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The Sphinx water erosion hypothesis contends that the main type of weathering evident on the enclosure walls of the Great Sphinx was caused by prolonged and extensive rainfall〔Schoch, Robert M. (1992). ("Redating the Great Sphinx of Giza" ) in ''Circular Times'', ed. Collette M. Dowell. Retrieved 2008.〕 that would have predated the time of Djedefre and Khafre, the Pharaohs credited by most modern Egyptologists with building the Great Sphinx and Second Pyramid at Giza around 2500 BC.〔''"Why Sequence is Important"'', Lehner, Mark; Hunt, Brian V. (link )〕 Egyptologists, geologists and others have rejected the water erosion hypothesis and the idea of an older Sphinx, offering various alternative explanations for the cause and date of the erosion. ==Hypothesis== R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz, a French mystic〔Garrett G. Fagan (editor), ''Archaeological Fantasies: How Pseudoarchaeology Misrepresents the Past and Misleads the Public'', page 251 (Routledge, 2006). ISBN 0-415-30593-4〕 and alternative Egyptologist, first claimed evidence of water erosion on the walls of the Sphinx enclosure in the 1950s.〔"A great civilization must have preceded the vast movements of water that passed over Egypt (10,000 BC ), which leads us to assume that the Sphinx already existed () whose leonine body, except for the head, shows indisputable signs of aquatic erosion" in, R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz, ''Sacred Science: The King of Pharaonic Theocracy'' (New York: Inner Traditions International, 1982. ISBN 0-89281-007-6). Originally published entitled ''Le Roi de la Théocratie Pharaonique'' (Paris: Flammarion, 1961).〕 John Anthony West, an author and alternative Egyptologist, investigated Schwaller de Lubicz's ideas further and, in 1989, sought the opinion of Robert M. Schoch, a geologist and associate professor of natural science at the College of General Studies at Boston University. From his investigation of the enclosure's geology, Schoch concluded the main type of weathering evident on the Sphinx enclosure walls was caused by prolonged and extensive rainfall.〔 According to Schoch, the area has experienced a mean annual rainfall of approximately one inch (2.5 cm) since the Old Kingdom (''c''. 2686–2134 BC), such that, since Egypt's last period of significant rainfall ended between the late fourth and early 3rd millennium BC,〔(Palaeoclimate and environment ), Fezzan Project, Climate Research Unit, Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Science, University of East Anglia. Retrieved 2008.〕 the Sphinx's construction must date to the 6th millennium BC or 5th millennium BC.〔Schoch, Robert M. (1995), ("Response in ''Archaeology Magazine'' to Zahi Hawass and Mark Lehner" ) in Dowell, Colette M. (ed.). ''Circular Times''.〕〔Schoch, Robert M. (1999–2000), ("Geological Evidence pertaining to the Age of the Great Sphinx" ), in Spedicato, Emilio; Notarpietro, Adalberto (ed., 2002). ''New Scenarios on the Evolution of the Solar System and Consequences on History of Earth and Man, Proceedings of the Conference. Milan and Bergamo, 7– 1999.'' Università degli Studi di Bergamo, Quaderni del Dipartmento di Matematica, Statistica, Informatica ed Applicazion, Serie Miscellanea. 3 (2002), 171–203.〕〔 〕 Schoch further notes the same heavy precipitation-induced weathering as seen on the walls of the Sphinx enclosure is also found on the core blocks of the Sphinx and Valley Temples, both known to have been originally constructed from blocks taken from the Sphinx enclosure when the body was carved.〔http://www.robertschoch.com/geodatasphinx.html〕 Though the presence of extensive 4th Dynasty repair work to the Sphinx and associated temples is acknowledged by such Egyptologists as Lehner and Hawass, Schoch contends: "Therefore if the granite facing is covering deeply weathered limestone, the original limestone structures must predate by a considerable degree the granite facing. Obviously, if the limestone cores (originating from the Sphinx ditch) of the temples predate the granite ashlars (granite facings), and the granite ashlars are attributable to Khafre of the Fourth Dynasty, then the Great Sphinx was built prior to the reign of Khafre."〔 Colin Reader, a British geologist, agrees that the suggested evidence of weathering indicates prolonged water erosion. Reader found, ''inter alia'', that the flow of rainwater causing the weathering had been stemmed by the construction of 'Khufu's quarries',〔Löhner, Franz; Zuberbühler, Teresa (2006). (''Building the Great Pyramid: Quarries in Ancient Egypt'' ). Updated 2006. Retrieved 2009.〕 which lie directly "upstream" of the Sphinx enclosure, and therefore concludes that the Sphinx must predate the reign of Khufu (2589–2566 BC), and certainly Khafra, by several hundred years. Reader disagrees with Schoch's palaeometeorological estimates, and instead concludes that the Sphinx dates to the Early Dynastic Period (''c.'' 3150–2686 BC).〔Reader, Colin (2002). "(Giza Before the Fourth Dynasty )", ''Journal of the Ancient Chronology Forum'', 9 (2002), 5–21. Retrieved 2008-12-17.〕〔Giulio Magli, ''Mysteries and Discoveries of Archaeoastronomy: From Giza to Easter Island'', page 374 (Praxis Publishing Limited, 2009). ISBN 978-0-387-76564-8〕 To explain the disproportionate size of the head compared to the body, Reader, as does Schoch, also suggests the head of the Sphinx was originally that of a lion and recarved sometime later in the likeness of a pharaoh.〔http://dailygrail.com/Hidden-History/2014/6/Did-the-Great-Sphinx-Egypt-Originally-Have-Different-Head〕〔http://www.robertschoch.com/sphinxcontent.html〕 Similarly, David Coxill, a geologist working independently of both Schoch and Reader, has concluded from the evidence of weathering in the enclosure that "()he Sphinx is at least 5,000 years old and pre-dates dynastic times (3100 BC )."〔Coxill, David (1998). "The Riddle of the Sphinx", ''InScription: Journal of Ancient Egypt'', 2 (Spring 1998), 17; cited in Schoch, Robert M. (2000). ("New Studies Confirm Very Old Sphinx" ) in Dowell, Colette M. (ed). ''Circular Times''.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sphinx water erosion hypothesis」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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