Life is a mystery. Why should the Sphinx be any different.
As if finding meaning in my own little life isn’t enough of a challenge! Why must the Sphinx come with so many questions rather than answers?
Eat your heart out Indiana Jones!
Mohammad, our tour guide at Giza, is plying us with information: the greatest monumental sculpture in the ancient world; the body of a lion, the head of a human carved out of a single ridge of limestone 240 feet long and 66 feet high; Egypt’s 4th Dynasty; King Khafre; a botched nose job.
WAIT! That last tidbit – botched nose job – my words, not Mohammad’s.
The Sphinx did get his nose bent out of shape, probably when Napoleon came through Egypt in 1798 and won the Battle of the Pyramids right under the Sphinx’s nose – literally; or under what was supposed to be a nose. Rumor has it Bonaparte and his men used the Sphinx for target practice. As if being buried in sand up to his chinny-chin-chin for thousands and thousands of years wasn't the ultimate insult.
WAIT! That last tidbit – botched nose job – my words, not Mohammad’s.
The Sphinx did get his nose bent out of shape, probably when Napoleon came through Egypt in 1798 and won the Battle of the Pyramids right under the Sphinx’s nose – literally; or under what was supposed to be a nose. Rumor has it Bonaparte and his men used the Sphinx for target practice. As if being buried in sand up to his chinny-chin-chin for thousands and thousands of years wasn't the ultimate insult.
Really, Napoleon!? How could you? Photo courtesy of Wikipedia and Jean-Léon Gérôme. Thanks guys!
In 1925, another Frenchman, engineer Emil Baraize, undoubtedly managed to smooth things over between Egypt and France following the Little Corporal’s cultural faux pa by removing all the sand that had entombed the Sphinx. A decade later, the world was introduced to this enigma. I don’t know about the rest of humanity, but I couldn’t sleep (jet lag getting to Egypt was nasty), I couldn’t eat (at least nothing washed or cooked in the water; Egypt is a third world country); and I can’t stop obsessing about the implications of that lone head pocking up out of the sand, much less a Sphinx shrouded in more mystery than history.
Ever see the psychological thriller, What Lies Beneath, starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer? Yes, I digress. I do that quite often when blogging, as loyal fans may have noticed. I’m a mess. You think I’m making up this existential crisis conundrum!?
Orthodox Egyptologists insist the Sphinx was constructed during Egypt’s 4th Dynasty by King Khafre (2500 B.C.), even if all the puzzle pieces don’t fit. Admittedly, history is full of gaps. And then we have the geological and astrological school of thought (more details here), where the gaps become gaping holes big enough for entire advanced civilizations to emerge thousands of years before prevailing archeological theory. Holy Pharaoh!
Ever see the psychological thriller, What Lies Beneath, starring Harrison Ford and Michelle Pfeiffer? Yes, I digress. I do that quite often when blogging, as loyal fans may have noticed. I’m a mess. You think I’m making up this existential crisis conundrum!?
Orthodox Egyptologists insist the Sphinx was constructed during Egypt’s 4th Dynasty by King Khafre (2500 B.C.), even if all the puzzle pieces don’t fit. Admittedly, history is full of gaps. And then we have the geological and astrological school of thought (more details here), where the gaps become gaping holes big enough for entire advanced civilizations to emerge thousands of years before prevailing archeological theory. Holy Pharaoh!
Does his head look a little small, or is it me? Okay, maybe it's me!
Why did I ever consider travel to the Middle East?
Friends and family asked that question of Jimmy and me as we planned our trip last year. My father suggested we visit the Great Wall of China instead.
Why did I, moi, a single, humble drop in the bucket of humanity, ever think travel would provide answers, purpose, meaning, especially given this sublimely smug, regal beauty of a beast as old as time may represent a paradigm shift involving all we know to be true when it comes to the history of mankind on our lonely little planet?
Silly me!
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Friends and family asked that question of Jimmy and me as we planned our trip last year. My father suggested we visit the Great Wall of China instead.
Why did I, moi, a single, humble drop in the bucket of humanity, ever think travel would provide answers, purpose, meaning, especially given this sublimely smug, regal beauty of a beast as old as time may represent a paradigm shift involving all we know to be true when it comes to the history of mankind on our lonely little planet?
Silly me!
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