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The Sphinx the Guardian of the Pyramid of Khufu
The Sphinx dominates the approach to the Giza Plateau. It is situated beside the causeway from the pyramid of Khafra. In the picture above, the viewer would be standing in the area in front of Khafra, looking toward the pyramid of Khufu and the Solarboat Museum.
The Sphinx was carved from the rock that remained after the blocks were quarried for the valley temple of the Pyramid of Khafra (Chephren). The Sphinx represents a Khafra reborn as the sun god. A sphinx is a guardian statue of great power. The Sphinx temple, seen here in the foreground, was intended for worship of the sun god, Ra.
The Sphinx has suffered greatly from the encroachment of the towns of Nazlet and Giza. Once the Nile no longer flooded, cities based on the tourism of the area were built. The local sewage facilities have leaked into the porous limestone of the Giza Plateau and caused the outer layers of the Sphinx to flake off. The most recent restoration effort repaired and encased portions of the Sphinx.
Early tourists saw the Sphinx as a head rising out of the sand, as shown in this colorized photo. In fact, this was the normal situation since antiquity. When the Sphinx was uncovered 200 years ago, a stele called the Dream Stele was uncovered.
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The Dream Stele of Thutmose This Stele recounts the tale of a Prince of Egypt named Thutmose, the grandson of Thutmose III who succeeded Hatshepsut. Thutmose visited the Giza Plateau on a hunting trip while staying at Memphis. He made a special visit to the god Harmachis (the Sphinx). Harmachis was the god of the rising sun. The god-headed lion was the shape that the sun god took when he became the hunter of the followers of Set. |
Thutmose had a vision as he stood before the Sphinx. The Sphinx spoke to him and told him that he would become Pharaoh if he would free his statue from the sand. Thutmose pledged to do so, and was soon named as heir to the throne. The stele was erected to commemorate that event.
The Reconstruction of the Temple of the Sphinx is underway as shown by this picture taken in 2004.
