The pyramids of Giza were already more than a thousand years old when the son of king Amenhotep II went out to hunt near them one day. The famous sphinx was there, too, but buried up to its head in desert sand which had drifted into its enclosure in the centuries that had intervened since its original carving.

In the heat of the noon day Sun, the young man became drowsy and fell asleep in the shadow of the sphinx' face which still protruded above the sand.

And he dreamt. In his dream the god who inhabits the sphinx came to him and spoke to him. Years later, now king in his own right, Djehutymes IV, erected the stela below to commemorate that dream and what happened as a result of it.

You'll be able to see what the glyphs mean by running your cursor over them. When you see the message 'CLICK HERE', do so, and a little window will open with a transcription and translation of the text along with some notes. Javascript must be turned ON for this to work.

But you must also 'read' the illustrations, which in ancient Egypt, were actually part of the text.

Immediately below the top of the stela is a pair of arching, parallel lines, joined at the sides of the stela. This is the hieroglyph 'pt' for "sky". The sky is supported at the sides of the stela by two 'wAs' sceptres signifying royal authority. The king rules all that is below the Sun. Below the sky symbol is the winged Sun with two royal cobras on either side, representing the unity of the Two Lands of Egypt. The Sun rises between the left and right facing sphinxes, which are part lion. The lions look to the past and the future and form a horizon for the Sun.

The sphinx itself embodies Hor-em-Akhet, "Horus in the Horizon". Horus, along with the Sun god, Ra, is totemic of the royal power. The King, on the left hand side, dressed in his role as the priest, makes an offering to the sphinx-god. And on the right hand side the King, dressed in the blue "war"war crown, does likewise. Just what these offerings are you can find out by clicking on the appropriate glyphs.

Enjoy.