# The Sphinx was carved in the Early Dynastic period, in the Second Dynasty or soon after, before Khufu began…

> Disputed: The Sphinx was carved in the Early Dynastic period, in the Second Dynasty or soon after, before Khufu began work at Giza.

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/answers/ANS0CTWSGD23JAV/the-sphinx-was-carved-in-the-early-dynastic-period-in-the  
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[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Great Sphinx of Giza](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx)[When was the Great Sphinx carved?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/questions/QST0CTWSCG26180/when-was-the-great-sphinx-carved)Answer

Answer · Great Sphinx of Giza

# The Sphinx was carved in the Early Dynastic period, in the Second Dynasty or soon after, before Khufu began…

The Sphinx was carved in the Early Dynastic period, in the Second Dynasty or soon after, before Khufu began work at Giza.

**Disputed** Answers **1** questionPublished0

## Where it stands

**Disputed** Two pieces of evidence for, two against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- Runoff features in the ditch walls are truncated by, and so older than, Khufu's quarry cuts on the plateau above.
- The Sphinx Temple is earlier than Khafre's Valley Temple.
- Early Dynastic material exists on the Giza plateau near the enclosure.

## What would rule it out

- A stratigraphic sequence in which Khufu-period quarry debris or cuts lie beneath the Sphinx ditch's weathering features, or a demonstration that the Sphinx Temple and the Valley Temple were built in one phase.

## Evidence 2 for · 2 against

[Reader accepts runoff erosion in the ditch and argues that Khufu's quarries upslope would have cut off the…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/evidence/EVD0CTWSGMW07H9/reader-accepts-runoff-erosion-in-the-ditch-and-argues-that)

Suggestive

FOR

[Reader's 2026 book adds a Second Dynasty date, Ma'adi-period occupation of the plateau and a later Valley…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/evidence/EVD0CTWSGWP66SM/readers-2026-book-adds-a-second-dynasty-date-maadi-period)

Speculative

FOR

[The fossil-bed match ties the Sphinx Temple's blocks to the ditch, and the temple's construction matches…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/evidence/EVD0CTWSHCA660B/the-fossil-bed-match-ties-the-sphinx-temples-blocks-to-the)

Suggestive

AGAINST

[Wilkinson's comment in the same issue of Archaeometry disputed the archaeological case for an early Giza…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/evidence/EVD0CTWSH4G19TP/wilkinsons-comment-in-the-same-issue-of-archaeometry)

Suggestive

AGAINST

## The questions it answers

[When was the Great Sphinx carved?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/questions/QST0CTWSCG26180/when-was-the-great-sphinx-carved)

Most likelyThe Sphinx was carved under Khafre, about 2550 to 2520 BC, in the same quarrying operation that supplied the…

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). The Sphinx was carved in the Early Dynastic period, in the Second Dynasty or soon after, before Khufu began… [Answer ANS0CTWSGD23JAV]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0CTWSGD23JAV
```

Key

**ANS** 0CTWSGD23JAV

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Origin

Published

Version

1

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