Riaan Posted June 13, 2015 #1 Share Posted June 13, 2015 It seems that some are of the opinion that a second Sphinx must have existed. A Second Great Sphinx An Undiscovered Sphinx of Giza An eccentric British gentleman called Gerry Cannon believes he has found its location, More Than One Sphinx on the Giza Plateau? Your opinion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
questionmark Posted June 13, 2015 #2 Share Posted June 13, 2015 If it is there it must be so remarkably small that an army of archeologists and an army of fortune hunters all digging around there must have missed it.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Wearer of Hats Posted June 13, 2015 #3 Share Posted June 13, 2015 I would say a second Sphinx, one on the other bank of the Nile would have some mythic significance - one in the land of the living, one in the land of the dead, ecepecsully if the Sphinx is there as a "guardian of the dead". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harte Posted June 13, 2015 #4 Share Posted June 13, 2015 You'd think it would have turned up in real estate developments around Cairo: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanslune Posted June 13, 2015 #5 Share Posted June 13, 2015 It seems that some are of the opinion that a second Sphinx must have existed. A Second Great Sphinx An Undiscovered Sphinx of Giza An eccentric British gentleman called Gerry Cannon believes he has found its location, More Than One Sphinx on the Giza Plateau? Your opinion? If it did I would suspect it was on the East bank and made of mud brick, if so it has crumbled away long ago, helped to its demise by the Nile floods Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cladking Posted June 13, 2015 #6 Share Posted June 13, 2015 An eccentric British gentleman called Gerry Cannon believes he has found its location, More Than One Sphinx on the Giza Plateau? Your opinion? I pursued this exact spot as a location for a possible second Sphinx for years. I was never able to ascertain that it had been excavated or not. It seems unlikely since it projects above the surrounding terraine. If it had been a statue it shouldn't have been forgotten. The actual second Sphinx sits back to back with it, I believe. That it is under a pyramid seems certain but exactly which pyramid is less certain. G2 is actually the obvious choice all else be- ing equal, but all else isn't equal. The gravimetric scan shows the NE corner of G1 was built exceptionally light implying they were trying to protect something below. Perhaps is was mere- ly the weakened cliff face being protected but the scan seems to imply something long and ori- ented generally N/ S rather than the E/ W cliff face or the point of greatest stress on the cliff face. There is or was a second Spinx and it must be behind the one that is visible. This and that it "lives" in the house of life limits the possibilities of its location to one of the three gizamids; and probably G1. There are a few hints in the ancient literature to the entrance. They wanted the existence of this second Sphinx to be generally known but they did not want the entrance to be widely known. Hence there are only hints. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riaan Posted June 13, 2015 Author #7 Share Posted June 13, 2015 (edited) I pursued this exact spot as a location for a possible second Sphinx for years. I was never able to ascertain that it had been excavated or not. It seems unlikely since it projects above the surrounding terraine. If it had been a statue it shouldn't have been forgotten. The actual second Sphinx sits back to back with it, I believe. That it is under a pyramid seems certain but exactly which pyramid is less certain. G2 is actually the obvious choice all else be- ing equal, but all else isn't equal. The gravimetric scan shows the NE corner of G1 was built exceptionally light implying they were trying to protect something below. Perhaps is was mere- ly the weakened cliff face being protected but the scan seems to imply something long and ori- ented generally N/ S rather than the E/ W cliff face or the point of greatest stress on the cliff face. There is or was a second Spinx and it must be behind the one that is visible. This and that it "lives" in the house of life limits the possibilities of its location to one of the three gizamids; and probably G1. There are a few hints in the ancient literature to the entrance. They wanted the existence of this second Sphinx to be generally known but they did not want the entrance to be widely known. Hence there are only hints. During one of his tirades Hawass claimed that he had used ground penetrating radar everywhere and found nothing (something to this effect). That would be a good option instead of actual excavation, but to get a) a sponsor for the work, b ) a company prepared to go to Egypt and perform the work and c) Hawass Almighty's permission looks very improbable to me. Edited June 13, 2015 by Riaan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenemet Posted June 13, 2015 #8 Share Posted June 13, 2015 It seems that some are of the opinion that a second Sphinx must have existed. A Second Great Sphinx The paragraph that begins, "Have you ever seen just one Sphinx in later Egypt that didn't have another?" shows that the author hasn't looked at a lot of Egyptian art. The single sphinx is a reference tot he pharaoh ("there can be only one") and occurs on many objects such as this scarab: http://www.penn.museum/collections/object/81632 ...etc, etc, for hundreds of examples. Trying to equate the human headed sphinx with a hawk-headed sphinx shows a complete lack of understanding, since the hieracosphinx is a completely different symbol with different associations. Notice that they skip over the criosphinx because somehow hawks and humans are the same but rams aren't. An Undiscovered Sphinx of GizaAn eccentric British gentleman called Gerry Cannon believes he has found its location, Your opinion? I hit the part where the author was cheerily declaiming that Giza was the same thing as Rostau (and displaying an abysmal lack of knowledge about the subject) and just frankly gave up. There' s only so much "I never saw this before and I don't have to read up on it because I'm going to explain my wonderful idea" discourse that I can endure before my third cup of coffee. However: * there aren't any really ancient references to this (and the "across the river" site would have been in the middle of the town of Memphis * if they were maintaining a second sphinx in the middle of Memphis, they would have maintained its counterpart across the river rather than letting it and the necropolis (which faded into unimportance) become neglected * the "OMG! A sphinx could be hiding here! Sphinx shaped!" areas have been explored (or have been found to be quarry-able rock. * single sphinx as the pharaoh is consistent with images of the pharaoh prior to Giza 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenemet Posted June 13, 2015 #9 Share Posted June 13, 2015 During one of his tirades Hawass claimed that he had used ground penetrating radar everywhere and found nothing (something to this effect). That would be a good option instead of actual excavation, but to get a) a sponsor for the work, b ) a company prepared to go to Egypt and perform the work and c) Hawass Almighty's permission looks very improbable to me. He's no longer in charge of Egyptian Antiquities. Oh. Yes. you'd have to present a paper and a proposal and reveal your funding sources and then your proposal would be put into competition with everyone else AND the universities who are also proposing Giza research projects. It's pretty much the system put in by Hawass after a century and more of amateur diggers caused havoc on the plateau -- but you wouldn't be dealing with Hawass. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riaan Posted June 13, 2015 Author #10 Share Posted June 13, 2015 He's no longer in charge of Egyptian Antiquities. Oh. Yes. you'd have to present a paper and a proposal and reveal your funding sources and then your proposal would be put into competition with everyone else AND the universities who are also proposing Giza research projects. It's pretty much the system put in by Hawass after a century and more of amateur diggers caused havoc on the plateau -- but you wouldn't be dealing with Hawass. Good to know, thanks, but not that I planned to try it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanslune Posted June 13, 2015 #11 Share Posted June 13, 2015 He's no longer in charge of Egyptian Antiquities. Oh. Yes. you'd have to present a paper and a proposal and reveal your funding sources and then your proposal would be put into competition with everyone else AND the universities who are also proposing Giza research projects. It's pretty much the system put in by Hawass after a century and more of amateur diggers caused havoc on the plateau -- but you wouldn't be dealing with Hawass. Ibrahim 'the beast' Mohammed is the man in charge now http://english.ahram.org.eg/News/76623.aspx I'm am always amused that people just cannot seem to accept that 'showman' Hawass has been gone 4 years 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
questionmark Posted June 13, 2015 #12 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Ibrahim 'the beast' Mohammed is the man in charge now http://english.ahram...News/76623.aspx I'm am always amused that people just cannot seem to accept that 'showman' Hawass has been gone 4 years Only time will tell if the Beast can hold the store as well together as the showman could. I hope so but I have my doubts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanslune Posted June 13, 2015 #13 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Only time will tell if the Beast can hold the store as well together as the showman could. I hope so but I have my doubts. Well the 'beast' appears to be a rather inept bureaucrat and functional academic who is however politically adept. I nicknamed him the beast because he is just a ***** cat-or that is the impression I get from his public dealings. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir Wearer of Hats Posted June 13, 2015 #14 Share Posted June 13, 2015 In this day and age, the head needs to be a political animal IMO, their number two the bureaucrat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
back to earth Posted June 13, 2015 #15 Share Posted June 13, 2015 Ibrahim 'the beast' Mohammed is the man in charge now http://english.ahram...News/76623.aspx I'm am always amused that people just cannot seem to accept that 'showman' Hawass has been gone 4 years I thought he died. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenemet Posted June 14, 2015 #16 Share Posted June 14, 2015 I thought he died. Nope. He's the featured presenter on at least one Egyptian tour and possibly more: http://archaeologicalpaths.com/ 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hanslune Posted June 14, 2015 #17 Share Posted June 14, 2015 I thought he died. Gone in the sense of 'outta the job'. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
back to earth Posted June 14, 2015 #18 Share Posted June 14, 2015 (edited) I will always admire the man, for this response Edited June 14, 2015 by back to earth 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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