Background:

Interview about the completion of ten years of restauration work of the Sphinx in 1998 with Dutchman Wiebe and Dr.ʿAbd al-ḤalīmNūr al-Dīn, who obtained his PhD at Leiden University in 1974. After receiving his grade, he stayed in The Netherlands for six more years. He has been a teacher at the Universities of Leiden and Cairo. He has been the Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt for four years and was a member of the executive council of ICOM, an international organization for Arab museums. At the time of the interview, he was the head of the department for Egyptology at the University of Cairo.

Side A:

A Dutch spectator named Wiebe, is present at the opening of the Sphinx after it had been restored, and says he is interested in Egyptian archeology as an amateur historian. He explains what the Sphinx stands for as well as its function. The Sphinx was damaged in 1988. The shoulder fell off, due to erosion, acid rain and rising groundwater. After 10 years of restorations, the Sphinx is finished. Many public figures including President  Mubārak of Egypt are present along with the world press. The General Director of UNESCO, Federico Mayor, gives an opening speech. After the speech, an introduction video about the Sphinx is shown. Wiebe comments on both the video and the speech and complements the people who restored the Sphinx in an authentic manner.

Side B:

This part of the recording concerns the actual opening of the Sphinx. Eight minutes in, the interview with Dr. Nūr al-Dīn starts. After introducing himself, he explains why the Sphinx is an important monument for not only Egypt, but also to the rest of the world. He calls it a symbol of both craftsmanship and eternity, which needed to be restored because even though the Sphinx has been restored before, they did not use the right type of stone.

Pharaoh Tutmoses IV claimed he received a divine instruction to restore the Sphinx and so he was the first one ever to do so. Restorations by the Romans and Greeks followed. During the beginning of the 20^th century, the French restored and used concrete and other materials. A large part of the Sphinx needed to be excavated as everything except the head was buried under desert sand. The Egyptians followed the French, but no restorations were done since. At the time, the French did not know that using concrete in the restoration of the Sphinx turned out to be very harmful.

In 1988, the restorations of the Sphinx started again, and this time, the people who were to restore the statue, carefully studied the ways the Sphinx got damaged and made sure to use the right materials. This process ensured the statue got restored well, but not fully. The restores could not ensure the safety of the statue for 100 percent, and the groundwater is still an issue. The stones used still need to be tested. The restores tried not to use too many new stones, as the Sphinx shouldn’t look like it has only just been built. The usage of some new stones however, was unavoidable. Dr. Nūr al-Dīn says that restoring the Sphinx is the best way to maintain it. Burying it is body in sand or placing glass over the Sphinx is not a solution, according to him.

Dr. Nūr al-Dīn hopes his organization will be able restore more monuments in Egypt. He says his organization is already working with other institutions around the world, and mentions the Dutch institutes in particular. He hopes all of the Giza plains will be restored. New tombs are still being discovered, but his organizations’ budget is not big enough to restore them all. Therefore, he hopes that the focus will be on restoring what has been discovered, instead of excavating new findings.