentar [sic]

The Great Pyramid of Egypt New Evidence Full Documentar [sic]
Khufu Reborn - Dassault Systemes (Documentary) [Khufu Reborn 3d Experience]

Khufu Reborn - Dassault Systemes (Documentary)
Lexxtex -- the Hidden Secret of the Great Pyramid's Construction Uncovered

Lexxtex -- the Hidden Secret of the Great Pyramid's Construction Uncovered

25 posted on 03/28/2020 1:13:05 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: HandyDandy
Yeah, but it ain't wrong. Just irrelevant.

26 posted on 03/28/2020 1:13:57 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Did they adjust for precession?


27 posted on 03/28/2020 1:16:04 PM PDT by yesthatjallen
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To: SunkenCiv

Welp, the words “Sphinx”, and “Equinox” both end with the letter “x”, so..........


28 posted on 03/28/2020 1:17:46 PM PDT by HandyDandy (All right then I will go to hell. Huckleberry Finn)
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To: HandyDandy

Is it even possible? Yes, it is.
Giorgio A. Tsoukalos

29 posted on 03/28/2020 1:18:50 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Flash Bazbeaux

One of my all-time favorite albums

Pyramid - Alan Parsons Project
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_JG7A7mA9s&list=PLx4kFPMlNLaIav7dULdQebwe60e6AfH7U


30 posted on 03/28/2020 1:20:12 PM PDT by dfwgator (Endut! Hoch Hech!)
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To: blogOps
"Do you like 'Civ's ancient Egypt topics?".
"Dahshur."

31 posted on 03/28/2020 1:20:14 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: HandyDandy
It was Rick's idea, he said, "we'll always have the Sphinx' nose."
The nose probably was broken off by weathering, but the other version of the modern despot story is that the Turks shot it off. Neither one is true, as far as anyone actually knows. If it was human vandalism, it probably took place during the destruction of pagan shrines and such.

32 posted on 03/28/2020 1:24:20 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

Well, it depends on where the viewer is standing.


33 posted on 03/28/2020 1:31:04 PM PDT by myerson
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To: yesthatjallen

Great question. Some estimates of the creation of the Great Sphinx puts it as far back as 10,000 BC, so the axis of the Earth has moved considerably in that time.


34 posted on 03/28/2020 1:31:25 PM PDT by KobraKai
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To: yesthatjallen
Nice question! A similar problem was pointed out back at the time of Hawkins' book "Stonehenge Decoded" (I think that was the crock that got the grossly misnamed "Most Ancient Order of Druids" annual shindig started; it's an interesting read though; these fake druids started in the late 18th c). The Sun -- which sort of rolls up one side of the "heel stone" on solstice day -- would have been even more off the mark back when that phase of the monument is believed to have been constructed.

35 posted on 03/28/2020 1:33:17 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv
My 7yr old grand-daughter FaceTimed me to tell me that should could name all eight planets in order of distance from the Sun. She then proceeded to do so. Then I told her that when I was her age I had to memorize 9 planets. She said, “I know. Pluto.”

But I am more a purist. I like to stick to the original, “Is such a thing even possible? Why yes, yes it is.”

36 posted on 03/28/2020 1:35:17 PM PDT by HandyDandy (All right then I will go to hell. Huckleberry Finn)
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To: Phil DiBasquette

A man...


37 posted on 03/28/2020 1:35:23 PM PDT by mdmathis6
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To: HandyDandy
And the Sphinx (shesep ankh, "living image") wasn't sporting its current head when it was constructed -- perhaps it was an Ox! :^)

38 posted on 03/28/2020 1:35:25 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: Flash Bazbeaux

BkMk!


39 posted on 03/28/2020 1:35:42 PM PDT by thesearethetimes... (Had I brought Christ with me, the outcome would have been different. Dr.Eric Cunningham)
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To: PIF

That says it all.


40 posted on 03/28/2020 1:36:17 PM PDT by HandyDandy (All right then I will go to hell. Huckleberry Finn)
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