Charles River Editors

Given how far back the Egyptian civilization goes, it’s no surprise that Egypt is still full of mystery, and the unknown continues to generate conspiracy theories that attempt to fill in the gaps. For example, generations have viewed Egypt’s pyramids and the Great Sphinx as symbols of a lost past, which in turn leads to Egypt’s portrayal as a world full of romance and mystery. The age and structural integrity of these magnificent structures also make them symbols of longevity and power, which is only fitting because those are two purposes the ancient pharaohs who commissioned them intended them to serve.

In fact, while the sphinx was a well-known mythological creature among various ancient civilizations, the Egyptian statue that is now most famously associated with the creature is full of mysteries that have been endlessly debated throughout the centuries and continue to be hotly contested among scholars. The famous “Riddle of the Sphinx”, told by Sophocles in his play Oedipus Rex in the 5th century B.C., characterized the sphinx as a clever and powerful creature, and the mysteries of the Egyptian statue were discussed even among the ancient Romans. Even the source of the damage suffered by the Sphinx has become the stuff of legend, as evidenced by the story of Napoleon’s French soldiers shooting off the Sphinx’s nose.

Of course, the Sphinx is merely one object in Egypt that has been the source of endless theories. The discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb revived the legends of pharaohs’ curses and mummies, and ancient Egyptian art has been analyzed in seemingly every conceivable way possible as people come up with alternate theories for how the Egyptians built their most famous buildings and forged their enduring civilization.

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