A Bulgarian national found the answer of the riddle of the Sphinx, the Independent reported.

After researching the pyramids of the Giza Plateau and their imposing half-human, half-animal guardian for 20 years, Bulgaria-born Vassil Dobrev of the French Archaeological Institute in Cairo has concluded that the Sphinx was the work of a forgotten pharaoh.

For many years, it has been held that Khafre, a king of the Fourth Dynasty whose pyramid sits behind the Sphinx, built the monument in his own likeness. But Dobrev believes the Sphinx was in fact created more than four and a half thousand years ago by Djedefre, Khafre's half brother and the son of Khufu, the builder of the Great Pyramid at Giza.

When Khufu died, the people of ancient Egypt were weary, having spent decades building pyramids, says Dobrev. He argues that Djedefre, who succeeded Khufu as pharaoh, built the monument in the image of his father, identifying him with the sun god Ra, as a piece of propaganda to restore respect for the dynasty.

In a documentary for television channel Five, Secrets of the Sphinx, to be shown December 14, Dobrev challenges the accepted version of the origins of the Sphinx and the reign of Djedefre, who came close to being written out of ancient history. While Khufu and Khafre constructed towering pyramids at Giza, Djedefre built a smaller pyramid several kilometres away at Abu Roash.

"I think some scholars will have mixed reactions," Dobrev said. "People will be surprised that we can still have something new to say about Djedefre. His reign has to be completely reviewed. It was a longer reign and a more important reign than we thought."

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