The Giza Sphinx in Egypt. Source: donyanedomam / Adobe Stock

The Sphinx of Giza: Who Built the World’s Most Famous Sphinx in Egypt?


A sphinx is a monstrous being, a mythical creature with the face of a man, the body of lion, and an eagle’s wings. According to the Greek mythology, the sphinx was sent by the gods to punish the town of Thebes in Greece—hence the riddle of the Sphinx—though it is also an icon common in many different civilizations. For example, the Arabs knew the famed Sphinx in Egypt, referred to today as the Sphinx of Giza, by the name of Abu al-Hawl (meaning Father of Terror), which apparently is identified with the ancient Greek myth.

The Giza Sphinx in Egypt. (Emőke Dénes / CC BY-SA 4.0)


Who Built the World’s Most Famous Sphinx in Egypt?

The world  sphinx is Greek and means “to bind” or “to squeeze,” but this is not necessarily related to the legends. The most well-known sphinx in the world, and the oldest, resides in Egypt next to the Great Pyramid of Giza . A large monolithic monument 73 meters (240 ft) long and 20 meters (65.6 ft) high, it was carved from a single mass of the area’s natural limestone to face the Sun. According to conventional archaeology, the Sphinx of Giza dates back to 2500 BC.

The primary question for archaeologists is who built this famous Sphinx in Egypt and why? Mainstream archaeology agrees that the Sphinx was built for the  Pharaoh Khafre , and was built to serve the religion of the sun god Ra . Yet this is an assumption, since there is not a single inscription on a wall or any papyrus identifying Khafre; however, references to the Sphinx in ancient Egyptian texts may be identified as the giant Anubis at Giza, claimed Robert Temple in Sphinx Mystery . Nevertheless, as the Egyptologist James Allen is quoted as saying in Smithsonian Magazine , “we have no solid evidence for what its builders thought the Sphinx was.”

Great Sphinx of Giza in Egypt. (Mstyslav Chernov / CC BY-SA 3.0)


Far Out Theories About the Sphinx of Giza

Meanwhile Dr. Robert Schoch, a geologist and professor from Boston University, examined the patterns on the Sphinx and discovered that the weathering patterns could not be the result of wind, but only heavy rain. This observation led to the consideration that the Sphinx is much older than 2500 BC, since such heavy rains didn’t exist in that era.

Yet if this theory is accurate, why do those patterns not exist in any of the other surrounding monuments, including the pyramids of Giza? Another theory that supported this suggested that the Sphinx is oriented according to the constellation of Leo as it was located approximately 10000 BC; however, mainstream archaeologists came forward to prove him wrong.

As reported by Smithsonian Magazine , Edgar Cayce , a modern-day prophet, prophesied in 1932 that the Sphinx in Egypt was built in 10500 BC by the Atlantians, and that there was a secret room located underneath it called the Hall of Records containing the secrets and wisdom of the Atlantian civilization and the human race.

The idea of this secret chamber is also accepted by the Rosicrucians, whom we know had possessed knowledge that is not accessible by the majority of people. Since then, many have searched for rooms and tunnels under the Sphinx in Egypt, and recent modern instruments have indeed located cavities under the Giza Sphinx that could very well be rooms.

Great Sphinx of Giza by Dominique Vivant Denon. (Dominique-Vivant Denon / CC BY-SA 3.0)


The Secret Chamber of the Sphinx in Egypt

In his book Secret Chamber: The Quest for the Hall of Records , Robert Bauval mentions that the Egyptian archaeologist and ex-Minister of the Antiquities in Egypt, Zahi Hawass, dug in front of the Sphinx and found red granite instead of the natural limestone of the area. Bauval argued that this could mean that there is something underneath the Giza Plateau.

Some have suggested that the chamber has been found and is being kept secret, which could be very easily be understood if the chamber is supposed to contain a vast wealth of information as Cayce prophesied. Following such a line of thinking, such information would be “dangerous” to our society; too much truth at once is not something that our civilization, much less authorities, like.

There are too many coincidences and too many similarities with the sphinxes and what they represent all over the world. Have the mysteries of the Sphinx in Egypt been unveiled? Is it indeed a monument built by the Atlanteans? If that is true, I can only guarantee that it will take time for this information to be released to the public–if ever.

Top image: The Giza Sphinx in Egypt. Source: donyanedomam / Adobe Stock

By Ancient Origins


AERA. 2002. “Sphinx Project” in Ancient Egypt Research Associates . Available at:

Collins, A. 2009. Beneath the Pyramids: Egypt’s Greatest Secret Uncovered . A.R.E. Press.

Coppens, P. No date. “The Egyptologist, the Sphinx and the cover-up” in Eye of the Psychic. Available at:

Gray, M. No date. “Great Sphinx Facts” in World Pilgrimage Guide . Available at:

Hadingham, E. 2010. “Uncovering Secrets of the Sphinx” in Smithsonian Magazine . Available at:

Regier, W. G. 2005. Book of the Sphinx . The History Press Ltd.

Temple, R. 2009. Sphinx Mystery: The Forgotten Origins of the Sanctuary of Anubis . Inner Traditions.

Theoi Project. No date. “Sphinx” in Theoi Greek Mythology. Available at:


I am sceptical of those who have discredited Dr Robert Shonk. His research flew in the face of mainstream archeology, and clearly pushing it's age back to the age of Leo. That does make sense. During that age, Leo would have been the last constellation on the eastern horizon before sunrise every spring equinox, for about 2,600 years. A bigger question is why do mainstream science try to minimize the precession of the equinox? Is it because there is no explanation of why the ancient scholars knew much about it, and only in the last century modern science has re-discovered it? What are they still hiding?

Located between the front paws of the Sphinx, the Dream Stele of Thutmose IV refers to the Pharaoh Chephren/Khafre/Khefren, and the face of the Sphinx sure looks like him.  The names of the historical kings were known; the Abydos Kings List in the temple of Seti I lists them. Thutmose IV was 72 on the list, Seti I, father of Rameses II was number 76. (The kings of the Amarna Period, from Akhnaten to Ay were discreetly omitted.)

Dream Stele translation:

So the idea that the Sphinx is something more comes from a 1932 prophet and the rosicrusians and people take this serious? Really?

The fact is that it was only called a sphinx by later Greeks, however it lacks the wings and female features to be a true sphinx. Why archaeologists were able to reasonably date it is due to an unfinished temple complex in front of the Sphinx that cuts into the foundations of the funerey temple of the second pyramid. And also have found fragments of an attached beard, and ancient Egyptian illustrations indicate that it also had a crown attached. The erosion is also quite unspectacular, the sandstone the Sphinx is carved from isn't the hardest material, and wind borne sand has done the damage to mainly the upper body and neck area where there were softer layers. Why people seem to think the Sphinx is a mysterious object is probably the bigger mystery, as scientific, factual evidence has been publically presented. In fact, a quick Wikipedia search easily answers all the questions posed in this article!

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