Field Log — Entry 1
Site: Northwest Giza Plateau | Week 6
We’ve been on site for six weeks. The structure we’re excavating is a sphinx.
It’s positioned northwest of the main Giza complex, smaller than the famous one near the pyramids but no less carefully constructed. We still can’t determine whether it was buried intentionally or simply buried by centuries of wind and sand. What we do know is that someone built this deliberately, with a clear purpose. And whoever did it made one choice that separates it completely from anything else documented at this site.
The head is a goat.
Not a lion’s mane. Not a pharaoh’s crown. The horns curve outward from the skull in perfect symmetry—wide arcs that bend back inward with precision. The carving is clean. The proportions are exact. This isn’t a mistake in craftsmanship. It’s a deliberate choice.
We’ve been ordered to stay and run carbon dating tests. The directive makes sense; the execution doesn’t. Equipment coming from Canada is delayed due to global weather disruptions—flights aren’t running reliably right now, and we don’t have a concrete delivery date. We’re working with what we have and recording what we can.
The team is tired. Our food rations last until the end of next month. After that, we resupply ourselves. The closest village is nineteen kilometers away—manageable in good conditions, a serious problem in bad ones. We’re stretching both food and effort.
I’ve been thinking about one thing: the original Sphinx shows clear water erosion at its base, which has sparked a lot of debate in the academic world considering the climate here now. This structure has none of that. The weathering looks like wind damage—sand and particles piling up over time. It’s consistent with age, but the pattern is different enough that we need proper instruments to understand it. The structure looks ancient. The erosion patterns don’t fully back that up.
The local people warned us a few days ago that a sandstorm is coming within weeks. The wind direction has been shifting since yesterday. My guess is the timeline is shorter than they thought. If that’s true, protecting the site becomes the priority. We’re already behind schedule.
This sphinx has been here for a long time. That much is obvious. What it means and who built it—that’s still unclear.
