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Sphinx Documentary Summary

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Sphinx Documentary Summary

Uploaded by

vincentbac15192
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Vincent Baccare

Professor Montgomery

HUM 2210, 9:30 am

13 September 2024

Riddles of the Sphinx Summary

The Great Sphinx is an ancient Egyptian sculpture that depicts a reclining sphinx; a

mythical creature with the head of a human and body of a lion. It is Egypt’s largest statue, with a

length of 240 feet and height of 70 feet. It is located in Giza, directly next to the Great Pyramids.

The statue’s origin remains mostly a mystery; however, it could be assumed that it was made

roughly around the same time the first Great Pyramid was made. The first Great pyramid dates

all the way back to roughly 2500 BCE, when the Pharaoh Khufu decided to begin construction

on the first pyramid. With this knowledge, an assumption can be made that the statue’s origin did

come around at roughly the same time as the Great Pyramids were constructed due to their close

proximity.

I common question asked about the Great Sphinx is where the idea of putting a human

head on a lion’s body came from. According to the documentary, ancient Egyptian

kings/pharaohs associated themselves with lions as a show of power. This is because lions are

apex predators and wield significant amounts of unbridled power. As a result, pharaoh kings

associated themselves with lions and placed their head on bodies of one to represent their

overarching power. In addition, ancient Egyptian culture depicted their gods as half-human-half-

animal. Pharaoh’s would depict themselves in a similar way to associate them as being on the

same level as their gods.


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Another common question asked abouth the Great Sphinx is how it was made. At first

glance, the statue appears to have been built with thousands of blocks. However, a closer look

reveals that the torso and head of the sphinx was carved out of one huge rock. Clues on how the

Sphinx was built can be found in the stone of the Sphinx itself. The stones in which the Sphinx is

made out of is limestone. Close inspection of the limestone reveals that the stones once came

from a seabed. This is because millions of years ago, the Giza Plateau was under water and sea

creatures and plants died and formed the limestone. That same limestone was then dug up and

carved to make the Sphinx. In conclusion, the ancient Egyptians quarried a horeshoe-shaped

ditch, leaving a big block of limestone in the center to carve the Great Sphinx out of.

Because of the Sphinx’s near proximity to the Great Pyrimids, it is often asked which

Pharaoh ordered the construction of the Sphinx. By analying the facial features of the Great

Sphinx, it is believed the the head of the Sphinx belongs to either the pharaoh Khufu or his son

Khafre. The difinitive answer of who the Sphinx represent remains a mystery due to the poor

condition of the face of the Spinx. The face of the Sphinx is missing its nose and possibly the

beard which would have help archelogist identify who the Sphinx really was. What can also be

identified on the head of the Great Sphinx are traces of blue paint. It is believed that at some

point the Sphinx received a monumental makeover in which it was brightly painted in comic

book colors. It was believed that the head and body of the Sphinx was painted a bright red and

the headrest was painted yellow and blue. It’s believed that this painting of the Spinx is what

truly brought it to life for the ancient Egyptians.

To try and identify who the Great Sphinx really belonged to, archelolgists analyzed a

temple directly next to the Sphinx. It was discovered that the temple had a corrilation with both

the Great Sphinx and the Great pyramid of pharaoh Khafre. Beleiving that the Great Sphinx and
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temple were apart of the same engineering project, a conclusion can be made that were built by

the same pharaoh, Khafre.

With the Great Sphinx being such an engineering marvel for its time, it is often asked

how long it took to make the sculpture. What archeologists would discover is that it would have

taken approximatley 40 hours for a single person to carve out roughly 1 square foot of limestone.

With this calculation and size of the great Sphinx, it is believed that it took an estimated 1

million man hours to carve and build the Great Sphinx.

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