Two Sphinxes existed on the Pyramids Plateau, according to a new study by Egyptologist Bassam El Shammaa.

El Shammaa said the famed half-lion, half man statute was an Egyptian deity erected next to another Sphinx, which has since vanished without a trace.

This theory, however, is in contradiction to the general belief that a single colossal statue functioned as a guard to the pyramids.

El Shammaa said the idea of two Sphinxes is more in line with ancient Egyptian beliefs, which were mainly based on duality.

"The pyramid texts recovered at Saqqara, especially from the Wenis [Unas] Pyramid, contain descriptions of the ancient Egyptian conception of how the universe was created. Basically, this concept underlined the belief in duality," El Shammaa said.

"Whenever we have to deal with the solar cult, we should speak of one lion and one lioness facing each other, posing parallel to each other or sitting in a back-to-back position...

There may have been a second Sphinx, claims Egyptologist, ANI via Yahoo! News, India, August 31, 2007.

cf. There could have been two sphinxes, argues one researcher, Ahmed Maged, Daily Star Egypt, Egypt, August 31, 2007.

Not a new theory. See this post on a discussion thread relating to the above article on the HallOfMaat from 'rich'.

A plea goes out to rescue Qasr Ibrim, the sole in situ archaeological site remaining among Nubian monuments.

Isolated on a high hillock in the middle of Lake Nasser, the monumental complex of Qasr Ibrim displays a collection of archaeological remnants of Egypt's various historical epochs that once witnessed a unique civilisation.

Qasr Ibrim was once an eagle's nest over Lower Nubia but is now an island, or at times a peninsula, on the east bank of the artificial Lake Nasser which came into being after the building of the Aswan High Dam in the early 1960's. The site was intermittently inhabited from as early as the Middle Kingdom until the 1840's. It also functioned as a military stronghold and a destination of religious pilgrimage for various armies and religious denominations.

In the 1960s when Egypt decided to build the High Dam and called for the salvage operation of Nubian monuments, all temples were relocated to another, safer location except the monuments of Qasr Ibrim which was built on top of an 80-metre tall rock formation above the Nile's level, thus preventing its inundation by the flow of Lake Nasser after the completion of the dam...

Such remarkable preservation on site has recently been threatened by the high water levels of Lake Nasser associated with construction in Toshka.

Almost 60 per cent of the island has been inundated and water leaks into the temple most of the time. Water has also reached the foundation of the cathedral which has led to several cracks on its walls. Blocks of the podium located on the edge of the Nile have been dismantled which may lead to an eventual total collapse. The fortification walls have indeed collapsed, and mud-brick buildings near the new water line have fallen as well, either from the effect of direct water or from percolation. The most important of these are a 25th Dynasty temple, from which a wall painting has already collapsed and another is now in danger of disappearing...

Sending out an SOS, Nevine El-Aref, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 860, August 30 - September 05, 2007.

Any two lists of the top 10 archaeological discoveries in Egypt would be different in only one or two items. Atlantic Productions is making a film for the Discovery Channel based on just such a list, and asked me to be its host and introduce these finds to the public. I felt honoured that two of the discoveries included on the list were my own. It was my first time working with this fantastic team, and I really enjoyed it. They did their homework, and Ben, the director, was very quick and smart.

We spent the entire first day of filming at Giza, beginning with an interview in front of the Great Pyramid. We looked at two discoveries on the plateau. The first was the boat of King Khufu which was found by Kamel El-Mallakh in May of 1954. The discovery was made by accident after King Faisal of Saudi Arabia visited the site, and asked for the south side of the Great Pyramid to be cleaned. The Antiquities Department began their work under the direction of El-Mallakh, an architect who worked at Giza on the conservation and restoration of the site. He appointed "Reis" Garas Yani as overseer of the workmen. One day, El-Mallakh was having lunch with our famous writer Anis Mansour at the Excelsior restaurant in downtown Cairo. The phone rang, and the waiter came to tell El-Mallakh. On the other end was Reis Garas, who told him that a boat had been found buried next to the pyramid... Every excavator makes mistakes, and El-Mallakh opened a hole not only in the first pit but also in the second. A few years ago, we decided to see what we could do about the second pit, which is still sealed, and found that insects were running all over the boat because of the hole El-Mallakh made...

Dig days: Egypt's top 10 archaeological discoveries: Khufu's boat, Zahi Hawass, Al-Ahram, Egypt, Issue No. 860, August 30 - September 05, 2007.

Last year I managed to pick up a copy of Nancy Jenkins' published by Thames & Hudson second hand at an Oxfam bookshop. It's one of the many on my pile 'to be read'.