Ever looked at an old polaroid from your parents’ attic and felt like the world just looked... sturdier? If you find a photo of sphinx in the 1970s, you’ll see exactly what I mean. It’s not just the grainy film or the flared trousers of the tourists in the foreground. The monument itself was in a bizarre, transitional state that we simply don't see anymore.
Honestly, the Giza Plateau in the seventies was kind of the Wild West.
You could get closer. You could touch the stone. In some cases, people were still scrambling up the paws for a better view. But there’s a darker side to those vintage snaps. While they look romantic, they actually capture a monument in the middle of a slow-motion crisis.
The Sphinx 1970s Aesthetic: What’s Different?
If you compare a photo of sphinx in the 1970s to a high-definition iPhone shot from 2026, the first thing you’ll notice is the masonry. Specifically, the "shaping" of the lion's body.
In the 70s, the Sphinx looked much more "rugged." The massive limestone layers were deeply weathered and exposed. You could see the "wavy" profile of the soft and hard limestone strata that experts like Mark Lehner spent years mapping. Today, much of that original "mother rock" is hidden behind layers of modern restoration stones.
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The 1970s Restoration Blunders
It sounds harsh, but some of the work done back then was basically a DIY disaster on a global scale.
- The Cement Fix: In the early part of the century and extending into the 70s, restorers used hard cement to "fix" the neck and head.
- The Problem: Limestone needs to breathe. Cement is rigid.
- The Result: The cement trapped moisture and salt inside the ancient stone, causing the Sphinx to literally crumble from the inside out.
By the time the ARCE Sphinx Project kicked off in 1979, the situation was getting desperate. Mark Lehner and Zahi Hawass were basically triaging a patient that had been treated with the wrong medicine for decades. When you look at a photo of sphinx in the 1970s, you are seeing the monument right before it was encased in the protective (but visually different) masonry "veneer" we see today.
Why the Water Table Changed Everything
Something happened in 1970 that changed the Giza Plateau forever: the completion of the Aswan High Dam.
It was a triumph of engineering, sure. But it also messed with the water table under Cairo. Suddenly, salt-heavy groundwater started creeping up into the Sphinx’s limestone through capillary action.
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If you find a high-quality photo of sphinx in the 1970s, look at the base. You might see darker patches or a "whitish" crust. That’s salt. As the water evaporated in the desert heat, the salt crystals expanded and popped off flakes of 4,500-year-old stone. It’s a process called salt weathering, and in the 70s, it was accelerating at a terrifying rate.
A Different Kind of Tourism
You’ve probably seen the photos of 1970s travelers riding camels right up to the chest of the beast. There were no massive crowds of 20,000 people a day yet. It was quieter.
But it was also less protected.
The "Sound and Light" show was already a thing by then, having started in the 60s. You’d have these bright, theatrical lights hitting the face of the Sphinx at night, which looks amazing in old film photography but added a lot of heat stress to the stone.
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The Famous "Missing" Beard
One thing you won't see in a photo of sphinx in the 1970s is the beard. People always ask about it. A fragment of it was in the British Museum, and another piece was in the Cairo Museum. In the 70s, there was a lot of talk about puttin' it back on, but the structural integrity of the chin was so bad they couldn't risk the weight.
How to Spot a 1970s Sphinx Photo
If you’re trying to date an old family photo or a flea market find, check these "tell-tale" signs:
- The Paw Masonry: The stones on the paws in the 70s were often smaller and more "randomly" stacked than the very uniform, large-block restoration work done in the 80s and 90s.
- The Scaffolding: You’ll often see wooden or light metal scaffolding around the rump or the neck. Restoration was almost constant during this decade.
- The "Hole" in the Head: In some angles, you can see the "patch" on top of the head more clearly. This was from an old excavation by Howard Vyse.
- The Foreground: Look for the cars. Seeing a vintage Peugeot or a dusty 1970s bus parked near the Valley Temple is a dead giveaway.
What These Photos Teach Us Now
The photo of sphinx in the 1970s serves as a vital record. Because the monument has been "re-faced" so many times, these images are often the only way modern geologists can study the original erosion patterns of the 4th Dynasty limestone.
It’s a bit of a paradox. To save the Sphinx, we had to hide a lot of it.
Actionable Insights for Your Own History Search
If you want to find more of these "raw" images of the Sphinx before the modern era of heavy restoration:
- Search Archive.org: Look for 1970s travelogues. Many amateur photographers uploaded their slides here.
- Check the ARCE Archive: The American Research Center in Egypt has digitized thousands of photos from the 1979 survey. These are the gold standard for detail.
- Look for "Kodachrome" Tags: 1970s slide film has a specific color saturation (deep blues and warm yellows) that makes the Sphinx look almost golden.
Next time you see a photo of sphinx in the 1970s, don't just look at the missing nose. Look at the texture of the body. Look at the way the sand sat against the enclosure walls. You’re looking at a version of history that has literally been covered up to keep it alive for the next thousand years.