A Plan to Save the Sphinx.

New Zealand Graphic, Volume XXX, Issue IX, 28 February 1903, Page 560

A Plan to Save the Sphinx.

A plan for saving the Sphinx from further injury by the elements has been suggested by Edward M. Caffall, an ex-i-ert on stone preservation, whose father. Fobert May Caffall. applied waterproofing material to the obelisk in Central Park nearly twenty years ago. At a cost of about £l6OO he t’ in' a. the great figure in the Egyntian s-ind can be protected for an indefinite time from the wear and tear of the sandstorms and the raiiis

That the Sphinx is crumbling more rapidly than it did in previous centuries seems to be admitted. For instance. D. G. Longworth, writing in a paner called the "Cairo Sphinx.” recently pointed out the reason for this more rapid decay. The irrigation of Egypt has decidedly changed the climate in the last few’ decades. Instead of being constantly dry, the Sphinx now becomes rain soaked for from fifteen to eighteen days of each year. The wind from the desert, "khamarsseen,” carrying the sand before it. beats upon the soft limestone of the Sphinx while it is wet. and eats it away exactly as does the sand blast used in manufactures. When the sand blast is us°d for etching on glass, the parts which are not to be affected are covered with paraffin. Mr Caffall believes-, therefore, that if the surface of the Sphinx were treated with paraffin it would much better withstand the sandstorms and the rains. Experimentally he has found that under a “rubbing bed” the stone so treated wears away onlv one-quarter as fast as the natural stone.

The experience in treating the obelisk in Central Park has shown just the methods that would be necessarv on the Sphinx. Experiments which were made then at the city’s expense showed that stone can be heated to the melting point of the wax, as far below the surface as twenty inches. The wax being applied with a brush, the hot stone absorbs it. filling up the pores completely and excluding moisture. The obelisk, when treated in 1885. had so disintegrated from the frosts that 780 pounds of flakes and chms were re-•>-cved when it was being waterproofed. Tn some cases flakes of inches diameter and four inches thick had become detached. In order to fill un whatever eracks might exist beneath the surface a triangular tank was ns"d and the melted paraffin forced ag-inst the face of the' stone by hvdraulic pr s sure, thus entering all the interstices and sealing the partlv detaehed fragments in their places. This same method would probablv have to be used on the Snbinx. Altogether th" operation would take about two months. Mr Caffall is in tows that s-me archaeological societv or public snirited man will look into the practicability of his plan. If the great monument is r“ollv in danger of destruction, and his process will save if. be thinks that an experiment should at least be made. He is doubtful if the Khedive’s Government could be prevailed on to fake an interest in the project.