reply to post by Cythraul
Hello Cythraul,
Cythraul: May I ask your opinion on the date of the Sphinx's construction? If you are suggesting that the general period of 10,500 BC would
have been a little too shaky for the undertaking of a project like the pyramids, I assume you feel the same way about the Sphynx (particularly as it
is a key component in the Giza calendar according to your theory, not an unrelated monument).
SC: The question as to the dating of the Sphinx is complex. This is due to the fact that this structure was carved from in-situ rock. The pyramids,
on the other hand, were built from quarried blocks (although there is a theory that the upper blocks may actually have been cast) and bound together
with mortar and within that mortar there are traces of carbon which dates the pyramid structures to c.2,500BC. On the basis of this we have to
consider that the Sphinx is contemporary with the AE culture of the 4th Dynasty. In the early 1900s when the Sphinx enclosure was cleared of its
sand, pot shards contemporary with the 4th Dynasty were discovered in the enclosure. Of course, these pot shards may only have gathered there since
the last time the Sphinx enclosure was cleared of its sand.
What is clear is that geological data alone cannot offer a defintive date for the Sphinx. It can only be done in conjunction with archaelogical
findings. However, it is difficult to determine if any pre-4th Dynasty artefacts found at the base of the enclosure were not removed in antiquity as
part of a clear out / restoration project.
As far as my own theory is concerned, it does not actually matter which structure was built first because the builders were working from a pre-defined
plan. They could have built the small 'cult pyramid' of Khafre first if they had so wished. The Sphinx, as far as my own work goes, could have
been carved last - it does not actually matter. From a design perspective, however, the Sphinx would have been one of the first of the structures set
in place into the 'codex'.
Best wishes,
Scott Creighton