The Second Pyramid, often seen looming in the distance in photos taken showing the face of the Sphinx, is associated with Pharaoh Khafre (Chephren in Greek), said to have reigned c. 2520-2494 BC, whose face is supposed to be the one we see now on the Sphinx. Because it sits on higher ground, and retains the coating around the capstone, the Second Pyramid looks taller from certain angles at a distance, but it is not. It is called “Second” for good reason.

According to conventional, nationalistic Egyptology, the Great Pyramid is associated with Pharaoh Khufu (Cheops in Greek), said to have reigned c. 2551-2528 BC. It looms behind the Sphinx only in a side-angle shot.

The Great Pyramid has been looted of its once magnificent, polished, gleaming limestone surface. You can now find much of it in the buildings of Cairo. It sports a “flat top.” Its missing capstone is the subject of some fascinating speculation, including a string of biblical references [Ps. 118:22; Matt. 21:42; Acts 4:11; I Pet 2:7], referring to the stone which the builders rejected which became the head of the corner (chief cornerstone). Intriguing? That’s just the tip of the pyramid.

Quoting Robert M. Schoch, Ph.D. in Pyramid Quest, the Great Pyramid is the largest stone building ever erected, but its incredibly sophisticated construction incorporates details that have boggled great minds for many centuries. It is called Great for very good reason. It is absolutely unique and raises many head-scratching questions.

It is understandable that casual tourists might get the pyramids confused. However, the video editors of the History Channel series Ancient Aliens repeatedly show the Second Pyramid while the narrator speaks of the Great Pyramid. Though that’s a bit disconcerting, the documentary provides fantastic visuals and some great information on a broad range of evidences for ancient intelligence, much (not all) of which we at TCFB find very valuable from a biblical and historical standpoint.

So, if you didn’t before, you now know which pyramid is which, and that puts you light-years ahead of a lot of people.

One of the premises of TCFB is that we take the Judeo-Christian Scriptures seriously. So, what does Genesis have to say about this? It says that Adam and his progeny were quite intelligent and capable from the very beginning, but that their diet was indeed vegetarian in the pre-Flood time period. Certainly in Eden, and even afterward, the quality of food and the vitality of man were much greater. We’re not certain exactly what all Adam, Eve, and kids ate, other than their diet excluded meat. We quibble with the classic evolutionist estimate of 2+ million years, but we find it interesting that they agree with the biblical report that man went, rather suddenly, from only “veg” to both meat and “veg.”

This subject is discussed in an article published today by NPR.org (Food for Thought: Meat-Based Diet Made Us Smarter, Christopher Joyce, 8/2/10). The article also proposes that meat led to “more brains” which led to tools. Tools, say the anthropologists, created better digestion and thus more energy for the brain. What does Genesis say about that? Cain, the very first procreated human, went right to farming, and since he later went right out and built a city, he probably had some tools. It wasn’t long before his progeny were working in bronze and iron. There is definite disagreement in the two viewpoints.

Another anthropologist, Richard Wrangham of Harvard, believes that cooking (another result of a bigger brain) is the “real secret to being human” because it makes both meat and “veg” more digestible, though he remains a vegetarian. From our research, we would contend that Adam and his gang were quite knowledgeable and that fire and cooking did not need to be “discovered,” though it may not have been necessary until after the Great Flood, when meat was introduced into man’s diet, by God Himself.

Fast-forwarding to our modern world, we support the well-documented argument that both meat and “veg” are necessary in this post-Flood world to provide the “good fats” and the B vitamins, etc., that are vital to good nutrition. In fact, high-quality meat (especially grass-fed) is an important source of the good fats that our fatty brains must have to remain healthy. See TCFB and our sister HAYC websites for more information on these subjects, ancient and modern.

Egyptologists have clung to the conventional, nationalistic view that the head of the Sphinx is that of Pharaoh Khafre (or in Greek Kephren or even Chephren) who reigned 2520-2494 BC of the Fourth Dynasty, and who is connected to the “Second Pyramid” of the Giza Plateau. Khafre is listed as second following Khufu (Cheops) who is connected with the Great Pyramid.

In our original research for TCFB, we concluded that the traditional outline of Egyptian history is faulty, that many older representations of the damaged Sphinx head were female, and that some researchers, including British astronomer Sir Norman Lockyer, believed the Great Sphinx to originally portray the female head of Virgo (representing the Virgin Mary) on the lion body of Leo (representing Jesus, the Lion of Judah). According to that viewpoint, the circular Zodiac begins with Virgo and ends with Leo. We will blog and write in much more detail concerning these subjects.

We knew that researcher John Anthony West believed that the Great Sphinx is much older than the traditional dating, and that he suspected weathering on the body by water, and not just wind and sand. For us, that revived an intriguing question of our own: Was the Sphinx carved after, or before, Noah’s Flood? And, yes, after decades of research, we are firm believers that the evidence for a worldwide flood is undeniable.

West convinced Robert M. Schoch, a student of ancient history and a member of the science faculty at Boston University, with a doctorate in geology and geophysics from Yale, to analyze the possibility of water erosion of the Sphinx. Schoch was skeptical. However, after three trips to Egypt, detailed research, and a seismic study, Schoch came to the following conclusion:

The oldest portions of the Sphinx were originally carved not in the reign of Khafre, circa 2500 B.C., but much earlier, somewhere between approximately 5000 and 7000 B.C., according to my best estimates. Since then, the original Sphinx has been heavily repaired and restored, both in ancient and modern times, and the pharaonic head is a recarving of an earlier one.

Schoch’s book was published in 2005, but we just recently purchased it as we dig back into our own research. We might disagree with his dating estimates, but we are inclined to agree with his conclusion about the water and the recarving of the head!

The book included research regarding ancient geography, ancient calendars, ancient navigation, and the basic history behind world mythology and the “Mystery System.” We delved into some controversial topics such as Egyptian history, the pyramids (in particular the Great Pyramid), and Tychonian vs. Copernican astronomy. We even looked into classical and quantum physics.

They Came From Babel was originally intended to be the first volume of a “Biblical History of the Americas.” We had discovered a growing number of what we call “maverick” secular researchers who continue to unintentionally lend support to the biblical record of ancient intelligence and the dispersion from “Babel.” These archaeoastronomers and cultural and archaeological diffusionists offer fascinating insights and discoveries when viewed through a “biblical lens.”

Our original publication was the culmination of several decades of interest, and a few years of pre-internet research done the old-fashioned way — interlibrary loan. Even in today’s marvelous internet world, a good research librarian is worth a mammoth’s weight in gold!

Now, They Came From Babel will continue as a website-based blog featuring e-books (and eventually print versions) concerning an even broader range of topics centering around a biblical view of ancient history. It is part of the family of Health Around Your Corner Publications.