What came first the pyramids or the Sphinx?

Robert Schoch notes that for centuries, starting in the period of the New Kingdom and throughout Roman times, the Great Sphinx of Giza was considered to have been built before the Pyramids. Oral traditions of villagers who live in the Giza area date the Sphinx to 5000 b.c., before Khafre's time.



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Egyptologists mostly take it as settled fact that the Sphinx was carved about the same time as the Pyramids with which it shares the Giza Plateau and that its gentle, enigmatic face (minus a nose, a beard and other bits that have fallen or been knocked off over the centuries) is actually the likeness of a Pharaoh of ...

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According to the Ancient Egypt Research Association (AERA), the architectural and geological evidence both support the conclusion that the Sphinx and its adjoining temple were built along with the rest of Khafre's pyramid complex, and were in fact among the last of the monuments to be completed.

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The Sphinx was not assembled piece by piece but was carved from a single mass of limestone exposed when workers dug a horseshoe-shaped quarry in the Giza plateau. Approximately 66 feet tall and 240 feet long, it is one of the largest and oldest monolithic statues in the world.

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Stonehenge was constructed about 4,500 years ago at around the same time as the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt. Despite their differences, these distant sites had much in common.

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The Pyramid of Djoser, also spelled Zoser, is widely believed to be the oldest pyramid in the world. It dates back to around 2630 BCE, while construction on the Great Pyramid of Giza began in 2560 BCE, roughly 70 years later.

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NARRATOR: According to this theory a fanatical dervish named Muhammad Saim al-Dahr was responsible. He is said to have hired some men to smash off the Sphinx's nose as she was still worshipped as a false god. To this day, the Arabs refer to the Sphinx as Abul Hol or father of terror.

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Some tourists planning a Great Sphinx of Giza tour wonder if you can go inside og the Great Sphinx enclosure. It is possible, but only during our tour of the Giza Pyramids and Sphinx.

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A number of shafts or tunnels are known to exist within or below the body of Great Sphinx at Giza. Zahi Hawass (pictured here) approaches a small square lid of a shaft (shaft C), believed to have been dug by treasure hunters at some point in antiquity.

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In 1378 CE, Egyptian peasants made offerings to the Great Sphinx in the hope of controlling the flood cycle, which would result in a successful harvest. Outraged by this blatant show of devotion, Sa'im al-Dahr destroyed the nose and was later executed for vandalism. Whether this is absolute fact is still debatable.

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The sphinx has existed in Egyptian mythology since at least 2575 BCE, but potentially before that as well. The oldest known example is the Great Sphinx standing outside the Great Pyramid of Khufu. Built by Khufu's son, Khafre, its face was carved in his likeness.

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This is something impossible since Archaeology and history tell us that the pyramids at the Giza plateau are around 4.500 years old.

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Many people have said that the pyramids would last 1 million years or even until the world ended, but I'd say around 10,000 to 100,000 years based on current observations.

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Estimated to be as old as 4,500 years, The Great Sphinx is one of the only surviving Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. It's located in the Giza plateau, on the west bank of the River Nile, around a half-hour drive west of Cairo.

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KEY SIGHTS & ACTIVITIES. There are three Giza Pyramids, each named after the pharaoh who ordered its construction. They share the same rocky site as the Sphinx, known as the Giza Necropolis, which is also home to several cemeteries and a workers' village.

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