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The Great Sphinx by Lara Bampfield
22
Transcript
February 21th 2018
Giza Plateau
ARTH:3320:0001 - Egyptian Art
Lara Bampfield
The Great Sphinx at Giza: Separating Fact from Fiction
Location
Where
Where
- 300ft from the Pyramid of Khafre
- The Sphinx faces due east
- indicates sun worship
- Carved out of limestone on the Mokkatam Formation
Map
- March and September equinoxes
- The sun links
- South side of the Khafre pyramid
- Right side of the Sphinx
- East-west axis of the Sphinx Temple.
Sphinx:
The Details
Sphinx:
The Details
Names
Names
- The New Kingdom: Hor-em-akhet (Horus of the Horizon), referred to on Thutmose IV "dream stela"
- Arabic: Abū al Hūl (The Terrifying One)
- English: The Great Sphinx
Size
Size
Body is 200 feet long and 65 feet high.
The head 30 feet high (10m) and 14 feet (4m) wide.
The paws are 50 feet long (15m)
Construction
By Who
By Who
- King Khafre
- Mark Lehner:
- Sphinx Temple and Sphinx quarry was abandoned before they were completed, they were the last elements to be added.
- Links with buildings and geology.
- Wearing the nemes headdress of the king who was considered the god Horus incarnate.
Fiction: The Sphinx is not credited to Khafre just because it looks like him
Tunnels
Tunnels
- 1881 Henry Vyse found two tunnels
- 1979, tunnels opened.
- 1st Behind the head of the Sphinx
- 2nd In the tail of the Sphinx.
- Emile Baraize opened a 3rd tunnel in the side of the sphinx in 1926.
- All tunnels were empty.
Fiction: no hidden complex or the Hall of records
Dream Stela
Dream Stela
- Thutmose IV (1401-1390 BC) son of Amenhotep II, placed the Dream Stela between the paws of the sphinx.
- The stela tells a story of the King
- Thutmose IV restored the Sphinx,
- Old and New Kingdom Limestone are mixed together.
- Built a mud brick wall around the Sphinx quarry like a giant cartouche.
The Cult of The Sphinx
Sun Worship
Sun Worship
- No Old Kingdom evidence of worship
- New Kingdom Kings would worship the Sphinx and leave offerings/monuments with their name.
- The sphinx head can been seen between the Khafre and Khufu pyramids, like the sun disk between two mountains in the hieroglyph “akhet”.
Conservation
Layers of the Sphinx
Layers of the Sphinx
- Geological layers, named after the work of geologist K. Lal Gauri
- Member I = Hard, brittle rock of the ancient reef
- Member II = Soft and hard rock
- Member III = Softer at the neck and harder at the head.
- Member III’s mix explains why the face is in good condition but body is weathered.
Deterioration
Deterioration
- Major breaks
- 1981: Left hind paw
- 1988: Right shoulder
- 1990's The Supreme Council of Antiquities announced long term restoration
- Sphinx's erosion estimates it is no older that 4,500 years
Fact: The Sphinx has been restored since the New Kingdom (1550-1070 BC).
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