All language subtitles for Legends of the Pharaohs Series 1 Part 5 Secrets of the Sphinx 1080p

[dramatic music]

[narrator] in ancient egypt,

The legendary pharaoh
khufu is dead.

Who will succeed

The builder of the greatest
pyramid in history?

There seems to have
been a bit of tension,

Amongst family members.

[narrator] now,
egyptologists think that

Investigating the
turmoil of succession

Could solve egypt's
most enduring mystery:

The riddle of the sphinx.

[mark lehner] there's no
signature on the sphinx.

There is no stamp
identifying it.

[narrator] this is
a story of lies,

Betrayals, and history's
most enigmatic statue.

Mysteries and magic are all
the time around the sphinx.

[narrator] the story of the
pyramids is one of innovation.

It was a resurrection machine.

[narrator] mysterious rituals.

[salima ikram]
these are things

That help the deceased
re-energize

And live for eternity.

[narrator] back-breaking work,

And palace intrigue.

Unlock the deepest
secrets of the pharaohs.

[franck ruhli] every mummy
is different,

You never know exactly
what to expect.

[narrator] explore the
lives of ancient workers

And uncover the remarkable
story of egypt's old kingdom.

[colleen darnell]
not only did ancient egypt

Make the pyramids,

The pyramids made ancient egypt.

[upbeat music]

[narrator] on
egypt's giza plateau,

The famous great pyramid has
an equally imposing neighbor.

This huge monument

Formed of more than 70
million cubic feet of rock

Was ordered by a
pharaoh called khafre.

Around 2470 bc, khafre
comes to the throne

And calls on a vast workforce
to build his pyramid.

Professional craftsmen
and skilled laborers

Who are continuing a long
tradition of pyramid building

In egypt.

Khafre's father is the
legendary pharaoh khufu,

The builder of
the great pyramid.

And just like his father,

Khafre wants his
pyramid built as a tomb

That will guarantee
his immortality.

[suspenseful music]

Today, the pyramid tombs
of khafre and khufu

Dominate the giza plateau,

But in front of them, lies
another gigantic monument,

Built around the same time.

Whose purpose and origin
is much more mysterious,

The sphinx.

Archaeologist mark
lehner has spent years

Studying every square inch
of this immense statue.

[lehner] the sphinx is unique.

By and large, the ancient
egyptians did not carve statues

On this scale for
another 1,200 years.

The fact that they
did so, at this time,

Is another manifestation
of this burst of activity,

Burst of gigantism in pyramids,

It was a time of exuberance.

[narrator] it's some
kind of mythical beast

With a human head on top of
the body of an enormous lion.

Nothing like this had
ever been attempted before

On such a colossal scale.

It is one block.

It's made out of the bedrock.

The egyptians made the sphinx

By carving a
horseshoe-shaped ditch,

Leaving the center as a core.

[narrator] the sphinx is the
largest surviving sculpture

Of the ancient world.

It is more than 65 feet high,

The equivalent of a
six-story building

And over 240 feet long.

So who ordered this
supersized statue built?

And why?

It is a mystery that has puzzled
historians for centuries.

There is no signature
on the sphinx.

There is no stamp identifying
it as a particular king.

You do have signatures
of a sort on the pyramids,

But here at the sphinx, no.

[narrator] mark believes
it was built in the years

After khufu died.

So it might seem logical
that the sphinx was created

By the builder of the second
giza pyramid, his son khafre.

But the answer is not so simple

Because khafre should
never have become pharaoh.

Ancient records suggest that
khufu had at least 14 children

Including nine sons,

From at least 3
different royal wives.

Other sons like
kawab and djedefre

Should have been closer
to the throne than khafre.

So, egyptologists trying
to solve the mystery

Of who built the
sphinx need to also ask

Who succeeded khufu
as pharaoh and how.

The first puzzle to solve

Is why ancient builders
carved the sphinx

In the first place?

What does it represent?

Historians still don't know
what the ancient egyptians

Called this creature.

It was the greeks who
named it the "sphinx"

In reference to the
legend of oedipus,

Who defeated the monster by
solving its famous riddle.

But that was written
two millennia

After the egyptian
statue was carved.

So what is this immense beast?

And why was it carved in the
middle of the giza plateau?

[lehner] there used to be lions
as far north as syria,

In the time of ancient egypt.

Lions have always been
also symbols

Of royalty, of kingship.

They were the king
of the beasts.

[peter der manuelian] well,
from early on pharaohs

Like to associate themselves

With winners and
powerful beings.

So, what's a powerful being?

A lion!

And so, to be associated
with these powerful beasts

Is a good thing.

[ikram] so you have lions
on thrones.

They are divine creatures.

They are solar because you
think of them with their manes

And they are like the
sun because of the color.

But certainly, you can see this
link with kingship and gods

And lions all together.

[narrator] to understand
the association between

The power of the
lion and royalty,

We need to travel more than
5,000 years back in time,

To the very start of
egyptian kingship.

[suspenseful music]

[men yelling]

Around 3150 bc, a warlike
pharaoh rules the country.

His name is hor aha.

Hor aha, reinforces the
borders of his kingdom

By launching raids into
neighboring territories.

Archaeologists unearthed
his tomb in abydos.

Hor aha is interesting because

He is the first king
of the first dynasty,

And he's buried at abydos.

Abydos is this ancient center
of power in southern egypt.

And it's the burial place

For the rulers of
the first dynasty.

[narrator] investigators
examining hor aha's burial

Found something shocking.

[suspenseful music]

So you have the king's
burial in the center

And then small chambers
all around that tomb

In which different
people are buried.

Some evidence suggests they
were largely young people.

[narrator] the discovery
could be a sign

Of a gruesome ritual.

[dramatic music]

[speaking in foreign language]

In abydos, over 5,000 years ago,

Some egyptologists
have suggested that

That the pharaoh hor aha

Orders servants ritually killed
and buried alongside him.

[colleen darnell]
if the people buried

Around the tomb
of hor aha

Were sacrificed upon
the king's death,

That would be an
example of a servant

Continuing to perform
work in the afterlife.

[narrator] if true,

These would be the first known
human sacrifices in egypt.

But without more
evidence, doubts remain.

[colleen darnell]
we cannot say for certain

Whether the people
buried around the king

Were ritually killed, perhaps
even committed suicide

Upon the death of the king.

Or whether the king was buried,

And then at different times,

Those people's burials were made

As the people died
natural deaths.

[narrator] but animal
sacrifice was much more common.

Among the tombs is the
tomb where evidently,

They buried a lion.

Throughout ancient
egypt, 3,000 years,

Lions are symbols of the king,

They are even considered the
guardians into the underworld.

[megahed] having lions buried
next to hor aha's tomb,

It shows that he's
burying with him

One of the symbols
of the kingship.

[narrator] this could explain
why ancient stone carvers

Gave the famous sphinx
the body of a lion.

It had been a symbol
of power for kings

Since egypt's first dynasty.

It's a guardian of the cemetery,

It a guardian of
this pyramid complex,

And in that crouching pose,

It becomes a protector
deity at the site of giza.

[narrator] but if so,

Why does the sphinx
have a human head?

A fearsome lion-headed
deity could hold clues.

This is the goddess sekhmet.

She's the protective
goddess of doctors.

She's the essence of
fever and sickness.

Doctors wanna be
friends with that force

So they can draw it
out of the patient.

[narrator] sekhmet
has human qualities,

But they are dominated by her
uncontrolled animal nature.

Perhaps with the
sphinx, it's reversed.

[lehner] here, though, you
have the opposite.

It's intelligence in control
of the animal forces.

The sphinx symbolizes
intelligence and control

Over might...

Over power.

[narrator] but the
intelligence and control

Of which specific human being?

Whose head is it?

Egyptologist have found a clue.

Instead of a lion's mane,

The sphinx wears a head
dress called the nemes,

A garment reserved
exclusively for kings.

[melinda hartwig]
so, you have two things here.

The power of the pharaoh,

The control of the pharaoh,

And also the guardian
of the necropolis,

All contained within
the sphinx.

[narrator] so which pharaoh's
face is on the sphinx?

And who ordered it built?

[colleen darnell] there is still
some mystery surrounding

Exactly whose face
is on the sphinx.

[narrator] the answer
lies in understanding

Who takes power when khufu dies.

Egyptologist salima ikram

Is investigating the giza
necropolis for clues.

This is where khufu's
relatives were buried.

[ikram]
the color of the paints

Is still in some places
so fresh

That it looks like the artist
has just put down his brush.

[narrator] on the
walls of this tomb,

Ancient artists painted an
image of khufu's oldest son,

Prince kawab.

[ikram] there seems to have
been a bit of tension

Amongst family members.

But that's probably the
case, in a royal family when

It is never clear who
is going to inherit.

[narrator] by tradition,

Kawab should have succeeded
his father.

[megahed] usually, the next
king is already known

Before the kings died.

Always it is the
oldest son of the king.

If he survived his father,

It means he is becoming a
new king of ancient egypt.

[narrator] but kawab
never becomes pharaoh.

It is his half-brother,
djedefre who takes the throne.

Is this unusual succession
evidence of foul play?

[dramatic music]

The theory that
djedefre murdered kawab

Was pioneered by a famous
american archeologist

Called george reisner.

He is the first to investigate
the chronology of succession

In an attempt to unlock
the secrets of the sphinx.

The way that we try to
understand the royal families

From a period of
history this far back

Is really to stand
on the shoulders

Of egyptologists before us.

They begin with theories.

And then we try to
dissect these theories

About these familial relations

Through time with new
archeological evidence.

[der manuelian] it was george
reisner who was the first

To have solved the riddle of
the sphinx as he claimed it.

This was about 1912 or so.

And so he noticed that
khufu's successor, djedefre,

Was not buried in giza

And he concocted a
sort of story that

This must be a usurper.

[narrator] djedefre was born

To a secondary
royal wife of khufu,

Who was from the area
of modern-day libya.

When his brother kawab dies,

It's djedefre who is next
in the line of succession.

Reisner sees a tale
of murder and power

Straight out of shakespeare.

Modern egyptologists
have had their doubts.

[lehner] you know, a sense
of story is good

Because I think all
human understanding

Is driven by narrative,

But the fact is that the family
history is hidden in fog.

[suspenseful music]

[narrator] but they have
concluded that around 2480 bc,

It is djedefre and not
kawab who succeeds khufu.

And now they have discovered
that this unexpected pharaoh

Did do something shocking.

In ancient egypt,

Djedefre is the new king

Having potentially
murdered his brother.

Now he makes an unusual
choice for a wife.

[anthony] djedefre,
son of khufu,

Married his half-sister,
hetepheres ii.

[narrator] but incest was
common with egyptian royalty.

So that's not why hetepheres
is an unusual choice.

Hetepheres had been
married to kawab,

Who some people think djedefre,
her new husband, murdered.

[ikram] over here you, you can
see the title for hetepheres,

Where she is talking about
being a great royal wife.

Clearly, this woman was one
of the most significant women

Who lived in the time
of khufu and thereafter.

This dress is
really quite unusual

Because you can
see it's very chic

With the shoulder
going up like that.

Another remarkable
thing is the hair color,

Because people said,
"was she foreign?"

Because it seems that
her hair is yellow

As opposed to the more
normal black that you see.

Maybe this woman was
a little bit unusual

And therefore more special.

[narrator] the widow
of prince kawab

Joins djedefre on the throne

And becomes the queen of egypt.

[megahed] by marrying the wife
of the dead prince

It shows the people
that you are welcomed

By the whole family.

[narrator] but does djedefre
really deserve his reputation

As a usurper who
murdered his brother?

And could he be the king
who built the sphinx?

George reisner
found other evidence

To develop his usurper theory.

Like all pyramids in egypt,
djedefre's pyramid at abu rawash

Is located on the
west bank of the nile.

Egyptologist vassil dobrev has
been given special permission

To visit the site
and investigate.

[translator] we are 400 to
430 feet above sea level here.

We are in the very high
area of abu rawash,

The highest in egypt.

And the name of the
site confirms this.

Abu rawash in pharaonic,
abu is the place.

Ra is ra,

And wash is to honor god.

So, the translation,
word for word,

Is the place where
one honors ra.

So, as someone who wants
to praise the sun god ra,

This is the closest
place to the sun.

Ra, also pronounced as
ré, is the god of the sun.

Evidence shows he became
particularly important

During djedefre's reign.

Djedefre was the first one
to really invoke the sun cult

With so much attention.

His name, djedefre
is the first name

Where you have the term ra,
the sun god being invoked.

[hartwig] his name is
configured with the name ra

And he's also the first king
to be called the son of ra.

And this is also important
because it could be that khufu

Declared himself as
the incarnation of ra

During his reign.

And his son, in
order to honor him,

Calls himself the son of ra.

[narrator] in abydos,

On the walls of the temple
of king seti I,

Built over 1,000
years after djedefre.

Egyptologists have deciphered
a rare list of egyptian kings

Many with ra in their names.

[translator] after this, all
the kings are called khafre,

Neferirkare.

And it goes on like this

And it's djedefre
who is the initiator

Of this very powerful
movement of solar religion.

[narrator] but not all
egyptologists agree

On what role djedefre played

In elevating the
cult of the sun god.

I think we should not
draw too many conclusions

From djedefre's name or the
location of his pyramid,

Because all true pyramids
are solar monuments.

So, the focus on the
god ra, on the sun god,

I think does not simply
begin with djedefre.

[narrator] on the high
plateau of abu rawash,

Djedefre builds a pyramid with
a base almost 350 feet wide

And almost 200 feet high.

The pyramid is much smaller
than that of his father's khufu,

Which was more than twice as
wide and over 250 feet taller.

But djedefre picks
this location wisely.

By choosing a high
desert plateau,

He ensures that his pyramid
would tower above khufu's.

Djedefre builds his pyramid
on a hill, on a hilltop

And overlooking
the giza plateau.

But it's also very,
very close to quarries.

To stone that can be used for
the building of the pyramid.

[narrator] but it is here

That the story of
khufu's successor

And the riddle of the
sphinx takes another turn.

[hartwig] although nothing
remains today

Of djedefre's pyramid.

It was complete
or nearly complete

During the king's reign.

It was very close to a quarry.

And that same quarry
was used by the romans

When they came into
power in egypt.

And not only did they take
stone from the quarry,

But they also took stone
away from djedefre's pyramid.

And that's why there's hardly
anything that remains today

Other than the
subterranean rooms.

[narrator] djedefre's
pyramid was destroyed

Some 2,000 years
after it was built,

A misfortune that would
push the king from history.

It was only when
modern archaeologists

Excavated the
ruins at abu rawash

And found statues of the king,

That djedefre's
name was restored.

[anthony] in the ancient era,

If a king wanted to proclaim
his ownership of the land

Or to have the people
understand who he was,

He really had to erect
statues and monuments

To get that information across.

[narrator] but the statues show

That the destruction
of djedefre's legacy

May not have been an accident.

Because the statues are
destroyed or defaced,

We know that there was
political intrigue, drama

Or discontent about the
way that a king handled

His rule of the country.

Because art is
used as propaganda

From the earliest
period of time.

[narrator] the noses had
been intentionally broken,

And djedefre's
name chiseled away.

[der manuelian]
it's not so important

That the statue
actually looks like you,

It's important that your
name is on the statue.

And if you come in
and chisel out

Someone's name
in hieroglyph,

You are ritually
damaging that person.

If you chisel the nose
of that person's statue,

They ritually can't breathe,

So there are all kind of
ways to damage someone.

[narrator] could this be a
clue to solve the mystery

Of who built the sphinx?

Because just like
djedefre's statues,

The giant sphinx at giza
also has a missing nose.

[dramatic music]

In egypt, archaeologists
trying to solve the mystery

Of who built the
sphinx investigate

The pharaoh djedefre.

Could there be a
connection between

Defaced statues of this king

And the sphinx with
its missing nose?

The broken statues of djedefre

Lead early 20th century
egyptologist george reisner

To another theory.

That djedefre was a usurper

Whose memory was destroyed
by later royalty.

[lehner] reisner is
taking facts like

The statues of
djedefre are smashed.

It could be because
there is a reaction

From the common people
against the elite

And the royal house.

That's one possibility.

Or it could be
divisions and anger

Within the royal house itself

And competition between
collateral lines

Of the royal family.

We don't know.

[narrator] but we do know that

After just 10 to
15 years in power,

Barely enough time to
finish his pyramid,

Djedefre is dead.

[megahed] the reign of
djedefre was short

Comparing to the
rest of the family.

And therefore, it makes
us believe that his reign

Was not peaceful at all.

[ikram] when he died,

Whether he died sooner
rather than later,

Whether he might have been
killed or not, we don't know.

Khufu's other son,
khafre took over.

[narrator] could
the succession of

Djedefre's half-brother
khafre, instead of a son,

Be evidence of more foul play?

[knife stabbing]

George reisner thought so.

He theorized that djedefre

Was murdered by his
younger brother khafre,

Who then sought to
destroy his memory

By damaging the
statues at abu rawash.

Reisner suggested
that khafre's pyramid

Built at giza next
to his father's

Was evidence that the new king

Was returning to family roots,

After vanquishing
his usurper brother.

[lehner] george reisner
made up a story

That he was overthrown
in some sense by khafre

Who therefore came back to
giza as the home plateau.

[narrator] but egyptologists
today have their doubts.

[lehner]
reisner takes the facts

And he weaves them
with a story.

The story of the
rebellion, the revolt,

And the anger within
khufu's family.

Who knows?

Maybe it's true,

But it is really
a huge inference,

For which the linking
up of the facts

Is kind of reisner's
imagination.

[narrator] the broken
noses of djedefre's statues

And the sphinx may
just be a coincidence.

[megahed]
we know that the nose

In every statue
is the weakest part.

So it's very easy
to be destroyed.

I don't believe there
is a link between

Destroying the nose of
the statues of djedefre,

And the nose of the sphinx.

[narrator] many think
that djedefre's statues

Were defaced thousands
of years later

During the roman
conquest of egypt.

Whatever happened,
around 2470 bc

Khafre takes control of egypt.

He decides to build his tomb

Directly next to his
father's great pyramid.

Returning to giza poses
a dilemma for khafre.

He wants to show off his
power with a grand pyramid,

But how can he stand out next
to khufu's immense monument?

The pyramid of khufu
is by far the biggest.

It's the biggest of all time.

[hartwig] khafre's pyramid is
interesting because

When you first look at
it on the giza plateau,

It looks like it's taller
than the great pyramid.

But in fact, it's not.

Khafre built on higher ground,
probably to outdo his father.

[narrator] even though
khafre's pyramid is steeper,

It was originally
10 feet shorter

Than his father's great pyramid.

But today they
stand as a majestic

And almost matching
pair on the plateau.

Khafre's return to giza

Marks the end of a
complicated power struggle

Triggered by the death
of his father, khufu.

But one great mystery
still remains,

Who built the sphinx?

Now that egyptologists know
the order of succession

First djedefre,

Then his brother khafre,

They've narrowed
down the suspects.

And while khafre was long
a favorite

Due to his links
with giza,

It turns out djedefre didn't
entirely abandon the area.

[ikram] djedefre has been long
overlooked by egyptologists

And I think that people
should focus more on him,

Because it is quite possible
that he had more to do

With building at giza,

To finish off khufu's
funerary complex,

Than anyone else did.

Because certainly
djedefre succeeded khufu,

And it is traditional in egypt

That the person who finishes
off a mortuary complex

Is the one who
succeeds to the throne.

[megahed] when djedefre
moved from giza,

His job in giza was not over.

We have information that

He is the one who buried
his father in giza.

[der manuelian] we actually
have graffiti

On the south side
of his pyramid,

And they mention
djedefre's name.

So djedefre was
actually involved

In the funeral
ceremony of khufu,

That's hardly the
role of the usurper.

[narrator] and
archaeologists in abu rawash

Have unearthed a link between
djedefre and the sphinx.

A statue believed to be
the oldest sphinx in egypt,

It represents the
wife of djedefre,

Queen hetepheres ii.

The evidence suggests
that the idea

And imagery of the sphinx

Was developed during
djedefre's reign.

And some egyptologists now
theorize that the sphinx at giza

Could have been
built by djedefre,

But in the image of
his father khufu.

[hartwig] the features
of the sphinx

Seem very close to
the ivory statuette

That belongs to khufu.

On top of that, there were
votive gifts that were left

Between the paws of the
sphinx that mentioned khufu.

Also, the sphinx wears an older
form of the nemes headdress,

One that we find during
the reign of khufu.

[translator] so the sphinx
is a propaganda image,

Because through this,
djedefre, the son of khufu,

Shows the egyptian people

That there is indeed
a life after death.

Because his father khufu
has ascended into heaven,

And now he is back on
earth as a divine being.

[narrator] vassil
dobrev thinks that

Evidence it was djedefre

And not khafre who
built the sphinx,

Lies in the layout of
khafre's funeral complex.

[translator] I think it's
a very simple solution,

It's based on geography.

[narrator] ancient egyptian
kings usually built

Two temples for each pyramid.

The first at the
foot of the pyramid

Is used to worship
the dead king.

A long stone ramp,
called a causeway,

Joins the first temple
to a lower structure

Known as the valley temple.

Located on the
banks of the nile,

It was used for
embalming ceremonies.

[translator] when you look
at a map of giza from above,

You can see very clearly

That when khafre builds here,

He constructs a
temple in the valley.

But the causeway is completely
shifted to the south,

As if he avoided the sphinx.

That means that when khafre
builds his monument here,

There was already a
sphinx in the way.

He tore up all the rules
of egyptian architecture,

Which is usually
based on symmetry.

In my opinion, it is djedefre
who built the sphinx.

[narrator] but mark lehner

Isn't so sure about this theory.

[lehner] maybe djedefre
made the sphinx

In honor of his father khufu.

Well, maybe, but there's
no proof of that.

There's not even any way
to test such an idea.

[narrator] mark
believes he can prove

Who did build the sphinx.

On egypt's giza plateau,

Mark lehner thinks that the
valley temple of khafre,

Directly next to the sphinx,

Holds the proof that khafre

Is the pharaoh who
built this giant statue.

[lehner] I think what happened
is khafre had the idea

To take a quarry cliff and
turn it into the great sphinx.

And as they did so under
the reign of khafre,

The quarry men took the
layers from the head and neck,

From the upper layers,

And moved it to the southeast

For building the valley temple.

[narrator] mark has examined
the composition of stone

In the sphinx,

And found a match with the stone

Used for khafre's valley temple.

[lehner] as they went down and
carved the lion body,

They moved the stone
immediately to the east

For making the sphinx temple.

[narrator] so if khafre
did build the sphinx,

Which pharaoh does it represent?

[lehner] probably it was
khafre himself.

A visionary, like
his father, khufu,

Building the great pyramid.

What khafre is kind of
adding to this explosion

In this period of
experimentation

On a gigantic scale,

He is adding the great sphinx.

[narrator] if true,
khafre is using the sphinx

To project his influence.

[hartwig] the sphinx is the
head of the pharaoh

On top of a lion's body.

And the symbolism behind
that is the intelligence

And control of
the pharaoh's face

On the strength and
power of a lion's body.

[narrator] in spite of the
disagreements that still remain

Between egyptologists
about who built the sphinx,

And who it depicts,

All agree on one point.

That the builder of the sphinx

Planned to build a
temple in front of it

Where the iconic beast could
be worshiped by a cult.

But it was never completed.

So in a sense, the
sphinx and its temple

Never got turned
on as cult images,

The way you would say,

You design a whole theme
park and then turn it on,

And so people could come use it.

[narrator] the
builder of the sphinx

Had no chance to
consecrate its temple

And to hire priests to ensure
the continuation of worship.

But after some 1,200
years of obscurity,

New pharaohs would eventually
re-appropriate the site

And imagery.

Generations later,
centuries later,

You get visitors
coming to these sites.

For example, amenhotep ii

Used to tool around the
site in his chariot.

He loved the site of giza,

And he actually built
an entire temple

Oriented toward the sphinx

And left a huge stela
there talking about

His athletic prowess.

[narrator] amenhotep's
son, prince thutmose,

Goes one further.

He orders an
inscribed stone slab

Placed between the legs
of the great sphinx.

[lehner] thutmose, apparently,
he wasn't the crown prince.

He had older brothers.

At this time, princes
were educated in memphis

And they were trained
in military skills,

Driving chariot

Shooting bows and arrows.

And he was practicing those
skills here in the area of giza.

He says in this
hieroglyphic text

That he slept in the
shadow of the sphinx's head

And the sphinx came
to him in a dream.

In the dream, the
sphinx said to him,

"thutmose, my son.
Look at me.

I'm surrounded by desert
sands, I am buried.

Clear the sand away from my body

And I'll make you the king
of upper and lower egypt."

[narrator] the young prince
ordered the statue uncovered.

Eventually, he becomes pharaoh,

Named thutmose iv.

He installs this stela,
now called the dream stela

Between the legs of the sphinx.

Now, this became the centerpiece
for this little chapel

Where ramses added his stela
in the first year of his reign.

Other kings and princes
added inscriptions and stelas

In the first year
of their reigns.

This place, the area between
the sphinx paws, this chapel,

Was where kings and princes
came to be ordained,

Almost like the vatican.

[der manuelian] so, you don't
do that sort of thing

Without taking a kind of pride

In the work of your ancestors,

Of pharaohs from the old
kingdom

And enjoying being at that
site,

Which was so remote
to people like

Thutmose iv and amenhotep ii,

As these sites are to us today.

[narrator] in the
centuries before thutmose

Ordered the sphinx
dug out of the sand,

It had fallen into disrepair.

So, the young pharaoh
orders workmen

To undertake a full renovation.

In later times,

Bricks were added to protect
the most damaged areas,

They're still visible today.

So, on the cheek up here
and on the forehead,

You can see a little bit
of color, traces of red.

It's possible that the sphinx
was entirely painted red.

But in the new kingdom,
when they resurrected it,

There's good evidence
that they painted it

In more than just red.

When we were working
in the chapel,

I found little bits
of egyptian blue.

The special pigment that the
egyptians were known for,

In the interstices
between the stones.

And there were traces
even of yellow.

There was lots of red.

Everywhere you
brushed the stones

Before the restoration
work of the 1980s and '90s,

Red powder would come out
from between the stones,

Almost like the
sphinx was bleeding.

This is from when most
of the sphinx was red.

There's evidence
that wings patterns

Were painted against the
flanks of the sphinx.

And in fact, some of the
stela from the new kingdom

Show the sphinx with wings on
the sides of the lion body.

Why? Because it was a human
head, it was a lion.

But it's also horus and
horus is the falcon.

So, the sphinx was a much
more colorful, complex,

Iconic image,

In the age of empire,
when it was restored,

Than the beige ruin
that we see today.

[narrator] an icon
of the ancient world,

The sphinx retains its
aura of mystery and enigma.

For nearly a century,

The theories of
egyptologist, george reisner

About how the sphinx was built,

Were believed to be accurate.

He romanticized the succession
of the great pharaoh khufu.

Imagining stories of rivalries,

Plots and assassinations

But without any tangible proof.

Today, specialists are more
intrigued by khafre's decision

To return to giza

And build his pyramid
next to his father.

With no surviving record of
who built the great sphinx,

The mystery remains.

[john carnell]
whether khafre built it

Or as has been suggested,

The sphinx was
constructed in memoriam

For khufu by djedefre.

I don't know that we have
good definitive evidence yet.

[colleen darnell]
to be absolutely certain

About the builder
of the sphinx,

We will actually need more
evidence than we currently have.

[narrator] the builder of
the second largest pyramid

Ever constructed in
egypt is well known.

The pharaoh khafre ensured
his memory would endure

By stamping his mark on giza
with his monumental tomb.

But what khafre does not know

Is that his will be the
last truly colossal pyramid

Ever built in egypt.