The equinox reveals one of the secrets of Egypt's iconic Sphinx [View all]

[Judi Lynn]

By Laura Geggel - Associate Editor 7 hours ago

The ancient Egyptians likely arranged this on purpose.



The sun set over the right shoulder of the Sphinx during the spring equinox this year.
(Image: © © Egypt Ministry of Antiquities)

The Sphinx had a "distinctive astronomical" moment with the sun during the spring equinox when, in a shining flourish, the sun set on the shoulder of the half-man, half-lion statue on March 19, according to the Egypt Ministry of Antiquities.

This phenomenon happens only twice a year, during the spring in March and the fall equinox in September, according to the ministry.

During the equinox, Earth's axis doesn't point toward or away from the sun, meaning that the Northern and Southern hemispheres receive equal amounts of the sun's light. In other words, the day and the night are equal in length.

It's well known that cats enjoy basking in the sun, and the 241-foot (74 meters) tall Sphinx is no exception. The mythical half-man, half-lion is carved out of limestone bedrock. Its face might show the likeness of Pharaoh Khafre, the fourth king of ancient Egypt's 4th dynasty (2575 B.C. to 2465 B.C.), who had the second and third Pyramids of Giza built, according to Encyclopedia Britannica.

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