Erosion sphinx

Researchers turn to erosion in exploring the role natural elements had in building an architectural wonder. Historians and archaeologists have, erosion sphinx, over centuries, explored the mysteries behind the Great Erosion sphinx of Giza: What did it originally look like?

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. To investigate the Sphinx's shape, the team took a mound of soft clay with harder material inside and placed it within a water tunnel that had a fast-flowing stream meant to simulate thousands of years of wind erosion, the team said in a statement. At the start of the experiment, the team molded the clay into a "half ellipsoid" or half of an oval shape. As the water eroded some of the clay, it left a sphinx-like shape.

Erosion sphinx

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. The following year Schoch formulated and presented his version of the hypothesis, [12] purposely avoiding the use of the word "Atlantis". The Sphinx is positioned north of the lower end of the causeway of Khafre that connects his Pyramid- and Valley Temple. It was created by carving it out of the bedrock, cutting blocks from around its body which were used to construct the Sphinx Temple immediately east of the Sphinx and north of the Valley Temple, aligned to it.

Inauthor and alternative Egyptologist John Anthony Westinspired by Schwaller's ideas, attributed the erosion to Nile floods between 15, and 10, erosion sphinx, BC. To investigate the Sphinx's shape, the team took a mound of soft clay with harder material inside and placed it within a water tunnel that had a fast-flowing stream meant to simulate thousands of years erosion sphinx wind erosion, the team said in a statement.

Unlike the pyramids , the Great Sphinx of Giza has mostly avoided debates about its creation. Yardangs, seen here in Dunhuang, China, are formed in environments where water is scarce and the prevailing winds are strong. In a recently completed paper, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Physical Review Fluids, Ristroph and his colleagues propose that the Great Sphinx could have started as a yardang, a specific type of rock formation. As Smithsonian Magazine points out, the name may sound a bit like maritime jargon, but the concept has nothing to do with the sea. Yardangs form in desert areas when consistent wind slowly erodes what typically starts as a flat surface. This phenomenon happens as far away as Mars, but is also seen much closer to home in places like the Mohave Desert, the Namibian Desert, and—of course—the Sahara Desert, where the Sphinx is located.

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.

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.

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Peter Lacovara, an Egyptologist and curator at the Michael C. Author needs some intellectual curiosity about more likely possibilities. 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. Ristroph and his colleagues are not the first to postulate a yardang as the genesis of the Great Sphinx. Shoebill: The human-sized African bird that eats baby crocodiles and kills its siblings. Download as PDF Printable version. GEO ExPro. They do not show any characteristics that are diagnostic or even suggestive of having been formed by artificial dredging of the Sphinx Enclosure, as Robert Temple suggests. They then washed these formations with a fast-flowing stream of water—to replicate wind—that carved and reshaped them, eventually reaching a Sphinx-like formation. Contents move to sidebar hide. AD Pro. Rivegauche said:. 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. As the desert blows sand onto rock formations, softer pieces erode while harder sediments remain.

In Greek tradition , the sphinx is a treacherous and merciless being with the head of a woman, the haunches of a lion, and the wings of a bird. According to Greek myth, she challenges those who encounter her to answer a riddle , and kills and eats them when they fail to solve the riddle.

If the moat theory were true, then the lower strata on the eastern end of the Sphinx Enclosure would be most heavily eroded caused by water being brought in via canals from the Nile , but the opposite is the case. Luminescence dating of the two temples gave dates for the middle to late third millennium BC, concurring with the chronological estimates for Khafre and the 4th dynasty and the radiocarbon dates for the pyramids of Giza. One proponent of the haloclasty process is Dr James A. The Secrets of the Sphinx. In a recently completed paper, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Physical Review Fluids, Ristroph and his colleagues propose that the Great Sphinx could have started as a yardang, a specific type of rock formation. 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. Nova Online. Robert Schoch — Water Erosion? 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. Courant researchers have determined how Sphinx-like shapes are formed. It is clear to me that the current head is not the original head. As such, Christiansen determined that there was no geological evidence to suggest the Sphinx was carved earlier than any other monuments on the Giza plateau. Contact me with news and offers from other Future brands Receive email from us on behalf of our trusted partners or sponsors. 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. Owen has a bachelor of arts degree from the University of Toronto and a journalism degree from Ryerson University.