The Great Sphinx in Egypt is the silent guardian of the pyramids. The Great Pyramids of Giza (Egyptian Pyramids) and the Great Sphinx are a legacy of the Old Kingdom

The Great Sphinx, standing on the Giza plateau, is the most ancient and grandiose sculpture ever created by man. Its dimensions are impressive: the length is 72 m, the height is about 20 m, the nose was as tall as a person, and the face was 5 m in height.

According to many studies, the Egyptian Sphinx hides even more mysteries than the Great Pyramids. No one knows for sure when and for what purpose this gigantic sculpture was built.

The Sphinx is located on the western bank of the Nile facing the sunrise. His gaze is directed to that point on the horizon where the sun rises on the days of the spring and autumn equinox. The huge statue, made of monolithic limestone, a fragment of the base of the Giza plateau, represents the torso of a lion with the head of a man.

1. The Vanishing Sphinx

It is generally accepted that the Sphinx was erected during the construction of the Pyramid of Khafre. However, in the ancient papyri relating to the construction of the Great Pyramids there is no mention of it. Moreover, we know that the ancient Egyptians meticulously recorded all the expenses associated with the construction of religious buildings, but economic documents related to the construction of the Sphinx have never been found.

In the 5th century BC. e. The pyramids of Giza were visited by Herodotus, who described in detail all the details of their construction. He wrote down “everything he saw and heard in Egypt,” but did not say a word about the Sphinx.
Before Herodotus, Hecataeus of Miletus visited Egypt, and after him Strabo. Their records are detailed, but there is no mention of the Sphinx there either. Could the Greeks have missed a sculpture 20 meters high and 57 meters wide?
The answer to this riddle can be found in the work of the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder “Natural History”, who mentions that in his time (1st century AD) the Sphinx was once again cleared of sands brought from the western part of the desert. Indeed, the Sphinx was regularly “freed” from sand deposits until the 20th century.

The purpose of creating the Great Sphinx is also unknown. Modern science believes that it had religious significance and preserved the peace of the dead pharaohs. It is possible that the colossus performed some other function that has not yet been clarified. This is indicated by both its exact eastern orientation and the parameters encrypted in the proportions.

2. Older than the pyramids

Restoration work, which began to be carried out in connection with the emergency condition of the Sphinx, began to lead scientists to believe that the Sphinx may be older than previously thought. To check this, Japanese archaeologists, led by Professor Sakuji Yoshimura, first illuminated the Cheops pyramid using an echolocator, and then examined the sculpture in a similar way. Their conclusion was striking - the stones of the Sphinx are older than those of the pyramid. It was not about the age of the breed itself, but about the time of its processing.
Later, the Japanese were replaced by a team of hydrologists - their findings also became a sensation. On the sculpture they found traces of erosion caused by large flows of water. The first assumption that appeared in the press was that in ancient times the Nile bed passed in a different place and washed the rock from which the Sphinx was hewn.
The guesses of hydrologists are even bolder: “Erosion is rather a trace not of the Nile, but of a flood - a mighty flood of water.” Scientists came to the conclusion that the flow of water went from north to south, and the approximate date of the disaster was 8 thousand years BC. e.

British scientists, repeating hydrological studies of the rock from which the Sphinx is made, pushed back the date of the flood to 12 thousand years BC. e. This is generally consistent with the dating of the Flood, which, according to most scientists, occurred around 8-10 thousand BC. e.

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3. What is the Sphinx sick with?

Arab sages, amazed by the majesty of the Sphinx, said that the giant is timeless. But over the past millennia, the monument has suffered a fair amount, and, first of all, man is to blame for this.
At first, the Mamluks practiced shooting accuracy at the Sphinx; their initiative was supported by Napoleonic soldiers. One of the rulers of Egypt ordered the sculpture’s nose to be broken off, and the British stole the giant’s stone beard and took it to the British Museum.
In 1988, a huge block of stone broke off from the Sphinx and fell with a roar. They weighed her and were horrified - 350 kg. This fact has caused UNESCO the most serious concern. It was decided to gather a council of representatives from a variety of specialties to find out the reasons for the destruction of the ancient structure.

Over many millennia, the Sphinx was repeatedly buried under sand. Somewhere around 1400 BC. e. Pharaoh Thutmose IV, after a wonderful dream, ordered to dig up the Sphinx, installing a stele between the front paws of the lion in honor of this event. However, then only the paws and the front part of the statue were cleared of sand. Later, the giant sculpture was cleaned under the Romans and Arabs.

As a result of a comprehensive examination, scientists discovered hidden and extremely dangerous cracks in the head of the Sphinx; in addition, they found that external cracks sealed with low-quality cement are also dangerous - this creates a threat of rapid erosion. The Sphinx's paws were in no less deplorable condition.
According to experts, the Sphinx is primarily harmed by human activity: exhaust gases from automobile engines and the acrid smoke of Cairo factories penetrate into the pores of the statue, which gradually destroys it. Scientists say that the Sphinx is seriously ill.
Hundreds of millions of dollars are needed to restore the ancient monument. There is no such money. In the meantime, the Egyptian authorities are restoring the sculpture on their own.

4. Mysterious face
Among most Egyptologists, there is a firm belief that the appearance of the Sphinx depicts the face of the IV dynasty pharaoh Khafre. This confidence cannot be shaken by anything - neither by the absence of any evidence of a connection between the sculpture and the pharaoh, nor by the fact that the head of the Sphinx was repeatedly altered.
The well-known expert on Giza monuments, Dr. I. Edwards, is convinced that Pharaoh Khafre himself is visible in the face of the Sphinx. “Although the face of the Sphinx is somewhat mutilated, it still gives us a portrait of Khafre himself,” the scientist concludes.
Interestingly, the body of Khafre himself was never discovered, and therefore statues are used to compare the Sphinx and the pharaoh. First of all, we are talking about a sculpture carved from black diorite, which is kept in the Cairo Museum - it is from this that the appearance of the Sphinx is verified.
To confirm or refute the identification of the Sphinx with Khafre, a group of independent researchers involved the famous New York police officer Frank Domingo, who created portraits to identify suspects. After several months of work, Domingo concluded: “These two works of art depict two different individuals. The frontal proportions - and especially the angles and facial projections when viewed from the side - convince me that the Sphinx is not Khafre."

The ancient Egyptian name of the statue has not survived; the word “Sphinx” is Greek and is associated with the verb “to strangle”. The Arabs called the Sphinx "Abu el-Khoya" - "father of horror." There is an assumption that the ancient Egyptians called the sphinxes “seshep-ankh” - “the image of Being (Living)”, that is, the Sphinx was the embodiment of god on earth.

5. Mother of Fear

Egyptian archaeologist Rudwan Al-Shamaa believes that the Sphinx has a female couple and she is hidden under a layer of sand. The Great Sphinx is often called the "Father of Fear". According to the archaeologist, if there is a “Father of Fear,” then there must also be a “Mother of Fear.”
In his reasoning, Ash-Shamaa relies on the way of thinking of the ancient Egyptians, who firmly followed the principle of symmetry. In his opinion, the lonely figure of the Sphinx looks very strange.
The surface of the place where, according to the scientist, the second sculpture should be located, rises several meters above the Sphinx. “It is logical to assume that the statue is simply hidden from our eyes under a layer of sand,” Al-Shamaa is convinced.
The archaeologist gives several arguments in support of his theory. Ash-Shamaa recalls that between the front paws of the Sphinx there is a granite stele on which two statues are depicted; There is also a limestone tablet that says that one of the statues was struck by lightning and destroyed.

Now the Great Sphinx is badly damaged - its face is disfigured, the royal uraeus in the form of a cobra raised on its forehead has disappeared, and the festive shawl that hung from its head to its shoulders has partially broken off.

6.Chamber of Secrets

In one of the ancient Egyptian treatises on behalf of the goddess Isis, it is reported that the god Thoth placed “sacred books” that contain “the secrets of Osiris” in a secret place, and then cast a spell on this place so that knowledge would remain “undiscovered until Heaven will not give birth to creatures who will be worthy of this gift.”
Some researchers are still confident in the existence of a “secret room”. They recall how Edgar Cayce predicted that one day in Egypt, under the right paw of the Sphinx, a room called the “Hall of Evidence” or “Hall of Chronicles” would be found. The information stored in the “secret room” will tell humanity about a highly developed civilization that existed millions of years ago.
In 1989, a group of Japanese scientists using a radar method discovered a narrow tunnel under the left paw of the Sphinx, extending towards the Pyramid of Khafre, and a cavity of impressive size was found northwest of the Queen’s Chamber. However, the Egyptian authorities did not allow the Japanese to conduct a more detailed study of the underground premises.
Research by American geophysicist Thomas Dobecki showed that under the paws of the Sphinx there is a large rectangular chamber. But in 1993, its work was suddenly suspended by local authorities. Since that time, the Egyptian government has officially prohibited geological or seismological research around the Sphinx.

People did not spare the face and nose of the statue. Previously, the absence of a nose was associated with the actions of Napoleonic troops in Egypt. Now its loss is associated with the vandalism of a Muslim sheikh, who tried to destroy the statue for religious reasons, or the Mamluks, who used the head of the statue as a target for their cannons. The beard was lost in the 19th century. Some of its fragments are kept in Cairo, some in the British Museum. By the 19th century, according to descriptions, only the head and paws of the Sphinx were visible.

Another proof was presented to us by the Japanese scientist Sakuji Yoshimura in 1988. He was able to determine that the stone from which the Sphinx was carved was older than the blocks of the pyramids. He used echolocation. Nobody took him seriously. Indeed, it is impossible to determine the age of a rock by echolocation.

The only serious evidence of the “theory of the antiquity of the Sphinx” is the “Inventory Stele”. This monument was found in 1857 by Auguste Mariet, the founder of the Cairo Museum (pictured left).

On this stele there is an inscription that Pharaoh Cheops (Khufu) found the Sphinx statue already buried in the sand. But this stele was created during the 26th dynasty, that is, 2000 years after the life of Cheops. Don't trust this source too much.

One thing we can say for sure is that the Sphinx has the head and face of a pharaoh. This is evidenced by the nemes (or claft) headdress (see photo) and the decorative element uraeus (see photo) on the forehead of the sculpture. These attributes could only be worn by the pharaoh of Upper and Lower Egypt. If the statue's nose had been preserved, we would have been closer to the answer.

By the way, where is the nose?

The dominant version in the public consciousness is that the nose was knocked down by the French in 1798-1800. Napoleon then conquered Egypt, and his gunners practiced shooting at the Great Sphinx.

This is not even a version, but a “fable”. In 1757, traveler Frederik Louis Norden from Denmark published sketches he made in Giza, and the nose was no longer there. At the time of publication, Napoleon had not even been born. You can see the sketch in the photo on the right; there really is no nose.

The reasons for the accusations against Napoleon are clear. The attitude towards him in Europe was very negative, he was often called a “monster”. As soon as there was a reason to accuse someone of damaging the historical heritage of mankind, of course, he was chosen as the “scapegoat”.

As soon as the version about Napoleon began to be actively refuted, a second, similar version arose. It says that the Mamluks fired cannons at the Great Sphinx. We cannot explain why public opinion is so drawn to hypotheses involving guns? It’s worth asking sociologists and psychoanalysts about this. This version also has not received confirmation.

A proven version of the loss of the nose was expressed in the work of the Arab historian al-Makrizi. He writes that in 1378 the nose of the statue was knocked off by a religious fanatic. He was outraged that the inhabitants of the Nile Valley worshiped the statue and brought gifts to it. We even know the name of this iconoclast - Muhammad Saim al-Dakhr.

Nowadays, scientists have conducted research in the area of the Sphinx's nose and found traces of a chisel, that is, the nose was broken off with this very tool. There are two such marks in total - one chisel was driven under the nostril, and the second from above.

These traces are small and a tourist cannot notice them. However, you can try to imagine how this fanatic could do it. Apparently, he was lowered down on a rope. The Sphinx lost his nose, and Saim al-Dakhr lost his life; he was torn to pieces by the crowd.

From this story we can conclude that the Sphinx was still an object of cult and worship by the Egyptians in the 14th century, although almost 750 years had already passed since the beginning of Arab rule.

There is another version of the statue’s loss of its nose – natural causes. Erosion destroys the statue and even part of its head falls off. It was installed back during the last restoration. And this statue had many restorations.

Address: Egypt, Giza plateau in the suburbs of Cairo
Date of construction: XXVI-XXIII centuries BC e.
Coordinates: 29°58"41.3"N 31°07"52.1"E

Where the green Nile Valley gives way to the Libyan Desert, in the suburbs of Cairo, on the Giza Plateau, the Great Pyramids stand unshakably. To the eyes of a tourist arriving in Giza, the pyramids open unexpectedly: like a mirage, they “grow” from the hot sands of the desert.

Great Pyramids of Giza from above

In the Ancient World, the pyramids were considered one of the “7 Wonders of the World,” but even today they impress with their immense size, and their secrets will excite the imagination of mankind for a long time. The pyramids were admired by the “powers of this world” - Alexander the Great, Julius Caesar and others.

Great Pyramids of Giza. From left to right: pyramids of queens, pyramid of Mikerin, pyramid of Khafre, pyramid of Cheops

Wanting to inspire the French army before the famous battle with the Mamluks, Napoleon, standing at the pyramids, exclaimed: “Soldiers, 40 centuries are looking at you from these peaks!” And then Bonaparte calculated: if the Cheops pyramid was dismantled, then from 2.5 million stone blocks it would be possible to build a 3-meter wall around France.

The three Great Pyramids, guarded by the Great Sphinx, are part of the huge necropolis of Giza. These pyramids were built under the pharaohs of the IV dynasty, who ruled the Old Kingdom in 2639-2506. BC e. They are surrounded by small pyramids and temples where the wives of the pharaohs, priests and officials are buried.

The Pyramid of Cheops

Pyramid of Cheops (Khufu)

The largest of the pyramids, the Pyramid of Cheops, is the only one of the “7 Wonders of the World” that has survived to this day. For more than 3,000 years, before the construction of Lincoln Cathedral in England (1311), the Cheops Pyramid was the tallest structure on Earth. Its original height - 146.6 meters - corresponded to a 50-story skyscraper, but after an earthquake in the 13th century, the Cheops pyramid decreased by 8 meters - it lost its cladding and the gilded pyramidon stone that crowned the top.

Pyramid of Cheops and Museum of the Solar Boat

The Egyptians stole the polished white limestone slabs and used them to build Cairo's houses and mosques. The Pyramid of Cheops amazes with its grandeur and the titanic work of people who raised stone blocks weighing 2.5 tons to the sky using primitive devices - ropes and levers. And in the “Tsar’s Chamber” granite blocks weigh up to 80 tons. The Arab historian Abdel Latif (12th century) notes that the individual blocks are so tightly fitted to each other that it is impossible to insert the tip of a knife between them.

Solar boat

Solar boat

Inside the Cheops pyramid there are burial chambers, and outside, at its foot, there is the Museum of the Solar Boat.. On this ship, built of cedar without a single nail, the pharaoh was supposed to go to the afterlife.

Pyramid of Khafre

Pyramid of Khafre (Khafre)

The second largest ancient Egyptian pyramid was built 40 years later than the first by Pharaoh Khafre, the son of Cheops. Although the pyramid of Khafre is inferior in height (136.4 m) to the tomb of his father, due to its location on a higher point of the plateau it was a worthy competitor to the Great Pyramid.

At the top of the Pyramid of Khafre, a white basalt cladding is partially preserved, reminiscent of a glacier on the mountain.

Pyramid of Mikerin

Pyramid of Mikerin (Menkaure)

The ensemble of the Great Pyramids is completed by the relatively modest-sized tomb of Mikerin, built for the grandson of Cheops. Contrary to the loud nickname “Heru” (high), it reaches only 62 meters in height, but it emphasizes the greatness of the pyramids of Cheops and Khafre.

Great Sphinx

Great Sphinx

At the foot of the Giza plateau stands a monumental sculpture 73 meters long and 20 meters high. It is carved from a monolithic limestone rock in the shape of a sphinx - a mythical creature with the head of a man, the paws and body of a lion. According to scientists, The facial features of the Great Sphinx are similar to the appearance of Pharaoh Khafre. The Sphinx's gaze is directed to the east, towards the rising sun. According to the beliefs of the Egyptians, the lion was a symbol of the solar deity, and the pharaoh was the deputy of the Sun god Ra on earth and after death merged with the shining luminary.

Great Sphinx from the rear

Lions stood at the gates of the underworld, which is why the Sphinx is considered to be the guardian of the necropolis. The statue's face is badly damaged. Most often you can hear that the Sphinx's nose was beaten off by Napoleonic grenadiers. According to another version of the legend, the damage to the sculpture was caused by one Shah, a religious fanatic. The reason for the vandalism is simple: Islam prohibits making images of people and animals.

The Great Sphinx against the background of the Pyramid of Khafre

Secrets of ancient times: why were the pyramids built?

Disputes about the purpose of the pyramids are still ongoing. The traditional version says that the mounds towering above the mortal world could be the tombs of the pharaohs, from where their ashes rose closer to the sky and the sun. Some scientists consider the pyramids to be temples where sun worshipers performed religious rites; others are scientific laboratories created for astronomical observations. German archaeologists have put forward another hypothesis: pyramids are natural generators of earthly energy.

According to many studies, the Egyptian Sphinx hides even more mysteries than the Great Pyramids. No one knows for sure when and for what purpose this gigantic sculpture was built.

1. The Vanishing Sphinx

2. Older than the pyramids

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3. What is the Sphinx sick with?

5. Mother of Fear

6.Chamber of Secrets

The Egyptian one was recognized as one of the most mysterious sculptures of our Earth. Sphinx. The Sphinx rises above the vast expanses of the desert in the Valley of the Kings on the Gizo plateau. Now it's a plateau Guizot is the city of Giza on the outskirts of Cairo, more than 900 thousand inhabitants live there. When you drive along its streets, the pyramids are already looming on the horizon. The necropolis, on the territory of which the pyramids are located, occupies approximately 2000 square meters. m. and declared a protected area. These pyramids are considered one of the wonders of the world. The city can be said to have already come close to the pyramids. Literally 100 meters from the residential quarters there is the Sphinx, and behind it the pyramids.

There are nine pyramids in total.
Three of them are the most famous. It is believed that the pyramids are about 5 thousand years old, the sphinx is about 3.5 thousand years old. These structures were known to the ancient Greeks, but for them, as for us, they were hoary antiquity. “Forty centuries look down on you from the heights of these pyramids,” Napoleon Bonaparte told his soldiers before the Battle of Giza, 1798. The height of the pyramids of Cheops is 138.75 m, Khafre (son of Cheops) - 136.4 m, Mikkerin (grandson) - 55.5 m. Visually, the pyramid of Khafre (in the center) seems higher, because it stands on a higher place... Without actually seeing them, you can imagine something quite monumental, but from a distance the pyramids seem small, and up close, they are not as huge as many would like to see.

The Sphinx is located closer to the city, as if guarding the pyramids. In ancient times, the Nile had such a wide bed that the Sphinx stood right on the river bank. Around the pyramids of Khafre and Mikkerin there are several more small pyramids (very badly destroyed) - the tombs of their wives, children, concubines... Initially, the pyramids were lined with granite blocks and had heights several meters higher. But over the course of centuries of history, these blocks, as well as some directly from the pyramids, were used to build Cairo. Many famous mosques were built from the granite casing of the pyramids. By the way, I will say that the casing made the pyramids absolutely smooth, and not compliant as they are now. The real names of the pharaohs who rested in the pyramids are Khufu, Khafre and Menkaur (Cheops, Khafre and Mikkerin, respectively). Moreover, Cheops and Khafre were not related, and Mikkerin is the son of Khafre. In the pyramid of Khafre the inscription "G. Belzoni. 1818." The discoverer wrote this on March 2, 1818. The dimensions of the burial chamber are 14.2m x 5m x 6.8m (length, width and height, respectively). The Sphinx's nose was shot off from a cannon, but not by Napoleonic soldiers (as some claim), but by Turkish Mamluks - Muslims do not like the display of human faces. The Arabs call the pyramids "Al-Ahram" ("pyramids") and the Sphinx - "Abu Hall" ("father of horror").
The Pyramid of Cheops.

The largest known pyramid is Cheops. He was the pharaoh of the 4th dynasty (2600 BC). The pyramid is tetrahedral, with a square base. The height of the pyramid is 147 m, the base has a side of 228 m. Stone blocks weighing 2.5 tons each were used to construct the pyramid. At the same time, the quality of the surface treatment makes us doubt that we are modern people, we understand life; it is impossible to insert a knife blade between the blocks. The pyramid is oriented with its entrance to the north. Inside the pyramid there are three burial chambers, which are rooms measuring 11 by 5 meters and about 6 m high. The pharaoh’s mummy was missing from the sarcophagus, as were the supposed objects and decorations. Perhaps it was plundered in ancient times. On the southern side of the pyramid is the so-called Solar Boat. On it, Cheops went to the other world, which, of course, could also carry a symbolic meaning. The boat was discovered disassembled during excavations in 1954. It is made of cedar without the use of nails.

Pyramid of Khafre

It is believed that the Pyramid of Khafre was built almost simultaneously with the Pyramid of Cheops. A difference of 40 years against the backdrop of thousands of years of history looks like an insignificant period of time.
The pyramid is a little smaller. Base 215 meters, height 145 meters. Slightly different ratios create the illusion that it is larger than the Cheops pyramid. The two great pyramids differ from each other in the preservation of the basalt cladding at the top of the Pyramid of Khafre. A complex of structures associated with the pyramid is being traced. Temples, road, pyramid. Khafre was mummified in the lower temple.

Pyramid of Mikerin

This pyramid, significantly different in size, completes the ensemble of the great pyramids. Its dimensions are as follows: height - 67 m, base 108 m. The pyramid contains a single burial chamber. The chamber was created in the rocky base of the pyramid. The relatively small size of the pyramid emphasizes the greatness of the first two.
How were the pyramids created? Many scientists believe they know how, others doubt it. In any case, it was a great work of a great people. The ancient quarries where the stone for the pyramids was mined are still visible. An ancient pier was discovered not far from the pyramids; stones were delivered by ship.
In the vicinity of the great pyramids there are several small pyramids of the wives of the pharaohs, the tombs of the Egyptian aristocracy.

Sphinx

The Sphinx is the largest solid sculpture in the world (after the explosion of Buddha statues by the Taliban in Afghanistan)... For five thousand years, the Sphinx has been meeting the sunrises, it faces the east, its lips are closed. The facial features are believed to correspond to the image of Pharaoh Khafre. This is a mysterious creature with the body of a lion and the head of a man, carved from the same stone. The length of the sphinx from the tip of its paws to its tail is 57.3 m, its height is 20 m. Nestled at the huge paws of the sphinx is a small temple, now completely destroyed. Quite well preserved. And if you also take into account that the Germans took the crown to their museum, and the French to the Louvre, and Napoleon actually fired cannons at it during the Egyptian campaign... Although it is restored from time to time, it does not feel like a remake. You cannot approach the statue directly - it stands on a high pedestal, and tourists walk around at paw level along a special parapet perimeter, so it turns out that there is an insurmountable deep ditch between tourists and the Sphinx. When a person stands, especially at dawn, between the paws of the Great Sphinx of Egypt and sees how the rising sun illuminates his face, he is overcome with shyness and awe. At this moment you clearly feel how old this colossal statue is - almost as old as time itself. They say that it is much older than the 4500 years that Egyptologists give it; it is quite possible that it dates back to the last Ice Age, when, as is believed, a civilization capable of creating such monuments could not yet exist.
When a man stands at dawn between the paws of the Great Sphinx of Egypt and sees the rising sun illuminate his face, he is overcome with shyness and awe. At this moment you clearly feel how old this colossal statue is - almost as old as time itself. It is much older than the 4,500 years that Egyptologists give it; it is quite possible that it dates back to the last Ice Age, when, as is believed, a civilization capable of creating such monuments could not yet exist. The Sphinx is the greatest mystery of antiquity. It is still not known for certain who, why and when erected this grandiose structure.

Myths and legends of the Sphinx

This majestic monument is fraught with many secrets and mysteries; for thousands of years it has been shrouded in myths and legends, it has been worshiped and feared, it has seen the change of eras and civilizations, and only it, the Sphinx of Giza, has remained the imperishable and silent keeper of the secrets of the distant past.
1. He was once considered an eternal god. He then fell into the trap of oblivion and fell into an enchanted sleep. What secret does this majestic guard keep? In the myths of the ancient Greeks, the Sphinx is a monster generated by Typhon and Echidna, with the face and breasts of a woman, the body of a lion and the wings of a bird. The Sphinx was located on a mountain near the city of Thebes and asked everyone who passed by a riddle: “Which living creature walks on four legs in the morning, on two in the afternoon, and on three in the evening?” The Sphinx killed those who were unable to provide a solution. Oedipus solved the riddle - “Man in childhood, maturity and old age.” After this, the Sphinx threw herself off the cliff.
2. Another legend tells that this huge predator guards the peace of the pyramids day and night, and with the help of the “third eye” monitors the circulation of the planets, Sirius and the rising of the Sun, feeding on cosmic power. In exchange for this he had to make sacrifices.
3. Another legend says that a giant statue of a mysterious beast guards the “elixir of immortality.” According to legends, the founder of esoteric knowledge, Hermes Trismegistus, owned the secrets of making the “philosopher’s stone,” with which metal could be turned into gold. Also, the “philosopher’s stone” was the basis for the creation of the “elixir of immortality.” According to legend, Trismegistus was the son of an Egyptian god named Thoth, who built the first pyramid on the banks of the Nile and erected the Sphinx next to the pyramid complex in Giza, designed to protect the recipe for the “elixir of immortality”, which was hidden in its depths.
4. Initially, in myths, the Egyptian Sphinx retained the features of a lion with the head of a man. He wandered along the roads near Parnassus, devouring passers-by. In the myths of the ancient Greeks, the Sphinx is a monster born of Typhon and Echidna, with the body of a lion, the face and breasts of a woman, and the wings of a bird. Having settled on a mountain near the city of Thebes, the Sphinx asked everyone who passed by a riddle - “Which living creature walks on four legs in the morning, on two in the afternoon, and on three in the evening?” Those who failed to solve the riddle were killed by the Sphinx. Oedipus was able to give the answer - “Man in childhood, maturity and old age.” After which the Sphinx threw herself off the cliff.
5. The Arabs living in the area called the statue Abul Khol, which translated means “father of horror.” As philologists have established, the full name of the statue meant “the living image of Khafre.” Thus, the Sphinx was the embodiment of King Khafre with symbols of royal power and the body of the king of the desert. Consequently, in the understanding of the ancient Egyptians, the Sphinx in one person represented a god and a lion guarding its pyramid.
6. Many mystical teachings and magicians of all times have tried to find magical explanations for the purpose of the Sphinx. Here is what the classic of occultism Eliphas Levi wrote in his “History of Magic”: “Hermes Trismegistus formulated his symbol, called the Emerald Tablet: “What is below is like what is above, and what is above is like what is below, for actions of miracles of one essence." Light is Isis, or the moon, fire is Osiris, or the sun; they are the mother and father of the great Tellus, and she is the universal substance. Hermes Trismegistus states that these forces reached their absolute manifestation at the moment when the earth was created. Four manifestations of a single substance were represented by the Sphinx. His wings corresponded to air, his bull's body to earth, his woman's breasts to water, and his lion's paws to fire. This is the secret of the three pyramids with square bases and triangular faces guarded by the Sphinx. By erecting these monuments, Egypt tried to erect the Pillars of Hercules of universal science.

How old is the Sphinx?

1. For a long time, scientists considered the Sphinx to be the same age as the Great Pyramids, but there is one oddity here. The fact is that in the ancient papyri that have reached us and dating back to the era of the construction of the pyramids, not the slightest mention of the Sphinx was found. And, if hieroglyphs brought to us the names of the builders of the Great Pyramids, who created the Sphinx remains a mystery. We found the answer in the works of the ancient Roman scientist and writer Pliny the Elder. His “Natural History” tells that in his time the Sphinx was once again cleared of the sands of the Western Desert, which literally swallowed it up. It is not known exactly how often the Sphinx was covered with sand, but it becomes clear why there were periods in history when there was no mention of the Sphinx. It’s just that the same Herodotus, describing the greatness of Ancient Egypt, could not tell us about the Sphinx, because he did not see it - it was buried under a many-meter layer of sand. Studying the sculpture, scientists came to the conclusion that the Sphinx was periodically hidden under a layer of sand, and from time to time it had to be dug up. In the last century, a stele was found in Egypt on which was carved a text compiled in the 15th century BC during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose IV. The text says that the pharaoh had a sign in a dream - if he was able to clear the Sphinx of sand, then his reign would be prosperous and long. It also says that the sculpture was dug up after almost a year. In our time, archaeologists have received information that the Sphinx was dug out of the sand during the reign of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, then under the Arab rulers and Roman emperors. Even today, after strong sandstorms, the statue has to be cleaned, although there is much less sand now than before. The statue was finally cleared of sand in the mid-1920s.

2. Based on these facts and phenomena, scientists concluded that the Sphinx was erected much earlier than previously thought. But there are many different hypotheses about the time of construction of the statue. Therefore, Egyptologists of the world to this day have not come to a common opinion. Studies of significant traces of erosion indicated traces of a flood that once occurred in these places. And the estimated date of the event was named - 8000 BC, and repeated research carried out by the British pushed this date back to 12000 BC. In addition, it turned out that traces of erosion occur on the processed part of the rock on which the Sphinx is installed, which means that it stood there even before the flood. French archaeologists claim that the dating of the flood that occurred in Egypt coincides with the date of the destruction of Atlantis according to Plato... Other scientists are trying to calculate the time of the creation of the Sphinx from the Bible, believing that the erosion could have been caused by the Great Flood. Based on the description of the weather in Egypt (the dream of the pharaoh, unraveled by Joseph), it can be assumed that the Sphinx was erected around 2820-2620 BC. This hypothesis is indirectly confirmed by an Arab legend, which says that the pyramids were built to save the Egyptians from the Great Flood. And the Sphinx was erected in order to warn people about the impending disaster. Therefore, the Sphinx's gaze is wary, and its third eye is directed into Space.

3. The Roerichs and Helena Blavatsky believed that the Sphinx was built by the Atlanteans about 200 thousand years ago. And the famous philosopher Jorge A. Livraga believes that the descendants of the Atlanteans built the Great Pyramid, and a thousand years later - the Great Sphinx. According to N. N. Sychenov, “The construction of the Sphinx began 42.2 thousand years BC and the construction was completed 1200 years later.”

4. The famous American medium Edward Cayce claimed that “The Sphinx and the Pyramids of Cheops were built between 10490 and 10390 BC.” Boston University geology professor Robert Schoch, based on studies of traces of water erosion of the Sphinx, believes that the time of creation of the statue lies between 7000 and 5000 BC, because it was during this period that heavy rains fell over Egypt, which could cause erosion.

5. John West believes that most of the erosion occurred during an earlier, rainy period - around 10,000 BC.
6. Other scientists divide the time of creation of the Sphinx and the time of construction of the pyramids.
However, many ancient legends and tales of different peoples testify against this: Greeks, Romans, Chaldeans, Arabs. These legends tell that a tunnel was dug underground and a hiding place was built. The tunnel served as a connection between the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx, which was used by the priests...

Sensational secrets of the Sphinx revealed during its renovation

Time has been kind to this great monument of ancient history, but people have treated it with much less respect. One Egyptian ruler ordered the Sphinx's nose to be taken off. At the beginning of the 18th century, the giant's face was fired from a cannon, and Napoleon's soldiers fired guns into his eyes. The British beat off the stone beard and took it to the British Museum.
Nowadays, the acrid smoke of Cairo factories and car exhaust are destroying the stones. In 1988, a huge block weighing 350 kilograms broke off from the Sphinx’s neck and fell. The emergency condition of the sculpture caused concern among UNESCO. Renovations began, sparking renewed interest in the mysteries of the Sphinx and the opportunity to re-examine the grandiose sculpture. The discoveries were not long in coming.

First sensation: Japanese archaeologists, led by Professor Yoshimura, using special instruments, first illuminated the massif of the Cheops pyramid, and then examined the stones of the Sphinx. The conclusion was amazing: the stones of the sculpture are older than the blocks of the pyramid.

Second sensation: there was a discovery under the left paw of a stone lion of a narrow tunnel leading towards the Cheops pyramid.

Third sensation: Traces of erosion from a large flow of water that moved from north to south were discovered on the Sphinx. It was not the flood of the Nile, but a biblical catastrophe that occurred around eight to twelve thousand years BC.

Fourth sensation: French archaeologists made an interesting remark: the dating of the Egyptian stream coincides with the date of the death of the legendary Atlantis!

Fifth sensation: The face of the Sphinx is not the face of Khafre.
It was believed that the Sphinx was built by Pharaoh Khafre 4.5 thousand years ago. For more than half of its life, the sphinx was buried up to its neck in sand. Since it was heavily damaged by erosion, the idea of greater antiquity of the sphinx arose: erosion from water, rather than from sand and wind. Geological research showed the same. 10 thousand years ago there were lakes in the Sahara. Schock and West presented their findings at the Geological Society of America's annual meeting. A furious debate began between geologists and Egyptologists. The front and sides are more susceptible to erosion. While the back part is smaller, which means it was most likely made later. The front is twice as old as the back. How old is the sphinx? At first glance, the face of the sphinx is absolutely similar to the face of Pharaoh Khafre, which seems to prove the time of its creation. But a detailed analysis of all the parameters showed that the face of the sphinx and the face of the pharaoh are not identical. Proportions and shapes do not match. And special studies were done that proved that the faces on the sculpture of Pharaoh Khafre in the Cairo Museum and the face of the Sphinx are different.

Conclusions:
The Sphinx has always been considered the keeper of knowledge, the guardian of the portal leading to the world of higher intelligence, a symbol of the strength of human nature... The personification of the unity and balance of the forces of the nature of the earth with the higher forces living in the Universe. Everything came together in the Great Sphinx. The ideal symbol of initiation into eternal life. And the mystery of the origin of the Sphinx goes back to time immemorial. What do we know about those times? Practically nothing, but the legends and myths that have survived to this day raise many questions and practically do not provide answers to them. However, it can be assumed that in the mists of time a highly developed civilization existed on our Earth, and its representatives, possessing developed science, could foresee the coming catastrophe and try to preserve their knowledge for future generations. One of the ancient legends says: “When the Sphinx speaks, life on Earth will go out of its usual circle.” But for now the Sphinx remains silent...
When was it built? When was it reconstructed? In honor of whom and by whom it was created... Most likely, there will never be exact answers to these questions... After all, the deeper science advances, the more questions arise...

Information and photos from the Internet.