A Geomorphological Study of the Giza Necropolis, with Implications for the Development of the Site (original) (raw)

Further considerations on development at Giza before the 4 Dynasty

2006

Two previous papers produced by Vandecruys have been critical of the theories of erosion of the Sphinx by rainfall run–off, previously advanced by Reader. In a final response to Vandecruys’ theory that the extant degradation can be attributed to shallow groundwater movement, Reader explains the limitations of Vandecruys’ groundwater model and further discusses the case for development at Giza before the 4 Dynasty. Key–words: Giza – Sphinx – Khafre – fourth dynasty – old kingdom – weathering – interflow – enclosure – temple – erosion

Further considerations on development at Giza before the 4th Dynasty

Uploaded to Academia 14 Apr 2018 Two previous papers produced by Vandecruys have been critical of the theories of erosion of the Sphinx by rainfall runoff, previously advanced by Reader. In a final response to Vandecruys' theory that the extant degradation can be attributed to shallow groundwater movement, Reader explains the limitations of Vandecruys' groundwater model and further discusses the case for development at Giza before the Fourth Dynasty.

The geomorphological evidence for the Early Dynastic origins of the Great Sphinx of Giza: a response to Drs Lehner and Hawass

Proceedings of the Fourth British Egyptology Congress University of Manchester, 7-9 September 2018, 2020

Having examined the weathering and erosion of the limestones that were exposed by the excavation of the Great Sphinx, this author has previously concluded that whilst the Sphinx is a product of the Pharaonic culture, its excavation pre-dates the 4th Dynasty Pyramids at Giza. Although space here prevents the repeating of detailed arguments leading to this conclusion, the following pages will revisit a number of relevant issues in the context of criticism that has been presented by Dr Mark Lehner and Dr Zahi Hawass in their publication, Giza and the Pyramids (2017: 58-61).

Urban geoarchaeology and environmental history at the Lost City of the Pyramids, Giza: synthesis and review

Journal of Archaeological Science 40: 3340-3366, 2013

Sediment accretion in ancient urban sites and tells records a combination of cultural and geomorphic processes. Urban geoarchaeology is focused on site accumulation, collapse, weathering and erosion, as constrained by architectural plans and structures. These may document settlement growth and decay, as well as environmental history, posing a multidisciplinary challenge of interactive and fluctuating processes. Part of aWorld Heritage site, the Lost City of the Pyramids (Heit el-Ghurab), at the desert and floodplain margins of Giza, was centered on a Workmen’s Town that channeled the roles of seasonal workmen, artisans, and administrators during construction of the Menkaure Pyramid and preparation of the funerary cult for that pharaoh (w2532e2503 BCE). Built across a normally dry wadi course, the site was badly chosen and vulnerable to a coeval high-amplitude precipitation anomaly of perhaps 120 yr, during which mudbrick meltdown, catastrophic flash floods, and mass-movements destroyed the royal complex of mudbrick galleries, workshops and bread-making kilns once every 4 years or so. In addition, thick alluvial fans advanced 1 km or more across the Nile floodplain, before dissection was initiated by downcutting channels. Despite this dynamic environmental history, the site was repeatedly rebuilt and ruined, with structural and human consequences. This Old Kingdom (Dynasty 4) paleoclimatic anomaly did not however support a significant improvement of Saharan ecology, and summer monsoonal rains never extended this far north (30N). Such a destructive period of extreme precipitation is novel for the Holocene record of the NE Sahara, and requires a synoptic explanation in the mid-latitude jet stream, rather than the tropical monsoonal circulation, to contradict current theoretical expectations. This anomaly was repeated on a subdued scale during the Early Middle Ages. Nile floods did not impinge upon the site during Old Kingdom times, but were demonstrably higher w700 BCE, and again during Early Roman or Coptic times. Residual subdisciplinary problems are identified and explicitly discussed in terms of the strategies and structure of multidisciplinary investigation.

The Archaeology Of An Image: The Great Sphinx Of Giza

1991

This study is the first systematic description of the Great Sphinx of Giza. It is an architectural, archaeological, and geo-archaeological approach, based on five years of field work at the Sphinx between 1979 and 1983. The Sphinx and its site were documented using photogrammetry and conventional surveying techniques. I describe the setting and layout of the site of the Sphinx and review the history of previous research and excavation. The results of eight years of excavation from the 1920s and 30s are documented here for the first time. I review published sources about the history and significance of the Sphinx. I describe the features of the Sphinx and its site on the basis of the field work. This work has lead to the following conclusions: Builders, under the 4th Dynasty pharaoh, Khafre (ca. 2,500 B.C.), quarried a series of terraces and a U-shaped sanctuary for the Sphinx. They extracted the stone in the form of multi-ton core blocks that they used for making the Khafre Valley T...

Geologic weathering and its implications on the age of the sphinx

Geoarchaeology, 1995

The Great Sphinx of Giza is considered by Egyptologists to have been excavated by the Pharaoh Kephren nearly 4500 years ago. Schoch and West (1991) have suggested that the Sphinx is much older, based primarily upon the rounded profile of the strata of the Sphinx thorax and the deep channels present in the walls surrounding the Sphinx ditch. These features, according to them, are due to "precipitation-induced weathering" formed when the Sahara still experienced a humid climate at least 7000 years ago. In this article we show how weathering in an arid environment can produce the rounded profile given the gradual change in lithology of the alternating hard and soft limestone strata. We show further that the channels are actually the pre-Pliocene karst features formed by underground water and exposed due to the excavation of the Sphinx ditch. We propose therefore that, for now, the Sphinx may still be regarded as of pharaonic origin. o 1995

The Effect Of Weathering Processes On The Rocks Of The Pyramids Of Dahshur, South Of Giza, Egypt: A Geoarchaeological Study

JNRID || ISSN 2984-8687 || © August 2024, Volume 2, Issue 8, 2024

In Egypt, the Pyramids of Dahshur are located approximately 20 km south of the Giza pyramids' plateau. The Dahshur area's geological setting conforms to standard geological formations. Research on the rocks of the pyramids holds significant scientific and practical importance, given that various environmental pollutants expose these coarse-grained rocks to weathering processes, which in turn impact people's health. The Dahshur area consists of The Bent Pyramid and The Red Pyramid. These pyramids are among the earliest and most important in Egypt's history. The current study conducts a geological and geoarchaeological in situ examination of the rocks (main chamber lining blocks) of the Dahshur Pyramids, with the aim of investigating the weathering features caused by rocks undergoing weathering processes. The current study provides a firsthand account of the rocks' behavior as experienced by the ancient Egyptian masons during their partial cutting for pyramid construction. They handled these rocks with utmost systematic and meticulous care to ascertain their future behavior, which is a crucial testament to the pharaonic civilization in Egypt, depending upon field observation as well as laboratory exams of the rock samples.