The Modern Riddle of the Sphinx

The Modern Riddle of the Sphinx Looking through the eyes of the Sphinx Into the rising, setting sun Nine lives past, Into the sands Are the gifts of gold, Untold When unearthed and understood Within the key is found To see the truths With crystal eyes For all eternity. Courtesy of Linda L. Brinker

Photograph ©1998 Guardian "What is that which has one voice and yet becomes four-footed and two-footed and three-footed?" [Apollodorus 3.5.7] "What goes on four legs at dawn, two at noon, and three at dusk?" [Parabola: Summer 2000][ The winged [Greek] sphinx of Boeotian Thebes, the most famous in legend, was said to have terrorized the people by demanding the answer to a riddle taught her by the Muses and devouring a man each time the riddle was answered incorrectly. Eventually Oedipus gave the proper answer: man, who crawls on all fours in infancy, walks on two feet when grown, and leans on a staff in old age; the sphinx thereupon killed herself. From this tale apparently grew the legend that the sphinx was omniscient, and even today the wisdom of the sphinx is proverbial. [From: Britannica Online]

Ever since its relatively recent rediscovery, theories and controversies, much in imitation of the desert sands, have swirled around the Sphinx. Perhaps this situation is not new, and the same occurred after previous rediscoveries, which were also followed by feverish attempts at repair and preservation, after which the desert once again claimed all but its enigmatic Sphinx head.

The real riddle of the Sphinx at Giza relates to its very identity. Everything that you may have learned in school or through mainstream educational programs is most likely erroneous. The people who have contributed to the status quo of the now stale and challenged "accepted theory" appear to be reluctant to accept new research. In some cases, those charged with protecting this precious leonine treasure actually deny access to researchers with whom they have had disagreements over theory. Finding fresh, reliable news on just what is going on is very difficult. When one does come across new information, s/he must wade through rumor, supposition, and, even more unfortunately, vitriolic back-biting. The Great Sphinx casts spells of charming. S/he first enchanted me when I was about 7 and captured me quite sublimely a few years ago while I was digging for information on the original Oracle at Delphi. Whenever a standstill came about in my Delphi research, I'd investigate the Sphinx. At the time, the most interesting item I'd found concerning the Sphinx was what Edgar Cayce had uttered while in trance: that there were hidden areas below the Sphinx and that a Hall of Records would be discovered near the end of this century. All of the other resources were dry, uninteresting, and relegated this great, ancient structure to a minor existence -- constructed only as a memorial to one egomaniacal pharaoh or another. To me, this theory lacked common sense. Educational television programs seemed bent on taking an exciting topic and making it as boring as possible. Spokespersons were typically old, slow-speaking, uninspiring gents who gave the impression of never having left their museums. Along came a few "new" researchers who had also fallen under the Sphinx's spell. We have John Anthony West to thank for his having contacted Robert Schoch, a respected geologist, stratigrapher, and paleontologist. Professor Schoch has presented evidence that the Sphinx has been eroded by precipitation -- long periods of rains. Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval took this information and combined it with their own research and that of many others. The work that they've done, together and individually, is much too detailed to cover on a few pages of a web site. Their coauthored book, The Message of the Sphinx should be available in libraries by now. Almost a century ago, P.D. Ouspensky wrote about his visit to the Sphinx. You may find that his down-to-earth yet mystical description explains a portion of the Sphinx's magnetic attraction. I hope you'll enjoy the reading selections and links provided below. Keep in mind that this is not the main page of the site. To see a table of contents, go to the main page of Morgana's Observatory. This section will be continually updated as I come across new information. In the meantime, be sure to visit the >Forum to read what others have to say and to post your own opinions and

questions.

The Sphinx by P.D. Ouspensky

Yellowish-grey sand. Deep blue sky. In the distance the triangle of the Pyramid of Khephren, and just before me this strange, great face with its gaze directed into the distance. I used often to go to Gizeh from Cairo, sit down on the sand before the Sphinx, look at it and try to understand it, understand the idea of the artists who created it. And on each and every occasion I experienced the same fear and terror of annihilation. I was swallowed up in its glance, a glance that spoke of mysteries beyond our power of comprehension. The Sphinx lies on the Gizeh plateau, where the great pyramids stand, and where there are many other monuments, already discovered and still to be discovered, and a number of tombs of different epochs. The Sphinx lies in a hollow, above the level of which only its head, neck and part of its back project. By whom, when, and why the Sphinx was erected -- of this nothing is known. Present-day archaeology takes the Sphinx to be prehistoric. [Note: Ouspensky was writing between 1908-1914.] This means that even for the most ancient of the ancient Egyptians, those of the first dynasties six to seven thousand years before the birth of Christ, the Sphinx was the same riddle as it is for us today. From the stone tablet, inscribed with drawings and hieroglyphs, found between the paws of the Sphinx, it was once surmised that the figure represented the image of the Egyptian god Harmakuti, "The Sun on the Horizon." But it has long been agreed that this is an altogether unsatisfactory interpretation and that the inscription probably refers to the occasion of some partial restoration made comparatively recently. As a matter of fact, the Sphinx is older than historical Egypt, older than her gods, older than the pyramids, which, in their turn, are much older than is thought. The Sphinx is indisputably one of the most remarkable, if not the most remarkable, of the world’s works of art. I know nothing that it would be possible to put side by side with it. It belongs indeed to quite another art than the art we know. Beings such as ourselves could not create a Sphinx. Nor can our culture create anything like it. The Sphinx appears unmistakably to be a relic of

another, a very ancient culture, which was possessed of knowledge far greater than ours. There is a tradition or theory that the Sphinx is a great, complex hieroglyph, or a book in stone, which contains the whole totality of ancient knowledge, and reveals itself to the person who can read this strange cipher which is embodied in the forms, correlations and measurements of the different parts of the Sphinx. This is the famous riddle of the Sphinx, which from the most ancient times so many wise souls have attempted to solve. Previously, when reading a book about the Sphinx, it had seemed to me that it would be necessary to approach it with the full equipment of a knowledge different from ours, with some new form of perception, some special kind of mathematics, and that without these aids it would be impossible to discover anything in it. But when I saw the Sphinx for myself, I felt something in it that I had never read and never heard of, something that at once place it for me among the most enigmatic and at the same time fundamental problems of life and the world. The face of the Sphinx strikes one with wonder at the first glance. To begin with, it is quite a modern face. With the exception of the head ornament there is nothing of "ancient history" about it. For some reason I had feared that there would be. I had thought that the Sphinx would have a very "alien" face. But this is not the case. Its face is simple and understandable. It is only the way that it looks that is strange. The face is a good deal disfigured. But if you move away a little and look for a long time at the Sphinx, it is as if a kind of veil falls from its face, the triangles of the head ornament behind the ears become invisible, and before you there emerges clearly a complete and undamaged face with eyes which look over and beyond you into the unknown distance. I remember sitting on the sand in front of the Sphinx -- on the spot from which the second pyramid in the distance makes an exact triangle behind the Sphinx -- and trying to understand, to read its glance. At first I saw only that the Sphinx looked beyond me into the distance. But soon I began to have a kind of vague, then a growing, uneasiness. Another moment, and I felt that the Sphinx was not seeing me, and not only was it not seeing, it could not see me; and not because I was too small in comparison with the profundity of wisdom it contained and guarded. Not at all. That would have been natural and comprehensible. The sense of annihilation and the terror of vanishing came from feeling myself in some way too transient for the Sphinx to be able to notice me. I felt that not only did these fleeting moments or hours which I could pass before it not exist for it, but, that if I could stay under its gaze from birth to death, the whole of my life would flash by so swiftly for it that it could not notice me. Its glance was fixed on something else. It was the glance of a being who thinks in centuries and millennia. I did not exist and could not exist for it. And I could not answer my own question -- do I exist for myself? Do I , indeed, exist in any sort of sense, in any sort of relation? And in this thought, in this feeling, under this strange glance, there was an icy coldness. We are so accustomed to feel that we are, that we exist. yet all at once, here, I felt that I did not exist, that there was no I,

that I could not be so much as perceived. And the Sphinx before me looked into the distance, beyond me, and its face seemed to reflect something that it saw, something which I could neither see nor understand. Eternity! This word flashed into my consciousness and went through me with a sort of cold shudder. All ideas about time, about things, about life, were becoming confused. I felt that in these moments, in which I stood before the Sphinx, it lived through all events and happenings of thousands of years -- and that on the other hand centuries passed for it like moments. How this could be I did not understand. But I felt that my consciousness grasped the shadow of the exalted fantasy or clairvoyance of the artists who had created the Sphinx. I touched the mystery but could neither define nor formulate it. And only later, when all these impressions began to unite with those which I had formerly known and felt, the fringe of the curtain seemed to move, and I felt that I was beginning, slowly, slowly, to understand. Was the Sphinx built over 10,000 years ago? by Robert Bauval

The Language of Stone The Great Sphinx of Giza is probably the world's best known relic from the distant past. It is shrouded in mystery. The Sphinx is not built with quarried blocks like the pyramids and temples it guards, but carved out of the living bedrock. Its makers gave it a man's head (some say it's a woman) and the body of a lion. It is 66' high and an impressive 240' long. It has the most extraordinary expression, like a hundred Mona Lisas all rolled into one. And its eyes gaze forever at the distant horizon due east, at the equinox point, at something not of this world but beyond it, in the sky. Something, perhaps, that is reflected or "frozen" in the essence and age of the Sphinx. Nothing can prepare a first-time visitor for the awe-inspiring experience of meeting the Great Sphinx face to face. No matter who you are, no matter what your disposition and temperament, the Great Sphinx will not leave you unmoved. John A. West knows this phenomenon well. He has stood in the shadow of this great statue many a time since he started visiting Egypt some thirty years ago. To him the Sphinx had always appeared as a monument apart, and much, much older than anything else he had seen either at Giza or elsewhere. West's strong "gut feeling" had rarely let him down. One day, while reading a book on Egypt by the French author and mathematician Schwaller de Lubicz

(Sacred Science, Paris 1961) an answer to his intuitive hunch came shooting straight at him. Schwaller made a passing remark on what appeared to be water erosion on the body of the Sphinx. Turning to a close-up photograph of the Sphinx, West suddenly realized that the weathering patterns on the Sphinx were not horizontal as seen on other monuments at Giza, but vertical. Now, horizontal weathering is the result of prolonged exposure to strong winds and sandstorms. There sure had been plenty of those in this arid region of the Sahara. Could water have caused the vertical weathering on the Sphinx? Water from where? Something, clearly, was worth investigating. West knew that most Egyptologists believed that the Sphinx was built in 2500 BCE in the time of the pharaoh Chephren (of Khafre), who is identified with the Second Pyramid at Giza. He also knew that this belief was now so entrenched that it would take an intellectual bulldozer to tug it out. Yet his study had shown him that this believe was more a dogma than anything else. He asked himself if a proof-positive identification between Khafre and the Sphinx would stand in an "open court" under public scrutiny. The answer was no. There was no inscription either carved on a wall or a stela or written on the throngs of papyri that identified Khafre or anyone else with the construction of the Sphinx and its nearby temples. As for the proximity of Khafre's pyramid to the Sphinx (it is 1700 feet away), this did not prove that both monuments were built as one complex nor, more relevantly, at the same epoch. By such standards, future generations of archaeologists may one day allocate ownership of the Sphinx to the builder of the Sound & Light theater because of its proximity to the Sphinx complex or -- as someone else has put it -- attribute St. Paul's Cathedral to General Gordon of Khartoum just because his statue was found in it. In short, Khafre may well be the quintessential "Kilroy was here" of antiquity. So could the Sphinx be much older than the reign of Khafre, as West had long suspected it was? Could this hypothesis explain, for example, the strange vertical weathering on the statue? In 1991, Dr. Robert Schoch, a prominent geologist and professor from Boston University examined the unique weathering patterns on the Sphinx and its enclosure. His conclusions, which came after several months of analysis, were to convulse the world of archaeology. The vertical weathering patterns on the Sphinx and its enclosure, Schoch argued, were not caused by wind effect, as had previously been thought, but by water -- water from torrential rains pouring down in sheets over these ancient structures. But how could this be? Was Schoch saying that such heavy rains only fell on the Sphinx area but nowhere else at Giza? That was impossible, retorted the Egyptologists. Not impossible, said Schoch if it is conceded that the Sphinx was built at an epoch when such rains were common in this region and that the other monuments at Giza were built long after these rains had stopped. Again impossible, replied the ruffled Egyptologists. Schoch politely shrugged his shoulders. The usual was to happen. John West was branded a charlatan and a

sensation-seeker, and Schoch was politely shunned for stepping on the Egyptological turf. John West, however, was relentless. True, he did not have the lofty credentials of his learned opponents, but this did not deter him. Scientific logic was on his side, not credentials. He was now determined more than ever to see that the Egyptologists either prove him wrong with equal or better scientific arguments or concede that he, and not they, was right about the age of the Sphinx. Anything less would be short change. Astronomy Joins The Sphinx Debate In 1989, I published a paper in the Oxford Journal, Discussions In Egyptology (vol. 13), in which I demonstrated that the three Great Pyramids and their relative position to the Nile created on the ground formed a sort of 3-D "hologram" of the three stars of Orion's belt and their relative position to the Milky Way. To support this contention, I brought into evidence the inclined shaft in the Great Pyramid which was aimed at the south meridian toward this group of stars, as well as written evidence from the Pyramid Texts that identified the afterlife destiny of the pyramid-kings with Orion. Later in my book The Orion Mystery, I also demonstrated that the best fit for the Giza Pyramids/Nile pattern with the Orion's belt/Milky Way pattern occurred when the sky was pushed back in time (i.e., precessed) to the epoch of 10,500 BCE. There were good reasons for doing so. The ancient Egyptians, for example, constantly referred to a remote golden age they called Zep Tepi, the "First Time" of Osiris, which they believed had long predated the Pyramid Age. Osiris was Orion, and the Great Pyramid had a shaft directed to Orion at the meridian. To me, this "silent" astro-architectural language seemed to be spelling out, "Here is Osiris, in the sky when these pyramids were built, yet know, too, that his origins are rooted in the First Time." But the First Time of what? How could the stars of Orion have a First Time? Well they can. And they do. Provided, of course, that you can read through the allegorical "language" of the ancients via the symbolic architecture and the related Pyramid Texts. Allegory, to put it in another way, is the "Q-Basics" of the master astronomers who designed the Giza complex. When the stars of Orion are observed at the meridian in the precise manner that the ancient Egyptian astronomers did over many centuries, they could not help noting that these stars crossed the south meridian at different altitudes at different epoch. This is, of course, is due to the phenomenon of precession. In short, the stars of Orion can be said to have a starting point or "beginning" at the nadir of their precessional cycle. Simple calculations show that this occurred in 10,500 BCE. Could the ancient astronomers of the Pyramid Age have used their very clever "silent language" combined with precession to freeze the "First Time" of Osiris -- somewhat as the gifted architects of gothic cathedrals froze in allegorical stonework the "time of Christ?" In 1993, Graham Hancock and I got together to investigate this issue. Graham was quick to realize the important implications this approach could have on the Sphinx problem. He had a hunch that the curious harking back to the epoch of

10,500 BCE by the pyramid builders was an invitation by them to consider the actual age of the Sphinx. If this hypothesis was correct, then the Sphinx must be an "original" time-marker of that remote epoch using a celestial tag valid for 10,500 BCE. But which tag? What could the Sphinx be representing that was in the sky? Could this have something to do with the due east direction of its gaze toward the horizon? In his Fingerprints of the Gods, Hancock pointed out that the First Time date of 10,500 BCE also denoted the beginning or First Time of the Age of Leo. This was when the Lion constellation would have risen heliacally (at dawn before the sun) on the day of the vernal (spring) equinox. This event brought the celestial lion to rest due east, thus in perfect alignment with the Sphinx. The Sphinx, in other words, was made to look at his own image in the horizon -- and consequently at his own "time." Hancock pointed out that 10,500 BCE was no random date. It precisely denoted another beginning, that of Orion-Osiris defined on the ground with the pattern and alignments of the nearby Pyramids. Could it be possible that some blueprint was put into motion in 10,500 BCE with the making of the Sphinx then to be completed much later by the builders of the Pyramids? A Lucky Turn Of The Spade In October 1995, the Egyptian Antiquities Organization finally decided to refurbish the old parking lot east of the Sphinx. While clearing the area in front of the Sphinx and the Valley Temple, a "lucky turn of the spade" from one of the laborers unearthed part of an ancient complex of underground galleries and pathways. Hearing of this providential discovery, Graham Hancock and I planned a short trip to Egypt to see for ourselves what was going on. John Anthony West also was on his way there, and so we decided to meet directly at Giza. Laborers and masons were digging and clearing the area in front of the Sphinx and its temples. By a stroke of good fortune, the Egyptian authorities had not yet cordoned this area, so we asked one of the inspectors in charge if we could take a closer look. It looked as if part of the area had already been excavated some years ago but then, for reasons unknown, it was covered up again. This was evident by the botches of modern mortar and iron bars that were left embedded in the ceiling of the ancient pathways, probably in an attempt to reinforce the relics. An inspector standing by seemed to think that these modern-day additions were made either when Egyptologist Selim Hassan was clearing the area for the Egyptian Antiquity Organization in the 1930s or later in the 1950s when the Sons Et Lumieres open-air theater was constructed nearby. But why the vestiges were covered up again, and why and how they came to be forgotten remains a mystery. These vestiges consisted of a major artery cut into the natural bedrock (some 10 feet wide and 200 feet long from north to south) which runs in front of the Valley Temple and the Sphinx. This artery is itself intersected by two paved pathways coming from the Valley Temple and going due east -- much as two

small roads bridge over a straight motorway. These pathways dip very oddly at their eastern end and then vanish into the ground. We also noticed a very curious manhole set in the main artery at the point where it intersects the southern pathway. Its lid, which is made from a single piece of limestone, is broken at one corner, and through it we could see water flowing (mixed with the sewage from the nearby village) and heading toward the Sphinx and the Valley Temple. The whole complex was obviously very ancient and almost certainly contemporary with the Sphinx. But what could its function have been? And what was the purpose of the underground waterway? According to a prominent Ancient Egyptian myth, the legendary gates of the Afterworld were guarded by two gigantic lions or sphinxes called Aker. In New Kingdom tomb drawings, the aker-sphinx of the eastern gate sits with its hind parts in a hollow. Underneath it can be seen a curious underground stream or duct. Behind the lion towers a huge mound or pyramid, and under it is found a large, oval chamber which appears to be hermetically sealed. In this mysterious chamber is said to be some lofty secret, no doubt from the "Gods" who ruled the land of Egypt during the remote epoch of Zep Tepi, the First Time. This strange chamber was called the "House of Sokar" in Rostau. The resemblance to the Sphinx complex at Giza is uncanny. Giza in ancient times was also called Rostau, and Sokar (a hawk-headed deity) was identified with Osiris. Odd coincidences? Perhaps. Or will astronomy make "a lucky turn of the spade" that will convert this supposedly cosmic myth into an historical reality? Information on the Great Pyramid and Sphinx by Graham Hancock The "Door" in the Great Pyramid In March 1993, a small "door" made of marble or limestone with two copper handles fixed on it was discovered by a mechanized robot (Upuaut II, "Me opener of the way" in ancient Egyptian) at the end of a long narrow shaft (8 x 8 inches and 200 feet long). Since then the discoverer, robotics engineer Rudolf Gantenbrink from Munich, has been banned from resuming the exploration and opening the door. The official reason given by the Egyptian Antiquities Authorities (known as the Supreme Council of Antiquities -- SCA) was that Gantenbrink leaked the news of the discovery to the British Press in April 1993 and thus, apparently, broke a "rule" of archaeology. The Director of the German Archaeological Institute in Cairo, Dr. Rainer Stadelmann, sided with the Egyptians and condemned Gantenbrink for his press action. Dr. Stadelmann was adamant about the non-importance of the find. "This is not a door; there is nothing behind it." The President of the Supreme Council for Antiquities, Dr. Muhamad Bakr, went as far as claiming a "hoax." "The orifice of the shaft is too small for the robot to go through," and he accused the "German scientist" of not having the correct "approvals" from the SCA to carry out the exploration.

Dr. Bakr fired the Chief Inspector of the Giza Pyramid Plateau, Dr. Zahi Hawass, although the official reason given was that a valuable ancient "statue" under the custody of Hawass was stolen from Giza. Three months later, in June 1993, Dr. Bakr himself was fired and replaced by Dr. Nur El Din. Amid accusations of malpractice and fraud, Dr. Bakr spoke of a "mafia" which had been involved with the Pyramids for "the last twenty years." Refusing to give names, Dr. Bakr said, "I wanted the whole matter investigated by the prosecution authorities, but my request was refused." Meanwhile, Dr. Hawass, who went to the USA, claimed that the discovery of the "door" was "THE discovery in Egypt," and speculated on important artifacts behind it. In early 1994, Dr. Hawass was reinstalled at his post at the Giza Pyramids. Meanwhile, Gantenbrink offered his robot to the Egyptians and also offered to train an Egyptian technician to man the equipment and open the door. The Egyptians rejected the offer. "We are very busy at the moment," replied Dr. Nur El Din. About the same time, Dr. Hawass was to declare that "I do not think this is a door, and there is nothing behind it." In March 1996 however, Dr. Hawass changed his mind once again and declared Gantenbrink's find as being one of huge interest and that the door would be opened in September 1996 by a Canadian "mission," but not including Rudolf Gantenbrink or his robot. The Canadian "mission" is owned by Amtex Corporation of Canada, a multimedia CD-ROM company, which is reported to be raising the huge sum of $10 million to promote a staged a "live opening" of the door on television networks. "I'm working with a private guy who is a personal friend of Hawass, and we are absolutely going to drum this thing to death. Whatever the event we are going to stage, it will be televised live," reported Amtex Corporation's president, Mr. Peter Zuuring. Tunnels and Chambers Under the Great Sphinx I. In a series of expeditions between 1991 and 1993 led by John Anthony West, an independent Egyptologist, scientific investigators conducted geological and seismic surveys around the Great Sphinx of Egypt. The chief geologist was Dr. Robert Schoch, Professor of Geology at Boston University, and the chief seismologist was Thomas Dobecki, from the highly respected Houston consulting firm, McBride-Ratclif & Associates. II.The team's conclusions were as follows: A. Geology, The pattern of erosion on the Sphinx indicates that it was carved at the end of the last Ice Age, when heavy rains fell on the eastern Sahara -perhaps more than 12,000 years ago. This contrasts starkly with the "orthodox" Egyptological dating for the Sphinx of around 4,500 years ago. B. Seismography. The seismic survey indicated the existence of several unexplored tunnels and cavities in the bedrock beneath the Sphinx, including a large rectangular chamber at a depth of some 25 feet beneath the monuments front paws. III. In 1993, John West and his team were physically expelled from the site by Dr.

Zahi Hawass then (and now) the Egyptian government's Chief Inspector of Antiquities for the Pyramids and Sphinx. He appeared to be angered by the suggestion that the Sphinx might be far older than the civilization of Egypt itself -- and thus the work of a lost civilization -- and was particularly incensed by an NBC television film that was made about the team's work This film linked the Sphinx to Atlantis and suggested that the chamber beneath the paws might contain the legendary "Hall of Records" of Atlantis. Hawass called these claims, "American hallucinations. There is no scientific basis for any of this. We have older monuments in the same area. They definitely weren't built by men from Atlantis. It's nonsense and we won't allow our monuments to be exploited for personal enrichment. The Sphinx is the soul of Egypt." IV. An article in the Egyptian press responding to the NBC film quoted Dr. Hawass on his further reasons for expelling John West and his team from the Sphinx enclosure: "I have found that their work is carried out by installing endoscopes in the Sphinx body and shooting film for all phases of the work in a propagandistic but not scientific manner. I therefore suspended the work of this unscientific mission and made a report which was presented to the permanent commission who rejected the mission's work in the future." V. The NBC film was produced by a certain Boris Said and partially financed by investments from the members of the Association for Research and Enlightenment. The ARE, headquartered in Virginia Beach in the US, is a multimillion dollar organization that exists to promulgate the teachings and prophecies of an American psychic, Edgar Cayce, who died in 1947. Prominent amongst Cayce's pronouncements were many statements to the effect that the Sphinx had been built in 10,500 BCE by the survivors of the lost civilization of Atlantis and that the survivors had concealed beneath it a "Hall of Records" containing all the wisdom of their lost civilization and the true history of the human race. Cayce prophesied that this Hall of Records would be rediscovered and opened between 1996 and 1998. He connected the opening to second coming of Christ. VI. In 1995, John West and Professor Robert Schoch of Boston University put in an application to the Egyptian authorities to resume their research. Their application was ignored. VII. In April 1996, the Egyptian authorities granted a one-year license to a new team to conduct surveys around the Sphinx. This team, which claims academic sponsorship from Florida State University , is largely financed through the Schor Foundation of New York -- by Dr. Joseph Schor, an American multimillionaire. Dr. Schor is a life member of the ARE and wrote on 24th May 1994 of his great personal interest in corroborating "the Cayce records which indicated that the culture which led to the building of the Pyramids dates to 10,400 BCE." He also stated his wish "to further delineate that civilization." VIII. On April 11th, 1996 Dr. Schor stated of his current project at the Sphinx, "We do not work for the Edgar Cayce Group. The major purpose of the Schor Foundation and Florida State University is to aid in the preservation and restoration of the Pyramids and Sphinx. In addition, we are surveying the

underground of the Giza Plateau to find faults and chasms that might collapse. This will increase the safety of the plateau." IX. Also financed by Dr. Schor is a short video film shot at the end of 1995 by Boris Said and produced in early 1996. The film opens with Dr. Zahi Hawass scrambling into a tunnel leading under the Sphinx. When he reaches the bottom, he turns to face the camera and whispers to the viewer, "Even Indiana Jones would never dream to be here. Can you believe it? We are now inside the Sphinx in this tunnel. This tunnel has never been opened before. No one really knows what's inside this tunnel. But we are going to open it for the first time." In commentary, the film's narrator goes on to state, "Edgar Cayce, America's famous Sleeping Prophet, predicted that a chamber would be discovered beneath the Sphinx -- a chamber containing the recorded history of human civilization. For the first time, we'll show you what lies beneath this great statue -- a chamber which will be opened tonight, live, for our television cameras." X. Dr. Schor has stated that this video is not a promotional venture aimed at hooking a major US network to televise a live opening of a chamber under the Sphinx. He insists, "It was made to test script and equipment and was made in November 1995, which was many months before we received approval for our expedition. We have abandoned its use." XI. On April 14, 1996 Dr. Zahi Hawass announced in the Egyptian press that there were secret tunnels under the Sphinx and around the Pyramids and stated his belief that these tunnels would prove to "carry many secrets of the building of the Pyramids." On the Sphinx "It would be well if this entity were to seek either of the three phases of the ways and means in which those records of the activities of individuals were preserved -- the one in the Atlantean land, that sank, which will rise and is rising again; another in the place of the records that leadeth from the Sphinx to the hall of records, in the Egyptian land; and another in the Aryan or Yucatan land, where the temple there is overshadowing same. (2012-1; Sep 25, 1939)" "...the entity joined with those who were active in putting the records in forms that were partially of the old characters of the ancient or early Egyptian, and part in the newer form of the Atlanteans. These may be found, especially when the house or tomb of records is opened, in a few years from now. (2537-1; Jul 17, 1941) ...[the entity] was among the first to set the records that are yet to be discovered or yet to be had of those activities in the Atlantean land, and for the preservation of data that is yet to be found from the chambers of the way between the Sphinx and the pyramid of records. (3575-2; Jan 20, 1944)" "Q: Give in detail what the sealed room contains. A: A record of Atlantis from the beginning of those periods when the Spirit took form, or began the encasements in that land; and the developments of the peoples throughout their sojourn; together with the record of the first destruction, and the changes that took place in the land; with the record of the

sojournings of the peoples and their varied activities in other lands, and a record of the meetings of all the nations or lands, for the activities in the destruction of Atlantis; and the building of the pyramid of initiation, together with whom, what, and where the opening of the records would come, that are as copies from the sunken Atlantis. For with the change, it [Atlantis] must rise again. In position, this lies -- as the sun rises from the waters -- as the line of the shadows (or light) falls between the paws of the Sphinx; that was set later as the sentinel or guard and which may not be entered from the connecting chambers from the Sphinx's right paw until the time has been fulfilled when the changes must be active in this sphere of man's experience. Then [it lies] between the Sphinx and the river. (378-16; Oct 29, 1933)" In several of his readings, Cayce stated that the survivors of the lost continent of Atlantis had brought with them records relating to their earliest history. These, he said, were carefully buried in a secret chamber somewhere near to the Great Sphinx, which stands guard like a sentinel over the Pyramids of Giza. A second set of these records was taken, he said, by other survivors of the disaster to be buried somewhere in the Yucatan area of Mexico. He also said that a third set of records still resides in the heart of Atlantis itself. [Source: Edgar Cayce on Atlantis by Edgar Evans Cayce] Discovery of King Tut's Tomb

AT LAST HAVE MADE WONDERFUL DISCOVERY IN VALLEY; A MAGNIFICENT TOMB WITH SEALS INTACT; RECOVERED SAME FOR YOUR ARRIVAL; CONGRATULATIONS This telegram, sent by Howard Carter to his sponsor, Lord Carnarvon, on November 6, 1922, electrified the world. Searching amid rubble heaps left by dozens of archaeologists over a span of a hundred years, Carter had finally tried one last desperate dig. His area: a small triangle of rocky debris bounded by the tombs of Ramses II, Merneptah, and Ramses VI. Almost by chance, his native laborers cleared away three feet of earth beneath an innocuous workman’s hut erected centuries before, and found the first of sixteen steps cut steeply down into the bedrock. The hidden entry led to a blocked-up, sealed door bearing the special mark that identified the tomb as a royal necropolis. With admirable restraint, Carter went no further. Filling the stairway with rubble again, to prevent looting, he posted a guard and awaited Carnarvon’s arrival three weeks later. On November 25, with Carnarvon present, Carter pulled down the sealed door. Beyond it he found another rubble-filled passageway thirty feet long and a second sealed door. Again the barricade was torn away -- to reveal a sight that rendered him speechless. By the flickering light of his candle, he saw strangely shaped animal figures and statues and a jumbled mass of objects -- all glinting of gold. As his eyes became accustomed to the dim light, gilded couches,

gold-plated chariots, and hundreds of other spectacular treasures, strewn haphazardly about the chamber, appeared. They had found the burial place of the boy-king Tutankhamen. The news went out immediately. For two months, Carter’s team photographed, catalogued, and packed the items for shipment to Cairo. With great care, Carter treated the 32-centuries-old objects to preserve them against further decay, as the press reported his every move from tents hastily pitched at the site. On February 17, with the antechamber now cleared, Carter and Carnarvon broke through into the next sealed room, the burial chamber itself. The sight was unbelievable. the entire room -- except for a fifteen-inch space at each side -- was filled by a huge golden shrine ten feet nine inches wide, sixteen feet six inches long, and nine feet high. Carter opened the folding (but not sealed) doors at the shrine’s east end. A second set of doors confronted him, these bolted and sealed. At last Carter’s search had reached the ultimate, a point beyond which grave robbers had not been able to penetrate. An undefiled mummy still lay concealed within the shrine. Lord Carnarvon did not live to marvel at what was to come next; he died just two months later, in 1923, from an insect bite. Despite a series of delays imposed by the Egyptian government, Carter continued the discoveries through the winter seasons of 1925-27. The tremendous shrine proved to be actually four shrines, one inside the other, Chinese box-fashion. And inside the innermost was the sarcophagus, a large, yellow quartzite block with a rose granite lid that weighed well over a half ton. The climax was yet to come. Before the sarcophagus lid could be raised, the shrine had to be taken apart and removed from the room. Its transfer from the burial chamber took 84 days of struggle -- almost a full day for each of its component parts, all of them heavy, hard to handle, and very fragile. Ironically, Carter discovered that while the artisan craftsmanship used to build the shrine had been superb, the assembly laborers had left a good deal to be desired. Ignoring the markings that indicated the proper assembly sequence, the workers had put the shrine together backward, with the doors facing east instead of west and the side panels reversed. And they had pounded reluctant joinings into position with heavy hammer blows, leaving noticeable dents. The opening of the sarcophagus gave the final surprise. An outer anthropoid coffin concealed a second, and the second a third. The innermost coffin was the most amazing find of all: a solid gold case six feet one and three-quarters inches long and nearly one-quarter inch thick, worth a princely sum. Within the final coffin lay the goal of the dig -- the mummy of King Tut. On Tut’s face was a 22-pound solid gold burial mask. Carter soon learned that the king’s embalmers had erred in seeking to preserve the corpse for the ages. They had poured a tarlike unguent between the gold coffin and the wooden (middle) coffin as well as over the wrapped mummy. During the centuries a chemical reaction had carbonized the bones and tissues beyond any hope of salvage. The mummy’s bindings hid 143 pieces of jewelry, which joined the treasures

already found. Eventually a total of 5,220 items were catalogued. Tut’s body was returned to the tomb where it rests today. The valuable treasures, however, are on display at the Cairo Museum. On rare occasions the Egyptian authorities permit exhibitions of them outside the country. King Tut himself was probably insignificant, dying around 1323 BCE at the age of about nineteen. But the riches found in his tomb gave the world its first glimpse of a complete funerary assemblage for an Egyptian pharaoh, objects previously described in religious texts and contemporary writings. Opening the tomb gave rise to a press-inspired "pharaoh’s curse." Carnarvon had died almost immediately, and allegedly a score of other individuals were struck down because of their involvement with dismantling the shrine. Of the ten principal diggers at Tutankhamen’s tomb, two were alive forty years later, and another five lived an average of twenty years beyond its opening. However, the tomb itself was the victim of a curse -- tourists. By 1991, 3,000 visitors a day were entering the tomb and stirring up the dust on the walls. Their sweat released salt that clung to the walls, and their breath released organisms that remained trapped inside the tomb. The tourists brought with them bacteria and fungi that damaged the contents of the tomb, leading the Egyptian Antiquities Organization to declare the area closed. [From: The 20th Century by David Wallechinsky] See also: Tutankhamun: Anatomy of an Excavation Giza News The Sphinx Sits Over A Time Bomb [From: Egypt News; received June 14, 1999.] Last week the Arabic daily newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat published an article by Ahmed Osman in which the Sphinx restoration project has been severely criticised. The article points out that the Great Sphinx of Giza is still at risk of being damaged and a complete collapse could occur in a few years time -- despite the completion of a ten-year restoration project! Beneath the rock of the Giza Plateau the underground water level has been rising for the last fifty years causing salt to develop inside the stone forming the Sphinx's body. The article cites two main causes for the rising water table: the building of the Aswan Dam and the growth of the village of Nazlet El Samman, which extends between the Nile and the Giza Plateau. According to the Cairo weekly Akhbar El Adab, Dr. Mohamed Abdel Hadi, Dean of the Luxor College for Restoration, accused the restorers of using a chemical substance called "Nemex" in their restoration of the Sphinx's neck and chest.

This, it is claimed, produced salts on the surface of the stone and led to the formation of a solid layer that can fall at any moment. Dr. Ali Hassan, the former Secretary General of the S.C.A, told Ahmed Osman that instead of treating the real problem facing the Sphinx from underground water damage, the restorers built a layer of stone to cover the body of the statue, thus leaving it to deteriorate from the inside away from our eyes. Akhbar El Abad also reported Dr. Yaseen Zidan, a professor of restoration, as saying that the international organization of UNESCO has threatened to take the Sphinx off the list of protected world heritage monuments unless these problems are dealt with.

Rosetta Stone Poll Results [From: Egypt News; received June 12, 1999.] Over the past few months EDEN -- The Andrew Collins website has been hosting a poll focusing on whether or not the Rosetta Stone should be returned to Egypt. The poll was set up after authors Robert Bauval and Graham Hancock issued a plea for the return of the stone, suggesting "that the Rosetta Stone be flown in a special British Airways flight to Alexandria on the 31 December 1999 and there taken to the newly completed Bibliotheca Alexandrina -- the UNESCO Library Of Alexandria -- and placed in the main entrance hall." The results of the poll indicate that 73 percent thought the Rosetta Stone should be returned whilst the remaining 27 percent voted for it to stay in the British Museum. The Rosetta Stone was found in July 1799 by French soldiers during the occupation of Egypt by Napoleon and was eventually ceded to the British after the defeat of the French forces. It is made from a solid piece of black basalt and is inscribed with three forms of script: Hieroglyphic, Demotic and Greek that represent a single text honoring Ptolemy V (c.190 BCE). Scholars were able to decipher the Hieroglyphs through its relationship to the Greek script. The Ptolemies were of Greek-Macedonian descent that ruled Egypt between 323 to 30 BCE. "Under the early Ptolemies, the culture was exclusively Greek. Greek was the language of the court, the army, and the administration. The Ptolemies founded the university, the museum, and the library at Alexandria and built the lighthouse at Pharos." See also "Writing in Egypt under Greek and Roman Rule" No doubt there are those that would argue the Rosetta Stone is more Greek than Egyptian.

Giza Catacombs [From: Keith Grenville through Egypt News; received May 16, 1999.] It was reported from Cairo on 13th May that " ... a network of giant catacombs carved out of stone was unearthed beneath a block of flats in Giza." Dr. Gaballah Ali Gaballah, secretary general of the Supreme Antiquities Council, said in a statement, that the 17-metre long, two-metre high burial gallery runs under a number of adjacent buildings. According to Dr. Zahi Hawass, director of Giza monuments, the catacombs date back to ancient Roman times as indicated by distinctive pieces of pottery found at the site. He said the underground tombs were most likely used during early Islamic timesin view of the presence of glazed pottery." (Source: Cairo Press review from Egyptian Press Office South Africa.) Keith Grenville The Egyptian Society of South Africa Society Web Site

Giza Update [From: Egypt News; received May 31, 1999.] According to a report by Amargi Hillier, the Great Pyramid is to be reopened on Thursday 3 June. Amargi's update is accompanied by some nice digital images of the Great Pyramid's interior. Other sites of interest will be opened to the public in June. These include the Sphinx Temple and the tombs of Seshenufer, Snefrukh'ee and Neferma'et -- high ranking officials during the Old Kingdom period. At the Egyptian Museum in Cairo a new exhibit, "Lost and Found" is due to open later this year. The exhibit features stolen objects that have been recovered following investigations by Egyptian and foreign police officers.