CAIRO — Reda Abdel Halim, the director of public relations for the Giza pyramids district on the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, told local media on Oct. 24 that he found a statue within the pyramids space that’s of comparable dimension to the Sphinx.
Based on him, the statue is 73 meters excessive, with a head 20.5 meters excessive, and fingers prolonged over 15.5 meters, just like the Sphinx.
He added that scientific analysis was printed at Zagazig College confirming the existence of this statue.
Nevertheless, “That is fully not true,” Zahi Hawass, former Minister of Antiquities and an archaeologist who oversaw the pyramids space for almost 20 years, instructed Al-Monitor.
“The Sphinx is exclusive in Egypt and the world. … Any discuss discoveries of different comparable statues is baseless and has just one function, which is creating media fanfare,” he added.
“Any claims about analysis on the Sphinx on the Zagazig College can be false,” Hawass went on, stressing that Egyptian archaeologists should not conscious of present scientific analysis in any Egyptian college in regards to the discovery of any such statue.
“Research and analysis have to be printed in a scientific journal in order that we will reply with scientific proof. Talks a couple of textual content that’s mentioned to have been inscribed on the Sphinx however obtained erased by the passage of the time mentioning the existence of one other comparable statue, are baseless,” Hawass mentioned.
“Through the a few years I headed the Giza pyramids space, we labored alongside Egyptian and international specialists and archeologists, scanning your entire space, and I can guarantee there may be not one other statue of the Sphinx,” he added.
Abdel Halim caught to his claims, stressing in his press assertion that the found statue is one other Sphinx, and that the writings on the unique statue that have been erased are proof of his claims.
Nevertheless, Nevin al-Arif, media advisor to the minister of tourism and antiquities, instructed Al-Monitor, “All these statements a couple of new Sphinx are baseless.” Archaeologists and specialists, together with the Secretary-Common of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mustafa al-Waziri, have denied the claims, she mentioned.
“The statue in query was found a very long time in the past within the space and has nothing to do with the unique Sphinx. It’s nothing however a standard statue,” she instructed Al-Monitor.
When a serious discovery is made, “the ministry would absolutely coordinate with these accountable for the invention,” Arif defined. “The ministry is normally knowledgeable of all the main points of such a discovery, which might be formally introduced throughout a press convention within the presence of native and international reporters and journalists.”
Mohammed Hamza, the previous dean of the college of archeology at Cairo College, instructed Al-Monitor that any discuss in regards to the discovery of a brand new Sphinx is totally baseless and only for media fanfare.
He burdened that a number of years in the past, David Wilson, the previous director of the British Museum, made comparable claims, saying {that a} yellow spot subsequent to the Sphinx was the situation of one other comparable statue, which was proved to be unfaithful.
“The Giza pyramids area is an energetic zone by way of archaeology and tourism. If there have been one other Sphinx, scientists would have found it earlier. This space is of paramount significance, whether or not previously or these days,” Hamza mentioned.
As a result of the realm is among the most well-known vacationer and archaeological websites on the planet, he mentioned, “Had there been every other Sphinx statue, it might have been found 2 hundred years in the past. Excavations and digging operations are nonstop there.”
