Talking Pyramids

At night on the Giza plateau, after the sun has set below the pyramids, the coloured lights come out and dance all over the sphinx and pyramids in a specticle that is famously known as the “Sound and Light Show”.

Now, after thirty years of service the curtains are closing for the old coloured lights and newer technology will take the limelight. These are the new halide bulbs from Philips.

The old lights at Giza. Photo by diffendale

The monument has been equipped with three lighting circuits, loaded with energy-saving halide PAR 64 floodlight lamps. They provide what Philips calls dramatic Accent Lighting; the lamps are angled so that the shadow patterns they create reveal the texture of the stonework. While the floodlights are more powerful than their predecessors, they are also smaller and less conspicuous, adding to the mystery of the Sphinx by adding glow from hidden sources.

Also, an Argon laser system now projects partly-animated images onto the sides of the adjacent pyramids including historical portraits, hieroglyphics, cartouches, and scenes of the construction of the monuments.

Complimenting the new lights, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities has also updated the sound technology at the Great Sphinx with the hopes that visitors will feel transported to the mystical world the monument evokes by spatial sound and lights.

Original story: The Great Sphinx gets a facelift from Philips Accent Lighting

Here are the old lights in action:

Photo: You oughta be in lights by diffendale some rights reserved.

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Tags: sphinx, technology

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