<HTML>Claire -
> OK, but I thought, for example, that the pyramid builders
> complex at Giza was a recent discovery (well relatively
> recent) or is that just a function of repeats on the
> Discovery Channel? :-)
lol. Yes, it's pretty recent (and it's AE, NOT LC material -- surprise, surprise!). I suppose my point is that the Sphinx enclosure has been dug to bedrock. Should have been clearer.
>
> I didn't realise that 4th dynasty material had been recovered
> from the enclosure - oops :-) Has material been recovered
> from each of the renovation periods?
As to material from the Sphinx enclosure, James and Thorpe (p. 222) write: "All over the plateau there are traces of Fourth Dynasty activity. In pits -- including one at the very side of the Sphinx enclosure -- stone hammers, pottery, and other artifacts of the Fourth Dynasty have been found." On p. 319 of *Giza: The Truth,* Lawton and Ogilvie-Herald report the discovery in 1979 of three unused blocks from the Sphinx Temple (intimately associated with the Sphinx) that were sitting in the NE corner of the Sphinx enclosure. <i>Under</i> those blocks was found 4th dyn. pottery. Furthermore, in the wester ledge, Lawton and Ogilvie-Herald report the discovery of further 4th dyn. pottery (like that under the blocks) in channels dug into the ledge but left unfinished by the enclosure diggers.
Mikey attests material from the renovation periods (isn't in P. Jordan?) ... I know M. Lehner, *Complete Pyramids*, pp. 128-29 identifies 8 layers of renovation from 1400 BC to the present on it.
Best,
Garrett</HTML>
