Sphinx Controversy： Lost Sphinx Temple Discovered & Then DESTROYED!

Hello everybody and welcome to Ancient Architects. Please subscribe now to get the latest ancient history news and independent research from around the world. This video is a remake of one that I made about two years ago because I found out a little more information, I've gotten some new images and I've also improved the overall presentation. It's regarding a now lost structure on the Giza Plateau which I knew nothing about until two years ago. I came across a number of rare photographs as well as an archaeological paper about a lost Sphinx temple, which means that throughout dynastic history there were at least five Sphinx temples. That fact alone will surprise many people that yes there wasn't just one Sphinx temple, the one we all know, there were in fact five. The first, the oldest and most famous sits directly to the east of the Sphinx, a mysterious structure that we are told is old kingdom, but by all accounts it was completely covered over by the time the 18th Dynasty Egyptians occupied the Giza Plateau. The second Sphinx temple is now lost, but the foundations were discovered to the northeast of the monument. A couple of rough diagrams is all that remains and it was likely the brainchild of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Thutmose I. The third Sphinx temple was also built to the northeast of the Sphinx and it seems to replace and overprint the temple of Thutmose I. This was also built by another 18th Dynasty King, Pharaoh Amenhotep II, father of Thutmose IV, the man responsible for the famous Dreamstealer. The fourth temple sits between the paws of the Sphinx and included statues of ornamental lions, a hawk as well as an altar for burnt offerings. It also contained three stele, one of which is the Dreamstealer of Thutmose IV, but the other two were made by Ramesses the Great of the 19th Dynasty. It is therefore likely that he built this temple. This temple between the paws of the Sphinx remained important all the way up to the Roman era and, as we know, there are Roman and Greek inscriptions on the Sphinx itself, as well as an old staircase that led down to it. This staircase was built by either the Greeks or the Romans and you can see it on old photographs from the 1930s. When the site was excavated in the 19th century by Giovanni Caviglia, the temple was found pretty much intact. Everything I've mentioned so far is pretty well known, so where was the 5th Sphinx temple? Well, this one has barely been discussed because the person who excavated it in the 1920s and 1930s, Emil Barresi, did not record it in any journal or book, something all too common with Barresi's work concerning the Sphinx. There are not even any personal notes on the lost temple, yet a few photographs were taken and I've managed to get hold of them for this video. Ten years ago, Stephen Pasquale published the photos in a short paper titled, Barresi Excavations 1933-1934 at Giza, What is New with the Chapel of Armenhotep II. It was published by the American Research Center in Egypt and shed some light on this clearly important but lost structure. It was made of thick walls of mud brick and is certainly a post-New Kingdom structure because in part it overlaps the 18th Dynasty temple of Armenhotep II, which has been partially restored today on the Giza Plateau. It is therefore the third structure to have been built to the northeast of the Sphinx. At the time of the fifth temple's construction, the temple of Armenhotep II was certainly buried, whether purposefully or naturally. The fifth and latest temple to be erected at the site was 14.6 meters long east to west and 17.6 north to south, with its doorway facing the Sphinx, much like the temple of Armenhotep II and possibly that of Thutmose I. Because it was built on top, it was likely built as a replacement, a third generation temple of the Sphinx, which we know was incredibly important in the 18th Dynasty. At this time, the Sphinx was known as Horemakhet and also Herakti, and Herakti was the origin for the one god of the new Atenism religion of Akhenaten. In his 1991 dissertation, Mark Lehner does mention that Berezi found a square mud brick building with thick massive walls, but says that no plan or description was ever published. He says how the building is almost level with the base of the massive pan-bedded mud brick wall, which we know surrounded the Sphinx enclosure. To the south of this now lost building was a staircase, and something similar to a front porch that was encased with limestone blocks. There was also a small section of wall that was made from limestone. Berezi apparently went back to the site a few years after the main excavation and completely cleaned up the structure, but sadly and annoyingly, he made no record of what he discovered, which does feel like an almighty shame. This is the same man that added the metal hatch in the back of the Sphinx and built up the vertical shaft through its back, as discussed in a previous video a few years ago. There is no doubt in my mind that this was another Sphinx temple, built over the 18th Dynasty temple of Amenhotep II, which was also built to replace the earlier temple of Thutmose I. Each of these three structures were built from mud brick and could all therefore be 18th Dynasty, but the latter could also be from the 19th Dynasty, or possibly even the 26th, when the Giza Plateau and the Sphinx once again took centre stage in the Sate Period. Compared to how it looked in dynastic history, the Sphinx complex looks very different today. Many don't know, but there was an 18th Dynasty villa built in front of the Valley Temple by Tutankhamun. A mud brick wall also surrounded the Sphinx enclosure, having thick bastions built into the corners, and as stated, a grand staircase descended down into the enclosure from the east. This rare photograph from the Berezi excavation shows blocks lying on the floor, about 4 metres lower than the mud brick structure, which I've identified as the 5th Sphinx temple. These were found to be one of the doorways into the temple of Amenhotep II, which had clearly been moved quite a distance and shown here reconstructed. The inscription on the doorway reads, The Perfect God, Lord of Joy, The King of Upper and Lower Egypt, Amenhotep II, Beloved of Heraklion, Given Life. And, as we know, Heraklion was the one god of the Atenism religion, and it is clear that Atenism had origins long before Akhenaten. And in fact, the first representation of the Aten sun disk can be found in the Sphinx temple of Amenhotep II. During its reconstruction, this doorway was put back into the temple, and can still be seen in situ today. This is really just a short video to show you, the viewers, another lost structure on the Giza Plateau. And, once again, there is far more to the Sphinx complex than what we see today. It is a very complicated archaeological site, occupied and built upon for hundreds of years throughout dynastic history. The Sphinx was such an important monument, that it had not one, but five temples over the years. The remnants of three of them can still be seen today, but two of them are now lost forever. The sad news is the 5th Sphinx temple, the subject of this video, was demolished around 80 years ago, and the finds and discoveries were never recorded. We'll never know any more about it, but at least we do have these photographs, so we can continue to piece together the history of Giza the best we can. Thank you very much for watching this episode of Ancient Architects. If you enjoyed the video, please subscribe to the channel, please like the video and please leave a comment below. Thank you very much.