The oldest statue in the world and the mystery yet to be solved

Speaking of Egypt, people think of the pyramid and the famous sphinx. In which the sphinx is hidden many mysteries so far no solution.

The big picture at Giza is located in Giza Plateau, the left bank of the Nile River, Egypt. The statue has the shape of a lion but has a head.

Panorama of Egyptian pyramids from above - (Photo: ROBSTER).

For a long time, Western archaeologists have never seen intact sphinxes. When invading Egypt in 1798, he only saw the head of the statue, the rest buried in the sand.

It was not until 1936 that Emil Baraize - a French engineer after much effort in a decade could unearth the statue as it is today.

Sculpted from a block of stone

The Sphinx was taken in the 1880s.

The oldest statue in the world - (Photo: Alamy).

The statue, 73 meters long, 20 meters high, is the largest monolithic statue to exist in the world today, as well as the oldest statue.

The next Sphinx is also built of 200-ton stones in the same year as the statue.

The sphinx statue may be very important to the contemporary king, but no information is engraved on, inside, or outside the statue indicating who is the builder, how long and the meaning of the image. What is the statue?

The majority of archaeologists said that the statue of the Sphinx dates back to the reign of King Khafra in the 4th dynasty of the Royal Kingdom in the year 2,500 BC.

He was also the one who built the second largest pyramid at Giza. Khafra is described as the evil, heretic king who closed the temples that were not identical to King Khufu's architectural style for the previous construction.

"Contract" between King Thutmose IV and the sphinx?

The dream stele is placed under the statue of the sphinx - (Photo: Harvard University).

This is a legend of being handed down to the right day. Before becoming the 8th king, Egypt's 18th dynasty, Thutmose IV in a hunting trip sat down at the head of the sphinx.

When he fell asleep, he dreamed that the sphinx would dream, asking him to restore the statue, in exchange for a sphinx who would help Thutmose IV as king.

Waking up, Thutmose IV ordered the excavation of sand around the head of the sphinx, adding the ancient part of the statue. Continuing to dig, he excavated and restored the statue of the sphinx as it is today.

After making a promise, the sphinx helped Thutmose IV become king. The story is written on the stele of a dream placed under the statue of the sphinx.

However, there is also research that Thutmose IV is the son of King Amehotep II. Because he was not a successor prince, he overthrew his brother and stole the throne and set up a dream stele to justify his work.

May be up to 12,000 years old

There are still many different opinions about the date of the Sphinx - (Photo: Getty Images).

Although most researchers believe that the Sphinx was built around 2,500 BC, there are many other scientists who have been looking for the true age of this statue.

Geologist Robert Schoch is one of them. He observed that the rock around the statue showed signs of erosion for a long time.

Schoch's study argues that the cause of this erosion is due to continuous heavy rain for a long time, which is rare in the Egyptian desert. Returning to historical data, geological records show that such weather occurs only between 7,000 and 12,000 years BC.

So can the sphinx be dated to 12,000 BC?

Good sphinx?

Sphinx or Anubis?- (Photo: Listverse).

Anubis is the name of the goddess of a dog, taking on the role of embalming and managing life after death in ancient Egyptian culture.

Previously, it was thought that this sphinx statue had the shape of a lion. However, some researchers believe that in the Egyptian culture, lions have never seen the form of a sphinx.

On the contrary, the statue's back and body shape reminds people of a dog more than a lion. So is this the image of Anubis? Or the first statue depicting Anubis, later due to some incident, people replaced with the face of the sphinx?

Is there a room below the Sphinx?

Dr. Joseph Schor (University of Florida, USA) has conducted geological studies in the area of ​​the Sphinx and affirmed that there is really a space under the Sphinx.

In addition, another research team has suggested that there is a tunnel connecting the sphinx statue to the pyramids.

The research groups have asked for permission to excavate the area by the Egyptian government, but have been denied to protect the estate. To date, these claims have not been verified.

Why did the statue of the monk lose his nose?

The statue of the sphinx lost the nose - (Photo: Getty Images).

The 1-meter-wide nose on the face of the statue was lost due to the chisels covering the bridge of the nose and below the nostril.

Al-Maqrizi Arab historian wrote in the fifteenth century that the lost nose was caused by the sabotage of Muhammad Sa'im al-Dahr - a Muslim. This person saw the people worshiping the statue to pray for a good harvest, so they resented the statue's nose.

Later, he was hanged for sabotage.

It was also suggested that the statue lost its nose was caused by Napoleon Army cannon's shell when invading Egypt.