Erosion sphinx

Unlike the pyramidsthe Great Sphinx of Giza has mostly avoided debates about its creation.

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. In they traveled together to Egypt, visiting the Sphinx.

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, years ago have long fascinated archaeologists. Yardangs are made from wind erosion. As the desert blows sand onto rock formations, softer pieces erode while harder sediments remain. Some yardangs are tall like towers, while others are more squat—and some may even end up looking strangely sphinx-like. To recreate how the Sphinx could have formed from a yardang, Ristroph and his team took a shapeless mound of clay and embedded harder materials inside it to replicate the terrain in northeastern Egypt. They then ran a fast-flowing stream of water over it, a process that mimicked wind erosion. The researchers monitored how the clay changed using a 3D optical scanner. Eventually, a sphinx-like shape appeared. The question is how much was naturally existing and then further modified. Julia Binswanger is a freelance arts and culture reporter based in Chicago. Get the latest stories in your inbox every weekday.

At the start of the experiment, erosion sphinx, the team molded the clay into a "half ellipsoid" or half of an oval shape. Back to Top or Back to Research Highlights.

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.

Gear-obsessed editors choose every product we review. We may earn commission if you buy from a link. Why Trust Us? The Great Pyramids of Giza are arguably the most impressive construction project of the ancient world as some 2. Their work has been accepted by the journal Physical Review Fluids. Over time, the water ate away the clay, but left the non-erodible plastic intact, and Ristroph was struck by the appearance of a very familiar shape. It feeds back on the flow and changes erosion rates and how it is distributed over the surface.

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. 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.

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Bibcode : QuInt. I have now developed a theory, backed up by scientific evidence, to explain why. Reader cites evidence of flood water damage in another location to illustrate this. Additionally, we found some lesser and previously known cavities under and around the Sphinx, and the data also indicates that there may be a tunnel-like feature running the length of the body. Retrieved 12 November Archived from the original on 14 March The study shows "a very real possibility of how a natural limestone formation came to have a kind of amorphous sphinx-like shape," said Kathryn Bard , a professor emeritus of archaeology and classical studies at Boston University who has conducted extensive work in Egypt. GEO ExPro. By Michelle Duncan. The Great Sphinx of Giza is one of the most recognizable sculptures from ancient Egypt, and the mysteries of its construction some 4, years ago have long fascinated archaeologists. To recreate how the Sphinx could have formed from a yardang, Ristroph and his team took a shapeless mound of clay and embedded harder materials inside it to replicate the terrain in northeastern Egypt. 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.

The ancient Egyptians may have crafted the Sphinx, a 4,year-old monument at Giza that stands in front of the pyramid of Khafre not completely from scratch but rather on a natural feature that already looked surprisingly sphinx-like, a new study suggests. In an Oct. However, even if the ancient Egyptians did create the Sphinx from an eerily shaped hunk of rock, they still would have had to delicately fashion the Sphinx's iconic features, which survive to this day, the researchers said.

Nova Online. The thing is, the Sphinx sits on the edge of the Sahara Desert and the region has been quite arid for the last years. We know that the ancient water table was well below the level of the floor of the Sphinx Enclosure or else the Sphinx Temple would have been flooded. Who is the face is on the statue—most believe King Khafre, though some say Khufu. AI drone that could hunt and kill people built in just hours by scientist 'for a game'. After an investigation of the enclosure's geology, Schoch concluded that the most prominent weathering pattern was caused by prolonged and extensive rainfall, pointing to the well-developed undulating vertical profile on the enclosure walls. India's evolutionary past tied to huge migration 50, years ago and to now-extinct human relatives. More about ancient egyptians. Save this story Save. Sacred Drift: Essays on the Margins of Islam. 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. Columbia University Press.