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The Sphinx

Latest Rumors

The latest wrinkle began this fall when Tsen Horn wrote in sci.archaeology of an un-named source who claimed Zahi Hawass had been transferred from his position with the Egyptian's Supreme Council of Antiquities to an area in the Nile delta. In addition, he wrote: "This means that the Florida State University project will now resume operations. Boris Said has just left for Egypt and will be working with the F.S.U. team that plans to dig into the tunnel that runs from one of the pyramids to the chamber underneath the paws. I understand that they will not be going in through the pyramid or the Sphinx enclosure, but rather outside, where nothing will be damaged. I am not absolutely sure, but I think they plan to dig a hole and put a camera down to see, before they would actually go in. "Mr. Said has brought six technicians from Fox television with several crates of equipment. The plan is to begin digging on November 6 and then go in the chamber sometime in January." Tsen Horn has been to Egypt since this was posted and has been unable to discover additional information and now doubts his source for the information in the post above, which was followed in sci.archaeology by a summary post from Doug Weller: "Earlier this year a team from F.S.U. visited the [Gizeh] plateau and, after some exploratory work, submitted a proposal for some studies on the plateau. This proposal focused on two aspects. One was to collect samples that might be suitable for dating structures (cosmic-ray exposure ages, C14, light exposure ages, pollen, etc.) and to study classical stratigraphic relationships around the Sphinx Temple quay. "Another proposal was submitted at the same time by Joe Schor which would involve exploration of what he thinks the geophysical data indicates to be underground voids. Evidently, one option in Schor's proposal is excavation of some sort. I don't know the status of this proposal. "The second aspect of the F.S.U. proposal has to do with construction of some of the monuments (e.g., the possibility that the entire Sphinx Temple was carved in place and not built of large blocks removed from around the Sphinx), and how original relief on the plateau might have been used in construction of the pyramids. "If you haven't guessed yet, the people involved in the F.S.U. proposal are geologists. I believe that there is some advice from an archaeologist but direct involvement will depend upon availability at the time of the trip. "Boris Said and Schor have indeed been making a video which one hopes will be much more scientific than that made by Boris and West. IF F.S.U. is involved in this at all, it will only be with their approval and right to view any final editorial cuts. I don't know where/how it will be broadcast. F.S.U. has insisted on this after an earlier video was made with the university's name in credits without their permission. That video was made before F.S.U. actually visited Egypt in April. "Approval for the F.S.U. proposal has not yet been obtained. Schor has stated to my informants that Hawass was replaced, which confirms some rumours I've seen. "So as far as November the 6th is concerned, the F.S.U. team has no plans to be in Egypt and certainly doesn't include any tunneling in any aspect of their proposal. "The geophysical, subsurface data, can be interpreted to represent voids underground. Interpretations are model dependent, and while they might be man-made features, they could be natural karst features from dissolved limestones (which can be seen intersecting the surface around and on the plateau). "To the geophysicist, the simpliest way to model the data is to do so with simple geometric shapes and volumes. When his model then results in something drawn as a rectangular void -- it does not necessarily reflect reality -- but we shall see.

HOWE: What did they see in 1922?
HAWASS: They entered inside and they found nothing.
HOWE: What happened between the August news conference and now to change that opening up of that door in the Sphinx?
HAWASS: We are just going to open it when we will reach the restoration. We are restoring the Sphinx now and this is what we care about -- the restoration. And this will be opened. You know, those people should know that there is nothing in the door. There is nothing in the door, it has been opened before and it is not really a big deal to open it.
HOWE: And what you're going to do is wait until you've got the restoration completed before you open the door or...?
HAWASS: EXACTLY!
HOWE: When will the restoration be completed?
HAWASS: Um, we don't know. You know in archaeology, ma'am, we are very slow because the monuments are very precious. You do not -- we are not "Raiders of the Lost Ark," we are caring about the monument.
HOWE: Right
HAWASS: You know what I am talking about?
HOWE: Right. In the news conference in August, you said you thought the restoration would be done in 97. Is that still possible?
HAWASS: Maybe, maybe...
HOWE: And then at that point, somewhere in 97, the opening of the north side door in the Sphinx...
HAWASS: But you have to know that there is nothing in that door, really.
HOWE: It was very interesting to see your news conference and to see how much work that you have been doing and, um, how many, I think there were 10 different pyramid sites now available and open to the public in, ah...
HAWASS: OK, this is really what I care about, those people who met at the conference at Delaware [The "Return to the Source: Rediscovering Lost Knowledge and Ancient Wisdom" conference was held September 27-29, 1996, at the University of Delaware], they attacked me everywhere because I do not open the pyramids to amateurs. And I will never -- we will never -- means... I am not the person who really only decides. I am one person on the committee. But those people who made this conference in Delaware are really not correct. It's not true that any kind of work is going to be done in the pyramids. By anyone. Except the Egyptian government -- except us.
HOWE: Ah, well, let me see, for clarification. There was a man named Richard Hoagland who read an invitation on a radio program, I believe last weekend, who said that he had received an invitation to come the last week in October for the opening of some sort of excavation?
HAWASS: Ma'am, that is not true, believe me. That is not true. And I am the only one that is in charge of the pyramids and there is nothing like this is going to be happening.

"To recap about F.S.U. -- their geologists, and perhaps an archaeologist, will, if their application is approved, collect samples for dating (as agreed with Schor) and make further observations of rocks that might satisfy their curiosity regarding construction techniques. This will probably be a fairly short investigation."However, the claim of Zahi Hawass' transfer was contested by Greg Reeder (also in sci.archaeology) of "KMT" magazine: "A question has been raised in AA&ES as to Zahi Hawass' compatibility with Nur el-Din's replacement, Ali Hassan, who is more conservative than his predecessor; however, my sources in Cairo say, 'As of 22 October, this allegation [that Hawass was replaced] was untrue. Zahi is still in charge of the plateau.

He was gone briefly for a week on the UCLA trip, but seems fine otherwise.'" The UCLA trip occurred last August and Dr. Hawass held a news conference at the California Museum of Natural History in Los Angeles where he highlighted recent discoveries and new excavations. Dr. Hawass was interviewed by Linda Moulton Howe on the October 6,1996, Art Bell radio show. When asked if he still plans to open the door at the north end of the Sphinx on November 1, 1996, Hawass replied (rest of interview follows):

Dr. Zahi Hawass (HAWASS): No, I am not going to open it now. We have other things really to do.
Linda M. Howe (HOWE): How are you going to... because it's so interesting. It sounds like it should be very interesting to see what's in there?
HAWASS: I know but that door was opened in 1922 before. We are going to re-open it again.