Powerful Pharaoh Buried Inside The Sphinx Secret Chamber?

Natural History is an encyclopaedic collection of 37 books, written by Pliny of the Elder in the first century AD. It compiles information from a number of ancient authors and gives us a fantastic insight into world knowledge in this bygone era of history.

Of course, Ancient Egypt didn’t escape the attention of Pliny, and in this video, I’m taking a look at his claims in Book 36, Chapter 17, that in Roman times, the local people believed the Sphinx was the tomb of a King Harmais.


Most scholars take these claims with a pinch of salt, but as I showed in my last video, there is a rock-cut chamber at the bottom of the shaft in the back of the Sphinx, and when it was excavated in the 19th century, wooden boards were found inside.


Furthermore, archaeologist Auguste Mariette burned these wooden boards, and they gave off a strong smell of resin, leading him to believe that the wood came from a sarcophagus.


So, should we be taking Pliny’s claims more seriously?

Does he tell us the occupant of the Sphinx burial chamber?


And if so, who was King Harmais? Well, let’s find out.


00:00 - The Legend of the King in the Sphinx

02:51 - Was King Harmais an Egyptian god?

05:14 - Was King Harmais an Historic Pharaoh?

06:16 - Was it King Amasis II?

07:57 - Herodotus on the Burial Place of Amasis

09:54 - Supporting Evidence for a Giza Burial

10:12 - Queen Nakhtubasterau Buried at Giza

11:23 - Prince Ahmose Buried at Giza

13:11 - Amasis II Honoured the Old Kingdom

13:36 - Why Not Buried at the Capital City of Sais?

15:22 - Concluding Remarks


Matt Sibson
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