But West wasn't prepared to be dismissed so easily. By the
1980s he had interested a respected geologist from the University of Boston, a Dr. Robert Schoch. Schoch was a highly respected stratigrapher (a geologist who
studies layers of rock) and palaeontologist and author of four published
books.Schoch explains his involvement. "I grudgingly got involved in the whole
controversy as a favour to a couple of fellow academics at Boston. I was
persuaded to get involved by Robert Eddy, Professor of Rhetoric at Boston, and
an old friend of West. I was told West wanted an 'open minded' geologist to help
explore his theory. I heard West out, but did not think there was much chance he
was correct in suggesting that the Sphinx was older than its standard
attribution - until I got to Egypt." (6)
Schoch carried out a clinical assessment of
West's claims and was mindful of suggestions that if the erosion was indeed
caused by water, then this could be attributed to more recent flooding of the
Nile, and therefore no earlier redating was required. Even though Domingo had demonstrated that the Sphinx was not a
portrait of Chephren (apparently destroying Lehner's last argument), the matter
did not rest. The American Association for the Advancement of Science scheduled
a session to debate the issue at its annual general meeting in Chicago on
7th February 1992. Lehner attended along with geologist K. Lal Gauri
of the University of Louisville, who had also studied the Sphinx for many years.
West also attended and presented his arguments. (17) Once again, the water erosion findings were endorsed even
though Egyptologists themselves could not bring themselves to accept the
implications of this endorsement. The AAAS meeting broke up in words that,
according to the New York Times "skated on the icy edge of scientific
politeness" (18)
Schoch (above) was taken back by the strength of feeling regarding his
claims, which he considered were based on science rather than a belief in some
form of Egyptian 'Order'. "When I first became interested in the dating of the
Sphinx," he commented, "a friend who had lived in Egypt for several years warned
me that I might run into such hostility. At first I was incredulous, but now I
tend to think he may have been correct." (19) Schoch, of course, was not the first scientist to run foul of
Egyptologists. As Germer wrote in 1986, "In the past, co-operation between the
natural sciences and Egyptology has not necessarily been successful in every
case. The Egyptologist is initially suspicious; he often rejects out of hand,
and is unwilling to work with scientific data. He believes that he can do better
with his own methodology." (20)
After the controversy subsided, West spent the next eighteen
months producing a documentary for television that attracted thirty million
viewers when it aired in the United States on 10th November 1993.
(Broadcast on the NBC network at 9:00 PM EST. The documentary won a 1993 Emmy
award for Best Research and a nomination for Best
Documentary.) Although the arguments did not stop entirely, with papers still
being issued on a regular basis, it does appear that West and Schoch had won the
academic debate that the Sphinx should be redated to a much earlier age.
(21) So if the monument was constructed before the Egyptian
civilisation, who did build it, and who were they? This is the one major
argument against the earlier dating that Schoch cannot answer, however he does
not see it as his problem to answer; he is a geologist not an historian. He
rightly sees that as a problem for others.
It seems obvious to look for clues as to who these lost people
were on the Giza plateau itself. Yet the area had been
overrun with researchers, robbers and excavators for hundreds of years so
presumably nothing new could now turn up. However geologists have recently
developed a technique that could lead to previously hidden features being
discovered. This 'new' method is used by geologists for studying deeper layers
of rock. A metal plate is struck with a sledge-hammer; the vibrations go
down through the rock and are reflected back by various strata. These echoes are
then picked up by 'geophones' placed at intervals along the ground and a
computer later interprets their data. (22)
Using this method, John West's geo-physicist, Thomas L Dobecki,
noted that under the front paws of the Sphinx there
appeared to be some
form of underground chamber, possibly more than one. This aroused considerable
excitement for legend has it that chambers under the Sphinx hold ancient
secrets. So what did the Giza Plateau authorities do with this
information? They immediately announced that further excavations would be
delayed, not by months but for years. However, perhaps not too much should be
read into this. An early photograph taken in 1926 showed a man standing at the
entrance to a passageway leading into the Sphinx, although there is no record of
any findings and the entrance was subsequently sealed with new blocks. Another
passage found in 1987 yielded no more than some shoes and an early
20th Century newspaper. (23) Yet the knowledge that The Great Sphinx
actually does contain secret passages and chambers means that at some point in
the future we may discover clues to a hidden past.
One outcome of the Schoch and West investigation and the
inevitable conclusion that a forgotten people predating the Ancient Egyptians
had built the Sphinx, was to refocus attention on the
Egyptian Pyramids for it seemed
unlikely that the giant statue would have been constructed in isolation, indeed
the monument almost appears to be protecting the Giza plateau. Perhaps, then, the Ancient Egyptian Pyramids could provide some clues about the
lost people who had constructed the Sphinx and then disappeared from history.
Explore forgotton clues scattered throughout history that are suggestive
of an alternative history.
Join the world-wide search for evidence
of a lost civilisation that predates
known history.
Has Earth already been contacted by other civilisations either in the distant past or in recent centuries?
A discussion of the emergence of advanced technologies and the bizarre invasion of Antarctica after WWII.
A discussion of sightings of UFOs in the sky above Earth and within the solar system, including Moon anomalies.
Evidence the Earth has been visited by extraterrestrials and how the public had been subject to disinformation.
A list of credits and sources for the themes and issues explored
in Violations.
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paperback or Kindle versions complete
with exclusive additional content!