Ancient Architects | The OLDEST Sphinx Statuette Discovered at Giza: But How Old Is It? | Ancient Architects @AncientArchitects | Uploaded June 2023 | Updated October 2024, 1 hour ago.
I’ve recently made two videos on the Kromer Dump (linked below), an obscure but important feature of the Giza Plateau – a crescent-shaped, ancient trash heap located to the south of the Giza Pyramids. It was first excavated in the 1970s by Karl Kromer, and then again to a lesser extent in 2018, by the Ancient Egypt Research Associates, or AERA.
Experts agree the dump was created in the 4th dynasty of the Old Kingdom – that certainly seems to be the case – and whilst it does contain a variety of finds from the reigns of Khufu and Khafre, the 1970s lead archaeologist Karl Kromer believed the dump also contained earlier finds from dynasties 1 to 3. Clay sealing expert Maira Torcia Rigillo would go on to analyse some of the finds and also agreed. There was also evidence for possible pre-dynastic activity, as seen in the decoration on some of the pot sherds.
Kromer’s 1978 excavation report is often quoted and last week I finally found a copy, a fantastic, detailed and well-illustrated 170-page publication on the Kromer Dump, packed with details, photographs, drawings, cross sections and interpretations.
Inside the dump, in Trench F, Kromer discovered what he called the oldest Sphinx statuette ever discovered in Egypt, and by Sphinx I mean with the body of a lion and head of a human. But why does it have no pharaonic headdress? Why does it have no beard? Why doesn't it look like any pharaoh we know of? In this video I investigate!
All images are taken from the below sources, Google Images and Google Earth for educational purposes only. Please subscribe to Ancient Architects, Like the video, and please leave a comment below. Thank you.
Previous videos of interest:
Giza: Before the Pyramids: youtu.be/0GEJiEl4e5M
The Great Dump of Giza: youtu.be/MgvAlm5g5uE
Cover-up or Complacency: youtu.be/t9trV74awl8
The Ancient Road into Giza: youtu.be/hnE1JFvcd0Q
CONTENTS
0:00 - Intro
1:18 - Kromer Dump
3:01 - Giza Before the Pyramids
3:48 - Kromer Dump 2018 Excavations
4:49 - Kromer Excavation Report
6:11 - The Kromer Sphinx
8:00 - How Old is the Sphinx?
10:32 - Pre-Dynastic Sphinx Hypothesis
12:43 - Pre-4th Dynasty Finds by Kromer
15:18 - The Sphinx Alternative History
17:12 - Conclusion
Sources:
Kromer, K. (1978) Siedlungsfunde aus dem frühen alten Reich in Giseh. Österreichische Ausgrabungen 1971-1975.
https://gizamedia.rc.fas.harvard.edu/images/MFA-images/Giza/GizaImage/full/library/hassan_giza_8.pdf
https://gizamedia.rc.fas.harvard.edu/images/MFA-images/Giza/GizaImage/full/library/hassan_giza_4.pdf
https://uhasammlung.univie.ac.at/kataloge/kataloge-mit-freiem-zugang/sammlung-kromer-projekt-nr-37-41-und-42/sammlung-kromer-gizeh-1971-1975-projekt-nr-37/
http://gizamedia.rc.fas.harvard.edu/images/MFA-images/Giza/GizaImage/full/library/kromer_vorbericht.pdf
aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/AG19_1.pdf
https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/Publications/Annual-Reports/2017-2018/11%20-%20Giza%20Plateau%20Mapping%20Project.pdf
aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/AG19_1.pdf
https://www.academia.edu/25349666/Giza_and_Hierakonpolis_cretulae_with_figurative_seal_impressions_and_isolated_signs_of_writing_Connections_with_the_Mesopotamian_area
https://www.academia.edu/28386258/Clay_Sealings_from_the_Giza_Pyramids_Area
https://gizamedia.rc.fas.harvard.edu/images/MFA-images/Giza/GizaImage/full/library/petrie_gizeh_and_rifeh.pdf
https://www.academia.edu/62379692/Khafres_Temples_Giza_Part_IV_The_Sphinx_Temple_A_laymans_guide
jstor.org/stable/544868
#ancientarchitects #ancientegypt #sphinx
I’ve recently made two videos on the Kromer Dump (linked below), an obscure but important feature of the Giza Plateau – a crescent-shaped, ancient trash heap located to the south of the Giza Pyramids. It was first excavated in the 1970s by Karl Kromer, and then again to a lesser extent in 2018, by the Ancient Egypt Research Associates, or AERA.
Experts agree the dump was created in the 4th dynasty of the Old Kingdom – that certainly seems to be the case – and whilst it does contain a variety of finds from the reigns of Khufu and Khafre, the 1970s lead archaeologist Karl Kromer believed the dump also contained earlier finds from dynasties 1 to 3. Clay sealing expert Maira Torcia Rigillo would go on to analyse some of the finds and also agreed. There was also evidence for possible pre-dynastic activity, as seen in the decoration on some of the pot sherds.
Kromer’s 1978 excavation report is often quoted and last week I finally found a copy, a fantastic, detailed and well-illustrated 170-page publication on the Kromer Dump, packed with details, photographs, drawings, cross sections and interpretations.
Inside the dump, in Trench F, Kromer discovered what he called the oldest Sphinx statuette ever discovered in Egypt, and by Sphinx I mean with the body of a lion and head of a human. But why does it have no pharaonic headdress? Why does it have no beard? Why doesn't it look like any pharaoh we know of? In this video I investigate!
All images are taken from the below sources, Google Images and Google Earth for educational purposes only. Please subscribe to Ancient Architects, Like the video, and please leave a comment below. Thank you.
Previous videos of interest:
Giza: Before the Pyramids: youtu.be/0GEJiEl4e5M
The Great Dump of Giza: youtu.be/MgvAlm5g5uE
Cover-up or Complacency: youtu.be/t9trV74awl8
The Ancient Road into Giza: youtu.be/hnE1JFvcd0Q
CONTENTS
0:00 - Intro
1:18 - Kromer Dump
3:01 - Giza Before the Pyramids
3:48 - Kromer Dump 2018 Excavations
4:49 - Kromer Excavation Report
6:11 - The Kromer Sphinx
8:00 - How Old is the Sphinx?
10:32 - Pre-Dynastic Sphinx Hypothesis
12:43 - Pre-4th Dynasty Finds by Kromer
15:18 - The Sphinx Alternative History
17:12 - Conclusion
Sources:
Kromer, K. (1978) Siedlungsfunde aus dem frühen alten Reich in Giseh. Österreichische Ausgrabungen 1971-1975.
https://gizamedia.rc.fas.harvard.edu/images/MFA-images/Giza/GizaImage/full/library/hassan_giza_8.pdf
https://gizamedia.rc.fas.harvard.edu/images/MFA-images/Giza/GizaImage/full/library/hassan_giza_4.pdf
https://uhasammlung.univie.ac.at/kataloge/kataloge-mit-freiem-zugang/sammlung-kromer-projekt-nr-37-41-und-42/sammlung-kromer-gizeh-1971-1975-projekt-nr-37/
http://gizamedia.rc.fas.harvard.edu/images/MFA-images/Giza/GizaImage/full/library/kromer_vorbericht.pdf
aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/AG19_1.pdf
https://isac.uchicago.edu/sites/default/files/uploads/shared/docs/Publications/Annual-Reports/2017-2018/11%20-%20Giza%20Plateau%20Mapping%20Project.pdf
aeraweb.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/AG19_1.pdf
https://www.academia.edu/25349666/Giza_and_Hierakonpolis_cretulae_with_figurative_seal_impressions_and_isolated_signs_of_writing_Connections_with_the_Mesopotamian_area
https://www.academia.edu/28386258/Clay_Sealings_from_the_Giza_Pyramids_Area
https://gizamedia.rc.fas.harvard.edu/images/MFA-images/Giza/GizaImage/full/library/petrie_gizeh_and_rifeh.pdf
https://www.academia.edu/62379692/Khafres_Temples_Giza_Part_IV_The_Sphinx_Temple_A_laymans_guide
jstor.org/stable/544868
#ancientarchitects #ancientegypt #sphinx
