# There is little true erosion; the rough body is the construction core, cut back and faced with a veneer that…

> Still possible: There is little true erosion; the rough body is the construction core, cut back and faced with a veneer that sand protected until looters…

Source: https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/answers/ANS0CTWSQFM780N/there-is-little-true-erosion-the-rough-body-is-the  
Publisher: Mysteries Department  
Licence: CC BY 4.0 (credit Mysteries Department and link the page)  

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[Questions](https://mysteriesdept.com/questions)[Great Sphinx of Giza](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx)[What explains the weathering of the body and the enclosure walls?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/questions/QST0CTWSCZP7K5T/what-explains-the-weathering-of-the-body-and-the-enclosure)Answer

Answer · Great Sphinx of Giza

# There is little true erosion; the rough body is the construction core, cut back and faced with a veneer that…

There is little true erosion; the rough body is the construction core, cut back and faced with a veneer that sand protected until looters removed it.

**Still possible** Answers **1** questionPublished0

## Where it stands

**Still possible** Its tests haven't settled it: one piece of evidence for, one against. It needs two reviews to be accepted.

## What it predicts

- Tool marks survive on the rough surfaces beneath and beside the oldest cladding.
- The fissures follow construction cuts and natural joints rather than drainage.
- Fallen or reused veneer blocks of the right size exist around the enclosure.

## What would rule it out

- Documentation of weathering surfaces that continue unbroken beneath the earliest in-place cladding, showing the decay predates the veneer.

## Evidence 1 for · 1 against

[A 2025 GSA poster abstract proposes that the weathered appearance is the exposed rough core of a veneered…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/evidence/EVD0CTWSQQE1W85/a-2025-gsa-poster-abstract-proposes-that-the-weathered)

Speculative

FOR

[Lehner records the original carved surface preserved beneath the oldest cladding, which is the surface this…](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/evidence/EVD0CTWSQZ816VJ/lehner-records-the-original-carved-surface-preserved-beneath)

Suggestive

AGAINST

## The questions it answers

[What explains the weathering of the body and the enclosure walls?](https://mysteriesdept.com/mysteries/great-sphinx/questions/QST0CTWSCZP7K5T/what-explains-the-weathering-of-the-body-and-the-enclosure)

Most likelySalt crystallisation, clay swelling and wet-sand burial, with flooding and wind on exposed parts, produced…

## Cite it

```
Mysteries Department. (2026). There is little true erosion; the rough body is the construction core, cut back and faced with a veneer that… [Answer ANS0CTWSQFM780N]. https://mysteriesdept.com/r/ANS0CTWSQFM780N
```

Key

**ANS** 0CTWSQFM780N

Kind

Answer · hypothesis

Origin

Published

Version

1

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