The Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the most famous and recognizable statues in ancient Egypt and in the world. The statue of a lion with the head of an Egyptian king is made of hyssop on the plateau of Giza, probably during the reign of King Khafre (2558-2532 BC). BC 2613-2181), although some scholars (especially Dobrev in 2004) claim that it was created by Jeffrey (2566-2558 BC), the brother of Kafre, who attempted to usurp the throne after the death of King Kufu (2589-2566 BC). Other Egyptian scientists and scholars, professors, and historians have argued that the Sphinx 4th dynasty was much older than the time when mainstream Egyptian science continued to be emphasized. The statements of some of these writers, such as Zechariah Sitchin and Eric von Daniken, have long been discredited by scholars in the field, and recent writers on the subject have been dismissed as irrelevant or misleading.
There is controversy among scholars as to who carved the Sphinx and when it was created. But everyone agrees that it has been the world’s largest sculpture for centuries. The Sphinx is 240 feet (73 m) long and 66 feet (20 m) high. It faces directly from west to east.
It is widely acknowledged by Egyptian scientists that the Sphinx was built during the reign of Kfra during the 4th dynasty of the ancient kingdom when the masons who were constructing his pyramid complex decided to come and carve on a large piece of limestone. Why this was done and what purpose the Sphinx originally served will continue to be debated.
The ancient Egyptians never referred to this statue as the “Sphinx”. According to Werner (and others), by translating the Egyptian name Shezep-Unk (“living image”), the word ‘Sphinx’ is Greek and applied to the Egyptian statue at Giza. Nevertheless, the statue is likely to remind Greek writers of the story of Oedipus, such as the body of a famous beast and the head of a woman. Scholars such as Werner, a Greek visitor here, say that this (the king’s striped headcloth) was mistaken for a woman’s shoulder-length hair.
During the reign of the New Kingdom of Egypt (1570-1069 BC), the Sphinx was called the Horemakhet (Horus of Horizon) by the Egyptians, and a religious dynasty associated with the god Horus developed around the statue. According to a set of today’s religious movements, a ‘cult’ of ancient Egypt must be understood. That word makes sense as a modern reader is not a culture. This was the Sun Dynasty, which revered Horus as the god of the sky. Amenhotep II (1425-1400 BC) may have sponsored this cult. He praised Kufu and Kfray, the representatives of the Horus of the earth, as many of the kings of Egypt claimed and was honored by the Sphinx Temple, but his decision to name the two strongly suggests that he understood a connection between the rulers of the 4th dynasty and the statue. The inscriptions of Amenhotep II, therefore, suggest the date and name of the kings involved in its creation.
Prince Thutmose, son of Amenhotep II, fell asleep one night near the Sphinx, and in a dream, he complained about the condition of the statue and how it pressed against the sand. The Sphinx made a deal with Thutmose. If he agrees to remove the sand from the statue and replace it, he will become the next pharaoh of Egypt. The young prince took over the deal, restored the Sphinx, and engraved the now-famous Dream Steel on the front with pink granite, making the prince the fourth Pharaoh of Egypt. Speaking of which (1400-1390 BC), the worship of the Sphinx dates back to the reign of Thutmose IV, probably in response to the dream style that encouraged people to view the statue as a living god that could influence the future.
From the 4th century AD to the present-day Egyptians, this statue is not known as ‘The Sphinx’ but is discussed with foreign tourists. Abu al-Hawl, known in Egyptian Arabic as the ‘father of terrorism, has said that idolatry is an abomination by some extremist groups in Islam. In 2012 CE, clergymen who were actually associated with the Taliban called for the destruction of the Pyramids of the Sphinx and Giza.
The Sphinx fits directly into Khafre’s pyramid complex and supports the claim that he was its creator. However, the location of the statue and its alignment with Kfray’s complex has led some scholars (such as Staddlemann of the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo) to believe that Kfray’s complex sphinx existed even when he ascended the throne. This is deliberately designed to align with the sculpture. The famous English Egyptian scientist E. Wallis Budge (1857-1934 AD) claimed that the Sphinx was much older than Khafre’s time and that it could have been created in the early dynasty or even earlier. In 2004, Dobrev claimed that the statue was made by Khafre’s brother, Jeffrey, in honor of his father, Kufr, and that the statue’s face was much more similar to that of Kafre. Dobrev also agreed with Staddleman that Caffrey’s complex was oriented towards the Sphinx and that the statue would be carved during or shortly after construction.
However, some evidence strongly argues for construction during Khafre’s reign. Leaving the creature’s face aside, it is positively known that the limestone used to make the Sphinx was the same as that used in Khafre’s pyramid. The industrial skills of the Sphinx can be traced back to the Kaffir statues and statues of the gods from this period in the ancient kingdom. The orientation of the Kfrare complex strongly suggests that it was built not with Kufu’s pyramid and statue in mind, but that the Sphinx was created during or shortly after his pyramid.
There is further evidence that the Sphinx was created after the arrival of the pyramids by an inscription found in 166 AD. The inscription led to a project by the Romans to renovate the walls around the statue. This inscription was discovered by Caviglia (1770-1845 AD) in 1817 and was translated and published in a quarterly review by the English polymath and occasional Champollion rival Thomas Young (1773-1829 AD). Was. Although this inscription in 1818 does not confirm any date of construction, it does indicate that the statue was smaller than the pyramids during Roman Egyptian times. However, those who accept the Orthodox date of the statue as belonging to the 4th dynasty point to the inscription as a later proof of their claim.
Even so, the Sphinx does not consider such an easy and comfortable placement over time. Humans cannot tolerate the mystery of all opposition. The mystery is intriguing only if they are solved with precision. The Sphinx does not make such clear conclusions.
