An Egyptian Riddle

In this case I am not considering the origin of the sphinx, how the pyramids were built, nor even the propensity for Egyptians to say "Welcome to Alaska" when it is 43 degrees outside. Rather, I have noticed that the heads of many statues have been removed and the faces of images adorning temple walls have been chiseled away. In some temples, this has been done to over 90% of the images.

The stories you get as to the reasoning behind this will vary dramatically depending on who you ask or listen to. I have heard Egyptian guides tell tour groups one of two stories. In some cases the temples were buried under sands for long periods of time, leaving only the heads of the statues exposed. This version portrays the damage as being the natural result of prolonged exposure to the elements.

The second version involves revenge by the early Egyptian Christians for their treatment at the hands of Muslims and foreign invaders.

(For no particular reason) the story that I place most credence in relates to the Muslim art world. For many years (and it is still the case under strict or conservative interpretations) faces did not appear in Muslim art. I don't have a good handle on the rationale, but this version of the story involves the systematic desecration of ancient Egyptian temples by Muslims, in keeping with their artistic beliefs.

This may be something to look into a little further.