Posted on 12/13/2004 5:36:33 PM PST by blam
I have solved riddle of the Sphinx, says Frenchman
By Nic Fleming, Science Correspondent
(Filed: 14/12/2004)
Archaeologists, who are able to tell us who built the pyramids of Ancient Egypt, have puzzled over the riddle of the Sphinx for generations.
The identity of the ruler who ordered the building of the 65ft high, 260ft long limestone half-human statue that has guarded the Giza Plateau for 4,500 years has been lost in the sands of time.
Workers on the Sphinx in a television reconstruction
Now, following a 20-year re-examination of historical records and uncovering new evidence, Vassil Dobrev, a French Egyptologist, claims to have proved that the largest single stone statue on Earth is the work of a forgotten pharaoh.
The most popular theory of the origins of the Sphinx is that it was conceived by Khafre, a king of the Fourth Dynasty whose pyramid sits behind the statue.
However, in Secrets of the Sphinx, a documentary to be broadcast tonight on Channel Five, Dr Dobrev says it was created by Djedefre, Khafre's half brother and a son of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid.
Dr Dobrev, of the French Archaeological Institute in Cairo, said: "It is incredible. The most important image in Egypt, the Sphinx, and we can't say who it was with certainty.
"This is the first time it has been proposed that the Sphinx has been built after the death of Khufu by his son Djedefre who succeeded him."
Khafre, the builder of the nearby second pyramid at Giza who ruled from 2558 to 2532 BC, has traditionally been credited with creating the Sphinx.
He is referred to in the Dream Stella, a stone tablet that tells of a young prince who dreamed that the Sphinx promised to make him king if he cleared the sand from its paws. He built both the pyramid behind the Sphinx and two temples in front of it.
However Dr Dobrev noticed that the causeway connecting Khafre's pyramid to the temples was built around the Sphinx - meaning it was already in existence.
All known statues of Khafre show him with a beard - but the Sphinx has none. Dr Dobrev says fragments of a giant beard found beneath the sphinx that survive in Cairo Museum were a later addition.
Several years ago Rainer Stadelmann, the former director of the German Institute of Archaeology in Cairo, suggested an alternative theory, that Khafre's father Khufu - the builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza - created the Sphinx.
A small statuette of Khufu, the only commonly acknowledged image of the pharaoh, shows him to have a very square chin, like the Sphinx.
Dr Dobrev says he has uncovered other images of Khufu, none of which have beards, and that this proves the sphinx represents Khufu.
The nemes, the sphinx's headdress, has markings representing two small pleats and one large. Khufu is shown with a similar nemes in at least one other statue.
Dr Dobrev says the Sphinx was built by Djedefre in the image of his father Khufu, identifying him with the sun god Ra in order to restore respect for their dynasty.
George Reisner, a respected American archaeologist in the 1930s, portrayed Djedefre as a plotter whose tomb was built away from Giza because he tried to murder his brother Kawab. Dr Dobrev says Reisner's theory is unsubstantiated. He asks why a carved stone list of donations made to Kawab's daughter would have an emblem of Djedefre on it if he was her father's murderer. He says that Djedefre was a visionary builder who built a sun temple at Abu Roash, six miles from Giza, a structure so far believed by archaeologists to be a pyramid.
Dr Dobrev re-examined graffiti carved by workers at a site called Zawiyet el-Aryan and believes this shows he has uncovered Djedefre's pyramid tomb
Dr Nigel Strudwick, of the British Museum, said: "It is not implausible. But I would need more explanation, such as why he thinks the pyramid at Abu Roash is a sun temple, something I'm sceptical about. I have never heard anyone suggest that the name in the graffiti at Zawiyet el-Aryan mentions Djedefre.
"I remain more convinced by the traditional argument of it being Khafre or the more recent theory of it being Khufu."
RME!
Is there really such a displince as Egyptologist and who would trust a French one?
Yes, I know some make claims that there is.
Some things never change. And never WILL change.
Mark for later reading.
It's always about narcotics. You knew that didn't you?
Ancient religions commonly relied on hallucinogenics and psychotropics.
This is all about SOMA.
Drum Roll......
Sphynxters.
There is at least one ancient Egyptian picture showing the process.
Took a lesbian up to his room
They argued all night
over who had the right
To do what and with which
and to whom's Sphinctum
I suspect the early SOMA users defaced the Sphinx face shortly after its construction out of anger ovewr the destruction of one of their more symbolic seit stones.
It was Pharoah Mustard. In the King's Library. With an asp.
A mushroom with a body and legs? Also, I don't recall hearing of any ritualistic use of mushrooms by the Egyptians; seeing as how they made nice paintings depicting all sorts of rituals and wrote up detailed recipes, this seems strange. Can you point to any texts which detail mushroom use?
People from further East, had penetrated this wild zone and were "dong their thing".
The "mushroom" was a natural object. There was no body or legs at the time. That awaited the time far in the future when the Egyptians would dig down into the sand, cut block and b build pyramids.
They simply left the mushroom intact until they cut the face into it.
It's kind of like how the Moslems took over Saint Sophia. They left the building but added minarets.
"What has four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?"
Man. That's a tuffy.
Although Egypt is old, it's only the first nation state. Other places founded city states earlier.
It's easy enough to imagine amanita muscaria growing in the highlands of North Africa BEFORE the Sahara formed a mere 7,500 years ago, and then disappearing when the place dried up. Mushrooms need big, juicy trees to eat. They suck sugar from their roots. No trees, no mushrooms. No mushrooms, no soma.
Ancient Egypt was formed AFTER the creation of the Sahara. We have different peoples at different times living along the Nile.
Many of the 4,000 year old Tarim Mummies were buried with epedhera(sp) grasped in their hands and in small pouches.
I watched the TV show on this. I found it to be very interesting.
Then again, I find ancient Egypt fascinating.
I agree with that, it was built long before.
Actually, there is no need to lay the blame at the feet of either Napolean or the Arabs. It was common practice in ancient Egypt to deface the statues of other pharoahs. It's called jealousy.
You dodged my question. Are there any Egyptian texts describing ritual A. muscaria use, or for that matter, any psychoactive mushrooms?
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