Graham Hancock on archaeology: what the evidence says · JRE #2215
SUBJECT: ARCHAEOLOGY
Not a true/false call. Every claim is logged with its sources; read the exhibits below.
The Sphinx aligned with, it was looking at the rising sun and behind it the constellation of Leo 12,500 years ago.
What the evidence says 01 / RECORD
The underlying astronomy is roughly sound: the Sphinx does face due east toward the equinox sunrise, and because the equinox precesses westward through the zodiac over a roughly 26,000 year cycle, the vernal equinox sun would have risen in Leo about half a cycle ago, near 10,500 BC (about 12,500 years ago). The problem is the implication that this dates the monument. Mainstream Egyptology, backed by the associated temple layout and building program, places the Sphinx in the reign of Khafre around 2500 BC, and the eastward gaze fits the Old Kingdom solar cult rather than a Leo alignment (the Sphinx faces due east at every era, so any Leo match is not distinctive). Hancock's broader thesis of an advanced civilization roughly 12,000 years ago is rejected by archaeologists and scientists for lack of any physical, textual, or archaeological evidence. The Leo-at-sunrise calculation is correct; using it to date the Sphinx to that epoch is not supported.
Evidence sources 03 / EXHIBITS
Who Benefits
A far older Sphinx supports Hancock's lost-civilization thesis, which he promotes commercially through his books and Netflix series Ancient Apocalypse.