The equinox reveals one of the secrets of Egypt's iconic Sphinx

[Judi Lynn]

By Laura Geggel - Associate Editor 7 hours ago

The ancient Egyptians likely arranged this on purpose.



The sun set over the right shoulder of the Sphinx during the spring equinox this year.
(Image: © © Egypt Ministry of Antiquities)

The Sphinx had a "distinctive astronomical" moment with the sun during the spring equinox when, in a shining flourish, the sun set on the shoulder of the half-man, half-lion statue on March 19, according to the Egypt Ministry of Antiquities.

This phenomenon happens only twice a year, during the spring in March and the fall equinox in September, according to the ministry.

During the equinox, Earth's axis doesn't point toward or away from the sun, meaning that the Northern and Southern hemispheres receive equal amounts of the sun's light. In other words, the day and the night are equal in length.

It's well known that cats enjoy basking in the sun, and the 241-foot (74 meters) tall Sphinx is no exception. The mythical half-man, half-lion is carved out of limestone bedrock. Its face might show the likeness of Pharaoh Khafre, the fourth king of ancient Egypt's 4th dynasty (2575 B.C. to 2465 B.C.), who had the second and third Pyramids of Giza built, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/egypt-sphinx-equinox.html?utm_source=notification

[William Seger]

1. Something missing from this story

An intentional alignment implies at least two specific points aligned with the setting sun, but the story doesn't say where you need to be to see the sun set over the Sphinx's shoulder on the equinox. The fact that you could find such a place is completely meaningless unless there is some reason to think the ancient Egyptians were marking that particular line. Looking at Google Earth, no such special place is immediately obvious due east of the Sphinx.

[packman]

2. Exactly what I thought

No anchor point- meaningless conjecture.

[Harker]

3. Sounds like the Ministry of Antiquities

is a part of the Tourism Board.

[Fix The Stupid]

4. I really hate this garbage.

If you watch the History Channel(s) at all, it seems that EVERY building past a certain age was built and placed where it was because of "Star alignment" or crap like that...


"oh, these pyramids here are in the shape of Orions belt!!?"...

Utter stupidity.

[Harker]

5. If anyone can fix it...

it's you.

[tclambert]

6. Three points in a straight line? Orion's Belt!

Boston, New York City, and Washington, D.C. make close to a straight line. Our founding fathers must have laid them out to resemble Orion's Belt!


Three points not in a line? A triangle that probably matches some triangle of stars somewhere in the sky.

[Fix The Stupid]

7. Exactly...

Ever watch that Oak Island show? Good gawd, there are a lot of gullible people out there...

"oh, here's a rock, there's a rock and over there is a rock! - look it's laid out in this constellation!"

All you can do is laugh...