I think climate must definitely be considered before any dating of the Giza complex can be realistically attempted.
I've been to many different websites where folks seem to be sincerely confused about the climatic conditions that prevailed in Egypt prior to the end of the last Ice Age. It is true that the Sahara Desert received a tad bit more rain during the Ice Age than it does today, but the rainfall still was certainly not sufficient enough to even remotely support populations significant enough to put the Giza complex together.
I've read some archaeological reports that state that for all intents and purposes Northern Africa was pretty much uninhabited during the last Ice Age, but for an occasional nomadic tribe that may have wandered through. Almost no human ice age remains have been found in the area suggesting that Egypt was pretty much unpopulated during the glacial maximum. The Sahara was evidently bone dry.
According to the climatologists and geologists…
"The climate of the Sahara has undergone enormous variation between wet and dry over the last few hundred thousand years. During the last glacial period, the Sahara was even bigger than it is today, extending south beyond its current boundaries. The end of the glacial period brought more rain to the Sahara, from about 8000 BC to 6000 BC, perhaps because of low pressure areas over the collapsing ice sheets to the north."
(Source: Wiki article on the Sahara)
Clearly the wet or 'pluvial' period in Egypt reached its maximum between 8000 BC and 6000 BC. So, in my opinion, the water erosion showing on the Sphinx seems to suggest the statue was probably present during this time.
In his book, "A History of Ancient Egypt" (Blackwell Publishers, 1988) Nicolas Grimal, Professor of Egyptology at the University of Paris (the book is informative but very 'textbook dry') writes that during the 10th millennium BC…
"The Qadan culture, represented at more than twenty sites from the second Cataract to Toshka, constituted an important stage of development both in its stone tools, which were characteristically microlithic, and in its signs of economic development. Some Qadan tools show traces of 'sickle gloss', which is commonly interpreted as evidence for the beginnings of agriculture. Pollen analyses have confirmed the presence of 'gramineae' (a wheat-like grass) and – at Esna at least - wild barley. However, this agricultural experiment – if that is the right word for it – does not appear to have lasted beyond the turn of the tenth millennium."
(ibid. p 21) .
The agricultural experiment suddenly stopped and they can find no further indication of agriculture in ancient Egypt until "around the middle of the sixth millennium BC."
Thus, it certainly does seem as though "something" happened circa 10,000 BC that put an abrupt end to any attempt at agricultural advancement in early Egypt.
I rather suspect that during the later pluvial or rainy period, game and wild food was simply so plentiful that hunter-gatherer communities really saw no need to attempt agriculture. Evidently, it was when the rainy period in ancient Egypt began to decline that the indigenous people turned to agriculture to sustain themselves.
In my view, the next most important evidence that we must consider is found in the Edfu account which tells the famous tale of Sep Tepi. To my knowledge, the only in depth study of the Edfu Texts is found in the book titled "The Mythical Origin of the Egyptian Temple" by A.E. Reymond, (Manchester University Press, 1969) The book is out of print and you can't even find a used copy for sale anywhere. I finally located a copy of the book in a nearby college library, and spent a terribly tedious afternoon photo-copying every single page. Though the information contained therein is absolutely priceless, the book is not an easy read as the author seems to jump all over the place and is hard to follow. Still the book is well worth it.
Andrew Collins, author of
'Gods of Eden' (Bear and Company, 1998, 2002) included an excellent and well written account of the Edfu texts based on Reymond's study in his book. Since I simply could not write it better than he did, I've typed those pages up for you to read.
In this account, you will probably discover, (as I did) that there is indeed significant evidence indicating that during the pluvial, rainy period, the group that started dynastic Egypt evidently attacked an earlier culture of "falcons" or elder Horace kings, and subsequently stole Egypt out from under them.
So yes, there is indeed evidence that "the Egyptians" took over "the rostau" (Giza Plateau) and killed the people that may have been ultimately responsible for leaving us the Sphinx. Here is the tale of Sep Tepi, as it was written down by Andrew Collins who correctly interpreted the study written by Reymond concerning the Edfu Texts and the tale of Sep Tepi. It's a real eye-opener.
THE TALE OF SEP TEPI AS TOLD IN THE EDFU ACCOUNTS Andrew Collins,
Gods of Eden, Bear and Company, 1998, 2002, pp 174-178
(Notes reference the page numbers where the information is found in Reymond's book.)
"The texts at Edfu are many and varied, and it seems certain that much of their contents was derived from several now lost works with titles such as the Specifications of the Mounds of the Early Primeval Age, accredited to the god Thoth, the Sacred Book of the Early Primeval Age of the Gods and one called Offering the Lotus. 1:8-10 All of these extremely ancient works begin with the gradual emergence out of the Nun, the primeval waters, of a sacred island, synonymous with the primeval mound of the Heliopolitan tradition. This event is said to have occurred during a time-frame spoken of by Reymond as the 'first occasion' – her interpretation of the Egyptian expression sep tepi, or the First Time. 1:6-7
Surrounding this mound or hill, known then as the Island of the Egg, was a circle or 'channel' of water, 1:134,142 and by the edge of this lake was a 'field of reeds' and a sacred domain named Wetjeset-Neter 1:123 (sometimes Wetjeset-hor). Here were erected posts or columns referred to as djed-pillars, which served as perches for the domain's first divine inhabitants, said to number 60.1:34 These mysterious beings were led by a group of individuals known as the drty-falcons, or Sages, who were ruled by an enigmatic figure called the Pn-god or simply, This One. 1:77,103 Other groups and individuals also bore peculiar names such as the Kas, the Flying Ba and Heter-her. These faceless forms were said to have been the seed of their own creation at the time when the rest of the world had not yet come into being. The most astonishing fact about this strange collection of characters is that they are said to have preceded the appearance of the netjeru, 1:76 The gods of the Greater and Lesser Ennead revered so highly in Heliopolitan tradition.
The Edfu account speaks at length of the events surrounding the Island of the Egg and the Wetjeset-Neter, collectively referred to as the 'homeland', and alludes to some kind of violent conflict which brought to a close the first period of creation. 1:107-109 An enemy appears in the form of a serpent known as the Great Leaping One. 1:35,113 It opposes the sacred domain's divine inhabitants, who fight back with a weapon known only as the "Sound Eye" which emerges from the island and creates further destruction on behalf of its protectors. 1:114 No explanation of this curious symbol is given, although Reymond felt it to be 'the centre of the light that illumines the island'. 1:103 As a consequence of this mass devastation, the first inhabitants all die, 1:109 and darkness returns to the world, as it had been before the moment of the First Creation. Death and decay are everywhere – a fact recorded in the alternative names now given to the Island of the Egg, which include the Island of Combat, 1:107 the Island of the Trampling 1:87-88,114,126 and finally, the Island of Peace.1:12-13,55,106-7
More important, after the violent conflict with the enemy serpent, a major transition occurs in the conception of the sacred island. For a time it vanishes beneath the primeval waters of Nun amid the perpetual darkness that has consumed the world, yet then it emerges again and henceforth is given the title Underworld of the Soul.1:15,110 It also becomes known as the Place of the First Occasion in memory of the death of the drty-falcons and their leader, This One, the Pn-god, who are now collectively referred to as the ddw-ghosts and the Ancestors of the First Occasion.1:108,118
We are told that the only 'relic' of the first period of creation to survive the time of conflict is a single djed-pillar located in the Field of Reeds, situated by the side of the waters of Nun.1:116 It is subsequently replaced by a new 'perch', or djeba, which becomes the focus of a renewed period of creation involving a second generation of divine inhabitants. They include an important group of individuals known as the Shebtiu,1:119, 2:51 the leaders of which are named Wa and Aa, who are described as the 'Lords of the Island of Trampling.' 2:41 Another group of eight Shebtiu – corresponding with the eight Ogdoad, or builder gods of the Theban creation myth – are given enigmatic titles such as 'The Far Distant', 'the Sailor' and 'The Lord, mighty-chested, who made slaughter, the Soul who lives on Blood." 2:51
These gods of Wetjeset-Neter are joined by other important divinities, such as the god Ptah-Tanen, and his 'Children of Tanen', 2:52 as well as an enigmatic figure named the Falcon, who is known as the 'Lord of the Perch' and 'the Winged One'. 1:116,123-124,131 he commands a further group of individuals called the 'crew of the falcon', 1:177,179 Collectively, these ancestral gods are also described as the Senior Ones or the Eldest Ones, 2:42 from which we derive the term 'Elders', 'Elder gods' and 'Elder culture' to denote Egypt's divine race.
This second generation of divine individuals known for the first time as netjeru gods, henceforth become the new rulers of Wetjeset Neter. They are also seen as 'living deities', who live 'in the company of Re', 1:120 the first real link with the sun-cult of Heliopolis.
The Shebtiu and their companions set about constructing a 'shelter' or enclosure on the edge of the sacred lake, close to Wetsjeset-Neter.1:142-143 This is followed by the appearance of the first temple, known as the 'Mansion of the Wetjeset-Neter,1:28 which is also referred to as the Grand Seat or Temple of the Falcon 1:208 (the Ancient Egyptians were, it seems, obsessed with the idea of giving things a multitude of names and titles). According to the Edfu documents, this imposing building stood 'in a vast enclosure surrounding another inner enclosure which was the real temple'. 1:29 Specific details are given as to its measurements, which are said to have been '30 cubits west to east, and 20 cubits from south to north'. 1:29 A large courtyard was located in front of this sanctuary, while smaller structures were to be found along the 'two inner sides of this courtyard'.1:29 Did this building really exist in the mists of time? What became of it, and where exactly might it have been situated?
After an undisclosed period, rising waters again threaten the Island of Trampling, causing the original temple or Mansion of Wetjeset-Neter to be damaged or destroyed. Yet then something curious occurs, the Shebtiu "Wa and 'Aa are instructed by the God-of-the-Temple to enter within the enigmatically named Place-in-which-the-things-of-the-earth-were-filled-with-power, 1:27 another name for the water-encircled island, and here they conduct 'magic spells' which make the waters recede. 1:31,162 To this end they appear to have used mysterious power objects, named iht, 'relics', which are stored within the island. 1:154 Then, according to Raymond's summary of the events under question, the Shebtiu, or Ogdoad, appear to have simply 'sailed away' 1:27 to another part of the mystical world to continue their creative task.' 1:180
Various subsequent stages in the creation of the world involve a gradual progression in the design and appearance of the Temple of the Falcon, while a further building, named as the Solar Temple, is said to have been built on the site of an earlier battle, 1:208,250 plausibly one connected with the destruction of the first divine inhabitants by the enemy serpent. Before the commencement of each new building phase, a series of consecration ceremonies is conducted by the Shebtiu using the iht relics. These also involve familiar figures such as the gods Thoth and Ptah-Tanen, the goddess Seshat, the sun-god Re and the eight builder gods known as the Ogdoad (who were simply another form of the Shebtiu.) 1:28 it must be pointed out, however, that these additional building phases are not necessarily to be seen as later events, since the texts are often mixed up, duplicated and confused and may therefore refer to events relating to the first two periods of creation.
Gradually the world evolves and the divine inhabitants of Wetjeset-Neter are replaced by the Shemsu-hor, the predynastic ancestors of the Egyptian race led by Horus of Behdet. These in turn give way to the first Horus-kings, bringing the story conveniently up to the foundation of the First Dynasty of a united Egypt, c.3100 BC. This then, is the Edfu account of the creation of the world and, we must assume, the origins of Egyptian culture during the epoch of the First Time.
1. Reymond, E. A,
The Mythical Origin of the Egyptian Temple, Manchester University Press, 1969
Today, linguests inform us that the only culture that spelled Ea's name as "A'a" were the indigenous Horite-Hurrians of Anatolia. (source: Collins, p 295) In some texts they also called Ea by his Vedic name "Ayus."
It's my opinion that the Horites along with the indigenous Ethiopians were the original inhabitants of "The Island of the Egg." Aa could only mean Ea, Wa was a Hurrian pronunciation for Ra, and "the Great Leaping Serpent" would have been Set (Seth) who was called Baal in Canaan and Balarama in India. The Vedic texts call Balarama (Set, Baal) the great Naga, or the Great World Serpent. The Gilgamesh Epic identifies "The far Distant" as the epithet for Utnahpishtum, who was the Noah figure saved by Ea in the Sumerian flood accounts. (Stephanie Dalley Myths from Mesopotamia, Oxford University Press, 2000 p. 51) I have no idea who "the Lord mighty chested who lives on blood" was but I suspect he would not qualify as one of the good guys.
I also conclude that the "Shemsu Hor" who attacked and took Egypt over had to have been a race descendant from Shem, i.e. the people now defined as the semitic races.
Since the events of Sep Tepi took place at a time when the rostau (Giza) is described as being an island surrounded by a shallow lake, it seems to me these events must have taken place circa 8000 BC- 6000 BC when Egypt was very wet and rainy.
by Sunrisepony » Fri Oct 28, 2011 4:11 pm 
....oops I was laughing at something else when I got pushed down by all these images...sheesh-sorry. I've been to the Serpent Mound many, many times, and I must say this is eerie. The former Mound Nuclear Complex in Miamisburg, Ohio, where I grew up, and attended Mound Elementary School, is also named after a Great Burial Mound, the largest conical mound in Ohio, in fact. There was another mound by the high school that we called "The Tit"; we used to party there but never knew what it was called. Anyway, a lot of strange happenings have been recorded in my family history around these areas, and I've witnessed some of my own peculiar goings on through the years growing up, but haven't been there since 1990 and the nuclear weapons facility is shut down now, so....I don't really have a point. 
