The Great Sphinx of Giza was not built thousands of years earlier than commonly believed. Based on extensive evidence, the mainstream archaeological consensus dates the Sphinx to the reign of Pharaoh Khafre (circa 2500 BCE) during the Fourth Dynasty of Egypt’s Old Kingdom. This conclusion is supported by the Sphinx’s stylistic similarities to Khafre’s other monuments, including the nearby Valley Temple.
The alternative theory that the Sphinx predates this period by thousands of years is largely speculative and lacks strong archaeological support. Proponents often cite water erosion on the Sphinx’s body as evidence of extreme antiquity, suggesting a wetter climate existed around 7000–5000 BCE. However, geologists and Egyptologists argue that wind and sand erosion better explain the weathering patterns.
No inscriptions or artifacts have been discovered linking the Sphinx to a pre-dynastic civilization, nor is there any historical record of an advanced society existing in Egypt before the established timeline. The absence of supporting archaeological evidence makes claims of extreme antiquity highly improbable.
Thus, while the origins of the Sphinx remain a topic of discussion, the prevailing view—supported by archaeological, historical, and geological evidence—is that it was built during the Old Kingdom, not thousands of years earlier.
