An unexpected version of the origin of the ancient Egyptian Great Sphinx has emerged

Study finds source of ancient Egyptian inspiration in nature

The Great Sphinx in Giza, Egypt may have been shaped by wind, according to new research. And the ancient Egyptians then “refined” the appearance of the impressive stone figure.

A theory sometimes put forward by researchers has been explored by scientists that the original Great Sphinx of Giza may have been a natural landform in the shape of a lion, which the ancient Egyptians modified to give the stone figure a cat-like face, reports arkeonews.net.

A team of New York University scientists has replicated the conditions that existed 4,500 years ago when the Sphinx was built to show how wind influenced the rock formations, possibly shaping one of the world’s most recognizable statues for the first time.

Geologist Farouk El-Baz argued in a 1981 Smithsonian magazine article that, unlike the pyramids, the Sphinx was not entirely built by the ancient Egyptians, but rather that a “celestial facelift” of the rock was applied by ancient masons after desert winds shaped the overall shape of the structure.

Now, scientists at New York University have tested this theory by creating miniature lion-like landforms out of clay using fluid dynamics, and found that the shape of the rock may have inspired the Egyptians to create the Sphinx. Their work was accepted by the journal Physical Review Fluids.

“Our results offer a possible ‘origin story’ for how sphinx-shaped structures can form through erosion,” explains Leif Ristroph, assistant professor at New York University’s Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences and senior author of the study, which has been accepted for publication in the journal Physical Review Fluids. “Our laboratory experiments have shown that remarkably sphinx-like shapes can actually form from materials eroded by fast flows.”

The work focused on reproducing yardangs—unusual rock formations found in deserts as a result of wind-blown dust and sand—and exploring how the Great Sphinx may have originated as a yardang, which was later detailed by humans into a well-known statue.

To do this, Ristroph and his colleagues at New York University’s Applied Mathematics Laboratory took mounds of soft clay with harder, less erodible material inside—mimicking the terrain in northeastern Egypt where the Great Sphinx is located.

They then washed these formations with a rapid stream of water – to replicate the wind – which carved and reshaped them, eventually achieving a Sphinx-like formation. The harder or resistant material became the “head” of the lion, and many other features developed, such as a cropped “neck”, “paws” lying in front on the ground, and an arched “back”.

“Our results provide a simple theory for the origin of how sphinx-like structures may form through erosion,” says Ristroph. “In fact, today there are yardangs that look like sitting or lying animals, which confirms our findings.”

“This work can also be useful to geologists, since it reveals the factors that influence rocks, namely that they are heterogeneous in composition,” the scientist adds. “The unexpected shapes arise from the way the flows are directed around harder or less eroded parts.”