THE SPHINX

REFERENCES

[1] Recent work on the stratigraphy, sedimentology and general geology of the Giza Plateau is summarized in: T. Aigner, 'Event-stratification in nummulits accumulations and in shell beds from the Eoceine of Egypt,' in G. Einsele and A. Seilacher, eds., Cyclic and Event Stratification (Berlin, 1982), 248-262; T. Aigner, 'A Pliocene cliff-line around the Giza Pyramids Plateau, Egypt,' Palaeogeogr., Palaeoclimatol., Palaeoecol. 42 (1983a), 313-322; T. Aigner, 'ZurGeologie und Geoarchaeologie des Pyramidenplateaus van Giza, Aegypten,' Natur und Museum 112 (1983b), 377-388; T. Aigner, 'Facies and origin of nummulitic buildups: an example from the Giza Pyramids Plateau (Middle Eocene, Egypt),' N. Jb. Geol. Palaont. Abh. 166 (1983c), 347-368; K. O. Emery, 'Weathering of the Great Pyramid,' J. Sediment Petrol. 30 (1960), 140-143; K. L. Gauri, 'Geologic study of the Sphinx,' Newsletter of the American Research Center in Egypt 127(1984), 24-43; K. L. Gauri, 'How Old is the Sphinx?' Abstracts for the redating_the_sphinx Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Chicago, redating_the_sphinx), 202; K. L. Gauri and G. C. Holdren, 'Deterioration of the stone of the Great Sphinx,' NARCE 114 (1981), 35-47; Geological Survey of Egypt, Cairo, Geological Map of Greater Cairo Area (I 983), Scale 1:100,000; M. Lehner, 'The Development of the Giza Necropolis: The Khufu Project,' Mitt. des Deutschen Archaologischen lnst., Cairo, Abt. 41 (1985), 109-143; R. Said, The Geology of Egypt (Amsterdam, 1962); P. Said, The Geological Evolution of the River Nits (New York, 1981); R. Said, 'The geological evolution of the River Nile in Egypt,' Z. Geomorphol., N.F. 26 (1982), 305-314; R. Said, ed., The Geology of Egypt (Rotterdam, 1990); R. Said and L. Martin, 'Cairo Area geological excursion notes,' in F.A. Reilly, ed., Guidebook to the Geology and Archaeology of Egypt (Petroleum Exploration Society of Libya, Sixth Annual Field Conference, 1964), 107-121; R. M. Schoch, 'How Old is the Sphinx?,' Abstracts for the redating the sphinx Annual Meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (Chicago, redating the sphinx), 202; R. M. Schoch and J. A. West, 'Redating the Great Sphinx of Giza, Egypt,' Geological Society of America, abstracts with programs 25:5 (1991), A253; M. Sears, "Nummulites: Time capsules of the desert sands," Rotunda, The Magazine of the Royal Ontario Museum 13:1 (Fall, 1990), 12-19.

[2] For instance, J. Baines and J. Malek, Atlas of Ancient Egypt (Oxford, 1980), 36, state that Khafre (= Chephren, = Khephren) ruled Egypt from 2520 to 2494 B.C.

[3] "As to the exact age of the Sphinx, and to whom we should attribute its ****, no definite facts are known, and we have not one single contemporary inscription to enlighten us upon this point": from S. Hassan, The Sphinx: Its History in the Light of Recent Excavations (Cairo, 1949), 75. The current standard attribution of the Great Sphinx and its associated temples to Khafre seems to be based on four major pieces of evidence: 1) a statue of Khafre recovered during the Nineteenth Century from the Valley Temple; 2) an ambiguous (and now effaced) inscription on a New Kingdom stela of ca. 1400 B.C.; 3) an alleged similarity between the face of the Great Sphinx and that of Khafre; and 4) the physical proximity of the Great Sphinx to Khafre's pyramid. As Hassan and J. A. West (Serpent in the Sky: The High Wisdom of Ancient Egypt [New York, 1979], 215-220) and others have noted, all of this evidence is circumstantial and none of it proves that the Sphinx was carved by order of Khafre.

At present the consensus among Egyptologists seems to be that the face of the Great Sphinx resembles the face of its reputed builder, Khafre. This is a relatively recent notion, and far from certain. The face of the sphinx is severely damaged, but what remains of it does not indisputably appear to resemble the face seen on known statues of Khafre. American Egyptologist Mark Lehner ('Computer rebuilds the Ancient Sphinx," National Geographic [April 1991], 32-39) has done work on restoring the battered face of the Great Sphinx, but his effort has not necessarily shed any light on what the face of the Sphinx originally looked like. Instead of attempting to reconstruct the face of the sculpture based on actual physical evidence, Lehner dogmatically insists that the monument was carved by Khafre's order and, therefore, the face must resemble that king; accordingly, he used a computer to reconstruct the face so that it looked like known portraits of the Fourth Dynasty ruler, remarking (National Geographic, 33) that "with the face of Khafre, the Sphinx came alive." Here Lehner clearly seems to imply that his reconstruction of the face of the Sphinx helps to confirm that the sculpture was created under Khafre; if so, this is simply a case of circular reasoning.

Recently New York City Police forensic officer Detective Frank Domingo made a detailed analysis of the face of the Sphinx, as compared to the known face of Khafre (see article by R. Grossman, Chicago Tribune, Section 5, 24 February Redating the Sphinx, 1,5). In October of 1991, Domingo traveled to Egypt with the express purpose of measuring and examining the surviving facial features of the Sphinx and the statues known to portray Khafre. After thoroughly studying the problem, Domingo concluded definitely that the face of the great Sphinx is not the same face seen on statues of the builder of the second great pyramid. My hypothesis-that the initial carving of the Sphinx of Giza was undertaken prior to the reign of Khafre-is actually neither corroborated nor refuted on the basis of whether or not the face of the sculpture represents the likeness of Khafre. Even if the face of the Sphinx is a portrait of the Fourth Dynasty ruler, this does not falsify my hypothesis, as I believe that Khafre did, indeed, work on restoring and refurbishing the monument. He may have even ordered the recarving of the face of the Sphinx in his own image.