THE SPHINX

Phase III of the Sphinx Conservation:

Roman period (30 BC-end 2nd century AD)

The ancient sources attest that the Sphinx was in the Roman period again freed from the sand.

For example, the people of Busiris, a village located at the foot of the Khufu pyramid, left a stela in honor of Nero and the Governor, Claudius Babillus. We know also that the Sphinx in the Roman period was a popular gathering place. The Egyptians apparently came to sit by the Sphinx and the place was highly romanticized.

The Sphinx even served as the backdrop for the performance of plays. These literary references, plus the nature of the Roman restorations, indicate that the monument was in full view.

The Roman restorations consisted of a layer of protective stones applied to the paws and two sides of the Sphinx. These stones were recorded and planned by Mark Lehner (from the Oriental Institute) in the photogrammetric map that was made in 1979.

These stones were applied directly over the old kingdom courses; smaller stones were used as necessary to retain the modeling and proportions of the Sphinx. In addition:

The floor of the Sphinx sanctuary was paved during the Roman period. This phase of work can be considered as the largest restoration effort in history.

Our studies of the Sphinx indicate that old kingdom stones placed on the Sphinx were respected by subsequent generations of restorers. They may have been considered sacred.

As in the case of their Saite predecessors mentioned above, the Roman restorers did not remove the old kingdom stones from the Sphinx.

The layers of the Roman period are composed of small brick-sized stones that were placed on the top of, not in the place of, the old kingdom stones and later casing. The fact that the Roman restorers did not violate the original stones suggests they considered these venerable, older stones sacred.