The Nova documentary film entitled “Riddles of the Sphinx” discusses the building of the Great Sphinx, the largest statue in Egypt. It is made in the form of a lion with a human head; the sphynx is 70 feet high and almost 250 feet long (Glassman, 2010). In the film, scientists and builders seek to uncover the riddle of the Sphinx, posing questions about how the Sphynx was built and why.
The Sphinx was constructed at Giza Plateau, where around 2500 BC, pharaohs began to build pyramids. To find out where the idea of putting a human head on a lion’s body comes from, the scientists set out for the desert of Abydos, which lies to the south of Giza. The city of Abydos was built at the very dawn of Egyptian civilization and is now deserted. There are burials of ancient pharaohs, including the tomb of king Aha, the first pharaoh of the first dynasty. In the tomb, lions’ bones are uncovered, which may be a clue to the sphynx’s form. Ancient kings identified themselves with a lion to show their power. So, a lion’s body may symbolize authority, while the human head symbolizes intelligence or control. Together they represent the power under control, the power of the king.
Another question posed in the film is how the Sphynx was created. To understand this, scientists looked at what it is made of. The sphynx is composed of interchanging layers of soft and hard limestone, which had been the floor of the sea billions of years ago. By the time of the pyramids, the sea had turned into a desert. The starting point for the Sphynx was probably a huge rock that stuck out on the plateau’s surface. Workers cut a trench around it and took the stones out of the ditch in huge blocks. From these blocks, they built the walls of the Sphynx Temple. Then sculptors carved the giant rock remaining in the center into the shape of a sphynx.
To see how ancient people carved the rock, archaeologists decided to carve a sphynx’s nose of limestone. For their nose, the archaeologists used tools available at those times – stone hammers and copper chisel. First, copper had to be melted in the fire to be sharpened into a suitable form. By estimating the time it took to carve the nose, the archaeologists concluded that it took about three years for a hundred workers to carve the whole sphynx.
Another question posed in the film is who initiated the building of the Sphynx. It is positioned between two pyramids, and it would be logical to suppose that whoever built the pyramids built the Sphinx. However, these pyramids were built on the orders of different pharaohs: Khufu and his son Khafre. Archaeologists look at the facial features of sphynx and debate whom it resembles to determine which pharaoh initiated it. However, there is no universal answer to this question.
There is a temple in front of the Sphinx with two niches on the west and east sides. When the sun sets, a line of light connects the Sphynx to the Pyramid of Khufu and stretches further to the horizon. It gives a clue as to why the Sphynx was built. The lion was a symbol of the king, but at the same time, the double lion was a symbol of God, the guardian of the horizon. The horizon was believed to be the entrance to the afterlife. Thus, it becomes clear that the purpose of the Sphynx was to ensure the pharaoh’s safe passage to the afterlife. The film casts light on Egyptians’ beliefs and the importance they attached to death, and what comes after it. It may be thought-provoking and stimulating to anyone interested in the history of Egypt.
Reference
Glassman, G. (2010). Riddles of the Sphinx [Film]. Nova Documentary.