What are silent sphinxes Bashny.Net

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The majestic Sphinx took their place on the University Embankment in St. Petersburg Pushkin's era (in 1834, during the reign of Nicholas I), becoming the subject of legends and horror stories among the townspeople. Even the educated upper classes shared assumptions about the ancient magic of sphinxes ...

189 * per year. From the diary of Nicholas Verbina:

Early in the morning I was walking along the University Embankment, the sun had not yet risen above the horizon, and the town was shrouded in gray light of dawn.
Passing sphinxes, I paused, looking at the impassive stone faces. I imagined that they look at me with an arrogant smirk.

I was approached by a passer-low man unremarkable appearance. Description of people, whose faces are instantly forgotten.



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 - Keepers of ancient secrets - he said thoughtfully, - selfish fools disturbed their peace, for which he paid ... Another world is not forgiving uninvited invasion ...
I remembered that Janis Atonazis archaeologist who found the sphinx, was killed under unclear circumstances.

And proved tragic fate of Andrei Muraviev, who organized the transportation of sphinxes in Russia - his close relatives were killed ... It was said that for a couple of years, died the captain and crew of the ship "Good Hope", which transported sphinxes.



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 - Have you ever thought about the inscriptions on the pedestal? - Suddenly asked me passer.
 - To my knowledge, translated the inscriptions, - I said - unfortunately, I can not remember word for word ... Alas, I am not a connoisseur of antiquities ... I remember that they mean the official dedication of Pharaoh, like an epitaph ...

Passer shook his head.
 - In the hieroglyphics of the "epitaph" encrypted spell - squinted slyly he said. - The key to the code to try to find as long as sphinxes installed on the waterfront ...

 - So, a well-known text has a hidden meaning? - I asked incredulously, for fear that the other person laughs at me.



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He smiled and nodded.
 - Amenhotep III, whose face reflects face, was extremely passionate about magic, which caused discontent of the priests, the laws designed to protect the Truth and Harmony. After the death of Pharaoh, his name cursed forever.

But "Theben dungeon" where Pharaoh held ceremonies still beckon adventurers. Accidents daredevils or die or go missing - sadly said the source.
His voice was slow and thoughtful.



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 - Pharaoh had time to leave a dangerous message to descendants, telling him to carve on the pedestal of your images-signs sphinxes, which encrypts spell to plunge the world into chaos, if you read it on certain days. Centuries later, these sphinxes appeared in St. Petersburg, - he continued.

Just have a clear voice of the caller sounded ominous. It seemed that before me appeared one of the keepers of ancient secrets that protects from prying knowledge.
 - Horrible legacy - I agreed.



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 - Translated into Russian cipher text reads as "I - the one who closes the path of light and open the way to darkness. With the outcome of a hundred thousand moons will disturb the peace of the lords of silence and shattered destiny of the gods. Open your eyes and come out the ones I've seen, and the kingdom of darkness to come. So be it! »

 - I do not think that among us there are sages can understand how this phrase in Egyptian - thought I, - as far as I can judge from my meager knowledge, the Egyptian language was dead, and how to say the words we do not know ...
 - Alas, there are craftsmen, - sighed the stranger - and every year it is more difficult to resist ...

The rays of the sun slid the stone of ancient people in custody. Sunrise over the Neva for a moment distracted me from talking. When I turned to the interlocutor, the quay was empty.



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Our days

One Sunday morning, passing by the famous Sphinx, I decided to make a stop. Early in the day off there were almost no people.
When I scanned the stone face of Pharaoh, I was approached by a passerby, of indeterminate age.

 - What nonsense of sphinxes did not come up, - he grumbled, leaning on an umbrella-cane - and how primitive these stories: the stone statues are a curse, it is impossible to look into the eyes of a sphinx or you may go mad, frequent walks at sphinxes cause people hysteria , sphinxes - the personification of the city of St. Petersburg as the Antichrist.
Passer smiled.



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 - To curse Sphynx even attributed the dispersal of revolutionary demonstration in the area of ​​the University Embankment in 1899, as this operation was in charge of police officer by the name of the pyramid! Here bredyatina!

 - To the atmosphere - I said - I do not see anything sinister sphinxes, to me they even seem friendly. I like the legend of the Sphinx fulfill a wish. If you come to them with good thoughts, they will help, but human evil and selfish misery waiting ...



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 - Perhaps - he smiled - their faces calm and majestic ... But do not forget that the Egyptian sphinx - the conductors in the world of the dead!
 - Gatekeeper to another world - I nodded.

 - Stone sculptures themselves are safe, - the stranger - but that's an inscription ... Too many people are willing to understand its true meaning ...
He pointed umbrella-cane on a pedestal with the characters.

I remembered the line from the diary of a great-great-grandfather of the man unremarkable appearance who told him about the sphinx hieroglyphs. Is it possible that this "doctrine" has followers.



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Passers-by, seeing my surprise, he smiled, as if realizing what I thought. I looked into his eyes, deep, wise.
 - And confront them with each passing year more and more difficult, - he said, smiling.
This sentence coincided with the phrase interlocutor great-grandfather.

Next to the bus stop, from which emerged a group of noisy tourists. Surrounding sphinxes, all began to be photographed.
A strange man lost in the moving crowd.



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For a while I looked at the faces of the sphinxes. I remember the old poem of urban folklore.

Sphinx looks at the Neva,
And all he spit,
And your Granite prisoner,
And the winds of change!



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Location in St. Petersburg Egyptian Sphinx?

The most ancient monument of St. Petersburg - Sphinx on the University Embankment. Almost three thousand years ago, they decorated the avenue of sphinxes at Thebes, which led to the beautiful temple of the great Pharaoh Amenhotep III (1419-1383 BC.).

Made of pink granite sphinxes brittle Aswan in southern Egypt and, according to historians, have features of Amenhotep. The heads of stone statues adorn the crown of Upper and Lower Egypt, and anyone who understands the Egyptian hieroglyphs, be able to read the inscription carved on the statues.

The inscription reads: "Son of Ra, Amenhotep, ruler of Thebes, the builder of monuments dating back to the sky, like the four pillars bearing the firmament." Strolling Egyptian quiet evenings at his mall, Amenhotep could not imagine what fate awaits the familiar eye Pharaonic sculpture.



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Years fled century too quickly follow each other, turning into the millennium. Over time, the Egyptian civilization went into decline. It does not spare the time and monuments. The Vandals, who have existed in all ages, is also appended their unscrupulous hands to ancient history. As a result, the Temple was destroyed and covered with a thick layer of sphinxes sands.

But one sunny day in 1828 Egyptologist Janis Atonazis during archaeological excavations at Thebes found a few surviving sphinxes. The excavations were carried out on the money that is allocated British consul in Egypt Solti, so Atonazis had most of their findings to give the sponsor. Sphinxes were also complete your collection of Solti. Therefore urgently built a couple of palm rafts, they hoisted the statue of the Nile and the other was sent to the Egyptian city of Alexandria.

Solti looked at the statue and decided it probably would be more profitable them to someone to sell. At this time in Egypt just arrived Russian officer Andrew Ants, who earned a trip to Africa, showing the heroism of the Russian-Turkish war of 1828-1829. He saw sphinxes and realized that they are very useful to Russia. Without thinking, he wrote a petition to the Russian ambassador in Constantinople Ribotpierre, which invited him to discuss the possibility of buying sphinxes with the Russian Emperor Nicholas I. The letter he enclosed drawing and sphinxes.



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The ambassador is also interested in buying and sent a letter to the king. Nicholas I thought hard, because the purchase was expensive and did not have a practical use, so he decided to first consult with the workers of the Academy of Arts, where and sent a letter. As a result, Nicholas I still gave his consent.

However, while the essence of the case, the owner of sphynx tired of waiting for a response from Russian buyers, and it has agreed to sell to the French government, which has offered a huge sum for the statue. It would have left St. Petersburg without a wonderful monument, if not a revolution that erupted in France in 1830. The French government was not up to the Sphinx, Solta and had to quickly sell them Russians 40 000, which at that time was still rather big amount.

Sphinxes traveled to St. Petersburg for a year. They sailed on the ship "Buena Speranza" ("Good Hope"), but in spite of the naive and the good name of the vessel, was not without incident. When loading a ship, a few cables that hold one of the sphinxes, and tore the statue fell, damaging the mast and board. Sphinx with almost does not hurt and escaped with only a deep scar on his face, which can be seen today.

In Petersburg sphinxes arrived in 1832, and in April 1834 they hoisted in front of the Academy of Arts at the pier of the Neva River. Several years later, on pedestals of statues carved inscription "Sphinx of ancient Thebes in Egypt, moved to the City of St. Peter's in 1832».

Since ancient sphinxes and standing over the Neva, seeing a serious look ships sailing along the Neva River, and remember its long stone life. And when winter comes, Neva freezes and sphinxes puts cold white snow, they think of hot Egyptian sun, ancient pyramids, the great Pharaoh, and how infinite life.



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