The Dream Stela of Thutmosis IV

In ancient Egypt, when pharaohs wanted to record something for eternity and have it be
known not only to mortals, but more importantly, to the gods, they wrote in stone. The
hieroglyphs carved into the Dream Stela of Thutmosis IV, an enormous upright slab at the
base of the Sphin, tell a portentous story of a young king!s bargain with the sun god. In
this interview, Egyptologist "asia S#pakowska deciphers the stela for $ary $lassman,
producer of %&V'!s ()iddles of the Sphin.(
's "asia S#pakowska eplains, dreams like the one recorded on the stone slab at the base of the
Sphin had the power to solidify a pharaoh!s reign and change the course of history. Enlarge*hoto
credit+ , -ark .ussell/*rovidence *ictures
A GRAND BARGAIN
NOVA: Who was Thutmosis IV, and why would he come here, to the area
of the !hin"#
$asia %!a&ows&a: Thutmosis IV was the eighth king of the 01th dynasty, which is
during Egypt!s %ew "ingdom, a period when Egypt was really at its height. This area, at
that time, was like a recreation area for the pharaohs. They would come here to hunt,
ride their chariots, do target practice.
What is the story written on Thutmosis IV's stela#
The Dream Stela describes a time when he was 2ust newly king. 3Scholars put his reign
at 045060780 ..9.: 'ccording to the stela, Thutmosis IV was strolling here one day, all
alone. 'round midday, he got very hot and decided to rest in the shadow of the $reat
Sphin. 'nd at the moment when the sun hit the #enith;was at the top of the sky;the
god <orem='khet="hepri=)e='tum came to him in a dream and basically told him that if
he cleared away the sands that had been building up around 3the Sphin:, the god would
make sure that Thutmosis IV was the ruler of upper and lower Egypt, unified.
o the !hin" was (uried in sand at the time) Do we &now how dee!ly#
It probably was deeply buried. >e!re not sure how much. I imagine that the outline of the
body would have been visible, but there wouldn!t have been the details of the paws, of
the body at all. The head would have been visible.
Thutmosis IV!s restoration pro2ect likely included painting the Sphin in vivid colors that
accentuated the human ?uality of the head upon the lion!s body. Enlarge*hoto credit+ , >$.<
Educational @oundation
What else would ha*e (een *isi(le on the Gi%a +lateau at that time#
-ost obviously the *yramids, which were already a thousand years old. There was also
a temple that had 2ust been built by Thutmosis IV!s predecessor 3'menhotep II: that
would have been painted and beautiful=looking. There were probably also rest areas
erected so that the kings could rest their horses in the shade, get food and water while
they were running around, hunting, and chariot=riding. .ut otherwise it would have been
much like it is today, very sunny in the middle of the day.
Why would Thutmosis IV want to erect this monument and tell this
story#
%umber one, it was to emphasi#e that he was indeed the legitimate ruler. >e don!t
actually know very much about how he came to the throne. <e may have needed to
legitimi#e his right to the throne by emphasi#ing that the god spoke to him directly, in a
dream, and told him that he would have the kingship.
In addition, a monument such as the Sphin was very, very important. The fact that he
restored it emphasi#ed that he was doing one of the main tasks that a king had to do,
which was to maintain all the sacred monuments to the gods. In doing that, he was
maintaining ma'at, which is the Egyptian idea of truth, order, 2ustice;maintaining things
the way they should be.
During his reign in the 04th century ..9., Thutmosis IV commissioned other great stone works to
legitimi#e his kingship. Enlarge*hoto credit+ , >$.< Educational @oundation
T,- +,IN. A /N GOD
Tell us a(out the 0od with whom Thutmosis IV su!!osedly had this
(ar0ain)
3The stela: describes him as <orem='khet, which means <orus in the hori#on;that is,
the aspect of <orus as a sun god. <e also describes him as "hepri=)e='tum, which is all
the aspects of the sun god rolled into one;the sun god in the morning, the sun god in
the day, and the sun god at night. The god <orus could have many aspects. Sort of like I
can be "asia the teacher, or I can be "asia the writer, or I can be "asia the one who
doesn!t cook very well. 'nd 3the stela says that: the god appeared to Thutmosis IV in the
form of the Sphin itself.
"The Sphinx was considered an icon of kingship merged
with the solar god."
Is it si0nificant that the !hin", that ,orem1A&het in the form of the
!hin", s!ea&s to Thutmosis IV at the %enith#
There is clearly significance to the time of day. The #enith, when the sun is right at the
highest point, is a time when the sun seems to stand still. @or the Egyptians, of course,
the sun god was of primary importance, and that!s when he was overhead. In addition, a
lot of magical tets mention noontime as a time when the barriers between this world and
the divine world are lowered. 'nd in that way, the gods could more easily communicate
with people like the king. It was a time when scary things could happen, but also
wondrous things.
Traces of Thutmosis IV!s restoration efforts are evident in the casing stones at the tail end of the
Sphin. Enlarge*hoto credit+ , -ark .ussell/*rovidence *ictures
Was it unusual, in -0y!tian lore, for a 0od to s!ea& to a mortal#
It was very unusual for a god to speak to a mortal. The kings, however, throughout
Egyptian history would be spoken to by gods. They received communications from gods
through revelations and oracles. .ut seeing a god in a dream was an etremely rare
phenomenon.
So that!s also part of the reason that Thutmosis IV erected the stela;to emphasi#e that
he was the person whom the god chose to speak to in this very, very intimate encounter
during a dream.
,ow did the -0y!tians thin& a(out dreams#
Dreams were considered an eternal phenomenon. ' dream was something that was
outside of you. Egyptians never said, (I was dreaming,( or (I!m dreaming right now,( or
(I!d love to be dreaming.( Aou saw things in a dream, as if it were something eternal to
you, over which you had no control. 'nd, in fact, most of the references we have to
dreams in ancient Egypt treat them as things to be avoided and feared. So we have
many spells to keep away bad dreams. In part, it!s because dreams seem to be
somewhere, again, between the land of the living and the land beyond.
The inhabitants of the beyond included not only the gods, not only the dead, but also the
damned, those Egyptians who had not made it successfully to the afterlife or were
thought of as enemies of the king or the gods. 'nd those beings, through a dream, could
also access a vulnerable individual while he or she was asleep, as a nightmare.
Etched in the stela are images of Thutmosis IV offering incense to the god, here depicted as a
sphin resting on top of a shrine. Enlarge*hoto credit+ , -ark .ussell/*rovidence *ictures
R-23AI4ING T,- G3OR5 O6 T,- +AT
,ow did the &in0s in the New $in0dom re0ard the &in0s of the Old
$in0dom# Were they aware of who (uilt the !hin"#
In the %ew "ingdom, the pharaohs looked back to the kings of the &ld "ingdom with
great reverence, because that was a time when the king was all=powerful, a time they
tried to emulate. >e know for certain that they knew that "hufu and "hafre built the
$reat *yramids. It!s unclear whether they associated one pharaoh or another specifically
with the Sphin. The Sphin was considered an icon of kingship merged with the solar
god. So it didn!t necessarily matter which specific ruler he represented.
"When you stand in front of the Sphinx, you can't help but
be awed."
Was it li&ely that a !haraoh of the New $in0dom would want to resurrect
the !hin"#
Aes. In part, it!s because the capital 3of the %ew "ingdom: moved to -emphis, which was
close by. It!s also a hearkening back to the past, when the pharaoh was all=powerful.
The %ew "ingdom came out of a time when Egypt had been divided and ruled by
foreigners, and that had a great impact on the psyche of the rulers and of the people. So
the pharaohs of the %ew "ingdom really wanted to establish that they were like the ones
of the &ld "ingdom;infallible, all=powerful, and more importantly, that they were divine.
'nd the Sphin is a brilliant embodiment of that.
>hile weathering and more deliberate damage have erased much of Thutmosis IV!s work on the
Sphin, the Dream Stela continues to tell his story. Enlarge*hoto credit+ , -ark .ussell/*rovidence *ictures
Why !ut a human head on the (ody of a lion#
The human head would represent the identity of the king, and the lion would represent
the attributes that the king was attempting to portray. So it would be saying that the king
was the embodiment of the lion;the ma2esty, the power, the ferociousness. It
emphasi#es that they are one.
Why do you thin& the !hin" has ca!tured the ima0ination of !eo!le for
so lon0#
>hen you stand in front of the Sphin, you can!t help but be awed. It is an ama#ing
monument. It!s wondrously large. It!s spectacularly placed, in the middle of the desert.
The sun strikes upon it. The ancient Egyptians themselves were awestruck by all the
monuments here. They left graffiti saying, (>ow, this is the most beautiful thing I!ve ever
seen.( >hen the $reeks came, they felt the same way, and brought back all sorts of
legends about them. 'nd that got imbued into all of >estern civili#ation, really. So the
Sphin became an icon.