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Great Sphinx of Giza |
I thought I'd start a series called "Mysteries" and feature some of the mysteries from around the world. I think most of the post will be rather short and feature some basic information about the particular mystery. There may not be a whole lot of new information about a particular mystery, but it will serve as a place to get some basic information.
The first mystery I decided to post about is the Great Sphinx of Giza, sometimes just called Sphinx.
The Sphinx stands at a whopping 66 feet tall and is 241 feet long. It is considered to be probably the oldest and largest monolith statue in the world. This massive structure is carved out of limestone and is thought to be around 4,500 years old by some researchers.
A Sphinx by definition is a creature having the head of a man or an animal and having the body of a lion. This statue sits on the Giza Plateau on the west bank of the Nile River in Giza, Egypt.
Over the many years, the face of the Sphinx has deteriorated due the weather. Some think the statue resembles the Pharaoh Khafre, who ruled between 1558 and 1532 B.C.
As you can see from the photo on the left, the Sphinx also has 3 pyramids behind it. The largest pyramid belongs to Pharaoh Khufu who was Khafre's father. Pharaoh Khafre's pyramid, the center pyramid, is built on slightly higher ground than his fathers (pyramid on right). The third and smallest of the pyramids is the one on the left and it belongs to Khafre's son Menkaura.This area also contains several tombs, many with hieroglyphic writing on them.
There is debate and mystery about the Great Sphinx of Giza. Like when was it actually built, who built it, does the whole area and structures have a specific meaning, who is actually buried in the tombs....ects. The mystery has endured thousands of years now and is not likely to be solved anytime soon.
I hope you enjoyed this first entry into our Mysteries Series. I hope to feature many other great mysteries in the future. The thrill of discovery is a wonderful part of the human existence, it broadens our knowledge and our experience.
Thanks
~Tom~
This
post by Thomas Marcum, Thomas is the founder/leader of the
cryptozoology and paranormal research organization known as The Crypto
Crew. Over 20 years experience with research and investigation of
unexplained activity, working with video and websites. A trained wild
land firefighter and a published photographer, and poet.
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