The Pharaoh and the Sphinx,Built sometime around 2558–2532 BC, the Great Sphinx of Giza was one of t
The Pharaoh and the Sphinx,Built sometime around 2558–2532 BC, the Great Sphinx of Giza was one of the first great monumental statues ever built. As time passed many things in Egypt began to change. Dynasties rose and fell, Egypt was invaded and in turn became invaders, and the land transformed from a kingdom into an empire. By 1,400 BC the statue was practically forgotten, and by that time the Sphinx’s ornamental paint had worn off and it was buried up to its head in sand.One day, the young prince Thutmose IV was out on a midday walk. Feeling tired he decided to take a catnap (no pun intended) in the shade of the Sphinx’s head. While sleeping, he had a dream in which the Sphinx spoke to him, asking him to be restored to his former glory, in return Thutmose would be granted the throne of Egypt. Thutmose immediately ordered the restoration of the Sphinx. The Sphinx was repainted and the sand burying it was removed. Thutmose ordered a stele erected at the base of the Sphinx, in between its paws, retelling the story of the dream.Here is an excerpt from the Dream Stele,One of those days, it so happened that prince Thutmosis came, passing by at the time of miday and he sat down in the shadow of this great god. Sleep seized him, a sleep at the time when the sun was at the zenith, and he found the Majesty of this noble god speaking with his own mouth, like the words of a father for his son, saying: “Look at me, see me, my son Thutmosis. I am your father, Harmakhis-Khepri-Atum, and I shall give you the kingship on earth, in front of all the living ones. You shall wear the White and the Red Crowns upon the throne of Geb, the heriditary prince. The earth shall be yours in its length and width, (everything) that the Eye of the Lord-of-All illuminates. The food of the Two Lands shall be yours, (as well as) the great tributes of every foreign land, (your) lifetime will be a time, great in years. My face is yours, my heart is yours as you are a protector to me, for my (current) condition is like one that is in need, all my limbs (as if they were) dismembered as the sands of the desert upon which I lie have reached me. So run to me, to have that done which I desire, knowing that you are my son and my protector. Come forth, and I shall be with you, I shall be your leader”.When he finished these words, this prince stared woke up at what he had heard ///…/// he understood the words of this god and he put a silence in his heart. Then he said: “/// Let us hasten back to our home in the city! We shall set aside an offering for this god and we shall bring him oxen, all the vegetables and our arms shall be raised in adoration to those who were (there) before (us) ///…/// noble ///…/// Khefren, the statue made for Atum-Re-Harmakhis ///…/// days of festivities ///…/// many ///…/// of My Majesty for her, living ///…/// for Khepri in the Horizon of the West of Heliopolis in ///…/// -- source link
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