Page 102 - آثار مصر الفرعونية الجزء الأول

granite to match the statues. The temple is also unique in having
two sanctuaries, one on the east and the other on the west, each at
the back of a recessed bay such as that first seen in Khufu's
mortuary temple. Perhaps one sanctuary was for the rising sun
and one for the setting sun, but most everything about the temple
is little more than guesswork These were very small sanctuaries,
and in front of each there were two pillars, which Ricke though
represented the arms and legs of the goddess Nut.

The building as a whole is more symmetrical in design than
any other temple of its period. Mark Lehner has shown that the
temple may well have been solar oriented and the Great Sphinx
could have been visualized as an image of the king merging with
the sun or perhaps presenting offerings in the temple. However,
the temple was left unfinished by its builders, and it is possible
that it was never dedicated to service in the age of its
construction.

In fact, it is striking that, in the hundreds of Old Kingdom
tombs at Giza, Egyptologists have not been able to unearth any
titles of priests or priestesses that clearly belong to the Sphinx
temple.

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