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Bassir: Uncovered Sphinx Statue Stresses Sun-Worshipping in Southern Egypt


Thu 07 Mar 2019 | 07:53 AM
Ali Abu Dashish

 

By Ali Abu Dashish and Salma Yassin

CAIRO, March 6 (SEE)- Archaeologist Dr. Hussein Bassir, director of Antiquities Museum at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina, has said the new uncovered Sphinx statue in Aswan shows the significance of sun-worshipping in Southern Egypt.

“Sphinx statue represents Re, the sun god and narrates the unique story of ancient Egyptian civilization over centuries,” he added.

Dr. Bassir has stressed the most important statue, among all that embody rulers in ancient Egypt, is the Great Sphinx at Giza plateau.

“Sphinx” is a Greek word derived from the ancient Egyptian word “Shessep-ankh”, meaning "a vivid picture" and basically related to the sun god or Egypt’s king.

One scholar has said that this statue embodies King Khufu but the majority have confirmed that it represents King Khafre, the second Giza pyramid’s builder.

Dr. Bassir has said that in front of this statue there are some architectural remains of a huge incomplete temple dating back to the 4th Dynasty.

Dr. Bassir has clarified that the great statue is one of the biggest statues world-wide with 73.5 meters long and more than 20 meters high.

He has stated that it was carved from one stone block to finally form a lion body, which represents power and a human head that indicates intelligence.

“The combination between power and intelligence was in Egypt’s ruler, the son of sun god Ra,” has said Dr. Bassir.

He also has pointed out that parts of statue’s chin are currently located in the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir square and the British Museum in London.

Many other statues resembled the Great Sphinx spread in the Middle Kingdom of Egypt like statues of both Kings Amenemhat II and Amenemhat III.

In the New Kingdom, other similar statues with heads of hawks and tups were set in the entrances of Luxor and Karnak temples.

King Thutmose IV, one of the 18th Dynasty kings in the New Kingdom, set a “dream stela” between the Great Sphinx's claws, believing that this might help him to rule Egypt at that time.

Furthermore, in the ancient Near East, patterns of sphinx statue also spread then broke into Greece.

Roman Emperors used to transfer Sphinx statues to Europe to decorate their temples and palaces there.

Dr. Bassir finally has confirmed these ancient Egyptian architectural elements still invading the modern world confirming how great the Egyptian civilization was and will always be.