Geologist Robert Schoch argues that rainfall erosion on the Great Sphinx supports an Epipaleolithic or early Neolithic date, commonly given as roughly 8,000 years ago; some versions of his hypothesis cite 12,000 years. This remains disputed—the archaeological context dates the Sphinx to about 2600–2500 BCE. Plato, through Simaeus, reports a 9,000-year Egyptian tradition, while Neolithic communities were already living in Greece 8,000 years ago.
Robert Schoch argues rain erosion dates the Sphinx to around 8,000 years ago
EgyptTheory
Key facts
- Robert Schoch, a geologist, argues that rainfall erosion on the Sphinx enclosure supports an Epipaleolithic or early Neolithic date linked to Egypt's past wetter climate.
- The hypothesis is commonly summarized as dating the Sphinx to around 8,000 years ago; some versions extend the proposed age to about 12,000 years.
- The prevailing archaeological date is approximately 2600–2500 BCE, based on the Sphinx's archaeological context and its association with Khufu's pyramid complex.
- Neolithic communities were already present in Greece 8,000 years ago, although the later Greek civilization did not yet exist.
- Plato reports through Simaeus that Egyptians claimed 9,000 years of habitation and records; this is not archaeological evidence for the Sphinx's age.
Sources
[PDF] The Sphinx: dramatising data ... and datingsemanticscholar.org
Geology and archaeology, carefully entwined, form the basis for deciding on a date of construction for the Great Sphinx at Giza. Over a decade after Robert ...
Sphinx water erosion hypothesis - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org
Ten years later, West sought the opinion of geologist Robert Schoch to validate his claims. In 1990 they traveled together to Egypt, visiting the Sphinx. The ...
The Sphinx Controversy: Another Look at the Geological Evidencehallofmaat.com
Robert M. Schoch put forward the highly controversial proposition that the Great Sphinx of Giza and the adjacent Valley and Sphinx temples do not date, as ...
Robert M. Schoch: Research Highlights The Great Sphinxrobertschoch.com
the Egyptologists were correct in their dating, the extraordinary depth of subsurface weathering supported my conclusion that the core-body of the Sphinx must ...
The Great Sphinx of Egypt: Nature's Shabby-Chic Trick? - GeoExprogeoexpro.com
From a geological point of view I did not find any evidence that could date the carving of the Sphinx to a time earlier than any of the other ...
Robert M. Schochen.wikipedia.org
Sphinx water erosion hypothesis. Scientific career. Thesis · Systematics ... Further Evidence Supporting a Pre-2500 B.C. Date for the Great Sphinx of Giza, Egypt.
Robert M. Schoch: Research Highlightsrobertschoch.com
For decades I have been studying the events surrounding the end of the last ice age, determining that it was a solar outburst – possibly something so large it ...
Notes and Photographs on the West-Schoch Sphinx ...hallofmaat.com
Schoch hypothesis that the Great Sphinx of Giza is eroded by rain and, therefore, dates to Epipaleolithic or early Neolithic times,
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