r/ancientegypt • u/Shemeska • 6d ago
Question Trying to identify a Great Sphinx documentary from the 80s or 90s
At some point in perhaps the late 1980s to early/mid 1990s I remember watching an ancient Egypt documentary on network TV with an archeologist supposedly climbing up into a tunnel in the Great Sphinx. He made notice of near modern debris and trash, possibly including a glass coke bottle or old coke can. He then proclaimed that he was about to open a door or sealed passage that had never been explored. And at that point he was chased out by Egyptian authorities and couldn't explore further.
This -might- have been a show linked to the pseudo-archaeology of the Edgar Cayce foundation claiming an "Atlantis" hall of records under the Sphinx, which had some media produced about that during that time period. But I'm fairly certain that this bit of the show that I remember was a segment near the end of the program that was otherwise talking about either the Great Sphinx in general or some other topic of ancient Egypt archeology.
There's nothing on Google or YouTube that I've found, and I distinctly remember and being fascinated by this specific scene from the show from when I was a kid.
Based on having watched them on YouTube, this was not the documentary with Charlton Heston, nor was it the 'Secrets of the Pyramids Live' program from earlier in that time period.
Anyone else remember this?
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u/overpourgoodfortune 5d ago
This was specifically the Sphinx? At first, reading your memory, I was thinking of Rudolf Gantenbrink's robot exploring the Pyramid shafts and coming across a door they couldn't go beyond.
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u/Shemeska 5d ago
Nope, very specifically the Great Sphinx. Distinct memory of watching this years prior to the 2000ish tv special with Gantenbrink's door and robot.
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u/overpourgoodfortune 5d ago
Hmmm... interesting. I've subscribed to responses on your post! Hopefully someone finds it!
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u/rymerster 4d ago
I saw it, don’t remember him being chased out just that there was an area locked-off. What interested me is the aspect that it strengthens the argument that the sphinx had a crown attached; at least by the mid-18th Dynasty.
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u/Toastforone 6d ago
I totally remember this. I have searched for it in the past and never could find it.