The equinox reveals one of the secrets of Egypt's iconic Sphinx

Live Science ^ | March 23, 2020 | Laura Geggel

[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.

[SunkenCiv]

Oedipus. :^)

[SunkenCiv]

I wholeheartedly agree -- I was standing here, and didn't see anything at Giza!

[SunkenCiv]

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/3818833/posts?page=3#3

[HandyDandy]

I think that he learned more about gravity.

[HandyDandy]

“Ox” another word ending with “x”!

[NativeSon]

Ancient Cult of the Doberman.

[HandyDandy]

“Rex”! Another word ending in “x”!

I think I am having a “distinctively astronomical moment”. (Or it could be an alphabetical moment)

[blogOps]

Ancient civilizations are very interesting.

Always wondered if this guy (you) is a professor or archaeologist, etc.

[SunkenCiv]

This is about 19 minutes long, and I think this covers the idea that the original carving of the head was that of one of the old cat deities of the Egyptian pantheon. It's moot, because, short of finding an ancient inscription that describes it with a different head, we have zero way of ever knowing it. The modern paws are constructed of blocks, not carved, so it may not have had any paws originally. The "restoration" that's been going on under Hawass has left the Great Sphinx in a state where it would fit right in at Disneyland.

Joe Rogan - Robert Schoch Explains Sphinx Water Erosion Hypothesis
[This video contains content from National Geographic, who has blocked it on copyright grounds.]

[SunkenCiv]

Nope, just a lifelong hobby.

[SunkenCiv]

[snip] Before I proceed, I want to make the point that this dual title is found associated with individuals who preceded the date generally attributed to the Great Sphinx by conventional Egyptologists, namely circa 2500 BCE, during the reign of the Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khafre. Possibly Wepemnefret could have known Khafre during his lifetime, but without doubt Hesy-Re lived a century or more prior to the time of Khafre and the supposed construction of the Great Sphinx... Even taking stylistic differences due to the different sculptors into account, analogous to different fonts that can be used for our alphabetic letters, these hieroglyphic signs are virtually identical. At the base of the Hemiunu statue and on the Wepemnefret stela, the last three signs (axe, bent rod, lioness) are placed very close together, or are even touching. In the inscription on the wooden panels of Hesy-Re the vertical bent rod appears to touch the back of the lioness, as in the Hemiunu and Wepemnefret inscriptions, but the axe does not make actual contact with the bent rod. These slight differences are probably simply differences in artistic style and do not appear to be significant...

But what could the second title represent? The axe of the second title is identical to that of the first, and thus presumably has the same meaning, that of an overseer or similar high official. But what is the apparent "bent rod" and what does the lioness represent? The lioness of this second title appears to be the same lioness represented elsewhere on the Wepemnefret stela, specifically in the name of the goddess Mehit (who could act as a protectress, taking the form of a female lion). Thus the Egyptologist William Stevenson Smith (1907-1969) translated this title as "Craftsman of Mehit" (Archaeology, March 1963, p. 12)...

I believe that Dr. Seyfzadeh solved the mystery of the "bent rod" by his suggestion that it represents a physical key that was used to open a lock. We know that by the Middle Kingdom (circa early second millennium BCE) the Egyptians had simple lock-and-key devices; now there is evidence that such devices go back to a much earlier period. Most likely, however, at such a very early date locks and keys were familiar to only the elite nobility, and thus references to or depictions of such devices appeared very rarely...

Now everything seemed to come together. The second portion of the dual title refers to an overseer, master, guardian, or possessor of a key that opened a vault that was, based on the first portion of the dual title (referring to scribes and records), an archive, a "Hall of Records", guarded by a lioness. Furthermore, based on the striking similarity between Mehit (as shown on the Wepemnefret stela) and the lioness in the dual title, this guardian lioness is Mehit. [/snip]

Robert M. Schoch: Mehit

[PIF]

I agree about Hawass. Schock not so much. I think Temple’s explanation for much of the erosion is more plausible.

BTW, have you heard anything about Temple? He seems to have either disappeared or passed away with no notice. He’s published nothing in 10 years, despite mentioning a possible book on Abydos and the Tomb of Osiris which he was given permission to explore.

[bert]

Actually. when you align the corner of the pyramid with the shoulder, you are in the correct place. That spot or line is known and most likely well marked.

That raises the issue of other important Sphinx alignments. It seems reasonable to assume a whole new direction of Egyptian archeoastronomy has been opened

The great pyramid was aligned on a north south axis and is extremely complex mathematically

[SunkenCiv]

It's reasonable to assume that it's all made-up modern anachronistic flights of fancy.

[steveo]

I still have that LP somewhere, The cover could be folded out to make a pyramid.

[MAAG]

Isaiah 19:19-21 New American Standard Bible (NASB)

19 In that day there will be an altar to the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar to the Lord near its border. 20 It will become a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt; for they will cry to the Lord because of oppressors, and He will send them a Savior and a [a]Champion, and He will deliver them. 21 Thus the Lord will make Himself known to Egypt, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day. They will even worship with sacrifice and offering, and will make a vow to the Lord and perform it.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks, that has exactly zero to do with this topic.

[MAAG]

Have you ever heard of the Mazzeroth?Link

I believe the Sphinx is a monument to the Mazzeroth, a story written in the stars about fallen man needing a savior.

Read “The Gospel in the Stars” by J.A. Seiss

[norwaypinesavage]

On your map, all of the pyramids and most everything else, as well, have sides that are due north, south, east, and west. It must have been their thing back then. The Great Sphinx lies due west of the south wall of the Khafre pyramid. It’s not obvious that this all was done for the reason implied in the article.

The question that I have, though, is how they determined the directions accurately. Using only the sun, that would only be possible on sunset the days of the equinoxes.

[SunkenCiv]

Likewise, that has exactly zero to do with this topic.