Ancient protective walls of Sphinx unearthed

Ancient protective walls of Sphinx unearthed

Walls that were constructed to protect the legendary Sphinx monument in Egypt from the harsh desert winds of the Sahara were recently discovered by Egyptian archeologists.

The country’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said that the walls form part of a bigger enclosure designed to protect the monument from the elements.

The Sphinx was made by King Thutmose IV circa 1400-1390 BCE based on a dream, Zahi Hawass, council secretary general said on a statement released on Tuesday.

“In the king’s dream the Sphinx asked the king to move the sand away from his body because it choked him,” Hawass said. In exchange, the Sphinx pledged to make Thutmose IV ruler of Egypt.

Previous diggings have exposed only the northern wall. The recent discoveries of the eastern and southern wall have led credence to the theory that a whole structure was made to surround the famous monument of a lion with a human head.

One portion is 282 feet or 86 meters long and runs north to south, while the other one is 151 feet or 46 meters long and runs east to west. The newly-found partitions both stand at 3 feet or 1 meter tall.

Another recent discovery is that of a wall made during the time of Khafre, the pharaoh with the second-largest pyramid in the Giza plateau.

His burial complex featured many large statues, most prominent of them is the Sphinx, the National Geographic says. The Sphinx is a representation of the Khafre, carved in rock in front of his pyramid, standing guard since ancient times.

Posted by Melanie Mendoza on Thursday November 04 2010, 5:19 PM EST. Ref: CNN. All trademarks acknowledged. Filed under Featured News, Travel. Comments and Trackbacks closed. Follow responses: RSS 2.0