Page 104 - آثار مصر الفرعونية الجزء الأول
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and khfre built new temples close to the Sphinx, who had
become in their time (whatever his original significance may
have been) a god in his own right. In the latter days of ancient
Egypt two thousand years after khufu and khafre, an atavistic
passion for an idealized and (not surprisingly) misremembered
past led to more rebuilding on the Giza site and fresh
interpretations of the origin and meaning of the Sphinx. During
the New Kingdom the Sphinx was called Horem-akhet, "Horus
of the Horizon".
The major New Kingdom Sphinx temple sits on a small rise
to the northeast of the Great Sphinx Built by Amenhotep II, is
was only a part of a number of building projects, including
terraces, enclosures, rest houses and temples the formed almost a
royal national part about the Sphinx during the New Kingdom.
The temple of Amenhotep II, situated on the higher terrace
northeast of the Sphinx, was built during the first year of his
reign. Its cult was certainly activated, but the structure was
destroyed, with only fragmentary remains surviving. However,
today, the temple has been largely restored.
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