Amazing, so that could date the Sphinx at more than 5000 years old? Wouldn't that also indicate the existence of advanced civilizations prior to the Mesopotamians and Indus River Civilizations? Exciting.
I would hope so, probably close to 12,000 years old or older.
The reason we tend to date civilization itself from Sumer is simply that the Sumerians were the folks who invented record keeping.
It was pointed out in the article that the Nile river valley was heavily populated as much as 22,000 years ago, and the population pressure was one influence in the migrations into the "newly" greened sahara savannahs...
This would infer that there may have been "civilization" of some sort in the Nile river valley prior to the emergence of the Phaoronic era of 10,500 BC..
Rivers flowed out of the Saharan savannahs into the Nile valley.. They were undoubtedly used for travel and trade..
And river channels change..
We know that the Nile river channel ran very close to the location of the Sphinx and the Pyramids at one time..
The present river channel is farther away...
A traveller during the savannah period would have passed downriver well within eyesight of the then existing Sphinx / Lion..
An excellent landmark delineating a territorial boundary or site of a civilization's main city and port of trade..
It is my personal belief that the Sphinx was originally in the shape of a Lion, and the head had absolutely no resemblence to a human, pharoanic or otherwise..
The recarving of the existing structure was done at a later time...
I believe you are justified in thinking there was an earlier civilization or society prior to the historically famous egyption one..
It may not have been as "glorious" or powerful as the later Pharoanic society, but glorious enough in it's own right, with population and trade centers, agriculture, and religion, politics, etc..
With the desertification of the Sahara that civilization may have fallen to the "barbarian invasion" returning from the dying savannahs..
Those barbarians then developed into the society we now know as ancient egypt..
"Wouldn't that also indicate the existence of advanced civilizations prior to Mesopotamia and Indus River?"
If you are not already aware of the writings of Graham Hancock, you should make his acquaintance. He also has an on line forum. Long before I ever heard of him I thought fairly well developed settlements must have been flooded when the great meltings of the last ice age and the Younger Dryas took place. Before then the Mediterranean was two very large inland seas. Then the water rose and flooded through Gibralter. Was that Noah's flood?