Riddles of the Sphinx Pb [Paperback]

Paul Jordan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 24, 1999

This work tells the story of the Great Sphinx of Giza as egyptology has uncovered it. The author details the Sphinx's impact on the ancient world, on Arab writers, on Renaissance travellers, on the pioneers of Egyptology and on modern scholarship. He tells the story of the Sphinx's many bouts of excavation and restoration and above all, puts the Sphinx in the context of all that is known about ancient Egyptian history and religion. Some 20th-century writers have promoted ideas about the Sphinx's immense antiquity and its creation by a lost super-civilization to send messages of doom to our own times. This book is intended as an "antidote" to such theories, exposing the flaws in the arguments of these writings and offering an account of what Egyptologies have found out about the Sphinx for real. Illustrated throughout, the text examines every aspect of the Sphinx, including modern claims by a professional geologist regarding its age, and provides an accessible overview of the issues and debates surrounding it.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"I strongly recommend this book. A valuable contribution."

-Dr. Rosalie David,Keeper of Egyptology, The Manchester Museum --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

About the Author

Author of Egypt the Black Land and The Face of the Past, Paul Jordan is a television producer and writer with many years experience at the BBC. John Ross is a renowned photographer who specializes in Mediterranean archeological photography.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

Product Details

• Paperback: 222 pages
• Publisher: Sutton Publishing (June 24, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0750922443
• ISBN-13: 978-0750922449
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #6,933,716 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

24 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Informative and valuable, June 10, 1999

By 

Michael Bulger (Rochester, NY, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Riddles of the Sphinx (Hardcover)

There are perhaps two ways in which Paul Jordan's "Riddles of the Sphinx" should be viewed. First and foremost, Jordan details everything we know about the Sphinx--its structure, its geology, its place in Egyptian history, the cultural context in which it was made, the place of the Sphinx in Egyptian society thereafter, etc. etc. In this sense, the book is especially valuable in explaining in a highly readable fashion the scientific and historical basis for placing the origin of the Sphinx at about 2500 BCE. You will not find a clearer account of how such scientific reasoning works. At the same time, Jordan is quite fair in admitting where scientists and historians are simply guessing, or where they know nothing at all.

Second, this book provides a fine counterpoint to the recent spate of speculations--carried on by the likes of Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval, John Anthony West, Robert Schoch, Zecharia Sitchin, et. al.--that the Sphinx dates from a far more ancient time and represents evidence of a long-lost civilization predating even ancient Egypt and Sumer. While Jordan argues persuasively against such wild theorizing, and is immeasurably helped by his careful summary of conventional Egyptology, I do wish he had been less offhand in his criticisms of the "alternative Sphinx." Only Schoch is ever mentioned by name or referenced, and then only because he is a trained geologist, and as such is deserving of being "taken seriously." While in some sense this might be correct, and certainly is in an academic context, in a work of popular nonfiction this is downright haughty. Someone, someday needs to address the Hancocks, the Bauvals and the Wests in the same way that, for example, Philip Klass and Robert Sheaffer deal with UFOlogists. In an academic context, it is perhaps appropriate to laugh Graham Hancock out of the room; in the popular arena, his claims need to be addressed specifically.

Nevertheless, as "Riddles of the Sphinx" is the only book I have yet found that does treat the most recent wave of early-Sphinx speculation directly, as of this writing it stands as the most valuable book on the subject for the general reader. It is written well and a surfeit of excellent photographs are included, though they undoubtedly contribute to its rather high price tag.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars excellent introduction about the Sphinx, June 15, 2000

By 

Francesca Jourdan (Montreal, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Riddles of the Sphinx (Hardcover)

Despite having a bad choice for a title, the twelve chapters of this book offer excellent information on the Ancient Egyptian sphinx. The author provides accurate description, dimensions, excavations and conditions of the monument. He discusses several theories regarding its construction dates and the reason for its construction. Chapters also present the history of Ancient Egypt from predynastic to Old Kingdom times. Accompanied by excellent black-and white illustrations and color photographs, it is a beautiful study of this monument, recommended to have in a personal library.

4 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Good coffee table book!, September 6, 2001

By 

D. E. W. Turner "dewt" (Hereford, AZ, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Riddles of the Sphinx (Hardcover)

I'm sure Mr. Jordan did not have in mind to write a coffee table book -- he seems to have a specific thought in mind regarding some of the books that have been released over the past 30 to 40 years regarding the mysterious Sphinx. However, the photography and other illustrations make this book one that you would want visitors to see. I enjoyed the writing as well as the photographs, regardless of Mr. Jordan's obvious biases. (Actually, from a professional historian's view, Mr. Jordan's biases are not at all biases.)