Inventory Stele and the Sphinx in Egypt
The Great Sphinx of Giza in Cairo, Egypt, is one of the most remarkable sculptors ever devised by human hands. It is claimed by Egyptologists to be dated to the Old Kingdom during the reign of the pharaoh Khafre/Khufu in around 2558 - 2532 BC. But much controversy has arisen over the Sphinx in recent years, with claims that it may be much older than this. In particular, the erosion of the Sphinx enclosure shows evidence of precipitation induced weathering which is caused by significant and prolonged periods of rain fall or flooding. The Boston University geologist Robert Schoch claims that this suggests its age is more like around 10,500 BC, which pre-dates Dynastic Egypt by many thousands of years.
The Great Sphinx in Egypt
Its dating is further complicated by claims that the Sphinx faces exactly due east as a perfect equinoctial marker, where it looks upon the sunrise at dawn. At the same time, it also faces the rising constellation of Leo, but this also occurs around 10,500 BC. None of this is helped by the controversial ‘restoration work’ that is carried out by the local Egyptian authorities amid claims they are trying to cover up evidence that would allow accurate dating of the Sphinx.
However, there is a little bit of history that is not so widely known to the public, and it has been hidden from public display for some years, after initially being exhibited at the Cairo museum, but now appears to have been withdrawn from public display. That is the Inventory Stele. This is a commemorative tablet that apparently dates to the 26th Dynasty which is around 670 BC. It was found in in Giza in 1858 by the French archaeologist Auguste Mariette when he was excavating the Isis Temple which is located on the Giza complex. Although some Egyptologists view the Stele with great caution and is claimed by scholars to be a fake contemporary to its dated age, this is also convenient because the writing on the Stele appears to convey information which contradicts the historical view of Dynastic Egypt.
Inventory Stele of ancient Egypt, which was once displayed in the Cairo Museum.
In fact, although it has largely been dismissed as a fraud, Robert Schoch and its colleague Manu Seyfzadeh have published a paper titled “The Inventory Stele: More Fact than Fiction” (Archaeological Discovery, Vol.6, No.2. pp.103-161, April 2018), in which they conclude “From our analysis we conclude that while we cannot rule out a couple of minor modifications of names from the original written version we date to the 5th Dynasty, there is no plausible reason to dismiss the entire account recorded in this Late Period version on those ground alone and that the events it describes appear more factual than fictitious”. The authors attribute the current dating to misconceptions in part due to errors and oversights contained in two referenced translations. So what does the Inventory Stele actually say? He is a brief extract:
“Long live the King of Upper and Lower Egyupt, khufu, given life....He found the house of Isis, Mistress of the Pyramid, by the side of the hollow of Hwran {The Sphinx} and he built his pyramid beside the temple of this goddess and he built a pyramid for the King’s daughter Henutsen, beside this temple. The place of Hwran Hormakhet is on the South side of the House of Isis, Mistress of the pyramid....He restored the statue, all covered in painting, of the guardian of the atmosphere, who guides the winds with his gaze. He replaced the back part of the Nemes head-dress, which was missing with gilded stone. The figure of this god, cut in stone, is solid and will last to eternity, keeping its face looking always to the East.
These words, imply that the Great Pyramid and the Temple of Isis existed before the time of Khufu (c.2580 BC), and it describes how Khufu came upon the Sphinx, where it was already buried in the sand. Whether one believes this viewpoint or instead the view of main stream Egyptologists, is a matter of personal opinion, and to come to an informed opinion certainly requires substantial study of the artefact, its history and translations. But if the words are to be believed, then this would be proof that Khufu did not build the Great Pyramid or the Sphinx and that they were already on site long before his time. This would then bring the dates of 10,500 BC or 12,500 years ago, into the realm of plausibility. Although there is debate about the dating of the artefact, there is little disagreement about its content, which appears to be genuine. This debate is sure to run on and the accurate dating of the text on the Inventory Stele may be the key to unlocking the true history of what happened on the Giza plateau all those millennia ago.
This article was originally posted on a previous web site for the asterism project on 15th Jul 2020 and it has been copied here since that site was closed down.
