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A Geomorphological Study of the Giza Necropolis, with Implications for the Development of the Site
Article first published online: 9 OCT 2008
DOI: 10.1111/1475-4754.00009
University of Oxford, 2001
1475-4754/asset/cover.gif?v=1&s=8fae827b9e8ca6cf3bf767eac5007105b9b1f6ca "Archaeometry")
Additional Information
How to Cite
Reader, C. D. (2001), A Geomorphological Study of the Giza Necropolis, with Implications for the Development of the Site. Archaeometry, 43: 149–165. doi: 10.1111/1475-4754.00009
Publication History
- Issue published online: 9 OCT 2008
- Article first published online: 9 OCT 2008
- Abstract
- Cited By
Keywords:
- Egypt;
- giza necropolis;
- sphinx temple;
- early dynastic;
- geomorphology;
- degradation
There are a number of features of weathering and erosion within the enclosure surrounding the Great Sphinx of Giza that suggest the action of flowing water. That this erosion is not uniformly distributed is consistent not with erosion by rainfall per se but by rainfall run-off—an erosive agent that is known to have been experienced at Giza until the late Fifth Dynasty. When the spatial relationship of various features within the Giza necropolis is considered, the extant erosion indicates that the Sphinx may pre-date the reign of Khufu, the builder of the first Giza pyramid. The existence of pre-Fourth Dynasty development at Giza can be inferred from this—support for which is provided by a number of archaeological finds excavated from the site.