{"schema_version":"bf_book_companion_v1","release_id":"20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset","book":{"amazon_purchase_url":"https://www.amazon.com/dp/1620555255?tag=bookfrontier-20","asin":"1620555255","authors":["Robert M. Schoch Ph.D.","Robert Bauval","Robert M. Schoch"],"book_id":"9781620555255","canonical_url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781620555255","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781620555255.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","description":"New research and evidence that the Sphinx is thousands of years older than previously thought • Contrasts what Egyptologists claim about the Sphinx with historical accounts and new research including reanalysis of seismic studies and updates to Schoch’s water weathering research and Bauval’s Orion Correlation Theory • Examines how the Sphinx is contemporaneous with Göbekli Tepe, aligned with the constellation Leo, and was recarved during the Old Kingdom era of Egypt • Reveals that the Sphinx was built during the actual historical Golden Age of ancient Egypt, the period known in legend as Zep Tepi No other monument in the world evokes mystery like the Great Sphinx of Giza. It has survived the harsh climate of Egypt for thousands of years and will remain long after our own civilization is gone. According to orthodox Egyptology, the Sphinx was built around 2500 BCE as a memorial to the pharaoh Khafre. Yet this “fact” has scant to no supportive evidence. When was the Sphinx really built and, most importantly, why? In this provocative collaboration from two Egyptology outsiders, Robert M. Schoch, Ph.D., and Robert Bauval combine their decades of research to show how the Sphinx is thousands of years older than the conventional Egyptological timeline and was built by a long forgotten pre-Pharaonic civilization. They examine the known history of the Sphinx, contrasting what Egyptologists claim with prominent historical accounts and new research, including updates to Schoch’s geological water weathering research and reanalysis of seismic studies. Building on Bauval’s Orion Correlation Theory, they investigate the archaeoastronomical alignments of the monuments of the Giza Plateau and reveal how the pyramids and Sphinx were built to align with the constellations of Orion and Leo. Analyzing the evidence for a significantly older construction phase at Giza and the restoration and recarving of the Sphinx during the Old Kingdom era, they assert that the Sphinx was first built by an advanced pre-Pharaonic civilization that existed circa 12,000 years ago on the Giza Plateau, contemporaneous with the sophisticated Göbekli Tepe complex. The authors examine how the monuments at Giza memorialize Zep Tepi, the Golden Age of legend shown here to be an actual historical time period from roughly 10,500 BCE through 9700 BCE. Moving us closer to an understanding of the true age and purpose of the Great Sphinx, Schoch and Bauval provide evidence of an early high civilization witnessed by the Great Sphinx before the end of the last ice age.","forthcoming":false,"isbn13":"9781620555255","publication_date":"20170418","publisher":"Inner Traditions/Bear & Company","slug":"origins-of-the-sphinx","subtitle":"Celestial Guardian of Pre-pharaonic Civilization","title":"Origins of the Sphinx"},"discovery":{"categories":{"all":[{"bisac_code":"HIS002030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Ancient Egypt","score":0.775,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"ART015060","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Ancient & Classical Art History","score":0.7207,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"ARC005020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Ancient & Classical Architecture","score":0.7152,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"hint":[{"bisac_code":"HIS002030","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Ancient Egypt","score":0.775,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"ART015060","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Ancient & Classical Art History","score":0.7207,"source":"bisac_hint_model"},{"bisac_code":"ARC005020","confidence_band":"medium","label":"Ancient & Classical Architecture","score":0.7152,"source":"bisac_hint_model"}],"publisher":[{"bisac_code":"HIS002030","confidence_band":"high","label":"Ancient Egypt","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"OCC029000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Mind & Spirit","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"},{"bisac_code":"OCC031000","confidence_band":"high","label":"Ancient Mysteries & Lost Knowledge","score":1,"source":"onix_publisher_code"}]},"genres":[{"label":"Ancient Egypt","score":0.775,"slug":"ancient-egypt"},{"label":"Ancient & Classical Art History","score":0.7207,"slug":"ancient-classical-art-history"},{"label":"Ancient & Classical Architecture","score":0.7152,"slug":"ancient-classical-architecture"}],"reader_fit":["Good for readers who enjoy Ancient Egypt","Good for fans of History","Good for readers who enjoy Ancient Egypt and Ancient & Classical Art History."],"related_lists":[],"series":null,"similar_books":[{"authors":["Rose-Marie Hagen","Rainer Hagen","Norbert Wolf","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9783836549172","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9783836549172.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":14.223,"title":"Egyptian Art","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9783836549172"},{"authors":["Toby Wilkinson","David Timson","Tantor Audio","& 0 more"],"book_id":"9780393531701","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780393531701.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":14.2017,"title":"Tutankhamun's Trumpet","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780393531701"},{"authors":["Dr. Raymond Faulkner","Ogden Goelet","Carol Andrews","J. Daniel Gunther"],"book_id":"9781452144382","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781452144382.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":14.1947,"title":"The Egyptian Book of the Dead","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781452144382"},{"authors":["Sandro Vannini"],"book_id":"9783836571463","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9783836571463.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":14.1933,"title":"King Tut. the Journey Through the Underworld","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9783836571463"},{"authors":["Steven L. Tuck"],"book_id":"9781119653288","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781119653288.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":10.796,"title":"A History of Roman Art","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781119653288"},{"authors":["Robert Bauval","Thomas Brophy Ph.D.","Thomas Brophy"],"book_id":"9781591431145","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9781591431145.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":10.7069,"title":"Black Genesis","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9781591431145"},{"authors":["Lorna Oakes","Lucia Gahlin"],"book_id":"9780754834458","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780754834458.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":9.9967,"title":"Ancient Egypt: an Illustrated History","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780754834458"},{"authors":["Chris Naunton"],"book_id":"9780500295441","cover_image_url":"https://img.bookfrontier.com/9780500295441.jpg?v=20260402T191500Z-bisacv2site-fullset%3A2026-04-05T16%3A15%3A58Z","score":9.9967,"title":"Searching for the Lost Tombs of Egypt","url":"https://bookfrontier.com/books/9780500295441"}],"topics":[{"evidence_refs":["keyword:black genesis"],"label":"Black","score":0.1432,"slug":"black"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:evidence early high civilization"],"label":"High","score":0.0658,"slug":"high"},{"evidence_refs":["keyword:true age purpose great sphinx"],"label":"Great","score":0.0503,"slug":"great"}],"what_you_get":["Themes: Black, High, Great.","Reading lane: Ancient Egypt and Ancient & Classical Art History.","Publisher: Inner Traditions/Bear & Company."]},"llm_signals":null,"source_presence":{"amazon":true,"book_detail":true,"goodreads":true,"llm_signals":false,"similarity_seed":true},"stats":{"amazon_ratings_count":258,"goodreads_ratings_count":182,"goodreads_reviews_count":15,"quality_score":0.8894}}