Erosion sphinx

The Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the most recognizable sculptures from ancient Egypt, and the mysteries of its construction some 4, erosion sphinx ago have long fascinated archaeologists. Yardangs are made from wind erosion. As the desert blows sand onto rock formations, erosion sphinx, softer pieces erode while harder sediments remain.

The Sphinx water erosion hypothesis is a fringe claim , contending that the Great Sphinx of Giza and its enclosing walls eroded primarily due to ancient floods or rainfalls, attributing their creation to Plato 's lost civilization of Atlantis over 11, years ago. Egyptologists, geologists and others have rejected the water erosion hypothesis and the idea of an older Sphinx, pointing to archaeological, climatological and geological evidence to the contrary. In the s, French mystic [9] [10] and alternative Egyptologist Schwaller de Lubicz speculated the body of the Sphinx to be eroded by deluges and that therefore the Sphinx must predate them, further claiming that ancient Egyptian knowledge originated from colonists or refugees of Plato's sunken continent of Atlantis. In , author and alternative Egyptologist John Anthony West , inspired by Schwaller's ideas, attributed the erosion to Nile floods between 15, and 10, BC. By denying the existence of any evidence for the development of Egyptian civilization prior to the first dynasty, West created room to inject the idea of a lost, advanced civilization of Atlanteans who created the Sphinx and passed on their knowledge to the dynastic Egyptians. Ten years later, West sought the opinion of geologist Robert Schoch to validate his claims.

Erosion sphinx

Researchers turn to erosion in exploring the role natural elements had in building an architectural wonder. Historians and archaeologists have, over centuries, explored the mysteries behind the Great Sphinx of Giza: What did it originally look like? What was it designed to represent? What was its original name? But less attention has been paid to a foundational, and controversial, question: What was the terrain the Ancient Egyptians came across when they began to build this instantly recognizable structure—and did these natural surroundings have a hand in its formation? To address these questions, which have been raised on occasion by others, a team of New York University scientists replicated conditions that existed 4, years ago—when the Sphinx was built—to show how wind moved against rock formations in possibly first shaping one of the most recognizable statues in the world. Yardangs in Egypt's White Desert. The work centered on replicating yardangs—unusual rock formations found in deserts resulting from wind-blown dust and sand—and exploring how the Great Sphinx could have originated as a yardang that was subsequently detailed by humans into the form of the widely recognized statue. They then washed these formations with a fast-flowing stream of water—to replicate wind—that carved and reshaped them, eventually reaching a Sphinx-like formation. Oct 31, Courant researchers have determined how Sphinx-like shapes are formed. Press Contact James Devitt.

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Many people know me best for my work on the Great Sphinx of Giza, Egypt. In I first traveled to Egypt with John Anthony West for background information see Forgotten Civilization and Origins of the Sphinx , with the sole purpose of examining the Great Sphinx from a geological perspective. I assumed that the Egyptologists were correct in their dating, but soon I discovered that the geological evidence was not compatible with what the Egyptologists were saying. The thing is, the Sphinx sits on the edge of the Sahara Desert and the region has been quite arid for the last years. Furthermore, various structures securely dated to the Old Kingdom show only erosion that was caused by wind and sand very distinct from the water erosion. To make a long story short, I came to the conclusion that the oldest portions of the Great Sphinx, what I refer to as the core-body, must date back to an earlier period at least BCE, and my latest research now points to the end of the last ice age, circa 10, BCE , a time when the climate was very different and included more rain. Many people have said to me that the Great Sphinx cannot be so old, in part because the head is evidently a dynastic Egyptian head and the dynastic period did not start until about BCE.

When Mark Lehner was a teenager in the late s, his parents introduced him to the writings of the famed clairvoyant Edgar Cayce. During one of his trances, Cayce, who died in , saw that refugees from the lost city of Atlantis buried their secrets in a hall of records under the Sphinx and that the hall would be discovered before the end of the 20th century. When the foundation sponsored a group tour of the Giza plateau—the site of the Sphinx and the pyramids on the western outskirts of Cairo—Lehner tagged along. Lehner married an Egyptian woman and spent the ensuing years plying his drafting skills to win work mapping archaeological sites all over Egypt. In , he joined Stanford Research Institute scientists using state-of-the-art remote-sensing equipment to analyze the bedrock under the Sphinx. They found only the cracks and fissures expected of ordinary limestone formations. No human endeavor has been more associated with mystery than the huge, ancient lion that has a human head and is seemingly resting on the rocky plateau a stroll from the great pyramids.

Erosion sphinx

Historians and archaeologists have, over centuries, explored the mysteries behind the Great Sphinx of Giza: What did it originally look like? What was it designed to represent? What was its original name? But less attention has been paid to a foundational, and controversial, question: What was the terrain the Ancient Egyptians came across when they began to build this instantly recognizable structure—and did these natural surroundings have a hand in its formation? To address these questions, which have been raised on occasion by others, a team of New York University scientists replicated conditions that existed 4, years ago—when the Sphinx was built—to show how wind moved against rock formations in possibly first shaping one of the most recognizable statues in the world.

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The work the Egyptians did to build the Sphinx across the two yardangs was extensive, the s research suggested. Even if a natural feature like this did exist, Ristroph noted, the ancient Egyptians still would have carried out a considerable amount of work to create the iconic structure. Journal of Cultural Heritage. Retrieved 23 March Woolly mammoth de-extinction inches closer after elephant stem cell breakthrough. Schoch contends that because the last period of significant rainfall seemingly ended between the late fourth and early 3rd millennium BC, [33] the Sphinx's construction must date to BC or earlier, [29] [32] [34] However, new geoarchaeological evidence suggests the occurrence of heavy rainfalls until the end of the Old Kingdom , circa BC. Colin Reader vs. The Sphinx water erosion hypothesis is a fringe claim , contending that the Great Sphinx of Giza and its enclosing walls eroded primarily due to ancient floods or rainfalls, attributing their creation to Plato 's lost civilization of Atlantis over 11, years ago. I assumed that the Egyptologists were correct in their dating, but soon I discovered that the geological evidence was not compatible with what the Egyptologists were saying. Yardangs can form in various shapes and sizes, and some have even been said to look a bit like animals and even people. Shoebill: The human-sized African bird that eats baby crocodiles and kills its siblings. There is another theory that claims that the erosion was actually water erosion.

Many people know me best for my work on the Great Sphinx of Giza, Egypt. In I first traveled to Egypt with John Anthony West for background information see Forgotten Civilization and Origins of the Sphinx , with the sole purpose of examining the Great Sphinx from a geological perspective.

Retrieved 26 February Furthermore, various structures securely dated to the Old Kingdom show only erosion that was caused by wind and sand very distinct from the water erosion. Egyptologists, geologists and others have rejected the water erosion hypothesis and the idea of an older Sphinx, pointing to archaeological, climatological and geological evidence to the contrary. Social Links Navigation. ISBN Owen Jarus. Archaeologists find top half of giant Ramesses II statue, completing a century-long puzzle. Bibcode : QuInt. Schoch states that wind erosion forms distinctive horizontal bands, whereas the water erosion features are clearly vertical. These desert conditions gradually extended to the south with Northern Sudan experiencing an arid climate circa BC. Read View source View history. The recalcitrant intransigence of mainstream archaeology continues to stupefy me. Hidden categories: Webarchive template wayback links Pages using the EasyTimeline extension Articles with short description Short description matches Wikidata Wikipedia indefinitely semi-protected pages Use dmy dates from November