Great Sphinx guards the Giza Pyramids. Mavila2, Public Domain.
The Sphinx has more mysteries than answers
The Great Sphinx, a mythological creature with a human head and lion body, stands at the edge of the Great Pyramid complex. The Sphinx is said to resemble Khafre, but there is no concrete evidence as to which Pharaoh had the Sphinx built. Dr. Lehner believes it took about one hundred workers around three years to carve the body of the Sphinx out of a single piece of limestone. However, Sphinx builders made the paws from separate blocks of limestone. The structural limestone was coated with brightly colored paint, reds, yellows, blues to give it some visual appeal. Oddly, there were uncut stones, abandoned tool kits and even lunches left near the Sphinx, as if the project suddenly stopped and the workers left in a hurry. While the Pyramids reveal some of its secrets through the tomb inscriptions, the Sphinx isn’t a tomb, and those lips aren’t talking.
Queen Hatshepsut’s rock-cut tomb. Dennis Jarvis (as archer10), 2004.
Pyramids go out of style
The Giza pyramids were the height of tomb fashion during Egypt’s Old Kingdom. But the nation transitioned into the Middle Kingdom, and pyramids fell out of fashion. Despite its underground chambers, unbelievably complex system of corridors and rooms, they were vulnerable to tomb raiders and thieves. Later, by Ramses and Cleopatra’s time, pyramids were ancient history. Fashionable Pharaohs built mostly hidden, rock-cut tombs. These were less conspicuous and harder (but not impossible) for theives to find. After a while, theives still found many of them. Nevertheless, the age of the Pyramids was over. Therefore, the purpose-built city of Giza Pyramid workers no longer had its purpose. Archaeology on the Pyramid City revels ruins that only stand about ankle to waist deep. The Lehner excavation thinks the city was demolished after the pyramid complex was completed, and the ruins have eroded over time.
The efforts of the laborers and skilled workers of Khufu’s pyramid were vital to creating the Great Pyramids of Giza, designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site. The builders of the Great Pyramid of Giza used literal blood, sweat, and tears. Even so, they had to go back to their day jobs on farms and other roles in Egyptian society. The skilled craftspeople did top-notch work to ensure the Pharaoh was presentable in the afterlife. The administrators kept everything organized, provided for workers, ensured everyone was fed, housed, paid, and happy. Despite the broken bones and compressed spines, that is. The Pyramids were a long, laborious project that required the construction of a whole city, and literally broke the backs of workers. Their work has endured 4,500 years, with no signs of losing its “World Wonder” status.
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