Uncovering the secret face: This digital recreation shows the Sphinx with the face of a lion Posted on 12/08/2008 12:30:57 PM PST by BGHater
The Great Sphinx of Giza might have originally had the face of a lion and could be much older than previously thought, archaeologists have claimed.
Until now its origins have been one of history's most enigmatic mysteries, but a new study suggests that the icon did not have the face of a pharaoh.
The Sphinx is a statue of a reclining lion with a human head, which stands on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile River, near Cairo.
It is the largest monolith statue in the world, standing 241 feet long, 20 feet wide and 65 feet high.
Uncovering the secret face: This digital recreation shows the Sphinx with the face of a lion
The Great Sphinx's paws and head are out of proportion, suggesting there may have been an even larger, earlier statue which was adapted Commonly believed to have been built by ancient Egyptians in the 3rd millennium BC, it is the earliest known monumental sculpture.
Using the data retrieved by experts, visual effects artists have created digital images showing the Sphinx as it could have looked before the time of the pyramids.
English geologist Colin Reader said the Sphinx was not only older than previously thought, but may have originally had an entirely different face.
Egyptologists who have studied the Sphinx over the last two hundred years have long argued that it was built soon after the first pyramid - around 4,500 years ago.
But Mr Reader's study has found that rainwater erosion on the Sphinx’s enclosure appears to be consistent with the monument being created before the Great Pyramid in Giza.
A sunken palace on the Giza plateau provides further evidence that there was activity in the area before the building of the pyramids, Mr Reader said.
(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...
Thanks, I’m going to archive that one.
von Daniken wasn’t involved in that, unless as a cheerleader or something, but the Bauval stuff is just about as farfetched as anything VD (heh) wrote. The water erosion of the Sphinx and enclosing wall was (first?) noticed by fringe author Rene A. Schwaller de Lubicz, who died in 1961. John Anthony West (and perhaps others before him) noticed this and kept the idea alive. JAW tried to interest various geologists in the problem, finally found Robert Schoch, who (other than in the past couple of years, I suspect due to his goofy girlfriend who he’s now left) is pretty much an ordinary, inside the box kind of thinker. He figured a free trip to Egypt would be fine, then found when he arrived that there are two kinds of erosion — wind erosion here and there, but mostly water erosion.
John Anthony West
http://www.jawest.net/
Dr. Robert M. Schoch
http://www.robertschoch.com/
Schoch and West convinced me long ago that the Sphinx was first a lion in an African empire, then recarved head under another, different national leader of Egypt thousands of years later. They guess the age at 5 to 7,000 years when it was recarved! They based it on the erosion of the base having surface waters doing it so the Ice Age had to be source of such rains and running waters.
I should have read the thread before posting. Darn!
:’) Hey, I never do. ;’)
Interesting link, I would love to have a better date on the Black Sea flooding. Incidentally, last I heard Ballard was getting ready to do work in Texas coastal waters.
I know about Graham Hancock and have two of his books. Find them very provocative and interesting. I was talking about something publicized earlier than Hancock. A separate thought—Hancock talks about a small group of wise men/teachers who dispersed through the world bringing knowledge to various groups to kick start civilization after the universal catastrophe. Check out references to Melchizadec (sp?) in the Bible. How Abraham bowed to his superiority, and Jesus was described as a priest after Melchizadec (this may not be the precise description). Was M one of these wise men or a successor in an established “school”.
von Daniken is believer of Ancient Astronauts..
Sphinx Temple
HalfSection.gif
HalfSection2.gif
westelevation.gif
Makes the traditional Egyptologists nuts. But he sure makes a compelling and fascinating case.....
Then the builders realized he's not a sphinx he's a sphincter ...
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.
