Egyptian Dreams

[Hatshepsu]

Hello, does anyone know the PROPER history of the Sphinx? or the meaning behind sphinx's? thanks

[Jason Patterson]

As proper I would assume not fringe?

Well the evidence gathered so far gives this history:

It was carved from a huge outcrop of limestone, during the reign of Khafra. Skipping a few hundred years later Pharaoh Thutmose IV did a mass excivation of the Sphinx from the sand as seen in his dream that if he did he would be king. And he did. His dream was chiseled on a tablet and placed under the Sphinx's head called the Stela of Thutmose. Then you have to the modern years. But that would take to long to answer.

As to the meaning, that is a tough answer. Egyptians believed that the lion was the symbol of the ruler and Horemakhet or "Horus in the horizon". That was identified as when the sun sets between the pyramids the head of the Sphinx is shown. Also statues of lions were often placed in front of temples to guard them. The Sphinx was probably ment to protect the Valley Temple of Khafra and his ever lasting temple, his pyramid.

Hope this helps.
Jason Patterson

[Hatshepsu]

thanks !! its frusterating sometimes when you watch movies about this kind of stuff. Like i know the sphinx lost the nose during some sort of war (not in the egyptian era right?) , and then you see" the prince of egypt" or whatever from disney, he bumps the nose off accidently. its suppose to be humours, but its not very nice to produce the wrong story. That goes with all their movies tho. Curse disney! thanks again (sorry for the rambling)

[Jason Patterson]

Well, there is theories about the nose.

It was shot off by Napoleon's troops
Earthquake took it off
Whethered away by time and sand

But the real reason is because in the 15th century AD Muslim troops broke off the nose because their religion forbids images of a god.

[Hatshepsu]

oh.. ok... your good. Is it fun being a historian? lol as u can see, i have long boring days.. filled with nothing-ness. Thats why i got so many posts in. lol ty

[Mike]

Jason,

What do you think of the evidence regarding the weathering on the sphinx, supposedly caused when Egypt had a wet climate, which would put the age of the sphinx around 12000 years old?

[Jason Patterson]

Well Mike if you mean Dr. Schoch and Dr. West I believe they present and interesting case but not real evidence. Yes the erosion does match 10,500 BC which the Egyptian civilzation did not exist but only nomads.

So unless West and Schoch can present some hard evidence, pottery, tools, anything that can be carbon dated to that date near the Sphinx I think that it is still an open case.

Personally I believe that it could, at least been started at that time and re-done over centuries.

[Bast]

The Sphinx is thought to be the creature with the strength of a lion and the witts of a man. It is also believed to be a portrait of Khfre himself. Later, it was associated with the Solar cult and mostly horus.
The statue is guarding the place where the sun rises - it is facing East. The sun was the most important cult of all... even more important than the river Nile.
Later the Egyptians built a temple of the Sphinx next to Khafre's funerary temple.
Napoleon would be the second person to dig the Sphynx out of the sands.

[Jason Patterson]

[murphyz]

Sphinx is taken from the Greek sfi`gx, deriving from 'sfi`ggein', which means to bind tightly together, as in to throttle. Many people have been known to call the Sphinx of Greek Mythology the 'strangler' due to this.

In Greek mythology the Sphinx was the guardian to the land of Thebes, preventing anyone from crossing its path by posing a riddle. When they got the riddle wrong the Sphinx would [supposedly] strangle them.
The ruler of the land of Thebes, King Laius, was told by Apollo that his son would kill him so he and his wife had their child taken out of Thebes and cast into the hills.
A shepherd found the child with a nail in his foot, and so called him Oedipus (swollen foot) and raised him.
Eventually Oedipus was to return to the land of Thebes where he encountered the sphinx and was asked the following riddle.

What walks on four legs in the morning, two legs in the afternoon, and three legs in the evening?

Oedipus correctly answered the riddle, and therefore killed the sphinx, as 'man', who crawls on all fours as a baby - the 'morning' of their life - on two legs for their adulthood - the 'afternoon' - and on two legs with a cane when they are elderly - 'three legs in the evening'.

When in Thebes, Oedipus killed the king whom he didn't realise was his father, therefore making the prophecy come true. He then took the Queen as his wife until he realised that she was, in fact, his mother in which case he gouged out his own eyes and became a nomad.

In all likelyhood the Egyptians would also have believed that the Sphinx was a protector to their land or landmark of importance and many Sphinx were placed in duo at their sites. Although the Sphinx on the Giza plateau is the one most people think of when hearing the word, there were many many more throughout the land of Egypt, in particular at the entrance to tombs.

Due to them usually appearing in pairs, it has been rumoured by many enthusiasts that a second giant Sphinx was located near the Giza Plateau, and was perhaps made of a different material that was used for buildings during the growth of Cairo.

Mxx
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[Hatshepsu]

welcome to the boards! thanks for making a long post NOT boring.. lol ive heard that story before .. but i remember hearing it before i started getting into egypt..

Serena

[Kevin]

Welcome to the board, murphyz
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"Man fears Time - but Time fears the pyramids" - Old Egyptian saying

[murphyz]

Thank you for the welcomes

Hope to see people on here over the Christmas period

Mxx
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Cow and Chicken Online Reading Group

[Kevin]

[Yves Van Herp]