The Sphinx asks riddles. Sphinx: the oldest mystery

Egyptian Sphinx hides many secrets and mysteries; no one knows for sure when and for what purposes this giant sculpture was built.

Vanishing Sphinx

It is generally accepted that the Sphinx was erected during the construction of the Pyramid of Khafre. However, in the ancient papyri relating to the construction of the Great Pyramids there is no mention of it. Moreover, we know that the ancient Egyptians meticulously recorded all the expenses associated with the construction of religious buildings, but economic documents related to the construction of the Sphinx have never been found. In the 5th century BC. e. The pyramids of Giza were visited by Herodotus, who described in detail all the details of their construction.

He wrote down “everything he saw and heard in Egypt,” but did not say a word about the Sphinx. Before Herodotus, Hecataeus of Miletus visited Egypt, and after him, Strabo. Their records are detailed, but there is no mention of the Sphinx there either. Could the Greeks have missed a sculpture 20 meters high and 57 meters wide? The answer to this riddle can be found in the work of the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder “ Natural history", which mentions that in his time (1st century AD) the Sphinx was once again cleansed of sands deposited from the western part of the desert. Indeed, the Sphinx was regularly “freed” from sand deposits until the 20th century.

Older than the pyramids

Restoration work, which began to be carried out in connection with the emergency condition of the Sphinx, began to lead scientists to believe that the Sphinx may be older than previously thought. To check this, Japanese archaeologists, led by Professor Sakuji Yoshimura, first illuminated the Cheops pyramid using an echolocator, and then examined the sculpture in a similar way. Their conclusion was striking - the stones of the Sphinx are older than those of the pyramid. It was not about the age of the breed itself, but about the time of its processing.

Later, the Japanese were replaced by a team of hydrologists - their findings also became a sensation. On the sculpture they found traces of erosion caused by large flows of water. The first assumption that appeared in the press was that in ancient times the bed of the Nile passed in a different place and washed the rock from which the Sphinx was hewn.

The guesses of hydrologists are even bolder: “Erosion is rather a trace not of the Nile, but of a flood - a mighty flood of water.” Scientists came to the conclusion that the flow of water went from north to south, and the approximate date of the disaster was 8 thousand years BC. e. British scientists, repeating hydrological studies of the rock from which the Sphinx is made, pushed back the date of the flood to 12 thousand years BC. e. This is generally consistent with the dating of the Flood, which, according to most scientists, occurred around 8-10 thousand BC. e.

What is sick with the Sphinx?

Arab sages, amazed by the majesty of the Sphinx, said that the giant is timeless. But over the past millennia, the monument has suffered a fair amount, and, first of all, man is to blame for this. At first, the Mamluks practiced shooting accuracy at the Sphinx; their initiative was supported by Napoleonic soldiers.

One of the rulers of Egypt ordered the sculpture’s nose to be beaten off, and the British stole the giant’s stone beard and took it to British museum. In 1988, a huge block of stone broke off from the Sphinx and fell with a roar. They weighed her and were horrified - 350 kg. This fact has caused UNESCO the most serious concern.

It was decided to gather a council of representatives from a variety of specialties to find out the reasons that are destroying ancient building. As a result of a comprehensive examination, scientists discovered hidden and extremely dangerous cracks in the head of the Sphinx; in addition, they found that external cracks sealed with low-quality cement are also dangerous - this creates a threat of rapid erosion. The Sphinx's paws were in no less deplorable condition.

According to experts, the Sphinx is primarily harmed by human activity: exhaust gases from automobile engines and the acrid smoke of Cairo factories penetrate into the pores of the statue, which gradually destroys it. Scientists say that the Sphinx is seriously ill. For restoration ancient monument hundreds of millions of dollars are needed. There is no such money. In the meantime, the Egyptian authorities are restoring the sculpture on their own.

Mysterious face

Among most Egyptologists, there is a firm belief that the appearance of the Sphinx depicts the face of the IV dynasty pharaoh Khafre. This confidence cannot be shaken by anything - neither by the absence of any evidence of a connection between the sculpture and the pharaoh, nor by the fact that the head of the Sphinx was repeatedly altered.

The well-known expert on Giza monuments, Dr. I. Edwards, is convinced that Pharaoh Khafre himself is visible in the face of the Sphinx. “Although the face of the Sphinx is somewhat mutilated, it still gives us a portrait of Khafre himself,” the scientist concludes. Interestingly, the body of Khafre himself was never discovered, and therefore statues are used to compare the Sphinx and the pharaoh. First of all we're talking about about a sculpture carved from black diorite, which is kept in Cairo Museum- it is by this that the appearance of the Sphinx is verified.

To confirm or refute the identification of the Sphinx with Khafre, a group of independent researchers involved the famous New York police officer Frank Domingo, who created portraits to identify suspects. After several months of work, Domingo concluded: “These two works of art depict two different individuals. The frontal proportions - and especially the angles and facial projections when viewed from the side - convince me that the Sphinx is not Khafre."

Mother of Fear

Egyptian archaeologist Rudwan Al-Shamaa believes that the Sphinx has a female couple and she is hidden under a layer of sand. The Great Sphinx is often called the "Father of Fear". According to the archaeologist, if there is a “Father of Fear,” then there must also be a “Mother of Fear.” In his reasoning, Ash-Shamaa relies on the way of thinking of the ancient Egyptians, who firmly followed the principle of symmetry.

In his opinion, the lonely figure of the Sphinx looks very strange. The surface of the place where, according to the scientist, the second sculpture should be located, rises several meters above the Sphinx. “It is logical to assume that the statue is simply hidden from our eyes under a layer of sand,” Al-Shamaa is convinced. The archaeologist gives several arguments in support of his theory. Ash-Shamaa recalls that between the front paws of the Sphinx there is a granite stele on which two statues are depicted; There is also a limestone tablet that says that one of the statues was struck by lightning and destroyed.

Chamber of Secrets

In one of the ancient Egyptian treatises on behalf of the goddess Isis, it is reported that the god Thoth placed “sacred books” that contain “the secrets of Osiris” in a secret place, and then cast a spell on this place so that knowledge would remain “undiscovered until Heaven will not give birth to creatures who will be worthy of this gift.”

Some researchers are still confident in the existence of a “secret room”. They recall how Edgar Cayce predicted that one day in Egypt, under the right paw of the Sphinx, a room called the “Hall of Evidence” or “Hall of Chronicles” would be found. The information stored in the “secret room” will tell humanity about a highly developed civilization that existed millions of years ago. In 1989, a group of Japanese scientists using a radar method discovered a narrow tunnel under the left paw of the Sphinx, extending towards the Pyramid of Khafre, and a cavity of impressive size was found northwest of the Queen’s Chamber.

However, the Egyptian authorities did not allow the Japanese to conduct a more detailed study of the underground premises. Research by American geophysicist Thomas Dobecki showed that under the paws of the Sphinx there is a large rectangular chamber. But in 1993, its work was suddenly suspended by local authorities. Since that time, the Egyptian government has officially prohibited geological or seismological research around the Sphinx.

“What kind of creature walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon and three in the evening?”
We can almost certainly say that this was the world's first riddle. It was invented by a vile creature that once appeared in the vicinity of the city of Thebes in Ancient Greece. The creature was called the Sphinx. He had the head of a woman, the body of a lion, the wings of an eagle and the tail of a snake. There was only one road leading to Thebes; no one could get into the city without going around the Sphinx. You could not pass by the creature (which was very large and fast) without it asking you a riddle.
One of the first to meet the Sphinx was a young man named Haemon. He was going to meet his uncle, who at that time was the Theban king. Many other people fled in fear from the strange cross between a bird, a lion, a snake and a woman, but Haemon, being of royal blood, was not afraid of anything.
- Stop where you are! - demanded the Sphinx in the voice of a formidable school teacher. His tail wriggled in the dust and his wings flapped the air.
- What do you want? - asked Gemon, grabbing his sword with his hand.
“I have a riddle for you,” said the Sphinx.
- Mystery? - Gemon calmed down. - Great. Which?
- What kind of creature walks on four legs in the morning, two in the afternoon and three in the evening?
- Well... let me think. Four legs in the morning? Is it a dog or something? I once saw a goat with three legs, but it wasn't alive, so I guess that doesn't count. Maybe a frog? I don't know... I give up...
Before he could say a word further, the Sphinx attacked him. Flapping his wings, he jumped into the air. His tail wrapped around Haemon's neck and began to strangle him. And finally, while his female face laughed ominously, the claws tore him into several pieces, and in a second the road became slippery with blood, and this was one of the very first jokes, because “haemon” in Greek means blood. But Haemon, who was destroyed at that moment, clearly did not find her funny.
The inhabitants of Thebes thought the same. When they learned that it was impossible to get into the outskirts of the city without encountering a terrible monster who posed an impossible problem and tore them to pieces if they could not solve it, they were practically in despair. It was bad year for businessmen of Thebes. The city fell into decay, there were no tourists. Although King Laius and Queen Jocasta, who ruled the city, offered a large reward to anyone who would deliver them from the Sphinx, the prize never found its owner.
Of course, princes and warriors came from all over the world to measure their strength with the terrible creature, but it was impossible to destroy the Sphinx with a sword or arrows. His skin was as hard as steel. His huge claws were sharp as razors. The wings lifted it into the air, and the tail wrapped around the neck before the victim could blink. Some people tried to solve the riddle. A few months later we tried all the answer options: rats, the bats, cats, mosquitoes and ocelots - none of them were correct. Every day another scream rent the air and fresh blood poured onto the road.
Eventually the situation got so bad that the king decided he had to take some action himself.
“If only we knew why this terrible creature is here,” he said thoughtfully. “Then we could find a way to get rid of him.”
- Why not ask the oracle? - suggested Queen Jocasta.
The oracle was the name of a priestess who could not only predict the future, but also answer any question. As soon as the queen said this, Lai was surprised that he himself had not guessed about the oracle.
“Excellent idea, my dear,” he said. - I’ll go to her right away.
Now, if King Lai had reached the oracle, he would have been unpleasantly shocked. In fact, he himself was to blame for the appearance of the Sphinx, even if he had no idea about it.
Shortly before this, Lai went to his friend and fell in love with his son. And he went so far as to kidnap the young man Chrysippus, imprison him in the palace in Thebes and make him his servant. In the end, Chrysippus committed suicide, and everything would have been fine if Hera, the queen of the gods, had not found out about this story. She punished King Laius by sending the Sphinx to Thebes.
But King Laius never got to the oracle and, accordingly, did not find out about it, because on the way he met a young man heading to Thebes to fight the Sphinx. The road was narrow; the two of them could not pass each other. They had a fight. And then Lai drove his chariot over the young man’s leg. The young man who had enough cruel temperament, responded by plunging his blade into the king's stomach before continuing on.
The young man's name was Oedipus. His character was complex. Not that he was bad person, no, but his temper left much to be desired. He really wanted to become a hero, but didn't know how to do it. In any case, he now found himself in the vicinity of Thebes and fought with the Sphinx.
- Stop where you are! - shouted the Sphinx. - And tell me - if life is dear to you - what kind of creature walks on four legs in the morning, on two in the afternoon and on three in the evening?
Oedipus thought while the Sphinx licked his lips, opened and hidden his claws. But the monster was unlucky.
“I know,” Oedipus finally said. - The answer is a person. In the morning, when he is a baby, he crawls on all fours. During the day of his life he walks upright on two legs. And when he gets old, in the evening, he moves, leaning on a staff.
When the Sphinx heard that the riddle had finally been solved, he turned red with anger. The woman's head screamed, the lion's body wriggled, feathers fell from its wings, and the snake's tail curled into a ball.
As for Oedipus, as a reward he was made king of Thebes, and he married Queen Jocasta. Not for a minute did he think that in fact she was his long-lost mother, and that he killed his father on the road...
But that's a completely different story.

For thousands of years, he was shrouded in myths and legends, he was worshiped and feared, he saw the change of eras and civilizations, and only he, the Sphinx of Giza, remained the imperishable and silent keeper of the secrets of the distant past.

One of the legends tells that this huge predator guards the peace of the pyramids day and night, and with the help of the “third eye” monitors the circulation of the planets, Sirius and the rising of the Sun, feeding on cosmic power. In exchange for this he had to make sacrifices. Another legend says that a giant statue of a mysterious beast guards the “elixir of immortality.” According to legends, the founder of esoteric knowledge, Hermes Trismegistus, owned the secrets of making the “philosopher’s stone,” with which metal could be turned into gold. Also, the “philosopher’s stone” was the basis for the creation of the “elixir of immortality.” According to legend, Trismegistus was the son of an Egyptian god named Thoth, who built the first pyramid on the banks of the Nile and erected the Sphinx next to the pyramid complex in Giza, designed to protect the recipe for the “elixir of immortality”, which was hidden in its depths.

Initially, in myths, the Egyptian Sphinx retained the features of a lion with the head of a man. He wandered along the roads near Parnassus, devouring passers-by. In the myths of the ancient Greeks, the Sphinx is a monster born of Typhon and Echidna, with the body of a lion, the face and breasts of a woman, and the wings of a bird. Having settled on a mountain near the city of Thebes, the Sphinx asked everyone who passed by a riddle - “Which living creature walks on four legs in the morning, on two in the afternoon, and on three in the evening?” Those who failed to solve the riddle were killed by the Sphinx. Oedipus was able to give the answer - “Man in childhood, maturity and old age.” After which the Sphinx threw herself off the cliff.

The Arabs living in the area called the statue Abul Khol, which means “father of horror.” As philologists have established, the full name of the statue meant “the living image of Khafre.” Thus, the Sphinx was the embodiment of King Khafre with symbols royal power and the body of the king of the desert. Consequently, in the understanding of the ancient Egyptians, the Sphinx in one person represented a god and a lion guarding its pyramid.

Many mystical teachings and magicians of all times have tried to find magical explanations for the purpose of the Sphinx. Here is what the classic of occultism Eliphas Levi wrote in his “History of Magic”: “Hermes Trismegistus formulated his symbol, called the Emerald Tablet: “What is below is like what is above, and what is above is like what is below, for actions of miracles of one essence." Light is Isis, or the moon, fire is Osiris, or the sun; they are the mother and father of the great Tellus, and she is the universal substance. Hermes Trismegistus states that these forces reached their absolute manifestation at the moment when the earth was created. Four manifestations of a single substance were represented by the Sphinx. His wings corresponded to air, his bull's body to earth, his woman's breasts to water, and his lion's paws to fire. This is the secret of the three pyramids with square bases and triangular faces guarded by the Sphinx. By erecting these monuments, Egypt tried to erect the Pillars of Hercules of universal science. Solve or die - this was the terrible dilemma offered by the Sphinx to the contenders for the throne of Thebes. The point was that the mysteries of science are the mysteries of life; the alternatives are to rule or obey, to be or not to be. The forces of nature will break us if we do not harness them to use them to conquer the world. Complex shape The Sphinx is a hieroglyphic analogy of the four properties of the universal acting force- Astral Light - compaction, decomposition, cooling and heating. These four properties, directed by the will of man, are capable of changing all phases of Nature, producing health or disease, life or death, wealth or poverty, love or hate, according to a given impulse. They are able to put all the reflections of light at the service of the imagination, they are the paradoxical solution to the unthinkable questions that Transcendental Magic can pose.

For a long time, scientists considered the Sphinx to be the same age as the Great Pyramids, but there is one oddity here. The fact is that in the ancient papyri that have reached us and dating back to the era of the construction of the pyramids, not the slightest mention of the Sphinx was found. And, if hieroglyphs brought to us the names of the builders of the Great Pyramids, who created the Sphinx remains a mystery. Only four centuries after the completion of the Great Pyramids did the first written mentions of the Sphinx appear. In these manuscripts he is called “shepes ankh”, which means “living image”. Science finds it difficult to explain this name.

So why is there no mention of such a significant structure in ancient manuscripts? For example, Herodotus in his “History” (445 BC) talks about everything he saw in Egypt. He describes in detail the Great Pyramids, the process of their construction, the number of slaves who took part in this construction, in general, everything that attracted his attention. However, Herodotus does not say a word about the Sphinx... Moreover, today we know that ancient Egyptian builders recorded in detail all expenses, kept records of building materials and detailed records of the construction of this or that building, but archaeologists have not found a single document related to the construction of the Sphinx. But how can this be? How could such a majestic, monumental structure go unnoticed by ancient historians?

We find the answer in the works of the ancient Roman scientist and writer Pliny the Elder. His “Natural History” tells that in his time the Sphinx was once again cleared of the sands of the Western Desert, which literally swallowed it up. It is not known exactly how often the Sphinx was covered with sand, but it becomes clear why there were periods in history when there was no mention of the Sphinx. Just the same Herodotus, describing greatness Ancient Egypt, could not tell us about the Sphinx, because he did not see it - it was buried under a multi-meter layer of sand. Studying the sculpture, scientists came to the conclusion that the Sphinx was periodically hidden under a layer of sand, and from time to time it had to be dug up. In the last century, a stele was found in Egypt on which was carved a text compiled in the 15th century BC during the reign of Pharaoh Thutmose IV. The text says that the pharaoh had a sign in a dream - if he was able to clear the Sphinx of sand, then his reign would be prosperous and long. It also says that the sculpture was dug up after almost a year. In our time, archaeologists have received information that the Sphinx was dug out of the sand during the reign of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, then under the Arab rulers and Roman emperors. Even today, after strong sandstorms, the statue has to be cleaned, although there is much less sand now than before. Based on these facts and phenomena, scientists concluded that the Sphinx was erected much earlier than previously thought. There are various hypotheses about the time of construction of the statue. Egyptologists to this day have not come to unanimous opinion.

A team of hydrologists made an interesting discovery, which allowed them to put forward a new hypothesis. The fact is that they discovered significant traces of erosion on the base of the statue, which indicates traces of a flood that once occurred in these places. After numerous analyzes and consultations with geophysicists, the estimated date of the event was named - 8000 BC, and repeated research carried out by the British pushed this date back to 12000 BC. In addition, it turned out that traces of erosion occur on the processed part of the rock on which the Sphinx is installed, which means that it stood there even before the flood. French archaeologists claim that the dating of the flood that occurred in Egypt coincides with the date of the destruction of Atlantis according to Plato... Other scientists are trying to calculate the time of creation of the Sphinx according to the Bible, believing that erosion could have been caused by global flood. Based on the description of the weather in Egypt (the dream of the pharaoh, unraveled by Joseph), it can be assumed that the Sphinx was erected around 2820-2620 BC. This hypothesis is indirectly confirmed by an Arab legend, which says that the pyramids were built to save the Egyptians from the Great Flood. And the Sphinx was erected in order to warn people about the impending disaster. Therefore, the Sphinx's gaze is wary, and its third eye is directed into Space.

The Roerichs and Helena Blavatsky believed that the Sphinx was built by the Atlanteans about 200 thousand years ago. A famous philosopher Jorge A. Livraga, believes that the descendants of the Atlanteans built the Great Pyramid, and a thousand years later - the Great Sphinx. According to N. N. Sychenov, “The construction of the Sphinx began 42.2 thousand years BC and the construction was completed 1200 years later.” The famous American medium Edward Cayce claimed that "The Sphinx and the pyramids of Cheops were built between 10490 and 10390 BC." Boston University geology professor Robert Schoch, based on studies of traces of water erosion of the Sphinx, believes that the time of creation of the statue lies between 7000 and 5000 BC, because it was during this period that heavy rains fell over Egypt, which could have caused erosion. And John West believes that the main erosion occurred in an earlier, rainy period - about 10,000 BC.

Other scientists divide the time of the creation of the Sphinx and the time of construction of the pyramids. However, many ancient legends and tales testify against this different nations: Greeks, Romans, Chaldeans, Arabs. These legends tell that a tunnel was dug underground and a hiding place was built. The tunnel served as a connection between the Great Pyramid and the Sphinx, which was used by the priests.

So, the mystery of the origin of the Sphinx goes back to time immemorial. What do we know about those times? Practically nothing, but the legends and myths that have survived to this day raise many questions and practically do not provide answers to them. However, it can be assumed that in the depths of centuries on our Earth there existed highly developed civilization, and its representatives, possessing developed science, could foresee the coming catastrophe and try to preserve their knowledge for future generations. From this point of view, the legends about the “cosmic” origin of the ancient Egyptian state, which appeared as if suddenly and immediately became much higher in terms of the level of civilization than all the peoples surrounding it, seem curious. According to these legends, the gods flew to the Nile Valley on a fireball. The king of these gods was called Thoth and he was the “leader of the ship of the Sun.” This is what it says in the hieroglyphic writings carved on stone, which have survived intact to this day. These deities, of which there were nine, began to teach the aborigines the basics of mathematics, medicine, astronomy, and agriculture. Tales tell of what they erected Big city, in the center of which there was a tall lighthouse, as well as a special structure designed to measure Nile floods. On the wall of one of the temples the aliens drew new calendar. Perhaps this behavior will seem strange to many, because this is more likely to be the behavior of missionaries who find themselves in the wilderness by the will of fate, rather than of almighty gods. Contradictions of this kind have given rise to many speculations that the main gods of Egypt are either aliens from outer space, who may have suffered a catastrophe on Earth, or representatives of Atlantis who survived the flood. They passed on their knowledge to the Egyptian priests, who were able to quickly master astronomy and could accurately calculate when a solar eclipse would occur. Also during excavations, archaeologists found analogues of modern galvanic batteries. Medicine has risen to an unprecedented level.

As time passed, the knowledge brought by the aliens began to be forgotten. For example, the ancient Egyptians knew that the Earth was spherical and revolved around the sun; their descendants already claimed that it was flat, and the sun and other planets revolved around it. Technologies for the production of unique nickel and bronze alloys that the ancients knew how to produce were lost. The miraculous recipe for the “elixir of immortality”, which was known to the god Thoth and his son Hermes Trismegistus, has also been forgotten. Probably, the missionary gods foresaw that people would not be able to preserve the skills and knowledge given to them. And if so, then care should have been taken to ensure that at least some of this knowledge was preserved. It is possible that the Sphinx was erected as a secret repository of knowledge.

Ancient legend reads: “When the Sphinx speaks, life on Earth will leave its usual circle.” Perhaps this is an encrypted hint to a cache of knowledge, the contents of which can significantly affect the life of the people who discovered it, and perhaps all of humanity. There is, however, another hypothesis, that in the belly of the Sphinx there is nothing except the ashes of the pharaohs and cold stone. So, where to look for the truth? The Sphinx remains silent for now.

In Egypt, on the edge of the desert, the most ambitious sculpture ever made by man was erected. Its height is more than 20 meters, and its length is 57 meters. But what amazes us with its boundless mystery is that in the ancient papyri dating back to the era of the construction of the great pyramids, there is not a word about it. Hieroglyphs conveyed to us not only the names of the pyramid builders, but also the degree of their engineering talent. The names of skilled architects who created the mortuary temples of the pharaohs are known. But the authors of the Sphinx are unknown to science. Turning its thoughtful face to the east, in front of the high pyramid of Khafre, the stone Sphinx, a lion with a human head, reclines on a high pedestal.

Only 400 years after Khafre, hieroglyphic texts suddenly surface with the name of this Egyptian monument - “shepes ankh”, which means “living image”. Science has not found a logical explanation for this. Even later, the Egyptians suddenly began to identify the giant Sphinx with the god Harmachis. A legend is born that tells that this huge predator is eternally awake, guarding the peace of the pyramids. At night he sees better than during the day. The guarantee of his strength is space...

In another myth, the Sphinx is entrusted with monitoring the rising of the Sun and the revolution of the planets. He must also keep an eye on Sirius. For all this he must make sacrifices...

During the era of the New Kingdom, that is, from about 1500 BC. e., for no apparent reason, a new cult of the Sphinx is born. The lion with the head of a pharaoh became the most frequently encountered image in Egyptian art. Two small sculptures dating back to the era of Amenhotep III have been decorating the embankment of the sovereign Neva near the Academy of Arts in St. Petersburg since 1832...

In the same era, the image of the mysterious Sphinx began to cross the borders of Egypt. In ancient times, gods and demigods roamed freely from one people to another. Thus, the Romans brought the Asia Minor Astarte to Europe from their military campaigns, not to mention the rich pantheon of ancient Greek gods and goddesses. As for the Greeks, they really liked the Egyptian Sphinx. He entered into many tales, fairy tales and legends of Hellas, albeit in transformed forms.

Originally the Egyptian Sphinx ancient greek myths and fairy tales retained the features of a lion with the head of a man. He wandered along the roads near Parnassus and devoured passers-by. If there were few of them, he approached the city gates and demanded victims with a monstrous roar. Popular fantasy made him the brother of the Lornean Hydra, Cerberus, the Nemean Lion and other monsters.

However, he entered the classical set of ancient legends in a different image - he became a winged monster with the head of a woman, and was called Sphingo. This winged lioness lived near Thebes and strangled passing travelers who could not answer the riddle: “Who walks in the morning on four legs, at noon on two, and in the evening on three?”

The Greek Oedipus, passing by the rock where the bloodthirsty female Sphinx sat, listened to the insidious question and calmly replied that he had known the answer since childhood. According to one version of the legend, he learned the answer from a wandering storyteller, and according to another, from the river muses. One way or another, Oedipus answered correctly. It was about a man at different ages- in infancy, adulthood and old age, when he leans on a crutch. Out of frustration, Sphingo threw herself off the cliff and fell to her death. By the way, this outcome was predicted by the gods of Olympus. For liberation from the ominous Sphinx, the Greeks made Oedipus king of Thebes.

Now let's turn to Herodotus' notes about Egypt. The Father of History in 445 BC e. told about the smallest details of the great pyramids and ranked them among the first wonders of the world. He wrote how long it took to build the giant pyramidal mountains of the pharaohs and how many slaves worked on the stones. He meticulously listed how much garlic, radishes, and dry flatbreads they had been given. But in his “History,” in which he wrote down “everything he saw and heard in Egypt,” the Greek did not say a single word about the Sphinx. But Herodotus was not blind like Homer! Surely you couldn't help but notice the giant lion in front of the pyramids? However, he didn't see it!

Before Herodotus, Hecataeus of Miletus gained wisdom in Egypt, and after him, Hecataeus of Abdera and the famous geographer and traveler Strabo. Their notes are detailed, but for some reason they do not mention the Sphinx. Conspiracy of silence? But in the Greek epic there were already myths about the Sphinx! What's the matter?

The mystery becomes even more mystical if we remember that Egyptian officials - servants of the pharaohs meticulously recorded all the expenses associated with the construction of the pyramids and religious buildings, taking into account the workdays, the weight of the stones and the length of the roads to the valley of the pyramids. So, archaeologists have not found a single economic document from the era of the construction of the large pyramids related to the Sphinx. Is this a coincidence? Or is there something else here?

The answer, meanwhile, is found in the work of the Roman naturalist Pliny the Elder, “Natural History.” In a narrative tone, he reports that in his time the Sphinx was once again cleared of sands brought from the West from the desert. Once again! How many were there? It turns out, Herodotus, Strabo and other Greeks simply did not see the Sphinx with their own eyes. It was under a layer of sand.

The riddle is partly explained in old legends, widespread first among the Egyptians and then the Arabs. Sphinx - Living being, demigod, guardian of order. When he doesn’t like something in people’s behavior, for example, their strife, wars, predatory raids on neighboring tribes or heretical hobbies for other people’s idols, he jumps off the pedestal, goes into the Libyan desert at night and buries himself deep in the sand...

The real essence of the mystery is that the huge sculpture is covered from time to time with sand above its head. But this happens in the place where it is erected. The sands from hot Libya are rushing in huge masses even today. Previously, they did not know how to build barriers or forest belts, as they do now, and the Sphinx, when the Egyptians suddenly remembered it, had to be dug up with wooden shovels.

At the end of the last century, a stele was found in Egypt, the text of which was compiled in the 15th century BC. e. during the reign of Thutmose IV. The hieroglyphs report that the pharaoh had a sign in a dream: if he cleared the Sphinx of sand, his reign would be prosperous. And the sculpture was dug up once again, spending almost a year on it...

In the 12th century BC. e. After the liberation of the Nile Valley from further conquerors, the sculpture was dug up again. And from that time on, a whole era began in the art of Ancient Egypt, associated with the production of thousands and thousands of small stone lions with a human head - from talismans for wearing on the chest to the size of a living African lion. Didn't they do giants? Near the temple of Queen Hatshep-sut, the Egyptians erected an entire alley of granite sphinxes. And such alleys were then arranged at the mortuary temples of all subsequent pharaohs.

IN Lately Information was discovered that the Great Sphinx was dug out of the sand during the reign of the Ptolemaic dynasty in Egypt, then under the Roman emperors and Arab rulers in the Nile Valley. After prolonged sandstorms, the monument still has to be cleaned today, although there is less sand now than before.

By the way, it was the cleanup work that helped employees of the Egyptian Department of Antiquities make an astonishing discovery. A bulldozer between the Sphinx and the Pyramid of Khafre accidentally uncovered traces of an urban settlement - one of the very first in Egypt. In the days before the great pharaohs, its inhabitants angered their king with something, and he ordered it to be razed to the ground. The traces of the city are so blurred by time and people that its origin is still difficult to determine. One thing is clear: it is much older than the pyramids.

Already the first comparisons of all these phenomena, facts, historical records and legends forced scientists to doubt the established opinion that the Sphinx was erected in the same era with the pyramids of Khafre and Cheops.

About a year before the hydrologists arrived in Egypt, a cavalcade of orange vans drove up to the foundation of the sculpture. People quickly poured out of their cars sunglasses, tropical helmets and overalls with hieroglyphs on the back. True, they were japanese letters. Tokyo archaeologists, led by Professor S. Yoshimura, illuminated the massif of the Cheops pyramid with echolocators, after which they decided to examine the stones of the Sphinx. And after just three days, the Japanese came to a stunning conclusion: “The stones of the sculpture are older than the blocks of the pyramid.” Let’s make a reservation: the Japanese experts did not mean the geological age of the rock from which the lion with the face of a man was made, but the age of the sculpture, that is, the time of processing of the natural stone.

Then Tokyo scientists announced a second sensation: electronic equipment under the left paw of the stone statue discovered a narrow tunnel leading towards the Pyramid of Khafre. It starts at a depth of two meters and goes down obliquely. It is impossible to trace him further. Professor S. Yoshimura promised to create a new device specifically for studying this structure. Thus, rumors that had long circulated among the Arabs were confirmed, claiming that under the Sphinx there was a tunnel dug by the Egyptians through which water could be released when attempting to rob the burial chamber in the Pyramid of Khafre...

After some time at the pedestal ancient lion a team of hydrologists settled down. AND new sensation: traces of erosion from a large flow of water were found at the base of the pedestal. As soon as this message was published in the Washington Journal of Natural Research by New Methods, a statement appeared in the press that the Nile used to be wider and flowed around the rock from which the endlessly mysterious Sphinx was carved.

How so? After all, there is desert all around! What's Neil like? “Most likely there are traces here not of the Nile, but of a flood,” hydrologists suggested, “a mighty flood of water. And he walked from north to south. It was not the Nile flood, but a biblical disaster!” After analyzes and consultations with geophysicists, the probable date of the flood was named: eight thousand years BC. e.!

The British, repeating the analysis, pushed this date back to twelve thousand years ago, and noted that traces of water erosion occur on the processed part of the rock on which the Sphinx is based. French archaeologists noticed: the dating of the Egyptian flood coincides with the date of the death of the legendary Atlantis according to Plato...

No, nothing is new under the sun. Back in the 12th century, Europeans became acquainted with the Arab legend, according to which the pyramids were built to save the Egyptians during the flood, and the Sphinx was built to warn people in advance about the possibility of a disaster. It is no coincidence that his eyes are not only wise, but also always alert... And yet... The Sphinx has a third eye directed into Space!

The mystical Sphinx has been watching the rising of the eternal star for several millennia. But he is not silent. He continues to ask riddles and waits for the Oedipus of the next century.

Let's wait and hope!

Riddle of the Sphinx

The myths of Ancient Greece tell of a winged half-lion with a woman's head and chest. The monster allegedly lived on a rock near the Greek city of Thebes. It loved to ask travelers difficult questions. If the person answered correctly, the Sphinx had to let him through. And since there were no such people, the monster killed everyone. That was until it met the traveler Oedipus. The Sphinx asked:

Who walks on 4 legs in the morning, 2 legs at noon, and 3 legs in the evening?

Human. - Oedipus answered. - In childhood, which can be called the morning of life, the baby crawls on all fours, then stands firmly on his feet, and at the end of his life he walks with difficulty, leaning on the “third leg” - a stick.

The monster, in despair, threw himself off the cliff and died. For getting rid of the Sphinx, the Thebans made Oedipus king.

In fact, this legend came here from Ancient Egypt. The Sphinx statue still stands there today. And he continues to ask riddles.

Riddle one: what does the name of this monster mean? “Sphinx” is a Greek word and it is derived from the Egyptian name “Shepes ankh” - “Living Image”. But then the Egyptians believed that the stone monument... was alive? This is what Russian researchers N. Glazova and V. Landa wrote about this, who observed the statue in different time days:

During the day, illuminated by the sun, it does not evoke the feeling of delight that is revealed when it is illuminated from below by spotlights at night. When illuminated from below, the meaningful and wise look of his huge eyes suddenly appeared clearly. Apparently, the face was conceived so that in the light of day the unreasonable and greedy earthlings of past eras would not recognize the wise alien creature in the Sphinx...

The Sphinx looks even more majestic during sunrise, which it meets with its head raised upward for several thousand years in a row. He reaches special beauty and wisdom at nine o’clock in the morning: it was not for nothing that in Ancient Egypt the number “9” meant wisdom. Then, when the sun rises higher and shadows fall on the stone face, the Sphinx “dies.” If we translate its ancient Egyptian name as “Symbol of Life,” then it becomes clear that the stone statue lives in the same cycles as nature, where flowering is followed by withering, then temporary death comes - winter (in the tropics this is a period of drought), followed by resurrection And so on from year to year. It’s the same with a person: the body dies, but the soul continues to exist.

Riddle two: how long has he been lying here? Scientists have found that the statue of the Sphinx and the pyramids behind it constitute one architectural complex, built on the same foundation, but the ancient temples collapsed over time, and others were built in their place much later. Only the Sphinx has survived from prehistoric times, when there was no Egypt. How do we know this? Firstly, over the millennia, this monument has been completely covered more than once with sand brought by the wind from the Sahara Desert. Ancient chronicles report that, by order of the Egyptian pharaohs, the statue of the Sphinx in the Giza Valley was dug up many times. The work was carried out in 1818, 1886, 1925, when only the head of the monument remained on the surface. This means that the Sphinx was created when the Sahara desert did not yet exist. The scientist M. Lenner concluded from this that “The Sphinx was created a long time ago, when Giza was still green.” And this was 15,000 - 11,000 years ago, when the desert resembled “the hilly plain of modern Kenya and Tanzania.”

Riddle three: why did he lie down here? First of all, the Sphinx is a monument to a vanished civilization. When scientists carefully examined the face of the statue, it turned out that it belongs to a race of people that does not exist today. Outwardly, they looked like Africans and Native Americans - Indians. Secondly, the monument is a precise instrument for astronomical calculations. With its paws it rests on the eastern side of the square, into which the rest of the buildings of the Giza Valley are inscribed. If you multiply their parameters, the product will be equal to the duration of one cosmic year - 26,000 years.

The fourth riddle, not yet solved. It turns out that under the statue itself there are underground rooms. They were discovered using the latest acoustic equipment. All that remains is to get to the secret repositories of knowledge.

True, there is a prediction: when the world is on the verge of destruction, the statue will come to life and speak. Then the Sphinx herself will tell about all her secrets. But then it will be too late. It would be better if we knew them now.

Defender of the Mystery of Time

In Ancient Egypt, the Sphinx had a nickname - “Protector”. From whom and what was he defending? Scholar Hancock writes: “He guards the “Glorious Place of the Beginning of Time” and was revered as the center of “great magical power extending throughout the region.” Alas, the Defender did not save the state of Ancient Egypt, but he saved his main secret- the secret of Time.

Each person is born under his own “lucky star”, or zodiac sign. This constellation subsequently determines the character and destiny of a person. All of humanity has the same “lucky stars”. But they no longer determine the fate of individual people, but of entire nations. The Egyptian Sphinx was most likely created during the Age of Leo, which lasted from 10970 to 8810 BC. e. Scientists give an even more precise date - 10450 BC. e. At this time, the Sun was rising in the constellation Leo. The ancient builders hoped that people in the future would also begin to tell time by the stars and would know when the Sphinx was built. And they were right.

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