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columns.
As evident in Figures 4 and 5, the inner face of each smooth granite block in the valley temple was was done by someone else—whoever that may have been—1,000 years later or perhaps even more
obviously made to fi t the soft er limestone core. It would have been easier to make the lime-stone recently.
core smooth and to attach the granite blocks with mortar. Th e inner face of the granite blocks did Th is leads to new possibilities: Khafre built the valley temple at the same time the Sphinx temple
not need to be formed to interlock with the soft er stone. Th e granite blocks interlock with each was built. Weathering began to take its toll on both edifi ces. Sometime later, around the time of
other and are solid enough, as shown in Figures 5 to 9. Seti, the granite blocks were added—by unknown builders—as a restoration eff ort, which ex-plains
In this manner, granite blocks provided protection inside the temple, but they were used on the ex- why the same method of granite stone construction is found at the Osireion.
terior wall as well. Th is raises the question as to why anyone would start with a soft stone core and My second explanation is based on the premise that the Sphinx temple and the core structure of
clad it with granite on both sides, if the limestone core was so weathered that the granite blocks the valley temple were already there, dating back to a time that no one could remember—to pre-
had to be shaped to accommodate the damage. historic times. And as with all ancient Egyptian temples, the believers did not view them as a plat-
On the eastern side of the temple, I held my camera up high to photograph the point where the form for worship, but instead “saw their sacred sites on a diff erent, mythological level,” as Professor
granite blocks meet the core stone behind them (Fig. 10). Unfortunately, sand and debris obscure Dieter Arnold writes in his book Die Tempel Ägyptens (“Egypt’s Temples”) [4]. A tem-ple was “a
the point of intersection, so the photos do not support any obvious conclusions. part of the world inhabited by the gods, transposed into this world as a divine dwell-ing place.”
What can be said, however, is that the same modifi cation and intricate interlocking evident in the Th erefore—and due perhaps also to the temple’s age—it was considered to be “sa-cred.” In that
granite blocks at the valley temple (Fig. 11) are also apparent at the Osireion, though the latter is case, the ground on which Khafre built his temple was not undeveloped. If some-thing is sacred, it
thought to have been created a thousand years later, during the 19th Dynasty in the reign of Seti I is to be respected, not altered, which might harm the “prehistoric soul” con-tained in the stone. If
(currently dated to approximately 1289–1278 BCE). As far as I know, these are the only two struc- that was the case, Khafre added the granite cladding, adapting the granite to the limestone, rather
tures built in this manner that have been found to date. An enlarged image of the workman-ship at than altering the core structure.
the Osireion (Fig. 12) shows striking similarities to that of the valley temple, both in terms of the But this leads to additional questions. Th e Osireion, for example, is attributed to Seti. While I be-
modifi ed inner surfaces and the interlocking blocks [3]. lieve Seti did immortalize himself in hieroglyphics on some of the stones, this does not neces-sarily
It is also striking that the core wall of the valley temple is higher than both the pillared hall and the mean it was he who added the lower structure now submerged in water. In Seti’s time, structures
interior and exterior granite cladding. If the support beams once held a roof, it probably wasn’t two were commonly “taken over” or “repurposed,” which would also explain the similar construc-
meters thick (Fig. 12), though that is how far the limestone extends above the pillared hall, as seen tion method in the valley temple’s granite cladding. Th at still leaves the question of who built the
more clearly in Figure 13’s aerial view. Th ere are, I think, two possible explanations for the weath- Osireion in its original form, which was then appropriated by Seti. With an estimated 70 percent of
ering of the core masonry. all Egyptian structures and artifacts thought to remain hidden beneath the sand, per-haps a struc-
Possible Scenarios ture similar to the Osireion is still waiting to be discovered, in which case these fi nd-ings will have
My fi rst explanation is based on the assumption that the granite cladding was not applied during to be considered.
the reign of Khafre. Th e degree of weathering at the Sphinx temple (Fig. 14) and of the core wall at Another puzzling question remains: if the Sphinx temple predates the accepted chronology and
Khafre’s valley temple (Fig. 15) suggests this. Had the core walls of both structures (Khafre’s valley was considered sacred, how does it relate to the Sphinx, which was supposedly built by Khafre? Or
temple as well as the Sphinx temple) been created around the same time, and the valley temple clad did Khafre simply build the Sphinx between the pyramids and what was then and now a sa-cred
with granite at that time, the soft er core stone would not have weathered where it meets the gran- place? Why did he not simply clad the weatherworn stone in granite, as he did his valley temple?
ite wall placed in front of it. Th e Sphinx temple did not have this protective clad-ding, and should Khafre must have noticed that the Sphinx temple is 2.5 meters lower than the actual ter-race. Even
consequently have worn away to mere sand in the course of the 4,500 years that followed—which if this indentation had fi lled with sand, the builders must have literally stumbled into it during
the residual walls prevented. Th e sand that began to bury the temple may have helped to preserve construction.
it. But the degree of weathering is the same as that of the upper portion of the valley temple’s core Th e fact of the matter is that the limestone core and granite cladding fi t so well together that, given
wall, which was not protected by granite blocks. Th is does not make sense. the weathering of the limestone, the two cannot logically date back to the same construc-tion peri-
If Khafre had built both, his valley temple and the Sphinx temple using nothing but limestone od. Yet the offi cial consensus claims the opposite as irrefutable fact, which apparently should never
blocks, the two structures should have weathered in the same way and to the same degree over be called into question. In my opinion, nothing in science can or should remain fi xed forever. All
time. But the valley temple has protective granite cladding both inside and out, which leads to theories must be open to challenge and continually put to the test. Failure to do so would lead to
the more likely conclusion that the cladding on the valley temple was not the work of Khafre, but the death of intellectual progress and the end of all research.
54 Legendary Times Magazine Vol. 11, No. 3 & 4 of 4 Vol. 11, No. 1 & 2 of 4 Legvendary Times Magazine 55