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Reconstructing the Sphinx

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 December 2008

Mark Lehner
Mark Lehner
Affiliation:
Oriental Institute of University of Chicago1155 East 58th StreetChicago, IL 60637-1569
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Extract

From 1979 to 1983 the American Research Center in Egypt carried out an architectural, archaeological and geo-archaeological study of the Giza Sphinx. Photogrammetry and conventional surveying techniques were used to prepare detailed plans and front and side elevations of the monument. These have made it possible to construct a computer model of the current condition of the Sphinx, and its hypothesized condition in ancient times, both as originally carved in the 4th Dynasty, and as remodelled and renovated during the 18th Dynasty. Careful analysis of surviving detached fragments of the Sphinx allowed details of beard and uraeus to be included in the reconstruction. This process of creating a computer model of the Sphinx is akin to sculpting the statue again in computer memory.

Type
Articles
Information
Cambridge Archaeological Journal , Volume 2 , Issue 1 , April 1992 , pp. 3 - 26
Copyright
Copyright © The McDonald Institute for Archaeological Research 1992

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