Archaeologists Dismiss Viral Theory That a Second Sphinx Remains Buried at Giza Plateau
The idea is captivating: a second Great Sphinx, hidden for millennia beneath the sands of the Giza Plateau, waiting to be unearthed.
Videos and posts making exactly that claim have gone viral in recent months, sparking excitement and debate online.
But archaeologists and experts in Egyptian antiquities say the claim is false — and that no credible evidence supports it. Many experts have already rated the theory as false, calling it speculation rather than a confirmed scientific discovery.
Researcher Claims New Sphinx Discovered at Giza
Italian researcher Filippo Biondi says radar scans suggest a second Sphinx may be buried beneath a sand mound on the Giza Plateau.
He explained his theory on the March 26 episode of the Matt Beall Limitless podcast, describing what he believes the scans revealed: vertical shafts and horizontal passages pointing to an underground “megastructure.”
Biondi says he is about 80% confident in his theory. The sand mound in question is reportedly approximately 108 feet tall, made of hardened sand rather than bedrock.
He believes geometric alignments between the pyramids and the known Sphinx point toward the location of a second buried monument.
As supporting evidence, Biondi cites the Dream Stele — a granite slab placed in front of the Great Sphinx around 1400 BC — which appears to depict two sphinx figures.
He is currently awaiting permission from Egyptian authorities to excavate the mound.
This isn’t the first time a researcher has made such a claim.
Egyptologist Bassam El Shammaa proposed a similar idea over a decade ago, citing ancient records describing a lightning bolt striking the Sphinx as possibly referencing a destroyed second monument.
In 2021, Egyptian tourism official Reda Abdel Halim joined in on the claim with theories of a second Sphinx being found. He asserted that the Sphinx measured 246 feet high with a 67-foot head and hands extending over 50 feet.
Fact Check: Is There Really a Second Sphinx?
Despite the attention these claims have received, there is no confirmed archaeological evidence of a second Sphinx. No excavation has taken place, and no peer-reviewed study has validated the findings.
Egypt’s former Minister of Antiquities Zahi Hawass previously dismissed the claims in a statement on his Facebook page in 2025.
“The rumors suggesting the presence of columns beneath the Pyramid of Khafre are nothing but fabrications propagated by individuals with no expertise in ancient Egyptian civilization or the history of the pyramids,” he wrote.
Hawass noted the area has been extensively studied and excavated for decades without finding anything resembling a second monument.
Geophysics experts also raise significant doubts about the methods behind the theory. They caution that the radar techniques cited cannot reliably detect structures at the depths claimed.
Ground-penetrating radar typically only resolves features a few meters below the surface, raising serious questions about what the scans could actually show at the scale Biondi describes.
As for the Dream Stele, mainstream Egyptologists interpret its imagery symbolically, not as a literal map of the plateau. They note the stele’s text does not mention a second Sphinx.
What We Know About the Great Sphinx of Giza
The Great Sphinx of Giza is a colossal 4,500-year-old limestone statue featuring a lion’s body and a human head.
It stretches 240 feet long and stands 66 feet high on the Giza Plateau, on the western bank of the Nile River immediately outside the city of Giza.
The monument was largely buried in sand for centuries until the first modern excavation in 1817, led by Giovanni Battista Caviglia, which uncovered the chest.
Further clearing continued throughout the 19th century, and the statue was fully excavated — exposing its paws and surrounding temple — by Émile Baraize between 1925 and 1936.
Now more than 200 years after that first modern excavation, the allure of discovering a twin to the Great Sphinx continues to capture public imagination.
But the theory of another monument hidden beneath the sands of Giza remains unproven speculation — not a confirmed scientific discovery.
No excavation has been approved, no peer-reviewed research supports the claim, and the experts who have spent decades studying the plateau say there is simply nothing there.
This article was created by content specialists using various tools, including AI.
