Posted in: Movies | Tagged: cecil b. demille, the ten commandments

Archaeologists Unearth Ten Commandments Sphinx Head Buried In California Dunes

Published Sat, 02 Dec 2017 19:52:09 -0600

Archaeologists have discovered a 300 pound sphinx head buried in the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes in Southern California, according to a report from the Santa Barbara Independent. But hold on, take a step back, UFO true believers!

This isn't proof that aliens visited the Earth thousands of years ago and helped the Egyptians and other ancient cultures build the pyramids (and honestly, that theory is kind of racist anyway). In fact, the sphinx head was actually part of the set for Cecil B. DeMille's 1923 film The Ten Commandments (not to be confused with DeMille's 1954 film The Ten Commandments – come on dude, come up with some new ideas).

DeMille has long been rumored to have blown up the Pharaoh statues and sphinxes used in the movie's Exodus scenes and buried them in the desert, though conflicting reports claim that natural erosion caused the set to collapse and be buried in the dunes. Regardless, archaeologists have been excavating the ruins of the set, and the discovery of the sphinx head is a major find. Though sphinxes and other props have reportedly been pilfered from the dunes by locals over the decades, this isn't the first one uncovered recently. However, this one remained largely intact and preserved by the sand, including paint and even fingerprints from the artists who constructed it. The sphinx head and other artifacts discovered in the dig, which has been going on since 2012, can help historians understand filmmaking techniques of the silent film era.

The sphinx head will reportedly be restored and used as a centerpiece in a campaign to expand the Guadalupe-Nipomo Dunes Center. At press time, fans had started a petition demanding that Paramount release the Zack Snyder cut of The Ten Commandments. The petition currently has 120,000 signatures, all of them fake.