The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1888-07-05
UNCOVERlNC THE SPHINX.
Interesting Things Unburied from the
Sands of the Egyptian Desert.

The last occasion on which the great
| Sphinx was cleared down to the level on
| which the paws rest was in honor OF
the opening of the Suez canal in 1868,
| SAYS the London Times. The ever
| drifting sands, however, reburied it al
| most to the throat when Prof. Maspero.
during his last year of office at Boulak.
began again the work Of disintermcnt.
This work has now been going on
somewhat internationally for more than
twelve months, and is at the pres ent
time in active progress under the di-
rection Of Prof. Maspero's successor.
NJ. Grebaut. \ trlmWay has been laid
down from the Sphinx to the edge OF
the pyramid plateau, passing close un-
der the west face of the granite build
ing popularity, though incorrectly.
called the temple of the Sphinx Along
the tramway light trucks convey the
sand to the point at which their con-
tents are discharged, the trucks being
loaded by Arabs OF both sexes and all
ages, who carry the sand upon their
heads in large, fiat baskets, ascending
and descending all day long from the
excavations below to the tramway
above. and vice versa The means
look curiously inadequate, but the re-
suits are astonishing. Already the en-.
tire forcpart Of the great stone monster
Is laid bare, and already the huge
chest, the paws, the space between the
paws, the altar in front of them, and
the platform upon which they rest,
are once more open to the light of day.
Nor is this all. Between the Sphinx
and the edge of the pyramid plateau
vast space has also been cleared, thus
bringing TO view IA fine flight of steps,
some forty feet in width. These steps,
which are described by PIny, were un-
covered by Cayiglia in 1917, but have
been entirely lost to sight for nearly
seventy years. A second flight of steps
and the remains of two Roman build
ings were also found by Cayiglia, and
viii again be brought to light, if NJ.
Grcbaut continues to work in this di-
rccti0n.
70 thcright of the Sphinx-that is to
say, in the direction of the granite tenn
pie, TO the southward-a further cxca-
llOn IS in progress, the result of which
will probably confirm the surmiscs of
those who believe the Sphinx to stand
i'm the midst of 4 huge artificial amphi-
theatre hcwn out of the solid rock.
This gigantic work would, of course.
be cOntcmDoraneOuS with the Sphinx
itself which Mariettc attributed TO the
mythic ages before the advent of Mcna,
the first king of the first dynasty, and
which MaSpero considers to be, if not
actually prehistoric, at all events the
oldest monument in Egypt.
From the level of the area below the
great flight Of steps (Which lead down,
and not up, to the Sphinx one now
measures the whole height Of the huge
human-headcd monster, whose bat
tered countcnancc stands out against
the cloudlcss sky one hundred feet
above. The space between the paws
is thirty-tiye feet long and ten wide
This space was anciently converted
into small sanctuary lined with the
yOtiyc tablets, only one of which-tac |
famous stella of Thothmes IV.-yct re-
mains in sight. This stella records
how the king, when upon one of his
hunting expeditions, lay down to rest
at midday in the shadow of the Sphinx
He there fell asleep and dreamed
dream, in which the venerable image
coniurcd him TO clear away the sand
in which it was nearly buried. Then
the prince aWokc and ''made silence in
his heart" and vowed to do that which
the god had commanded.
The paws Of the Sphinx, as they now
appear, are a restoration of Roman
date, being cased in comparatively
small slabs, and to some extent hollow
underneath. The breast of the Sphinx
has likewise been faced with slabs. ap-
parcntly in Roman times; and these
slabs have again been repaired by cut
ting away the wcathered surface and
inserting a fresh facing. Like the legs
of the Colossi of the plain and those
Of the great statues at AboO Simbal,
die paws Of the Sphinx are covered
with the Greek scrawIS Of early trav
elcrs; but these gralli-ti are mostly OF
n late period and 50 slightly scratched
that few are legibc. Such as there
are. however, Prof. Maspero has, it is
understood, devoted himself to the un.
grateful and difficult task of translat-
ing them.
NJ. Grebaut'S elevations are not lin.
tied tothe clearance Of the Sphinx only.
Various interesting tomhs have lately
been discovered i'll the vicinity of the
great pyramid, and to the westward
the face of the Libyan cliff has beer
reached, where it forms the natural
boundary of the pyramid, plateau.
Some good early rock-cU, tumbs, with
built fore courts, have been found in
the face of this cliff, in two of which
the walled-up recesses of secret cham.
bers, called "serdabs," which were
constructed for the safe keeping OF
Itinerary portrait statues, are YET III
tact with their contents.