The Great Sphinx: Was the Great Sphinx Surrounded By a Moat?

www.RobertSchoch.com ^ | since March 2009 | Robert Milton Schoch

[SunkenCiv]

According to Robert Temple, a moat theory explains the water weathering of the Sphinx without hypothesizing that it dates back to an earlier period of more rainfall than the present. I will not address his other hypotheses, which I do not find persuasive, that the Sphinx was the jackal [wild dog] Anubis and the face seen on the Sphinx is that of the Middle Kingdom pharaoh Amenemhet II, though I note the original Sphinx has been reworked and the head re-carved... Assuming the argument that the Sphinx sat in a pool, either the water level around the Sphinx was the same as that of the surrounding water table, or the walls and floor of the pool were sealed up and watertight (and any artificial walls, such as on the eastern end, were strong enough to withstand the water pressure). (Note that the current western end of the Sphinx Enclosure is at a much higher elevation than the eastern end [see the figure on page 534 of The Sphinx Mystery by Robert Temple with Olivia Temple, Inner Traditions, 2009], yet clear water erosion is shown at the higher elevations at the western end. Since water seeks its own level, if the water in a supposed moat reached to the height of the western end of the Sphinx Enclosure, then the eastern end as well as the walls along the northern and southern sides must have been built up to a comparable height as the western end. This is independent of whether or not the eastern wall of the enclosure [= western wall of the Sphinx Temple] has a base of natural bedrock or was entirely composed of cut and placed stone.) We know that the ancient water table was well below the level of the floor of the Sphinx Enclosure...

[bigheadfred]

ping

[RegulatorCountry]

Thanks for the added detail; my recollection was not nearly so specific.

Such hidden chambers and passageways would tend to support use of the word “moat,” going back to the original article, rather than just an aesthetic reflecting pool, as I had suggested.

[wildbill]

I think they are finding that most of the temples and other major building sites show they had a canal built from the Nile to the site. This would make transporting building blocks and supplies from distant sites much easier.

I’d be looking for a canal linked to the “moat”

[SunkenCiv]

Robert M. Schoch: The Great Sphinx
http://www.robertschoch.com/sphinxcontent.html