Scientists claim they have uncovered the TRUE “origin story” behind the construction of the Great Sphinx 4,500 years ago in Egypt

Egypt’s Great Sphinx at Giza is full of secrets, but a new study may have revealed the ancient mythical limestone creature’s “origin story.”

The ancient Egyptians carved the face into the massive formation, but scientists at New York University determined that the shape – lion-like body and head – was the work of Mother Nature.

The team recreated the environmental conditions in the area 4,500 years ago and found that the wind blew around the massive rock, forming one of the world’s most recognizable statues.

Egypt’s Great Sphinx at Giza is full of secrets, but a new study may have revealed the ancient mythical limestone creature’s “origin story.”

Leif Ristroph, an associate professor at New York University and senior author of the study, said: “Our results offer a possible ‘origin story’ for how sphinx-like formations can form through erosion.”

“Our laboratory experiments have shown that surprising sphinx-like shapes can actually come from materials eroded by fast currents.”

The team used a 1981 theory by geologist Farouk El-Baz that suggested the Sphinx Formation originally had a flat shape that was gradually eroded by the wind.

The former NASA scientist posits that the builders of the pyramids knew about these natural processes and built their pointed stone structures like the mounds to last.

“Today, the pyramids of Giza exist in perfect harmony with their windy surroundings,” El-Baz said in a statement in 2011.

“If the ancients had built their monuments in the shape of a cube, a rectangle, or even a stadium, they would have been wiped out long ago by devastating wind erosion.”

The team used mounds of soft clay and mixed harder, less erodible materials, and together the formations reflected what the landscape once looked like in eastern Egypt

They then washed these formations with a fast-moving jet of water – to replicate the wind – which shaped and reshaped them until they finally acquired a sphinx-like appearance

He also suggested that a yardang-like protrusion, naturally formed by the wind, may have formed on the Giza Plateau.

“The ancient engineers may have chosen to reshape the head in the image of their king,” El-Baz shared.

“They also gave it a convincingly lion-like body, inspired by shapes they encountered in the desert.” To do this, they had to dig a moat around the natural outcropping.”

The new study reproduced the yardangs, unusual rock formations found in deserts that were formed by wind-blown dust and sand.

To achieve this, the team used mounds of soft clay mixed with harder, less erodible materials, and together the formations formed what the landscape once looked like in eastern Egypt.

They then washed these formations with a fast-moving jet of water – to replicate the wind – which shaped and reshaped them until they finally acquired a sphinx-like appearance.

The harder or more resilient material became the lion’s “head,” and many other features—such as an undercut “neck,” “paws” placed forward on the ground, and an arched “back”—evolved.

“Our results provide a simple origin theory for how sphinx-like formations can form through erosion,” said Ristroph.

The team used a fluorescent stamp to recreate how the wind carved out the limestone about 4,500 years ago

The research was based on a 40-year-old theory that said desert winds created the Sphinx’s original shape

“In fact, today there are yardangs that look like sitting or lying animals, which supports our conclusions.”

“The work could also be useful for geologists because it reveals factors that affect rock formations – namely, that they are not homogeneous or uniform in their composition.”

“The unexpected shapes are created by redirecting the currents around the harder or less erodible parts.”

Most Egyptologists believe that the Great Sphinx represents the image of King Khafra.

Others also believe that Djadefre, the older brother of Khafra, built the Sphinx in honor of his father Khufu.

This would place the construction period somewhere between 2550 BC. and 2450 BC. BC.

However, the limited evidence linking the Sphinx to Khafra is circumstantial and somewhat ambiguous.

The Great Sphinx remained hidden until 1917, when an excavation team led by Italian archaeologist Giovanni Battista Caviglia uncovered the animal’s chest.

And it was not until 1887 that the chest, paws, altar and plateau were fully visible.