The Egyptologist, the Sphinx and the cover-up

The Egyptologist, the Sphinx and the cover-up

http://www.philipcoppens.com/hawass.html

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I found these two paragraphs to be particularly interesting. Of course they are hiding what's beneath:

Rather intriguingly, he added in his report titled "The Story of the Sphinx": "Perhaps the most important result of the groundwater project was that it enabled us to put to rest speculation about mysterious underground tunnels and chambers carved below the Sphinx by 'ancient civilizations'. For years, I have debated people like John Anthony West, Robert Bauval, and Graham Hancock, who say that survivors of a lost civilization 10,000 years ago left secrets buried beneath the Sphinx. These people also claim that the erosion of the Sphinx was caused by water, and that this necessarily means that it dates back to long before the Old Kingdom. None of their theories has any basis in fact, but their supporters have insisted that we should drill holes to try and find these hidden chambers. I have always refused to permit such a project in the past, because there was no scientific basis for it. Because such drilling was a necessary part of our work to protect the Sphinx from groundwater, however, we did finally drill in the vicinity of the statue, and we found that there were no hidden passages or chambers there."

Despite all the usual hype that Hawass uses to underline his most mundane accomplishments, this is an unfortunate—and totally unscientific—conclusion. There are several studies, such as seismic work from 1992 and the Schor radar survey from 1996, which clearly show geological anomalies (read cavities), most of which are natural, but that is somewhat beside the point.

In fact, one might argue—and some have—that Hawass specifically tested for groundwater in those particular locations where he was sure that no such cavities, natural or "hidden passages or chambers", would be found. It would make sense to test for groundwater, but Hawass's glib statement, "that there were no hidden passages or chambers", cannot be reached from the limited research this test carried out. Without doubt, there are cavities. Full stop. In fact, Hawass himself announced to the Egyptian press on 14 April 1996 that there are secret tunnels under the Sphinx and around the pyramids. He stated his belief that these tunnels would prove to "carry many secrets of the building of the Pyramids".7 Although people are allowed to change their minds, they should perhaps, 13 years to the month, highlight their new position. Not Dr Hawass.

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--- In [email protected], Gary Fleck <g.fleck@...> wrote:

The Egyptologist, the Sphinx and the cover-up

The Egyptologist, the Sphinx and the cover-up - Eye Of The Psychic

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